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DDDDDDD DDDDDDDD DD DD IIIII RRRR EEEEE CCC TTTTT OOO RRRR Y Y DD DD I R R E C C T O O R R Y Y DD DD I R R E C T O O R R Y Y DD DD I RRRR EEEE C T O O RRRR Y DD DD I R R E C T O O R R Y DDDDDDDD I R R E C C T O O R R Y DDDDDDD IIIII R R EEEEE CCC T OOO R R Y XX XX XX XX EEEEE XX XX TTTTT EEEEE N N DDDD EEEEE DDDD E XXXX T E NN N D D E D D E XX T E N N N D D E D D EEEE XXXX T EEEE N NN D D EEEE D D E XX XX T E N N D D E D D E XX XX T E N N D D E D D EEEEE XX XX T EEEEE N N DDDD EEEEE DDDD (TM) Version 2.0 of December 1988 Robert K. Blaine / ECONO-SOFT P.O. Box 181030 Austin, TX 78718-1030 800-367-7590, 512-832-1675 CompuServe [73267,1664] DISCLAIMER OF WARRANTY THIS SOFTWARE AND MANUAL ARE SOLD "AS IS" AND WITHOUT WARRANTIES AS TO PERFORMANCE OF MERCHANTABILITY OR ANY OTHER WARRANTIES WHETHER EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED. IN NO EVENT SHALL ECONO-SOFT OR ROBERT K. BLAINE BE HELD LIABLE FOR ANY LOSS OF PROFIT OR ANY OTHER COMMERCIAL DAMAGE RESULTING FROM THE USE OR MISUSE OF THIS PRODUCT, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL, CONSEQUENTIAL OR OTHER DAMAGES. BECAUSE OF THE VARIOUS HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE ENVIRONMENTS INTO WHICH THIS PROGRAM MAY BE PUT, NO WARRANTY OF FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE IS OFFERED. THE USER MUST ASSUME THE ENTIRE RISK OF USING THE PROGRAM. ANY LIABILITY OF THE SELLER WILL BE LIMITED EXCLUSIVELY TO PRODUCT REPLACEMENT OR REFUND OF PURCHASE PRICE. Throughout this document, references are made to the following trademarks: - ARC is a trademark of System Enhancement Associates. - DESQview is a trademark of Quarterdeck Office Systems. - DX and Directory eXtended are trademarks of Robert K. Blaine/ECONO-SOFT. - DoubleDOS is a trademark of SoftLogic Solutions, Inc. - Epson is a trademark of Epson Corporation. - IBM, PC-DOS, and TopView are trademarks of International Business Machines Corporation. - LIST is Copyrighted by Vernon D. Buerg. - MS-DOS is a trademark of Microsoft Corporation. - PCED is a trademark of Cove Software Group, Inc. - Turbo Pascal is a trademark of Borland International, Inc. C O N T E N T S 1.0 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 1.1 Feature Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 1.2 The ShareWare Concept -- DX IS NOT FREE! . . . . . . . 4 1.3 A Sample Display . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 1.4 General Syntax . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 1.5 System Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 2.0 Formatting Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 2.1 /Pause -- A Screenful at a Time . . . . . . . . . . . 9 2.2 /Wide -- A Quick Look . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 2.3 /SINGle -- One File Per Line . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 2.4 /Totals -- Statistics Only . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 2.5 /HEader -- Setting the Header Level . . . . . . . . 11 2.6 /STats -- Setting the Statistics Level . . . . . . . 11 2.7 /CAse -- Setting the Output Case . . . . . . . . . . 12 2.8 /12 -- Setting the Time Format . . . . . . . . . . . 12 2.9 Color Configuration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 2.9.1 /BColor -- Background Color . . . . . . . . . . 13 2.9.2 /FColor -- Foreground Color . . . . . . . . . . 13 2.9.3 /DColor -- Directory Color . . . . . . . . . . 13 2.9.4 /ANSI -- xANSI Driver Support . . . . . . . . . 13 2.10 /Output -- Where to Send the Directory . . . . . . 14 2.11 /PRint -- Formatting for the Printer . . . . . . . 14 2.11.1 /PRMode -- Establishing the Print Mode . . . . 15 2.11.2 /PRMArg -- Setting Print Margins . . . . . . . 15 2.12 /FSBlink -- Causing /FSize Message to Blink . . . . 15 2.13 /Quiet -- Inhibit Informative Messages . . . . . . 16 2.14 /NLines -- Specify Output Height . . . . . . . . . 16 2.15 /ALign -- Aligning Extensions . . . . . . . . . . . 16 2.16 /ANgle -- Angle Bracket Directory Indicator . . . . 16 2.17 /DOTstar -- Automatic ".*" . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 3.0 File Matching Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 3.1 /Command -- Finding Commands . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 3.2 Extended Pattern Matching . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 3.3 File attribute Matching . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 3.3.1 /Full -- All Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 3.3.2 /ATtr -- Select File Attributes . . . . . . . . 21 3.4 /SIze -- Setting a Size Range . . . . . . . . . . . 23 3.5 /SINce and /BEfore -- Date/Time Ranges . . . . . . . 23 3.6 Viewing ARChive and LiBRary Directories . . . . . . 25 3.6.1 /ARCDT -- Validating ARC/LBR Timestamps . . . . 26 4.0 Utility Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 4.1 /SOrt -- Sorting Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 4.2 /FFind -- Searching Multiple Directories . . . . . . 28 4.3 /FSize -- Testing if File Transfer Possible . . . . 29 4.4 /Ldir -- Listing Directory Names . . . . . . . . . . 29 i 4.5 /CKsum -- Checksumming Files . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 4.6 /CRC -- Cyclic Redundancy Checks . . . . . . . . . . 30 5.0 Special Processing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 5.1 Target File Specifications . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 5.2 /MOve and /COPy -- Moving/Copying Files . . . . . . 33 5.2.1 /APpend -- Append Files . . . . . . . . . . . . 35 5.2.2 /MDir -- Create Missing Directories . . . . . . 36 5.2.3 /RDir -- Remove Empty Directory . . . . . . . . 36 5.2.4 /TDate -- Set Target File's Date/Time . . . . . 36 5.2.5 /TAttr -- Set Target File Attributes . . . . . 37 5.2.6 /VLevel -- Verify Level . . . . . . . . . . . . 37 5.3 /COMPare -- Comparing Files . . . . . . . . . . . . 38 5.4 /REName -- Renaming Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39 5.5 /GOBak -- Reverting to Previous Versions . . . . . . 40 5.6 /FDate -- Changing File Date/Time Stamps . . . . . . 40 5.7 /FAttr -- Changing File Attributes . . . . . . . . . 41 5.8 /DELete -- Deleting Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42 5.9 /VIew -- View FIles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43 5.10 /RUn -- Immediate Command Execution . . . . . . . . 43 5.11 Verifying Special Processing . . . . . . . . . . . 43 5.11.1 Answering the Questions . . . . . . . . . . . 44 5.11.2 /Verify -- Normal Verification . . . . . . . . 44 5.11.3 /OVerwrite -- Verifying File Overwrites . . . 45 5.11.4 /ROnly -- Read-only File Handling . . . . . . 46 5.12 /LIst - Defining the LIST Processor . . . . . . . . 47 5.13 /DEfer -- Deferred Special Processing . . . . . . . 47 5.14 /MSP -- Multi-pass Special Processing . . . . . . . 48 6.0 Batch File Generation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49 6.1 /Batch -- Specifying the Batch Template . . . . . . 50 6.2 /EXec -- Controlling Automatic Execution . . . . . . 53 6.3 /CDir -- Automatic CHDIR Commands . . . . . . . . . 55 6.4 Preview a Batch File / Create a List of Files . . . 55 6.5 Matching Directories in Batch Files . . . . . . . . 56 7.0 Customizing DX . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57 8.0 Using DX . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60 8.1 Testing Termination Conditions . . . . . . . . . . . 60 8.2 Compatibility and Performance Considerations . . . . 61 8.2.1 /VIDeo -- Controlling Direct Screen Access . . 61 8.2.2 /NONstd -- Handling Non-standard Environments . 61 8.2.3 /NETaccess -- Handling Network Conflicts . . . 62 8.2.4 Enhancing DOS Performance . . . . . . . . . . . 62 8.3 Using DX with Command Line Enhancers . . . . . . . . 63 8.4 /ALTernate Pattern Separators . . . . . . . . . . . 63 8.5 /INfo -- A Quick Reminder . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64 8.6 Memory Utilization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64 8.7 Aborting and Escaping . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65 8.8 /SWatch -- Execution Time and ERRORLEVEL . . . . . . 65 Appendix A. Quick Reference 66 Appendix B. Registration Form 69 Index 71 ii Directory eXtended Version 2.0 1.0 Introduction DX was born out of the desire to have a double column directory display. It has grown into a very powerful disk and file management tool. Even if you never use the advanced features of DX, you will find the output much more informative than that of DOS's DIR command. There are two major distinctions between DX and the plethora of other file managers in the world: 1. DX has a very powerful and versatile file-matching engine. You can search an entire disk and select a group of files based on very sophisticated criteria -- unsurpassed by any other DOS program! Most DOS users are familiar with directory wildcards -- the '?' being used to match any single character and the '*' to match zero or more characters. DX takes this concept one step further by allowing any number of '*'s and additional characters between and after the '*'s. Multiple patterns may be included and excluded. Files may be selected or excluded based on file attributes, sizes, and creation date/time ranges. 2. DX is not menu or mouse oriented. DX is aimed at a significant portion of DOS users who prefer to use a quick, command-line oriented utility to do their file management. A full-screen version of DX is under development for those who want the power of DX but prefer that environment. Using the matching engine to display your directory is only the beginning. DX can perform just about any function you can imagine on these files starting with enhanced versions of COPY, APPEND, COMPARE, MOVE, DELETE, and RENAME and continuing on to setting a file's attributes or creation date/time or determining its checksum or CRC. If none of DX's built-in functions fit the bill, you can have DX write a batch file to process your files any way you like! The possibilities are endless! Don't let the size of DX scare you -- it will take the place of many disk/file utilities that you now use -- standardizing their usage and making your work easier. There are many examples and suggestions in this manual -- these are just the beginning; you will undoubtedly think of many more! 1.1 Feature Summary - Full path and hard disk support. Page 2 1.0 Introduction Version 2.0 Directory eXtended - A very powerful and flexible file-matching engine allowing multiple wildcards and additional characters following and between the wildcard characters. For example, "DX *TEST" will match files named "FILETEST", "XTEST", and "TEST" while "DX ?*TEST" would only match files "FILETEST" and "XTEST". - Multiple file specifications can be given -- both as inclusion and exclusion. For example, "DX .BAS+.PAS;*T" will match files with extensions of ".BAS" and ".PAS" only if their names do not end with a "T". - DX can search all directories, list all directory names, and test whether a set of files can fit on a different disk. - DX can search any and all ARChives and LiBRaries using full pattern matching; compare files within an ARChive to files outside; rename and change the date/time of files within ARChives. - You can specify exactly which file attributes to display. See any hidden or system files. - You can select files between (or outside) of a specified range of file sizes and/or dates/times. - Have you ever received a new disk and wanted to know immediately what commands are available? An option on DX will display all ".COM", ".EXE", and ".BAT" files. - DX suppresses the annoying "." and ".." entries that are always present in directories. - DX can sort files by any combination of filename, extension, size, date/time, or file attributes -- ascending or descending. Sort files within archives and libraries. The sorted output may be across the screen or columnar. - Move, copy, compare, delete, and rename files across disks and directories. Append files to pre-existing files. Change file attributes and date/time stamp. - All of DX's special processing may be verified on a file-by-file basis (default) or performed automatically. - Produce either a Cyclic Redundancy Check (CRC) or checksum of your files for data integrity checking -- useful in detecting Trojan horses! Copyright (C) 1985-1989, Robert K. Blaine/ECONO-SOFT Page 3 Directory eXtended Version 2.0 - You can carry all of the extensive pattern matching capabilities into any task you need to perform by having DX generate (and optionally internally execute) DOS batch files for you. Couple this with the ability to search all directories, archives, and libraries and you can build batch files to process your entire hard disk. - DX has an extensive set of output formatting options -- including colors, printer formatting, UPPER, lower or Initial Caps cases, 12 or 24 hour time formats, and screen width, height, and screen-handling options. - DX is fully customizable -- set your favorite options once and they will always be used. - Make decisions in batch files based on the ERRORLEVEL set by DX -- i.e. if files or disks exist or don't exist; if files compare; if a copy, move, rename, delete, etc. was successful or not. 1.2 The ShareWare Concept -- DX IS NOT FREE! DX is released as ShareWare and, as such, is dependent upon your support for ongoing development. You are encouraged to freely copy and distribute this product (DX.EXE and DX.DOC) to friends, business associates, and user groups. It is expected that DX will only be available commercially at some time in the future. THIS PRODUCT IS NOT FREE! You have an evaluation period of two weeks. If you decide not to use DX, simply pass the disk along to someone else. If you are still using DX after two weeks of evaluation, you are obligated to send a registration fee of $49.95 (includes a printed manual). If the future of low-cost, quality software is to continue, we all must support this concept. Send any comments, suggestions, questions, or problem reports to the address below. Customized versions are available. Dealer inquiries are welcome. Corporate discounts are available. (Please quote your version number -- from the program, not the documentation -- on all correspondence.) Texas residents please add 8% sales tax. Appendix B has a convenient form to use for registration and ordering. Please address all payments and correspondence to: ECONO-SOFT CompuServe [73267,1664] P.O. Box 181030 512-832-1675 Austin, TX 78718-1030 800-367-7590 Page 4 1.1 Feature Summary Version 2.0 Directory eXtended Mastercard and VISA are accepted. Our policy includes a 30 day, no questions asked guarantee. 1.3 A Sample Display DX's default output mode is a two column display which gives much more information about a disk and directory than DOS's DIR command. While reading this information, why not simply type "DX" and compare the display with the following discussion. A sample output is shown here: Volume [E:RAM Disk] created: 88-Dec-16 18:33:14; Directory of [E:\] Temp --dir-- 88dec16 21:30 | Dx.Exe 71216 r 88dec12 8:04 List.Com 8191 r 88jul08 3:53 | Path.Bat 103 a 88dec16 18:33 Sk1.Swp 378880 a 88dec16 21:13 | Sk4.Swp 301104 a 88dec16 18:32 St.Exe 11152 r 88may12 1:19 | Xx.Spr 981 a 88dec16 21:20 771,627 bytes in 8 files. 774,144 bytes allocated (1% slack). 516,096 bytes free (40%). 1,024 byte minimum allocation. 1,291,264 bytes total on: RAM Disk. Attributes hidden: none. The first line contains the volume name, creation date/time, if present, and the file specification given for file- matching. For each file, its name, extension, size in bytes, file attributes, and date/time of last modification are shown. An 'a' appears in the attribute field if the 'Archive' attribute is set for this file. This attribute indicates that the file has been created or modified since the last disk BACKUP (this is of primary interest to hard disk users). An 'r' appears if the file has been marked as 'Read-only'. This attribute indicates that DOS will not allow the file to be deleted or written over. An 'h' appears if the file is 'Hidden' and an 's' appears if the file is a 'System' file. (These last two attributes are not displayed by default -- see section 3.3 for more information.) The designation '--dir--' indicates a directory. The statistics printed at the end contain the following information: the number of files matched and the total number of bytes in those files; the actual amount of space allocated; the percentage of "slack" or wasted space (or percentage saved in an archive); the number of bytes free on the device and what percentage of total disk space that represents; the size of an allocation unit (DOS allocates disk space in multiples of this amount); the total disk space and type of the disk; and an indication of which file attributes were not displayed. Copyright (C) 1985-1989, Robert K. Blaine/ECONO-SOFT Page 5 Directory eXtended Version 2.0 (Other information may be displayed if certain options are selected.) The type of disk will be one of the following: Disk Type Sides Sectors/Track Size Ref SS/8s Floppy 1 8 160 KB DOS 1 SS/9s Floppy 1 9 180 KB DOS 2+ DS/8s Floppy 2 8 320 KB DOS 1 DS/9s Floppy 2 9 360 KB DOS 2+ QD/15s or 3.5"/9s 2 15 1.2 MB PC/AT 2 9 740 KB PS/2 3.5"/18s Floppy 2 18 1.44 MB PS/2 Hard Disk Hard (fixed) Disk. RAM Disk RAM or virtual disk. NET Disk Network (remote) drive. The "Attributes hidden" indicator will either display "none" -- which indicates that all files were considered for file- matching -- or a list of attributes that were not selected. For example, if the disk were bootable, the designation "Attributes hidden: HS" would be displayed indicating that in order to see the hidden and system files present in the directory, it is necessary to include the H and S flags on the /ATtr switch. By default, hidden and system are not displayed -- remember any of these options may be customized to your taste (see section 3.3). 1.4 General Syntax DX's command format complies with the original DOS standard -- i.e. the standard that DOS was modeled after. The problem in the PC community is that everyone has a better idea for syntax so there really are no standards. This syntax conforms to all DOS utilities. The format is shown below and then explained. Items within square brackets are optional, items within curly braces may be repeated any number of times, and a vertical bar indicates that you should pick one of them (believe it or not, some people actually like to see this format): DX [/switch {/switch}] [filespec] [/switch {/switch}] The syntax for a file specification is as follows: filespec ::= [d:][path][[;]pattern{+pattern|;pattern}] The syntax for a switch designation is as follows: switch ::= /name[-|:[-]value[:value]|=[-]value[:value]] Page 6 1.3 A Sample Display Version 2.0 Directory eXtended Now what does that mean to the average user? There are three major parts to the command line. The first is the name (and possibly the drive and path) where DOS should load DX from. The second part is the file specification and the third part consists of option selection. This is done via switches. The file specification defaults to "*.*" -- that is all files with all extensions in the current directory of the currently logged disk. A drive and/or path specification may be given. If a path starts with a back-slash ("\") the path starts from the root of the directory tree, otherwise the path starts from the current directory level. If the file specification ends in a directory name, all files in that directory are selected implicitly. Currently, wildcards are not allowed in the drive or path portions of the file specification and this portion cannot be repeated. The last name in the "path" specification may be an archive or library name -- thus allowing archives and libraries to become a logical extension to the DOS path. This is described in detail in section 3.6. After the drive and path, any number of optional file patterns may be given. Refer to section 3.2 for detailed information on pattern matching. Throughout this document, switch names are shown in mixed upper/lower case. The portion in upper case represents the minimum abbreviation. For example, the "/SINce" switch may be given as "/SINCE", "/SINC", and "/SIN", but not "/SI" since that is a valid abbreviation for the "/SIze" switch. Switches may be specified either after the command name or after the file specification. There may be spaces between switches, after the command name, and between a switch and the file specification. There may not be any spaces between the '/' that starts the switch, the name of the switch, or any values associated with that switch. In general a switch is either on or off, and may have one or two values associated with it. Let's use "SW" as the name of a sample switch. The notation "/SW" will turn the switch on, and "/SW-" will turn the switch off. "/SW:value" supplies a value to the switch and "/SW:value:value" supplies two values. A switch value may be a single character option, a string, a number, a keyword, or a complete file specification. For each switch discussed in this documentation, the types of values and their defaults are given. The '=' may be used instead of ':' to assign values to a switch as in "/SW=value" or "/SW=value:value" (this format is not possible on DOS environment variables -- see section 7). Copyright (C) 1985-1989, Robert K. Blaine/ECONO-SOFT Page 7 Directory eXtended Version 2.0 DOS limits the length of a command line to 127 characters. If you need more room to enter your commands to DX, simply end the current line with a comma (','); DX will then solicit continuation lines. DX limits the total file specification pattern and the total switch specification to 255 characters each -- of course, they can be intermixed. 1.5 System Requirements - Any IBM PC family or PS/2 or compatible. - About 88k above that used by DOS and any resident software. (Special and Batch processing require more memory). - Color or monochrome monitor. - MS/PC-DOS 2.x, 3.x, or 4.x. - DX runs under Topview, DesqView, DoubleDos, and the OS/2 Compatibility Option (see section 8.2.1) and is compatible with most networks. Page 8 1.5 System Requirements Version 2.0 Directory eXtended 2.0 Formatting Options This section describes switches that modify how the directory is displayed. Keep in mind that when you decide what format you like best, you can customize DX to always use that format (see section 7). 2.1 /Pause -- A Screenful at a Time The /Pause option is used to cause DX to stop when the screen fills and wait for any key to be struck. Examples: dx /p => list full directory; pause when screen fills This switch is automatically turned off by /Output and /Batch and the use of special processing. The /Pause switch may take the keyword values 'Screen' or 'Directory'. The default is 'Screen'; 'Directory' will cause DX to pause between directories, archives, and libraries (when used with the /FFind option): dx /p:d /ffind => search the entire disk pausing whenever the screen fills or a new directory is entered When DX has paused, you may type a "G" to prevent further pausing. 2.2 /Wide -- A Quick Look The /Wide option is used to display 5 entries across the screen when operating in normal mode. When used with the List Directory option ("/Ldir"), as many directories as possible are displayed across the screen. Examples: dx /w => list all files in the current directory in a wide format Copyright (C) 1985-1989, Robert K. Blaine/ECONO-SOFT Page 9 Directory eXtended Version 2.0 2.3 /SINGle -- One File Per Line The /SINGle option is used to display one file per line with some more information than is otherwise displayed. Some extra spaces are inserted for increased readability, the file modification time is displayed with seconds, and the amount of space actually allocated to the file is shown in parentheses. (The seconds field is only accurate to within two seconds because of the way DOS stores packed times.) DX /single => list all files in the current directory one file per line DX \*.pas/sing/ff => starting in the root, search the entire disk for any pascal files and list them one file per line 2.4 /Totals -- Statistics Only The /Totals option causes DX to output the file totals only. The body of the display -- filenames, sizes, attributes, and date/times are not displayed. If used with the File Find option ("/FFind"), you may want to specify only the directory subtotals, or only the grand totals. These are selected with the 'Subtotals' or 'Global' qualifiers as shown: dx /t => list the totals for all files in the current directory dx test.*/ffind/t:s => starting from the current directory, list the subtotals by directory for all files matching test.* in the current directory and all subdirectories dx \*b/ff/totals:global => starting at the root, search the entire disk for files that end in "b" and print only the grand total ("/Totals:Off" is equivalent to "/Totals-" and is the default -- i.e. directories are listed along with totals.) Page 10 2.3 /SINGle -- One File Per Line Version 2.0 Directory eXtended 2.5 /HEader -- Setting the Header Level The /HEader option determines how many lines of heading are output. This switch takes a numeric value between 0 and 2. If the switch is not specified, the value defaults to 2 which gives all heading lines. A value of 1 will suppress the Copyright line. A value of 0 will suppress all headers. dx /he:1 => list all files in the current directory; omit the copyright headline dx files /header:0 => list all files matching "files.*" with no heading 2.6 /STats -- Setting the Statistics Level The /STats option determines how many lines of statistics are displayed at the end of the directory. This switch takes a numeric argument between 0 and 4. The default value of 4 selects all statistics. A value of 3 will suppress the last line which contains the total size of the disk, the type of disk, and what attributes were not selected. A value of 2 will also suppress the total space allocated by the selected files, the percentage of wasted space, and the minimum allocation. A value of 1 will only display the number of files and number of bytes matched -- this avoids the "Free space" determination which can be time consuming on a hard disk. A value of 1 also shows how many directories were scanned via the File Find (/FFind) or List Directory (/Ldir) options. A value of 0 will suppress all statistics including those generated by special processing. dx /stat:0 => turn off all statistics dx files/st=1 => list all files matching "files.*" listing the number of files and number of bytes matched Two values may be given in which case the second value is used on hard disks only which may be used to prevent the time consuming free space computation on large hard disks: dx /st:4:1 => level 1 statistics on hard disks; full statistics on all other disks Copyright (C) 1985-1989, Robert K. Blaine/ECONO-SOFT Page 11 Directory eXtended Version 2.0 2.7 /CAse -- Setting the Output Case The /CAse switch selects whether the output should be displayed in all upper case, all lower case, or with initial caps (the first character of each word capitalized). Initial caps ("/CAse:Initial") is the default; specify "/CAse:Lower" for lower case and "/CAse:Upper" for upper case: dx /ca:u => desplay the directory in upper case dx *.asm /case:low => display all "*.asm" files in lower case 2.8 /12 -- Setting the Time Format The /12 switch selects 12 hour format when displaying times. The default is 24 hour format: dx /12 => use 12-hour format 2.9 Color Configuration If no colors are specified, DX will set its colors to match the current on-screen colors of the left-most character of the line above the cursor position when DX is loaded. This means that DX will blend in with whatever screen colors you have selected for DOS. If you want DX to come up with specific colors, use the following three switches (to make them the default, see section 7). Each switch takes a color keyword (they may be abbreviated as shown in capital letters): Keyword Color Keyword Color Black ................ Black GRAy ............. Dark Gray BLUe .................. Blue LBlue ........... Light Blue Green ................ Green LGREen ......... Light Green Cyan .................. Cyan LCyan ........... Light Cyan Red .................... Red LRed ............ Bright Red Magenta ............ Magenta LMagenta .... Bright Magenta BRown ................ Brown Yellow ....... Bright Yellow Lgray ........... Light Gray White ......... Bright White Some color displays, the 3270-PC for example, cannot accept the high-intensity colors (the second column). If a high- intensity color is used on one of these displays, the corresponding low-intensity color will appear instead. Page 12 2.7 /CAse -- Setting the Output Case Version 2.0 Directory eXtended 2.9.1 /BColor -- Background Color The background color may be selected via the /BColor switch. Only colors on the left side of the above table (Black .. Lgray -- low intensity) should be used. If a high intensity color is selected, the low intensity color will actually display and the foreground display will blink. The default is determined by the current colors at the cursor position when DX is started: dx /bcolor:bl => set background black dx /bc:cyan => set background cyan 2.9.2 /FColor -- Foreground Color The foreground color may be selected via the /FColor switch. Any of the colors in the above table may be specified. The default is determined by the current colors at the cursor position when DX is started: dx /fc=gr => set foreground gray dx /fcolor:black => set foreground black 2.9.3 /DColor -- Directory Color DX highlights certain parts of its display using the color specified by /DColor (this includes the Diretory name, volume name, and verification questions). Any color in the above table may be specified. The default for this color is based on the foreground color and is determined by toggling the high intensity screen attribute. This means that if the foreground color is brown, the default directory color is bright yellow, and if the foreground color is light blue, the default directory color is blue. (If run on a display that does not support high- intensity, directories will not be high-lighted unless you specify this switch.) This color may be specified by: dx /dc:blu => set directories blue dx /dcol:yellow => set directories yellow 2.9.4 /ANSI -- xANSI Driver Support Colors are normally set through the system BIOS. The /ANSI switch when used in conjunction with screen output through DOS (see /Output, section 2.10) will set colors via standard ANSI escape sequences. Copyright (C) 1985-1989, Robert K. Blaine/ECONO-SOFT Page 13 Directory eXtended Version 2.0 dx /fc:bl /bc:cy /out /ansi => set black on cyan; send ANSI sequences to DOS 2.10 /Output -- Where to Send the Directory The /Output switch is used to specify an output file. DOS is not normally used for screen output at all (this means that the DOS RAW mode setting has no effect). This allows colors to be used and speeds up the screen display. Specifying /Output causes output to go through DOS in one of two ways. If the switch is given without a value, then DOS standard output is used. This allows redirection (via '>') and piping ('|'). Redirection allows you to route the output to any device or file -- including 'NUL' which discards all output. Piping allows you to send the output of DX to another program as input to that program. A file specification may be given to /Output which is the preferred method of output to disk as it will run significantly faster than redirecting to a disk file. Examples: dx /output:a:\misc\fred => output to "a:\misc\fred" dx file1.?xx/o | myprog => pipe output to "myprog" dx /o:nul => discard output entirely dx /out >a:fred => redirect output to a:fred ("/out:a:fred" is more efficient) 2.11 /PRint -- Formatting for the Printer The /PRint switch is used to format the output for a printer. This switch automatically selects "/Output:PRN" but the /Output switch may be explicitly specified. A printer type may be given as a value to the switch but currently the only printers that may be specified are 'Epson' and 'Ibm' and they do the same thing! 'Epson' is the default so there is no reason to specify them at all. Other printers may be added in the future. If this switch does not work well on your printer, please write. The print formatting consists of setting skip over perforation to 6, not starting a new directory in the last 12 lines of the page, and highlighting directory names by double-striking. Page 14 2.10 /Output -- Where to Send the Directory Version 2.0 Directory eXtended dx a:/print => send printer formatted output to "prn" dx .pas /pr /out:lpt3: => send printer formatted output to "lpt3:" dx /pr/out:b:myfile => format for IBM printer and send output to "b:myfile" 2.11.1 /PRMode -- Establishing the Print Mode The /PRMode switch selects the type size (font) to be used when printing. The default is 'Normal', but 'Compressed' and 'Tiny' may be used. 'Compressed' and 'Tiny' both allow more columns across the page; 'Tiny' allows more lines on the page. dx /pr/prm:c => format compressed output and send to "prn" dx /pr/prmode:tiny => format tiny output and send to "prn" 2.11.2 /PRMArg -- Setting Print Margins The /PRMArg switch allows you to specify the left and right print margins. If you give only the left margin, the right margin is set to 80 (normal) or 121 (compressed and tiny) columns past the left margin. Specifying a larger right margin assumes that you have a printer that can handle the increased width. dx /pr/prma:5 => use print margins 5:80; send output to "prn" dx /pr/prm:comp/prmarg:10:240 => use print margins 10 and 240; format compressed output and send to "prn" 2.12 /FSBlink -- Causing /FSize Message to Blink The /FSBlink switch will cause the "SUFFICIENT" or "NOT SUFFICIENT" message from /FSize to blink. See section 4.3 for information on /FSize. dx /fs:b/fsb => message will blink Copyright (C) 1985-1989, Robert K. Blaine/ECONO-SOFT Page 15 Directory eXtended Version 2.0 2.13 /Quiet -- Inhibit Informative Messages The /Quiet switch will inhibit the flashing informative "quick" messages -- the ones that tell you what directory DX is scanning or sorting or what file is being checksummed, etc. This may be useful in batch files where you may not want to see them. dx /q => inhibit all informative "quick" messages 2.14 /NLines -- Specify Output Height The /NLines switch may be used to specify the height of your screen or printer page. If this switch is not specified, the screen height is taken from the system BIOS (usually 25 lines) and the printed page is assumed to be 66 lines tall. This switch may be useful when running DX under a windowed environment. dx /nl=15 => set screen height to 15 NOTE that since DX takes the screen height and width from the BIOS, the EGA/VGA screen heights of 43 and 50 lines (in 8x8 modes) and widths of 132 characters will be supported. DX will not set these modes directly but will format output correctly for them if you use them. 2.15 /ALign -- Aligning Extensions The /ALign switch will cause DX to align file extensions similar to the way DOS's DIR does. dx /al => align extensions 2.16 /ANgle -- Angle Bracket Directory Indicator The /ANgle switch will cause DX to indicate a directory with "<DIR>" as DOS's DIR does instead of "--dir--". dx /an => use "<DIR>" instead of "-- dir--" Page 16 2.13 /Quiet -- Inhibit Informative Messages Version 2.0 Directory eXtended 2.17 /DOTstar -- Automatic ".*" DX normally appends ".*" to any directory specification that does not include a "." -- you can turn this off by: dx /dot- => do not assume ".*" Copyright (C) 1985-1989, Robert K. Blaine/ECONO-SOFT Page 17 Directory eXtended Version 2.0 3.0 File Matching Options The heart of DX is a very powerful file-matching engine. Many possibilities exist for selecting and excluding files. 3.1 /Command -- Finding Commands The /Command switch is used to match only files with an extension of ".COM", ".EXE", and ".BAT". This is useful in answering the question: "I just got this disk from Joe; what am I supposed to type to start the program?" dx /c b: => show all commands on "b:" This is exactly equivalent to (this pattern is described below): dx b:*.com+*.exe+*.bat 3.2 Extended Pattern Matching The file-matching mechanism allows for multiple inclusion and exclusion patterns. A space or plus separate patterns that are to be selected. For example: dx .dbf abc*.bas+ralph. => selects all files with an extension of ".DBF"; all files that start with "ABC" and have an extension of ".BAS"; and the file "RALPH" (with no extension). Note that if a file or extension is missing, '*' is assumed. "FILE1" and "FILE1.*" are equivalent and ".COM" and "*.COM" are equivalent. "FILE1." or "*." explicitly specifies no extension -- this can be turned off via /DOTstar- (see section 2.17). A semi-colon is used to separate patterns where the subsequent pattern is to be excluded from the search. For example: Page 18 3.0 File Matching Options Version 2.0 Directory eXtended dx .bas+.asm;goodfile => selects all files with an extension of ".BAS" and ".ASM" except "GOODFILE.BAS" and "GOODFILE.ASM". dx ;test*;.com => selects all files except those starting with "TEST" or having an extension of ".COM". See section 8.4 for information on setting alternate characters for '+' and ';'. Within each pattern, multiple wildcards may be given. The DOS wildcard characters are used but greatly expanded upon. A '?' matches any single character and a '*' matches 0 or more characters ('?*', therefore, matches 1 or more characters). DOS allows any number of '?'s but only one '*'. DX allows multiple '*'s with characters between and after the '*'. Examples: Copyright (C) 1985-1989, Robert K. Blaine/ECONO-SOFT Page 19 Directory eXtended Version 2.0 A*Z => selects any file that starts with an "A" and ends in a "Z". "AFILEZ" and "AZ" both fit, but "AFILE" does not. .*S => select any extension that ends in an "S". "TEST.PAS", "MYFILE.BAS", and "TEST.S" all fit. *TEMP*+.TMP => selects any files that have "TEMP" anywhere in their names or ".TMP" for extensions. "TEMP.X", "TEMP12", "XTEMP.C", "XTEMP12" and "FILE.TMP" all fit. ;T*F?;.EXE => selects all files except those that start with a "T" and have an "F" as the second to last letter or have an extension of ".EXE". "TFA", "TESTFL", and "DX.EXE" are examples of files that will not match. "TF" and "TESTF" will match. DX.EXE+DX.DOC => selects the two files that you might want to give to your buddy. *. => select all files with no extensions. . => select all files in the current directory (equivalent to ".\*.*"). 3.3 File attribute Matching You may select any set of file attributes to include or exclude. By default, DX is set to include all files except hidden and system files. DX will tell you (unless you limit output with the /STats option) what file attributes were found and not displayed. 3.3.1 /Full -- All Files The /Full switch specifies all file attributes. This is the simplest way to see the entire directory: dx /f => display all files Page 20 3.3 File attribute Matching Version 2.0 Directory eXtended NOTE that this option will override the /ATtr switch and is exactly equivalent to "/ATtr:F". 3.3.2 /ATtr -- Select File Attributes The /ATtr switch modifies or selects the group of file attributes to display. By default, DX includes all files except those that have the hidden or system attributes set -- this is referred to as the base set. The /ATtr switch takes a set of characters indicating which attributes should be added or removed from the base set. The letters used are "A" for archive, "D" for directory, "H" for hidden, "N" for normal, "R" for read-only, and "S" for system. A letter by itself or followed by a "+" will be added to the set. A letter followed by a "-" will be removed from the set. The letter "F" will select the full set of attributes. To "wipe out" the base set and specify all attributes explicitly, begin the switch value with a "!". DX defines a "normal" file to be one that has no attributes set. To see system and hidden files, it is often necessary to specify both (or use /Full or "F"): Copyright (C) 1985-1989, Robert K. Blaine/ECONO-SOFT Page 21 Directory eXtended Version 2.0 dx /at:!a => only files with archive set dx /at:a- => Exclude files with archive set dx /at:fa- => All files except archive -- i.e. those that have been backed up dx /at:!d => display only directories dx /at:d- => exclude directories dx /at:fd- => all files except directories dx /at:!n => display only "normal" files --i.e. those that have no attributes set dx /at:n- => exclude "normal" files dx /at:fn- => all files except "normal" files dx /at:!r => display only read-only files dx /at:r- => exclude read-only files dx /at:fr- => all files except read-only files dx /at:!h => display only hidden files dx /at:h => include hidden files dx /at:!s => display only system files. dx /at:s => include system files dx /at:hs => all files (same as /Full) dx /at:f => all files (same as /Full) NOTE that DX will not proceed into or display the name of any directory that has been marked as hidden unless the directory name is explicitly given as part of the file specification or the hidden attribute is turned on. Page 22 3.3 /ATtr -- Select File Attributes Version 2.0 Directory eXtended 3.4 /SIze -- Setting a Size Range The /SIze switch specifies a range of file sizes to include or exclude from the selection. Two values may be given. If a minus sign precedes the first value, the range is considered an exclusion range. If only one value is given, an exact match or exact exclusion is selected. The letter 'K' or 'M' may follow either value and specifies a number of kilo-bytes (1024) or mega-bytes (1024*1024): dx /si:1000:10000 => files between 1000 and 10000 bytes (inclusive) only dx /si:-500:25000 => files less than 500 bytes or larger than 25000 bytes dx /si:2345 => only files exactly 2345 bytes dx /si:-45 => only files that are not 45 bytes dx /si:100k:5m => files between 102400 and 5242880 dx /si:0 /del => delete all zero length files 3.5 /SINce and /BEfore -- Date/Time Ranges Files may be included or excluded based on a range of dates and times specified by the /SINce and /BEfore switches. This affords a much more flexible method of specifying a date and time. Those of you familiar with Digital Equipment's line of mini-computers, will have no trouble with the new format... it is very similar and expands on DEC's format in some areas. The general format is: /SINce:date:time /BEfore:date:time If "date" is omitted, TODAY is assumed; if "time" is omitted, midnight is used. The following formats may be used (keywords may be abbreviated): Copyright (C) 1985-1989, Robert K. Blaine/ECONO-SOFT Page 23 Directory eXtended Version 2.0 Date Example Description +nn +5 5 days from now -nn -3 3 days ago dd- 15- 15th day of this month dd-month[-yy[yy]] 3-may-88 May 3, 1988 mm-dd[-yy[yy]] 5-3-1988 May 3, 1988 yymmdd 880503 May 3, 1988 Today tod today's date TOmorrow tomorrow tomorrow's date Yesterday y yesterday's date dayofweek tuesday last tuesday Next_dayofweek next_wednesday next wednesday Time Example hh:mm[:ss][Pm] 12:34, 12:34:56, 8:34pm, 4:34:45a hh[mm][Pm] 12, 1234, 5p, 714pm +hh[mm]] +4, -3 -hh:mm[:ss] +2:34, -3:12:34 It may seem odd to include keywords that represent date/times in the future, but these same formats are supported on the /FDate and /TDate switches. In addition, the keyword "NOW" is defined as "TODAY:+0" -- i.e. the current date and time. NOTE that if you only specify a time, DX will normally correctly interpret the value and assume TODAY for the date. There is one case where DX cannot tell the difference. If you want to specify a plus/minus number of hours without giving a date, you must use two colons -- i.e. a null date -- see the example below. A date/time may also be given by reference to another file by using the "@filename" format illustrated below. This specification may include simple DOS-style wildcards (not DX- style) in which case, the first file that matches, will be used. Page 24 3.5 /SINce and /BEfore -- Date/Time Ranges Version 2.0 Directory eXtended /since:2-feb-87 /before:2-feb-87:23:59:59 => all files created on February 2, 1987 /sin:1-jan-87 /be:31-dec-87:23:59:59 => all files created in 1987 /before:monday => before Monday at midnight /sin:3-mar:7p => since the 3rd of March at 7pm /sin:y:1200 => since yesterday at noon /sin:-2:5pm => since 2 days ago at 5pm /sin:-5 => since 5 days ago /sin:y:-1 => since yesterday, 1 hour before now /sin::-1 => since 1 hour ago (note two colons) /sin:851004 => 10/4/85 -- for backward compatibility /sin:@dump.dir => since date/time on "dump.dir" Note that /Since is defined as on or after and /BEfore is defined as on or before. 3.6 Viewing ARChive and LiBRary Directories DX has the capability to display the directories of archives and libraries and perform limited processing within them. ARChives conform to the format produced by the ARC program by System Enhancement Associates and other shareware and public domain programs. This format is a powerful tool for compressing and combining files so that they take up less disk space -- it has become the standard in file compression. LiBRaries have been in the public domain for many, many years and are the "old" standard in combining multiple files into a single file. These files are not necessarily compressed. DX considers any file that has an extension of ".ARC" to be a potential archive and any file with an extension of ".LBR" to be a potential library. DX will not look in any other files for internal directories. Copyright (C) 1985-1989, Robert K. Blaine/ECONO-SOFT Page 25 Directory eXtended Version 2.0 DX treats archives and libraries as logical extensions to the DOS directory structure. To obtain the directory of a single archive or library, simply give its name (with an optional drive and path specification) and a backslash -- it is not necessary to specify the extension (.ARC or .LBR) unless a normal DOS subdirectory with the same name exists in the same directory. Any DX pattern specification may follow the backslash -- if no pattern follows, "*.*" is assumed. The backslash is required -- without it, DX will simply report the directory of the archive or library file and not the files within it! Examples: dx source\ => all files in "source.arc" or "source.lbr". dx a:\save\.pas;file => all "*.pas" files except "file.pas" in "a:\save.arc" or "a:\save.lbr". dx \misc\85.arc\t*.* => all "t*.*" files in "\misc\85.arc". 3.6.1 /ARCDT -- Validating ARC/LBR Timestamps The original ARC program always maintained the archive's date/time as that of the most recent file within it. This is obviously useful. Some archive utilities do not correctly maintain date/time. In addition, if you download an archive from a bulletin board system, it will get the current date/time which is not representative of the files you received. The /ARCDT switch insures that an .ARC or .LBR's date/time is correct -- i.e. that it is equal to the date/time of the most recent file within it. This switch only applies to .ARC/.LBRs that DX looks in and is not verifiable -- i.e. if you don't actually select the contents of the .ARC/.LBR (with "arcname\" or "/FF:A"), DX will not detect an incorrect date/time and will not correct it. The switch may take the value "/ARCDT:Log" (default) or "/ARCDT:Nolog" to determine whether an informative message is displayed. The switch is intended to be set on in your environment and forgotten (the default is /ARCDT-): dx /arcdt => correct ARC/LBR date/timestamps dx /arcdt:nolog => do it quietly (no message) Page 26 3.6 Viewing ARChive and LiBRary Directories Version 2.0 Directory eXtended 4.0 Utility Options 4.1 /SOrt -- Sorting Files DX can sort files in any order. Sorting is off by default. The /SOrt switch without a value selects directories before files and then name and then extension in ascending order. The sorting criteria consists of: "N" for name, "E" for extension, "S" for size, "D" for date/time, "A" for attribute, and "*" for directory vs. file. Specifying a letter by itself or with a '+' suffix indicates ascending order; specifying a '-' suffix indicates descending order. (For backward compatibility, "T" is accepted as equivalent to "D".) The "*" is a special type of sorting -- it splits the display showing directories first and then files or vice versa ("*-"). If the letter "C" appears anywhere in the sort criteria, column sorting is enabled -- DX will display the output in columns ("C" by itself is undefined). The sort criteria may be up to 16 characters long. Note that you can sort files within ARChives and LiBRaries. dx /so => directories before files; sort by name and extension (same as "*ne") dx /so:*-ne => files before directories; sort by name and extension dx /so:ne => sort by name and extension dx/so:e-n- => sort files descending by extension first and then by descending name dx /so:snd- => sort files by ascending size, ascending name, and then descending date dx /so:*nec => directories before files; sort by name and extension; display in columns Copyright (C) 1985-1989, Robert K. Blaine/ECONO-SOFT Page 27 Directory eXtended Version 2.0 4.2 /FFind -- Searching Multiple Directories The "File Find" (/FFind) option searches the entire disk directory for files that match. This is primarily intended for hard disk users but may be used on floppies as well. The search starts in the current directory. If you want the search to start at the root or in a different directory, you must specify that in the path: dx \ /ff => display all files in all directories on the default disk dx .pas/ff => find all files ending in ".pas" in this directory and any sub- directories of this directory dx d:\foo.bar/ff => search the entire D: disk for the file "foo.bar" Normally only directories are searched ("/FFind:Directory"). You can expand the search to include any archives or libraries encountered by use of the following keywords: 'All' searches directories, archives, and libraries; 'ARchive' searches only archives found in the current directory; and 'Library' searches only libraries found in the current directory: dx \.pas /ff:a => find all "*.pas" files in every directory, archive, and library dx /ff:all => display all files in every directory, archive, and library starting with the current directory dx .doc /ff:l => find all "*.doc" files in the current directory and any libraries in the current directory NOTE that DX will not proceed into a hidden directory unless the hidden attribute is turned on via /ATtr (see section 3.3). Page 28 4.2 /FFind -- Searching Multiple Directories Version 2.0 Directory eXtended 4.3 /FSize -- Testing if File Transfer Possible The "File Size" (/FSize) option is used to determine whether a set of files (matching all other criteria) can be transferred to a specified disk. This option does not transfer any files. /FSize takes into account the differences in allocation units on different disk drives and tells you how many bytes the files will occupy on the destination drive (along with how much free space there exists on that drive). You can request that the sufficient/not sufficient message blink by specifying the /FSBlink parameter. The value specified with /FSize must be a valid disk drive or the minimum allocation (cluster) size of a disk drive: dx *.pas/fs:a: => determine if all ".pas" files may be transferred to the disk in A: dx b:\*test/fs:d/ff => determine if all files ending in "test" anywhere on the B: drive can be transferred to disk D: dx xxx./fs:512/fsb => determine how much space is required to transfer the file "xxx" to a disk with 512 byte minimum allocations. The message will blink When used with /COPy or /MOve, the drive may be omitted and will be taken from the target given to /COPy or /MOve. In addition, the /COPy or /MOve will not be done if the /FSize test fails. dx files/cop:a:/fs => copy to a: if room is available NOTE: DX does not detect the case where a file is being overwritten -- thus resulting in its previous allocation being reclaimed; nor will it detect the case where directories may have to be created or expanded -- taking up additional allocation units. 4.4 /Ldir -- Listing Directory Names The "List Directories" (/Ldir) option displays the directory names, number of files and size of the files in each directory for all directories found on the disk. The search begins in the current directory unless a path is specified: Copyright (C) 1985-1989, Robert K. Blaine/ECONO-SOFT Page 29 Directory eXtended Version 2.0 dx c:/ld => list the default directory on C: and all of its sub- directories. dx /ld/ff:a => list ARChive and LiBRary directories too. dx \/ld/w => starting at the root, list all directories on the logged drive in a wide format. 4.5 /CKsum -- Checksumming Files A checksum is a method of "folding" all of the data in a file into a single value. This value can then be compared to the checksum of a file that should be a copy of the original. If the checksums match, you have a high probability (estimated at 99.6%) that the files are identical. It, therefore, can be used as a quick check to see if files have changed. Checksums are printed as 4 hexadecimal digits -- the value is not important; only that it matches the original. dx newfile /cksum => compute newfile's checksum. 4.6 /CRC -- Cyclic Redundancy Checks A Cyclic Redundancy Check is very similar to a checksum except that the summation is constantly rotated logically (it's a little more complicated than that.) CRCs were developed because a simple checksum is not always accurate enough for high speed tele-communications where an error may occur for a few characters in a row and end up cancelling themselves out. In other words, the checksum may match but the files don't. The CRC algorithm takes almost twice as long as the simple checksum but it is estimated to be 99.9969% effective. The algorithm used for the CRC computation is exactly the same as that used in the ARC program by System Enhancement Associates and comes from an article in PC Tech Journal of April 1985 by W. David Schwaderer. Since the algorithm is the same, DX uses the CRC to compare files inside an archive to those outside of an archive (see section 5.3). CRCs (or checksums) may be compared over the phone or electronically with another user -- if the values match you have a 99.9969% (or 99.6%) probability that the files are identical. dx .bas /crc => compute the CRC of all "*.bas" files. Page 30 4.5 /CKsum -- Checksumming Files Version 2.0 Directory eXtended CRCs are displayed within curly braces. When DX displays the subtotal and total CRC summations at the end of the display, these values are a summation of the actual CRCs and, therefore, are not true CRCs. Copyright (C) 1985-1989, Robert K. Blaine/ECONO-SOFT Page 31 Directory eXtended Version 2.0 5.0 Special Processing Special processing is the term used to collectively refer to all the little extras that DX can do to your files as it finds them. There are currently 10 functions that constitute special processing: /VIew, /RUn, /MOve, /COPy, /COMPare, /REName, /GOBak, /FDate, /FAttr, and /DELete. Special processing is done in the order just given -- this is important because if any error occurs in any step, all subsequent steps are skipped for that file. The decision to skip is performed separately for each file that matches the directory specification. In addition, if you use the /FSize switch with /COPy or /MOve, special processing is completely bypassed for all matched files if the /FSize test fails (see section 4.3). This allows you to /MOve or /COPy a group of files to another disk only if sufficient room exists. In order to make the decision based on the /FSize test, the /DEfer switch is automatically turned on -- this defers all special processing until the entire directory is scanned and is necessary so that the total space required is known before any transfers begin. DX will not perform any special processing on directory names -- it will, of course, proceed deeper into the directory structure if /FFind is on. By default, DX asks for verification before it does anything. Many options exist when DX is asking for verification (see section 5.11). 5.1 Target File Specifications Several special processing options accept a target file specification -- /COPy, /MOve, /COMPare, /REName, and /GOBak. The target specification may contain a sophisticated replacement pattern as detailed below. If the target is a DOS character device (like "PRN"), this discussion does not apply. Only one target specification may be given -- despite the number of the above switches selected. If no target is given, the current drive/directory and the source filename and extension are the default (".\*.*"). If the drive/or directory are not specified, they are filled in from the current defaults -- just like the main file specification. The target filename and extension are replaced separately on a file-by-file basis and follow these rules: - If the filename or extension is not specified in the replacement option, "*" or ".*" is used (this is NOT affected by the /DOTstar switch). Page 32 5.0 Special Processing Version 2.0 Directory eXtended - A "*" copies 0 or more characters; no more than one "*" may be present in the pattern (that is, no more than one in the filename and one in the extension) -- characters may preceed and succeed the "*". - Characters from the beginning of the string up to a "*" are test/copied first; characters from the end of the string back to a "*" are test/copied next -- backwards; any leftover characters "in the middle" match the "*". Test/copied means that if the character is explicitly specified in the replacement pattern, it will override the character in the source pattern; if a '?' is used in the replacement pattern, the corresponding source character will be used; if a '/' is used in the replacement pattern, the source character will be deleted with no replacement. If this seems complicated, just try it! Chances are that it's going to work the way you'd like it to and, with verfication on, you'll see just what DX will do and get to say "Yes" or "No" before it does it! In the following example table, "Source" is the filename or extension as matched by the normal file matching mechanisms; "Replacement" is the pattern as given to one of the target switches; and "Target" is the generated target name as a result of the combination. Remember that the replacement procedure is performed on the filename and extension individually. Source Replacement Target myfile * myfile hisfile her* herfile yourfile *list yourlist myfile ??te?? mytele xxxy xxx?z xxxyz yyxxyyyy "//*////" xx xxxxxxyy "zz////??" zzyy NOTE that the use of "/"s in your patterns require that the target file specification be quoted. 5.2 /MOve and /COPy -- Moving/Copying Files /MOve and /COPy are two very powerful ways to move or copy files from one disk/directory to another. /MOve will first attempt to rename the file across the DOS directory structure -- this will only work if the source and target are the same physical disk (SUBST'd disks are the same physical disk as their root directory and move-rename will work). If move- rename is successful, the file is not actually copied -- its directory entry is simply removed from one directory and Copyright (C) 1985-1989, Robert K. Blaine/ECONO-SOFT Page 33 Directory eXtended Version 2.0 placed in another. If the rename process fails, /MOve will then attempt to perform a copy, optional compare, and delete to move the file(s). /COPy always makes a physical copy of the file. It may be followed by an optional compare. From here on in the discussion, "move-rename" refers to the renaming of a file across the directory structure and "copy- operation" refers to both /COPy and to /MOve when move-rename fails. If not enough disk space is available during a copy-operation, the partial copy will be deleted and the original will not be touched. If the destination directory does not exist, you will be prompted for permission to create it (this is on by default -- see section 5.2.2). If an empty directory results, it may be removed (this is off by default -- see section 5.2.3). There are a variety of verification options (including automatic compare after copy) discused under /VLevel (section 5.2.6. Pattern replacement may take place to change the name of the files as they are moved. For instance. dx *.wrk /move:\temp\*.hld => move all "*.wrk" files to the "\temp" directory and give them extensions of ".hld". dx t*.doc+t*.txt /copy:b: => copy all "t*.doc" and "t*.txt" to b: dx .doc;text /cop:e:*.hld => copy all "*.doc" except "text.doc" to e:*.hld dx ;myfile /cop:\temp => copy all files except "myfile.*" to \temp dx ;my* /cop:\temp\new\ => copy all files except "my*.*" to newly created directory \temp\new dx .pas /move:b: /fsize => move all "*.pas" files to B: only if enough room exists. dx t*.bas /move:\basic => move any files "t*.bas" to "\basic" -- see note on ambiguity below if "\basic" does not exist. Page 34 5.2 /MOve and /COPy -- Moving/Copying Files Version 2.0 Directory eXtended NOTE: Be careful when specifying pattern replacement because it is easy to end up with more than one source file being mapped to the same target file. In the first example above, all "t*.bas" files are being moved to "\basic". If "\basic" is indeed an existing directory, DX will figure it out and map the files implicitly to "\basic\t*.bas". If "\basic" is not a directory, all the files will map to "\basic.bas" -- probably NOT what you had in mind! If you want DX to interpret this as a request to create a directory, you must end the specification with a "\". (One protection here is that DX will not overwrite an existing file, so the second file transfer will pause with an overwrite question.) It is always safest to end a directory with a "\": dx t*.bas /move:\basic\ => move any files "t*.bas" to a new directory "\basic\t*.bas". Care must be taken when using /MOve or /COPy with /FFind -- see the discussion in section 5.13. DX will not allow a file to be moved or copied over itself (this test can be confused by the DOS ASSIGN or SUBST commands). Neither the source nor the target of /MOve or /COPy may be within an archive or library. The final statistics will reflect the number of bytes copied for all copy-operations (not for move-renames) -- this is the total of the actual sizes of the files and not their allocations. NOTE that the target of a /COPy or /MOve may be a character device: dx myfile /copy:prn => copy file to system printer 5.2.1 /APpend -- Append Files /APpend is equivalent to using /COpy /OVerwrite:Append and will only affect a copy-operation where the target exists: the source file will be appended to the target. If the file did not previously exist, the first file copied to it will create it (unless combined with /OVerwrite:Mustexist; see section 5.11.3). If the last character of the existing file is a ^Z, the file is assumed to be a text file and the ^Z is overwritten: dx .pas /ap:b:all.pas => combine all "*.pas" files into "all.pas". NOTE: If you use /VLevel:Compare (see section 5.2.6), a compare of an appended file is currently not possible, so the DOS VERIFY switch will be turned on as the "next best thing". Copyright (C) 1985-1989, Robert K. Blaine/ECONO-SOFT Page 35 Directory eXtended Version 2.0 5.2.2 /MDir -- Create Missing Directories The /MDir option is normally on. It permits DX to create directories needed to place a file in a path that does not currently exist (subject to verification -- see section 5.11). Turning this switch off will prevent DX from trying to create directories. This switch may take a keyword value of 'Log' (default) or 'Nolog' which determines whether you get an informative message when directories are created: dx /mdir- => never create directories dx /md:n => create them quietly 5.2.3 /RDir -- Remove Empty Directory The /RDir option, when combined with /DELete or /MOve, will cause DX to attempt to remove a directory after removing files. This switch may take a keyword value of 'Log' (default) or 'Nolog' which determines whether you get an informative message when directories are removed: dx \mydir/del/rd => remove empty directories dx a:/move:b: /rdir:n => no informative message DX will remove the current directory, if it is empty, by "backing" out of all empty directories -- you will be left in the first non-empty directory. Note that DX, like DOS, cannot remove a directory if a DOS 3.x (or above) SUBST has been designated for this directory. 5.2.4 /TDate -- Set Target File's Date/Time The /TDate switch may be used to set the date/time of the target file or files AFTER a /MOve or /COpy has been performed -- this switch does NOT affect the source file; use /FDate for that. All the formats discussed under section 3.5 may be used here. The default action is to copy the date/time of the source file to the target: dx /move:xx /td:1-may => set target file's date to May 1. dx /mo:b:/td:@foo.bar => set target file's date to that of "foo.bar". Page 36 5.2 /MDir -- Create Missing Directories Version 2.0 Directory eXtended 5.2.5 /TAttr -- Set Target File Attributes The /TAttr switch may be used to set the target file attributes AFTER a /MOve or /COPy has been performed -- this switch does NOT affect the source file; use /FAttr for that. The letters used are "A" for archive, "H" for hidden, "N" for normal, "R" for read-only, and "S" for system. A special form of /TAttr ("/TA:*") is on by default: it sets the target's attributes as follows: if a file overwrite is performed, the "new" target is set to the "old" target's attributes; otherwise, the source file's attributes are copied to the target; in either case, if a physical copy is performed, the archive attribute is turned on. Any explicit use of /TAttr will override this action. It is an error to use "+" or "-" on /TAttr. The "@" format may be used to copy attributes from another file (see section 3.5). dx /cop:xxx /ta:r => set read-only on copied file. dx /ta:* => copy attributes as outlined above (default). dx /ta:n => target set to normal. dx /ta- => don't touch the file attributes (DOS sets "a"). dx /ta:r-a+ => ERROR: '+'/'-' illegal on /TA. dx /tattr:hrs => set hidden, read-only, and system; but not archive. dx /ta:@sample => set the target attributes to "sample"s attributes. 5.2.6 /VLevel -- Verify Level DX allows five choices in how verification is performed during a copy-operation. The /VLevel option controls how DX manipulates the DOS VERIFY setting and whether an automatic compare-after-copy should occur. For those of you not familiar with DOS VERIFY, DOS maintains an internal flag to determine whether a read-after-write verify should be performed after every disk write. This is established by the DOS command "VERIFY ON" or by using DOS COPY's /V switch. Many users run with "VERIFY ON" all the time and it is a good idea. Personally, I don't think that level of verification on a copy is adequate -- being Copyright (C) 1985-1989, Robert K. Blaine/ECONO-SOFT Page 37 Directory eXtended Version 2.0 a skeptic, I prefer the separate compare cycle following the copy which causes data to be reread from the source -- thus eliminating the situation where the data read from the source was read in error before being written to and verified from the target. Before we get into the individual options, be aware that if DX changes your DOS VERIFY setting, it will reset it to whatever it previously was. You can tell DX to use the DOS VERIFY switch by setting "/VLevel:ON" or not to by setting "/VLevel:Off" or not to touch it at all (leave it the way you have "VERIFY" set) by "/VLevel:Default". Another option is 'Ifcompare' which says that if you specify /COMPare with /COPy or /MOve, turn the DOS verify off, otherwise leave it alone -- this is the released default. (The philosophy here is that if you're doing a compare, there's no reason to use VERIFY as well since VERIFY does slow down disk I/O.) By far the safest option is an automatic compare after copy. This is the recommended setting to make your default by placing "/VL:Compare" in your environment string (see section 7). Setting "/VL:C" will also turn off the DOS VERIFY setting for the same reason stated above. dx.pas /copy:a: /vl:c => copy and compare files to a: -- DOS VERIFY is turned off. dx abc /move:a: /vl:on => use DOS VERIFY on move. dx /copy:d: /comp /vl:if => turn off DOS VERIFY and compare after copy. dx /copy:d: /vl:off => fastest copy -- without any verification. 5.3 /COMPare -- Comparing Files The /COMPare switch will cause DX to compare files matched with other files: dx .pas /comp:a: => compare all "*.pas" files with matching files on a: Page 38 5.2 /VLevel -- Verify Level Version 2.0 Directory eXtended This compare is significantly faster than DOS's COMP and reports the total number of mismatched bytes -- it doesn't stop at 10. If the files differ in size, the compare is not performed and a message indicates that they differ in size. If the last character in both files is a ^Z, DX will report an EOF found -- this tells you the files are probably text files. dx \ibm*.com+command.com /full /comp:b: => compare the version of DOS on two disks (note the use of /Full since IBMBIO.COM and IBMDOS.COM are not usually matched). It is possible to compare the CRC of file(s) within an ARChive with file(s) outside of the ARChive. (Remember to add a '\' to the archive name to cause DX to look inside it!) This gives a fairly reliable indication that the files within and outside the ARChive are identical. NOTE that while the CRCs of the outside files are computed, the CRC of the files within the ARChive are simply taken from the ARChive header (this is why comparing files within a LiBRary is not supported): dx source.arc\ /comp:b:\source => compare files in archives to corresponding files outside. DX will perform a DOS Disk Reset function if a compare follows a copy (either explicitly with /COMPare or implicitly with /VLevel:Compare) thus flushing any DOS or supplemental cache buffers. If this were not done, the compare might simply compare data in the cache buffers and not reread the disk. Note that some public domain cache programs do not detect the DOS Disk Reset and do not flush their cache -- compare-after- copy may not be able to reread the disk with this type of cache program. 5.4 /REName -- Renaming Files The /REName switch will cause DX to rename the matched files: dx *.bak /ren:*.hld => rename all "*.bak" files to "*.hld". DX now has the ability to rename files within ARChives and LiBRaries! In the past, it was necessary to extract the files, delete the files (or the entire ARC/LBR), rename them, and then add them again -- a very slow process. DX now makes it painless: dx myarc\old /ren:new => rename the file "old" within "myarc.arc" (or "myarc.lbr") to "new". Copyright (C) 1985-1989, Robert K. Blaine/ECONO-SOFT Page 39 Directory eXtended Version 2.0 NOTE that some ARChive utilities, like SEA's original ARC program, assume that the ARChive directory is always in alphabetical order and may have trouble if the rename operation distorts that order. NOTE that DX cannot currently rename files within .LBR's if they are squeezed -- i.e. DX will refuse to rename files in an .LBR where a 'Q' is the second letter of the extension. NOTE that DX will add the archive attribute to the archive or library but will otherwise leave all other file attributes and the DOS date and time the same. 5.5 /GOBak -- Reverting to Previous Versions A very common operation, when using editors and word processors that create backup files, is to decide that you wish to discard all changes to a file and revert to a previous version. How many times have you found yourself deleting a file and renaming its .BAK file? DX has the ability to do this for you -- SAFELY! You can even specify the backup extension: dx goof.pas /gobak => go back to "goof.bak". dx spread.wkz /gob:.baq => go back to "spread.baq". NOTE that if the backup file does not exist, DX will not touch the source file. 5.6 /FDate -- Changing File Date/Time Stamps The /FDate switch may be used to set the date/time stamp of a file or files. All of the date/time forms discussed under section 3.5 may be used. In addition, you may change the date/time stamps of files within ARChives. (Setting the date/time within an .LBR was considered but it resulted in a lot of potentially never used code since .LBR's do not use the DOS standard date/time format.) Page 40 5.4 /REName -- Renaming Files Version 2.0 Directory eXtended dx /fd:now => set all matching files to the current date/time -- ala Unix's "touch". dx /fd:tuesday:1500 => set all matching files to last Tuesday at 1500. dx myarc\file.ext /fd:yesterday:3pm => set "file.ext" within "myarc" to yesterday 3pm. dx /fdate:@file.ext => set matching files to the date/time of "file.ext". 5.7 /FAttr -- Changing File Attributes The /FAttr switch can be used to cause DX to change the file attributes on all files that match. By default, DX will ask for verification on each file. The value of this switch corresponds to a set of attributes to add to or remove from the file. The letters used are "A" for archive, "H" for hidden, "N" for normal, "R" for read-only, and "S" for system. If a letter is specified (or followed by a "+") the attribute will be added; if the letter is followed by a "-" the attribute will removed. The special case "!" (as the first character) clears all current attributes. If the "!" is followed by any other letters, those become the only new attributes. The file attribute switches take precedence so you must specify "/Full" or "/ATtr:HS" in order to change hidden and/or system files (see section 3.3). "F" is not defined. The "@" format may be used to copy attributes from another file (see section 3.5). NOTE: For backward compatibility, the "N" is treated as equivalent to the "!". This is true on /FAttr only; the other attribute switches (/ATtr and /TAttr) interpret "N" differently. To avoid confusion, use "!" in all cases to clear current attributes. Copyright (C) 1985-1989, Robert K. Blaine/ECONO-SOFT Page 41 Directory eXtended Version 2.0 dx \dira/fa:a => add the archive attribute to all files in "dira". dx \dir\/fa:!a => set archive only. dx b:/fattr:r => add read-only to all files in the default directory of B:. dx b:/fattr:!r => set only read-only. dx /fa:! => clear all attributes. dx /fa:hs => add hidden and system. dx /fa:!hs => set hidden and system only. dx \/at:!a/ffind/fa:a- => turn the archive attribute off on any file that has it set. dx ibm*.com/full/fa:! => change the operating system files to normal. dx /at:!a/cop:a:/fa:a- => copy any files that have changed (archive bit set) to a: -- and then clear the archive bit if the copy succeeded! dx xx /fa:@file.ext => set attributes to those on "file.ext". 5.8 /DELete -- Deleting Files The /DELete option specifies that DX will delete all matching files. By default, DX will ask for verification before deleting each file. If any previous special processing failed, the delete will not be performed. Be careful, you can instruct DX to delete every file on your hard disk if you combine this option with /FFind. dx b:/del => perform a verified delete on all files on the B: drive (DX will ask permission for each file individually). dx \.bak+.tmp /ff/del/v- => delete all "*.bak" and "*.tmp" files on an entire disk without verification. The final statistics will reflect the number of bytes freed (i.e. the number of bytes that were allocated) by the files deleted and not their actual sizes. Page 42 5.8 /DELete -- Deleting Files Version 2.0 Directory eXtended 5.9 /VIew -- View FIles The simplest of all special processing options, /VIew allows you the ability to call your /LIst processor (see section 5.12) for all files that match your criteria allowing you to bring the full power of DX's file matching to your list processor or editor which may expect a single file or perhaps may understand DOS wildcards. dx .pas /view /list:d:\list.com => use "d:\list.com" to selectively view all "*.pas" files. 5.10 /RUn -- Immediate Command Execution The /RUn switch allows you to execute a given command string for any or all files matched. The format of this command string is similar to batch file processing but simpler -- you can specify only a single line as the template: dx .pas;badfile.pas /run:'arc a source $n' => place all "*.pas" files except "badfile.pas" into an archive by the name "source.arc". Single or double quotes may delimit the string and are required if spaces or special characters are embedded in the string. By default, DX will prompt for verification including the command about to be executed (see section 5.11). If you are not familiar with the concepts behind batch file generation and template variables, refer to section 6 for more information. 5.11 Verifying Special Processing DX asks for permission before doing any special processing. There are three "levels" of verification. Most verify questions are controlled by the /Verify switch which is on by default; an overwrite question from /COPy or /MOve is controlled by the /OVerwrite switch which is off by default; and the handling of read-only (and system files) is controlled by the /ROnly switch which is set to "ask" by default. Copyright (C) 1985-1989, Robert K. Blaine/ECONO-SOFT Page 43 Directory eXtended Version 2.0 5.11.1 Answering the Questions When presented with a question during special processing, you have a number of options available... Option Action Y Acknowledge a VERIFY question. O Acknowledge an OVERWRITE question. R Acknowledge a READ-ONLY question. N Negative acknowledgement. G Go! This turns off the associated class of verification (see below). D View the directory of the file(s) in question (may not be an archive or library). L Invoke the /LIst processor to view the file (see section 5.12). T Invoke the /LIst processor to view the target file (i.e. on overwrite). S Shell a copy of the command processor (COMMAND.COM); type EXIT to return. I If... this option presents a sub-menu allowing you to choose "if newer", "if older", "if larger", and "if smaller" (OVERWRITE only). ^C Abort DX. ? Any other key presents a short menu. Many messages displayed while asking a question will remain on the screen for a few seconds. Hitting any key (especially the answer) will get you back to the question quicker. The reason that there are three classes of verification is for safety -- too many people simply got in the habit of always answering "Y" without reading the question. Answering "G" to any question will turn off that class of question -- i.e. answering "G" to an overwrite question is the same as having specified /OV on the command line. 5.11.2 /Verify -- Normal Verification The /Verify switch controls the action DX takes for most verifications: dx /v => ask verify questions (default). dx /v- => do not ask verify questions. Page 44 5.11 Answering the Questions Version 2.0 Directory eXtended 5.11.3 /OVerwrite -- Verifying File Overwrites /OVerwrite controls the action DX takes for questions involving file overwriting. Valid options are shown below with their minimum abbreviations in capital letters: /ov => do not ask overwrite questions. /ov:Yes => same as "/ov". /ov- => ask overwrite questions (default). /ov:Ask => same as "/ov-". /ov:Newer => overwrite if source is newer. /ov:Older => overwrite if source is older. /ov:Larger => overwrite if source is larger. /ov:Smaller => overwrite if source is smaller. /ov:Mustexist => target must exist! /ov:Append => append to existing file. /ov:NO => never overwrite a file. "Ask", "Append", and "Mustexist" may be combined with other options to create more powerful overwrite conditions -- specifying "/ov:newer:larger" is illegal. dx /mo:e: /ov:new:must => move files to E: -- if newer and file exists. dx /mov:b: /ov:l:ap:a => copy files to B: -- if larger, ask, then append. dx file/cop:\save\ /v-/ov => copy "file" to another subdirectory, without verification and without asking for overwrite permission. NOTE: /OV:Append is equivalent to /APPEND and is discussed in detail in section 5.2.1. Copyright (C) 1985-1989, Robert K. Blaine/ECONO-SOFT Page 45 Directory eXtended Version 2.0 If any options are specified on /OVerwrite, "ask" is turned off... but it may be turned back on by naming it explicitly -- the following will overwrite files if they are newer with and without asking: dx t* /copy:b: /ov:n => copy "t*.*" to b:; overwrite if newer dx t* /copy:b: /ov:n:a => copy "t*.*" to b:; ask whether to overwrite only if newer dx files /move:\save /ov:must => do not create a new file; overwrite an existing file only dx myfile /mov:log /ov:mu:ap:a => ask permission to append "myfile" to "log" only if it exists; "myfile" will be deleted after the append 5.11.4 /ROnly -- Read-only File Handling /ROnly determines the action to take when deleting or overwriting a read-only or system file: /ro:Ask => ask permission on read-only files (default). /ro:Never => never touch a read-only file. /ro:Ignore => ignore the read-only attribute (BE CAREFUL!) To convert a system disk to a normal disk (one that can no longer be booted) without verification: dx b:\ibm*.com+command.com /full /ro:i /del /v- => Page 46 5.11 /OVerwrite -- Verifying File Overwrites Version 2.0 Directory eXtended 5.12 /LIst - Defining the LIST Processor The /LIst switch may specify a program to be used during verification to display a file's contents (via the "L" or "T" responses) and for use with /VIew. It must be a full file specification including drive, path, filename, and extension. This switch is intended to be set in your environment and forgotten (see section 7). DX will load your program to be run with the name of the file as its only parameter: dx /list:d:\list.com /del => use "d:\list.com" for viewing files. The /LIst switch may take a complete template (like /Batch and /RUn) to allow more flexibility in calling a browsing utility (see section 6). For example, if your editor has a "read-only" switch, "/r", you might specify it as your browse utility as follows: /list:'\path\myedit.com $s /r' => full filespec will be substituted for "$s". If no /LIst processor has been selected, DX uses COMMAND.COM's TYPE command to copy the file to the screen... poor, but effective. 5.13 /DEfer -- Deferred Special Processing The /DEfer option is primarily used internally. If the /FSize option and any special processing options are selected at the same time, the special processing needs to be deferred until the decision can be made if enough space exists to proceed. This switch may be used manually if it is ever desired to view the entire directory before allowing special processing to commence. Another case where /DEfer may be useful is when /MOve or /COPy are being used with /FFind. If files are moved to a directory that has not yet been scanned, they may be matched a second time! This probably is not a desired effect. The use of /DEfer would allow the entire directory structure to be scanned before any files are moved thereby eliminating that possibility. This switch also takes a value to determine whether actions performed during deferred special processing are displayed or not. A value of 'Log' (default) or 'Nolog' determines whether an informative message is printed or not. Copyright (C) 1985-1989, Robert K. Blaine/ECONO-SOFT Page 47 Directory eXtended Version 2.0 dx /copy:a: /defer => defer file copies until the end. dx /del /de:nolog => defer file deletions until the end; no messages when deleting files. 5.14 /MSP -- Multi-pass Special Processing The /MSP switch may be used to allow DX to make several passes through special processing -- asking the set of questions about the selected file(s) again. This automatically turns /DEfer on. dx *.bas /del/msp => view the directory of all "*.bas" files; then make repeated passes querying whether to delete. Page 48 5.14 /MSP -- Multi-pass Special Processing Version 2.0 Directory eXtended 6.0 Batch File Generation One of the more powerful features of DX is its ability to generate batch files. This allows you to apply all of DX's file- matching capabilities to any task you need to perform. The process consists of supplying a file which acts as a template to create the batch file. This file can reside on disk, it can be entered from the keyboard, it can be redirected from a file, or it can be piped from another program. Within this file, various two character "variables" get replaced by the information about each file in the directory. The template file does not have a specified size limit (see section 8.6 on Memory Utilization). In the following table, the examples show what would be substituted for each template variable if the file "C:\Utility\Misc\Myfile.Ext" were matched: $D => the drive id ("C:"). $F => the filename only ("Myfile"). $E => the extension only (".Ext"). $N => the filename and extension ("Myfile.Ext"). $P => the file's path ("\Utility\Misc"). $S => the entire file specification ("C:\Utility\Misc\Myfile.Ext"). Note that if a file within an archive or library were being matched, $P would contain the path and name of the archive and $n would be the name and extension of the file within the archive -- this is of value in building batch files to add or delete files from archives or libraries. These variables allow you to "build" filenames from separate parts of files. copy $n b:$f.hld => template copies all matching files to the B: drive giving them an extension of ".HLD" In building a batch file, most lines in the batch template are generated once for each file processed. This allows you to execute more than one program for each file matched. It may be desirable to execute certain lines only once -- either at the beginning of the batch file or at the end. DX will generate lines that start with "${" only once at the beginning and lines that start with "$}" only once at the end. Now, suppose we wanted to copy all matching files to B: and then compare them. (Note the use of a DOS pipe ('|') to answer "COMP"'s "Compare more files ?" question.) We also want to issue a pause at the beginning and end and turn echo off: Copyright (C) 1985-1989, Robert K. Blaine/ECONO-SOFT Page 49 Directory eXtended Version 2.0 ${echo off ${echo Insert archive disk in B: and strike any key ... ${pause copy $n b: echo n | comp $n b: $}echo Copy and compare complete ... $}pause NOTE that most template variables are recognized anywhere on the line -- the exceptions are "${" and "$}" which are only recognized if they are the first two characters on the line. Two more exceptions are '$(' and '$)' which also match only if they are the first two characters on a line. They are used similarly to '${' and '$}' but '$(' and '$)' match the beginning and end of each directory that contains files that match the directory specification (useful with /FFind). Often, it is necessary to generate labels or unique numbers within batch files. This is accomplished by using "$%" and "$#". DX maintains an internal counter and will generate unique numbers each time "$%" is referenced. "$#" refers to the last number generated. Thus you could generate "GOTO"s within batch files: myprog $s if not errorlevel 1 goto L$% pause Error in MYPROG for file: $s :L$# NOTE that two of the above examples and some that follow can be done far more efficiently via DX's Special Processing switches. These examples pre-date DX's ability to do these functions but they were left as is, rather than changed to made-up program names, because they are easier to relate to when visualizing how batch generation works. 6.1 /Batch -- Specifying the Batch Template The /Batch switch turns batch processing on and tells DX where to read the "template" file. If no file specification is supplied, DOS Standard Input is read. This allows input from the keyboard, input redirection, or piping. The /EXec- switch may be used to inhibit execution until you've tested the command (see section 6.2). Page 50 6.0 Batch File Generation Version 2.0 Directory eXtended For simple one line batch generations, DOS's "echo" command can be piped into DX. One line batch files are by far the most common -- the /RUn switch was added to make them easier. In the long run, /RUn is slower than "echo" because it executes the command for each file immediately instead of processing them as a "batch". Many of the examples here can be done with "echo" or /RUn: echo ren $n $f.hld | dx *xx.tmp/b => rename all files that end in "XX" with the extension ".TMP" to ".HLD". dx *xx.tmp /run:'ren $n $f.hld' => same idea using /RUn. Notice, here, the use of "$F" with a different extension to "build" a filename. The "|" character between the "echo" command and the call to DX is called a pipe. DOS will pass the output of "echo" to DX via a temporary disk file. For this reason, you cannot use this method if the currently logged disk is full or write protected. Certain characters cannot be passed via "echo" or /RUn to DX because they are interpreted immediately by DOS. To overcome this restriction, several other template variables are available: $_ => carriage return/line feed -- this allows multiple line generation via "echo" (this template variable cannot be used with /RUn). $( => '<' -- this allows input redirection within the batch file. $) => '>' -- this allows output redirection within the batch file overwriting an existing file. $] => '>>' -- this allows output redirection within the batch file appending to an existing file. $! => '|' -- this allows piping within the batch file. $$ => '$' -- to actually generate a dollar sign two successive dollar signs are needed. For example: echo prog1 $n $_ prog2 $n $_ print $f.prn | dx *.in/b => generate a batch file that runs the programs "PROG1", "PROG2", and then prints an output file -- for each file that matches "*.IN". Copyright (C) 1985-1989, Robert K. Blaine/ECONO-SOFT Page 51 Directory eXtended Version 2.0 One caution has to be observed. If any commands within the batch file will read from DOS Standard In (like DOS's COMP or EDLIN), you cannot use this mechanism unless its input is redirected or piped in. When the program attempts to read Standard In, there won't be anything left for it and it's time to re-boot. You can overcome this by either supplying a batch template on disk and giving its name on the /Batch switch (the default extension is ".TPL"): dx myfile.*/bat:sample => read the batch template from the file "sample.tpl". or by generating the batch file and not executing it immediately (see the /EXec switch below), or by supplying the input needed to that program. For instance, in the above example back at the beginning of this chapter we COPY'd and COMP'd a set of files. Input to COMP could be piped from ECHO: echo copy $n b: $_ echo n $! comp $n b: | dx files/b => generate two lines per matched file; the first line copies the matched file to B:; the "$_" creates a carriage return/line feed thus separating the two lines; the second line contains "$!" -- this will be expanded to "|" and cause the "n" to be piped from ECHO to COMP and, thus, will answer the question "Compare more files?". (Note that you cannot use "|" between ECHO and COMP or it will create a pipe immediately, before DX ever sees the input!) If any error conditions occur, batch file execution is inhibited. This includes the cases where no files match the file specification and no room exists for a transfer as tested by /FSize. Note that if you enter input directly from the keyboard, the input must be terminated by a line containing only a Control-Z and a Carriage Return. It is perfectly legitimate for a batch file generated by DX to call DX again and again ... you are only limited by the amount of memory you have. One thing to be careful of, however, if DX is called in a batch file being executed by DX, a different output file must be specified (see the discussion in the next section). In addition, if DOS Standard Input or Output is redirected, the internal call to DX (and all programs within the batch file) will have the same redirection. It is best in these cases, to specify all files explicitly. As another example of batch file generation, consider a case where a user may wish to copy the complete directory structure, with all subdirectories in place, from one disk to another (C: to D: in the following example): Page 52 6.1 /Batch -- Specifying the Batch Template Version 2.0 Directory eXtended echo $(dx c:$p /copy:d:$p\ /v- | dx c:\ /ff /b => for every directory on c: (template starts with '$('); build a batch file that calls DX to copy that entire directory without verification (unless the files already exist on D:) to the D: disk -- creating the corresponding path if necessary (note the trailing '\' in the target path). 6.2 /EXec -- Controlling Automatic Execution The /EXec switch determines whether execution of a generated batch file (via /Batch) should begin immediately. The default for this switch is on. To turn it off, use: dx myfiles.* /batch:template /ex- => build a batch file to process all "myfiles.*" but don't automatically execute it. Even when DX executes the batch file internally, it has to write (and then later, delete) a disk file -- this is not true of the /RUn switch. The file name on the /Output switch determines where this disk file is written. If /EXec is on (the default), the default name for this disk file is "$$$$DX.BAT". If an environment variable, "TEMP=" is defined, this variable determines the drive to write this file to; if not, this file is created on the default drive and in the default directory. If /EXec is turned off, DOS Standard Output becomes the default. This means the output can be redirected or piped. If you have a RAM disk, this file can be routed to that device to make processing faster. For example, suppose D: is a RAM disk: dx /b:my_tpl/ex-/out:d:$$$$dx => build a batch file using the template in "my_tpl"; write it to "d:$$$$dx; but don't execute it. set temp=d: => define D: as the default drive for batch files. If no extension is given on this file, ".BAT" will be supplied. The output file name can include a drive and path. Note that under DOS 2.x, if you use immediate execution, you cannot include a path in this file specification; under DOS 3.x (and above) you can. Also note that in order to use the immediate execution feature, you must have sufficient system memory to hold DX (about 88k), another copy of the command processor (COMMAND.COM), and the applications you want to run. Copyright (C) 1985-1989, Robert K. Blaine/ECONO-SOFT Page 53 Directory eXtended Version 2.0 There may also be reasons to generate the batch file and not execute it immediately. For floppy-based users, internal execution will require the current disk (or a RAM disk) to have a copy of the command processor. Another reason applies to hard disk users. Let's examine the following scenario. Everyone knows that it's a good practice to backup their hard disk to floppies but how should one do it? Doing a full backup can take hours -- especially if you, like me, want two complete sets. Ok, the solution is to do full backups once every couple of weeks and do "incremental" or "change" dumps daily. This is convenient because you only back up what has been changed or newly created. The problem here is that you end up with a ton of incremental dump disks. In addition, if disaster should strike, you have to go through all of those disks to reload everything! The solution? The best plan is to dump all files that have changed since the last full dump. This gives four sets of disks (or two if you only make one set of backups) -- two full dump sets and two incremental dump sets. If you had a disaster you simply reload the two sets. The problem, though, is how do you get your favorite backup utility to do this little trick for you. The answer is: before doing your incremental backup, use DX to generate a batch file that can turn the archive attribute back on after dumping the files! This means that tomorrow when you run your backup again, the same files plus newly changed files will be dumped to the same set of incremental backup diskettes! The following batch file performs an incremental dump using DOS's BACKUP utility -- but could easily work with any backup utility. It generates calls to DX to set the archive attribute back on for all files that had the archive bit set prior to the dump. This batch file is generated once and then executed after each call to BACKUP. (The batch file is executed externally via the "COMMAND/C" command. This is actually the same way that DX executes the batch file internally.) I am assuming, here, that your hard disk is drive C: echo dx $s/fa:a/v- | dx c:\/at:!a/ff/b/ex-/o:$$dx pause Ready to create primary Incremental Dump ... backup c:\ a:/s/m command/c $$dx pause Ready to create secondary Incremental Dump ... backup c:\ a:/s/m command/c $$dx del $$dx.bat Page 54 6.2 /EXec -- Controlling Automatic Execution Version 2.0 Directory eXtended Reading from the pipe again, this instructs DX to start with the root of C:, process all files which have the archive attribute set, search the entire directory tree, and generate a batch file in the file "$$DX.BAT" without executing it. Each line in the batch file will call DX passing the complete file specification and requesting that the archive attribute be set. DOS BACKUP is then called to dump all changed files on the disk. The next step is to execute the batch file created. When the process is repeated, the exact same set of files will be dumped because their archive attributes will have been turned back on. In addition, tomorrow, when you run this again, all files dumped today plus any newly modified files will be dumped. This means that the size of the dump will grow somewhat from day to day -- when it gets too big, simply do another full dump and start from scratch. 6.3 /CDir -- Automatic CHDIR Commands The above discussions of batch processing (/Batch) work well with utilities that understand path specifications. What happens when you want to run utilities that do not understand paths? Use the /CDir switch to instruct DX to automatically generate change directory commands ("CHDIR" or "CD") in the batch file. At the end of the batch file, a change directory will be issued back to the directory in effect when DX was run: dx \t*.pas /ffind /b:skel /cd => issue automatic change directories to process all "t*.pas" files on the disk. 6.4 Preview a Batch File / Create a List of Files If you are not sure of how a batch file will turn out, preview it before actually letting it run by adding "/EXec-" to the command (see section 6.2). This will cause the output to be written to DOS Standard Output (unless an /Output switch was used) which allows you to view the output. If you like it, simply recall the line with F3 (or whatever your command processor requires) and erase the "/EX-" -- or modify it as needed. A natural consequence of batch file creation is simply creating a list of files that may be processed by another program. Use a template file of simply "$n" or "$s" or whatever your program expects (perhaps "file=$n; path=$p" ?) and either pipe this to your program or write it to a file that your program will read. Don't forget to use the "/EX-" switch to inhibit execution. Examples: Copyright (C) 1985-1989, Robert K. Blaine/ECONO-SOFT Page 55 Directory eXtended Version 2.0 echo $s | dx *.pas/b/ex- | myprog => create a file containing the complete filespec of all "*.pas" files and pipe it into "myprog". echo drive=$d; path=$p; name=$n | dx files/b/ex-/o:d:xx => create one line per file and write it to "d:xx". 6.5 Matching Directories in Batch Files Normally, DX will not match directory names when generating batch files. In most cases, you would not want this to happen. dx .../b/at:d => match directory names as well as filenames. dx .../b/at:!d => match only directory names. Page 56 6.5 Matching Directories in Batch Files Version 2.0 Directory eXtended 7.0 Customizing DX DX has a veritable plethora of switches and options available but it sure would be inconvenient to have to type them every time. The convenience options -- like /Pause, /CAse, /FColor, and /12 -- just wouldn't seem very convenient. You may set default switch settings for DX by using DOS "environment variables". Your DOS environment consists of strings that specify things like where to reload COMMAND.COM from (COMSPEC), your PATH, and your PROMPT (if you change it). DX will recognize two strings in the environment -- "DX0" and "DX". The reason for two is that you will probably want to place one string in your AUTOEXEC.BAT file so that it will be in effect every time you start your computer. The other string is then available to use as a temporary in case you want to use a set of parameters for a few calls to DX and then get rid of them. To set environment variables, you simply type: set dx0=/switch:value/switch:value... - or - set dx=/switch:value/switch:value... DX first scans the "DX0" variable, then the "DX" variable, and then options on the command line. For this reason, "DX0" should be used in your AUTOEXEC.BAT file and "DX" should be the temporary. For example, you might put the following in your AUTOEXEC.BAT (the line is split for readability; it cannot be split in the AUTOEXEC.BAT file but it can be longer than 80 characters): set dx0=/he:1/p:d/ca:l/fc:black/bc:cyan/so:nes-... /vl:c/li:d:\list.com/rd/arcdt This has the effect of setting the header level to 1 (no Copyright notice); pausing on directory boundaries; selecting lower case output; setting colors to black on cyan; sort criteria of ascending name, ascending extension, and then descending size; the verify level is set to automatic compare after copy; the list processor is specified; and permission to remove empty directories and update an ARChive's date/time is given. To see what your environment variables are currently set to, simply type the DOS command "SET". You can change these environment variables simply by retyping them and you can delete them by setting them to nothing: set dx= Copyright (C) 1985-1989, Robert K. Blaine/ECONO-SOFT Page 57 Directory eXtended Version 2.0 NOTE: There is an undocumented "feature" in DOS of which you should be aware. If you type any spaces between the keyword and the equal sign, they will be recorded with the keyword. This is not a problem to DX but if you are not consistent, you will create two versions of the same variable. For example: set dx =/Pause => DOS sets the environment variable name to "DX ". set dx=/Wide => DOS sets the environment variable name to "DX". will set two environment variables -- DX will only "see" the first. The rule is to be consistent. If you set a switch on or off in an environment variable and then decide you don't want it set for a specific call to DX, you can still change it temporarily. Environment variables only change a switch's default: set dx0=/pause/exec- => set /Pause on and /EXec off by default. dx/p-/ex => override default: don't pause and execute automatically. In addition, you can decide that for an individual call to DX, all environment settings should be ignored. This is done by starting the switch string on the command line with a double slash ('//') optionally followed by actual switches. Examples: dx // a: => ignore all default switches. dx //w test.fil => ignore all defaults; display wide output. Similarly, if the DX environment variable starts with '//', the DX0 variable will be ignored. In actuality, any time a double slash is encountered, all previous switches are discarded. Again, the "TEMP=" environment variable may be used to set the default drive for batch files: set temp=d: => use drive "D:" as the default for generated batch files. NOTE that while DX normally allows switch values to be equated by either a ':' or an '=', most versions of DOS will not allow the use of more than one '=' on the SET directive: set dx0=/bcolor=yellow => DOS ERROR!! set dx0=/bcolor:yellow => no problem. Page 58 7.0 Customizing DX Version 2.0 Directory eXtended NOTE that the use of environment variables ties up a small amount of DOS system memory. This is usually not a concern, but a copy of the environment is allocated with each Terminate and Stay Resident (TSR) utility. For this reason, it is considered good practice to set your environment variables AFTER any TSR's are loaded. Copyright (C) 1985-1989, Robert K. Blaine/ECONO-SOFT Page 59 Directory eXtended Version 2.0 8.0 Using DX 8.1 Testing Termination Conditions DX will set DOS's ERRORLEVEL variable to indicate various termination conditions. This can be helpful in a batch file to detect errors, determine if a drive exists or if any files match a given specification. (We are now referring to a batch file containing a call to DX, not one that DX generates.) The following values are returned under the following conditions: 0 => Normal termination, no problems. 10 => No files matched the specification. 12 => Directory path not found. 20 => No room for transfer (/FSize failure). 22 => Files did not compare. 30 => User abort: Terminated by a ^C or ^Break. 40 => A syntax error was detected. 50 => An access error. This includes referencing a disk that does not exist and not being able to open a file. 100 => An internal runtime error. This could mean running out of managed memory (see section 8.6) or a program bug. As an example, you might want to test if any hidden files exist in the current directory (note that DOS allows a maximum of 8-character labels, longer labels are used here for illustration only): dx /at:!h/out:nul if errorlevel 10 goto no-hidden Notice the use of "/out:nul" throwing the output away. You might want to determine if a disk exists on a given system: dx d:/out:nul if errorlevel 50 goto no-d-disk Remember, when checking ERRORLEVEL, DOS considers the test to be a greater than or equal to test. In the example above, when testing ERRORLEVEL against the value 10, any value 10 or greater will match. For this reason, the checks have to be done in reverse order. If you ever wanted to test all possible conditions: Page 60 8.0 Using DX Version 2.0 Directory eXtended dx ... if errorlevel 100 goto runtime-error if errorlevel 50 goto access-error if errorlevel 40 goto syntax-error if errorlevel 30 goto control-c if errorlevel 22 goto bad-compare if errorlevel 20 goto no-room if errorlevel 12 goto no-path if errorlevel 10 goto no-files rem No problems here. 8.2 Compatibility and Performance Considerations 8.2.1 /VIDeo -- Controlling Direct Screen Access DX has three options to determine how screen output is performed. By far the fastest output is produced by writing directly to your display memory. This opens up a number of hardware and software compatibility questions. Hardware compatibility because your display adapter may or may not create "snow" when directly addressed; software compatibility because many multi-tasking programs and even some screen drivers may not be able to handle programs that directly address the screen. dx /vid:Direct => fastest I/O, no snow prevention dx /video:DIRECTSnow => direct screen I/O with snow prevention (default) dx /vid:Bios => use the system BIOS dx /output => output through DOS NOTE: You can select DOS Standard Output through the use of the /Output switch (see section 2.10) -- this only affects the main display. Informative messages never go through DOS so you may have to use both options. 8.2.2 /NONstd -- Handling Non-standard Environments DX makes one non-documented DOS function call to obtain certain disk parameters without incurring a free space computation which can be very time-consuming on large hard disks. This function request has historically caused problems for network users and users with less than 100% compatible systems. This function call is no longer used on network drives but at least one system, the Toshiba 3200 running Toshiba-DOS 3.2, hangs when this function is Copyright (C) 1985-1989, Robert K. Blaine/ECONO-SOFT Page 61 Directory eXtended Version 2.0 issued. A "/NONstd" switch has been added to defeat this request on such systems: set dx0=.../nonstd => inhibit the non-standard DOS function request. 8.2.3 /NETaccess -- Handling Network Conflicts The /NETaccess switch may be used to determine how DX will handle a Local Area Network conflict ("Sharing Violation" or "Lock Violation"): The default (/NET:Criterr) puts the standard flashing critical error message at the top of the screen and allows you to select 'A'bort, 'R'etry, 'I'gnore, or 'F'ail. In addition, selecting 'W'ait switches to the /NET:Wait mode. Selecting /NET:Fail will not give a flashing message at all, the critical error handler will automatically return a fail to DOS resulting in an appropriate message. Selecting /NET:Wait, you'll get a flashing message that includes "waiting for network access". In a couple of seconds, the message will disappear and DX will initiate a retry. When the message is blinking onscreen, you can answer 'A'bort, 'I'gnore, or 'F'ail yourself (if you get tired of waiting). /NETaccess:Criterr => default error handler. /NETacc:Fail => automatic fail. /NET:Wait => wait for file. 8.2.4 Enhancing DOS Performance DX runs best from a RAM Disk; loading from a hard disk is slightly slower; and loading from a floppy disk is unreasonable. How many software products do you have that recommend you create a CONFIG.SYS file specifying FILES and BUFFERS statements? The truth is, they really do make an incredible difference and they don't cost very much in terms of memory. DX and every program you run will run faster with more buffers available and the default of 8 files when DOS uses 5 only leaves 3 for your programs. The CONFIG.SYS file must be present on the boot disk. I recommend creating a CONFIG.SYS file with at least the following lines (you may already have one that loads Page 62 8.2 /NONstd -- Handling Non-standard Environments Version 2.0 Directory eXtended various drivers -- make sure these lines are present as well): FILES=20 BUFFERS=24 8.3 Using DX with Command Line Enhancers DX works well with command line enhancers. The file DX.SYN on the distribution disk contains numerous examples of command synonyms that will work with ECONO-SOFT's new Command Line Enhancer (due out by the end of 1990) or Cove Software's PCED. Adapting these synonyms to other Command Line Enhancers should be very easy. 8.4 /ALTernate Pattern Separators The '+' and ';' were chosen to separate inclusion and exclusion patterns because they are considered as separators by DOS's COMMAND.COM. Some command processors, most notably PCED, have trouble with these characters. You may choose alternate separators with the /ALTernate switch. This switch takes exactly two characters where the first is taken as a substitute for '+' and the second is a substitute for ';'. Any ASCII character may be used (including most control characters) but the selection should be made carefully as it may conflict with other uses for various characters. You should avoid using characters that might be present within filenames. The following works well with PCED: set dx0=/alt:%~ => use '%' instead of '+' and '~' instead of ';' dx file.*%*test*~test.com => match "file.*" and "*test*" but not "test.com". Copyright (C) 1985-1989, Robert K. Blaine/ECONO-SOFT Page 63 Directory eXtended Version 2.0 8.5 /INfo -- A Quick Reminder The decision was made not to include help information in the DX program because of the size of the program now and the probability that it will get bigger. There is, however, a small amount of help available with the /INfo switch. All of the switch names are shown in mixed upper/lower case showing you the minimum abbreviation for each switch. This is not intended to be a complete help system, but it may serve to jog your memory. /INfo => display switch names. 8.6 Memory Utilization DX is set up to allocate 15k of memory for internal usage -- this is called the "heap" and is used for sorting files, searching directories, archives, and libraries (with /FFind), storing a batch template file, and storing the various file- matching patterns. This memory is sufficient to use sort and file find together on a 30 Megabyte disk with about 1500 files. DX is usually very memory efficient and re-uses memory as soon as it's not needed any longer. One option that will defeat that is the use of /DEfer (or /FSize which uses /DEfer) -- this causes DX to keep every matching filename until the end of its run. If you are matching "*.*" on a large disk combined with /FFind... you may run out of memory. If DX should run out of memory, it will inform you. You probably will never see this message but, if you do, the DX_HEAP program included on the DX distribution diskette may be used to inspect and change the amount of memory allocated to the heap. DX_HEAP will search the current directory and DOS path to find DX.EXE -- or you may supply the full file specification as a command-line parameter. The second command-line parameter to DX_HEAP may be the size to set the heap to -- or DX_HEAP will prompt you for the value. (Actually, DX_HEAP may be used to modify the heap in any program created with Borland's Turbo Pascal v5.0.) You may want to create a "large-memory" version of DX for those tasks that need it (by large-memory, 40k of heap is probably more than you would ever need!). The next question, then, is why allocate only 15k? Why not make use of all of my system's memory? The main reason for this is that DX has many options for executing other programs from within it. In order for these programs to have as much memory as possible, the size of DX is kept small. Another, less important reason, is that limiting memory protects the transient portion of COMMAND.COM from being over-written -- Page 64 8.5 /INfo -- A Quick Reminder Version 2.0 Directory eXtended which avoids the reload delay (and the annoying "Insert COMMAND.COM disk" message on a floppy-based system). NOTE that when DX performs special processing (/COPy, /COMPare, /CRC, etc.), it quite often needs larger blocks of memory -- these are requested of DOS for only the time required and then returned. This also maximizes memory available for other programs. (Previous versions of DX reserved an internal 64k buffer for these operations.) 8.7 Aborting and Escaping At any time during DX's execution, you may type ^C or ^Break to abort the program. In addition, hitting the ESCape key while the directory is being displayed will cause DX to skip to the statistics portion of the output as if the /Totals switch had been used (hitting ESCape a second time will cause DX to skip to global statistics as if /Totals:Global had been used). A ^S may be typed at any time and will force an immediate pause. NOTE that if you have typed ahead, DX will not "see" any of these characters... a ^Break will be your only option. 8.8 /SWatch -- Execution Time and ERRORLEVEL The /SWatch switch will cause DX to display the elapsed time and the DOS ERRORLEVEL set on termination: dx /sw => display the elapsed time and DOS ERRORLEVEL. Copyright (C) 1985-1989, Robert K. Blaine/ECONO-SOFT Page 65 Directory eXtended Version 2.0 Appendix A. Quick Reference Formatting and Preference Options: /Pause => Pause when screen full. /Pause:Directory => Pause on directory boundaries as well. /Wide => List names only across the screen. /SINGle => One file per line with extra info. /Totals => Sub and Grand totals only. /Totals:Global => Grand totals only. /Totals:Subtotals => Subtotals only. /Header:n => Header level n: 0 .. 2. /STats:n => Statistics level n: 0 .. 4. /STats:f:h => Statistic levels for floppy:hard disks. /CAse:option => Select Upper/Lower/Initial(default) caps. /12 => Select 12 hour time format. /Output => Output to DOS Standard Output allowing redirection and piping. /Output:filespec => Output to filespec (batch processing default extension is ".BAT"). /PRint:printer => Format for printer (sets /Output:PRN). /PRMode:mode => Print mode: Normal, Compressed, or Tiny. /PRMArg:left:right => Set left or left and right margins. /BColor:color => Background color: Black, BLUe, Green, Cyan, Red, Magenta, BRown, Lgray, GRAy, LBlue, LGREen, LCyan, LRed, LMagenta, Yellow, White. /FColor:color => Foreground color (as above). /DColor:color => Directory color (as above). /ANSI => Color support through xANSI.SYS /Quiet => Inhibit informative messages. /NLines:n => Set screen or page height. /ALign => Align extensions. /ANgle => Use "<DIR>" instead of "--dir--". /ARCDT:Log/Nolog => Validate ARC/LBR timestamps. /ALTernate:xy => Use 'x' for '+' and 'y' for ';'. File Matching Options: /Full => Display all files. /ATtr:!fadhnrs+- => Select file attributes. /Command => Match .COM/.EXE/.BAT files. /SIze:low:high => Range of size (inclusive). /SIze:-low:high => Range of size (exclusive). /SINce:datetime => Start of date/time range. /BEfore:datetime => End of date/time range. /DOTstar- => Turn automatic ".*" addition off. Page 66 0.0 Quick Reference Version 2.0 Directory eXtended Utility Options: /SOrt:nesdac*- => Sort files according to "NESDTAC*-". /FFind => Search multiple directories. /FFind:option => Search: All/Directory/ARchive/Library. /FSize:d => Test for room to transfer to drive "d". /FSize:nnnn => Test for room needed to transfer to a drive with cluster size "nnnn". /FSBlink => Cause /FSize message to blink. /Ldir => List directory names only. /CKsum => Checksum files. /CRC => Cyclic Redundancy Checks. /SWatch => Show runtime and DOS ERRORLEVEL. /INfo => Report switch names and abbreviations. Special Processing: /MOve:target => Move files. /COPy:target => Copy files. /APpend:target => Append files. /COMPare:target => Compare files. /REName:target => Rename files. /GOBak:.ext => Go back to backup file. /FDate:datetime => Set a file's date/time. /FAttr:!ahnrs+- => Change file attributes. /TDate:datetime => Set target file's date/time. /TAttr:*!ahnrs => Set target file's attributes. /DELete => Delete files. /RUn:'command' => Single-line batch-like commands. /VIew => View files. /Verify- => Turn off special processing verification. /OVerwrite:option => Overwrite options: Yes, NO, Ask, Newer, Older, Larger, Smaller, Mustexist, APPend. /ROnly:option => Read-only handling: Ask, Never, Ignore. /LIst:filespec => List utility for /Verify and /VIew. /VLevel:option => Verify level: Default, Compare, Ifcompare, Off, ON. /RDir:Log/Nolog => Remove empty directories. /MDir:Log/Nolog => Create missing directories. /DEfer:Log/Nolog => Force deferred special processing. /MSP => Multi-pass Special Processing. Compatibility Options: /VIDeo:mode => Screen I/O: Direct, DIRECTSnow, or Bios. /NONSTD => Prevent non-documented DOS function call. /NETaccess:mode => Action to take on network conflict: Criterr, Wait, Fail Batch File Generation: /Batch => Read template from DOS Standard Input allowing redirection and piping. /Batch:filespec => Read template from filespec (the default extension is ".TPL"). /EXec- => Inhibit automatic execution. /CDir => Generate CHDIR commands. Copyright (C) 1985-1989, Robert K. Blaine/ECONO-SOFT Page 67 Directory eXtended Version 2.0 Template File Variables (/Batch and /RUn): $D => Drive id (A:). $F => Filename only (FILE). $E => Extension only (.EXT). $N => Filename and extension (FILE.EXT). $P => File's path (\SUB1\MISC). $S => Full spec (A:\SUB1\MISC\FILE.EXT). $_ => New Line (Carriage Return/Line Feed). $( => "<" -- input redirection. $) => ">" -- output redirection (overwrite). $] => ">>" -- output redirection (append). $! => "|" -- piping. $$ => "$" -- to actually output a "$". $% => Unique number. $# => Last unique number. Template File Variables -- Beginning of Line Only (/Batch): ${ => Generate as batch file header only. $} => Generate as batch file trailer only. $( => Beginning of directory only. $) => End of directory only. Remember that file specifications may contain multiple patterns separated by '+' or spaces to include multiple patterns and separated by ';' to exclude patterns: Include.fil+Include.fil;Exclude.fil Also remember that patterns may have characters between and after the '*'s and any number of '*'s: *TEST*.*X* F*TE*LF F*?*X The following may be typed anytime: ^C or ^Break => Abort DX immediately. ESC => Skip to statistics. ^S => Force a pause. Use a comma at the end of a command for continuation. Page 68 0.0 Quick Reference Version 2.0 Directory eXtended Appendix B. Registration Form If you find DX useful, please send your registration fee. This payment is the only incentive to continue to produce quality software at affordable prices. Please support the ShareWare concept and send a registration fee of $49.95 (includes a printed manual). Also, whether you use DX or not, please pass DX.EXE and DX.DOC on to as many people or bulletin boards as possible. Dealer inquiries welcome. Corporate licenses available. ECONO-SOFT offers a 30 day, no questions asked, money-back guarantee. Name: __________________________________ Date: ____/____/____ Address: ________________________________________________________ City: _________________________ State: _____ Zip: __________ Version: ________ My Copy From: ________________________________ Computer: _________________ DOS Version: PC-DOS ____; MS-DOS ____ E-Mail: _______________ I am enclosing $______ ($49.95 minimum - includes a printed manual) to help support DX. Texas residents please add 8% sales tax. Please send my personally registered copy of DX. Please add my name to your mailing list for information on updates and other products. Please charge my credit card as indicated: Master Card or Visa # _____________________________ Exp ___/___/___ Signature ________________________________________________________ Please address all correspondence to: ECONO-SOFT CompuServe [73267,1664] P.O. Box 181030 512-832-1675 Austin, TX 78718-1030 800-367-7590 Please use the back to give any comments you can think of about DX. What do you think its best/worst features are? Do you have any suggestions? Complaints? (use the back if necessary) Copyright (C) 1985-1989, Robert K. Blaine/ECONO-SOFT Page 69 Directory eXtended Version 2.0 Page 70 0.0 Registration Form Version 2.0 Directory eXtended Index /12 12 /LIst 43, 44, 47 /ALign 16 /MDir 36 /ALTernate 63 /MOve 29, 32, 33, 36, /ANgle 16 37, 38, 47 /ANSI 13 /MSP 48 /APpend 35 /NETaccess 62 .ARC See: /NLines 16 ARChive/LiBRary /NONstd 61 /ARCDT 26 /Output 9, 13, 14, 53, /ATtr 6, 21, 41 55 .BAK files 40 /OVerwrite 35, 43, 45 /Batch 9, 50, 53, 55 /Pause 9, 65 /BColor 13 /PRint 14 /BEfore 23 /PRMArg 15 ^Break 65 /PRMode 15 ^C 65 /Quiet 16 /CAse 12 /RDir 36 /CDir 55 /REName 32, 39 /CKsum 30 /ROnly 43, 46 /Command 18 /RUn 32, 43, 51, 53 /COMPare 32, 38 ^S 65 /COPy 29, 32, 33, 37, /SINce 23 38, 47 /SINGle 10 /COpy 35, 36 /SIze 23 /CRC 30 /SOrt 27 /DColor 13 /STats 11, 20 /DEfer 32, 47, 48 /SWatch 65 /DELete 32, 42 /TAttr 37 /DOTstar 17, 18, 32 /TDate 24, 36 /EXec 50, 53, 55 /Totals 10, 65 /FAttr 32, 41 /Verify 43, 44 /FColor 13 /Video 61 /FDate 24, 32, 40 /VIew 32, 43, 47 /FFind 9, 10, 11, 28, /VLevel 34, 35, 37 32, 35, 47, 50 /Wide 9 /FSBlink 15, 29 /FSize 15, 29, 32, 47, A 52 abort 65 /Full 20, 41 All 28 /GOBak 32, 40 ANSI 13 /HEader 11 Append 45 /INfo 64 append files 35 .LBR See: ARC See: ARChive/LiBRary ARChive/LiBRary ARchive 28 /Ldir 9, 11, 29 Copyright (C) 1985-1989, Robert K. Blaine/ECONO-SOFT Page 71 Directory eXtended Version 2.0 archive See: append ".*" 17 ARChive/LiBRary ARChive/LiBRary archive attribute See: date/time 26 file attributes colors 12, 13 ARChive/LiBRary compatibility 61, 62 comparing members 30, create missing 39 directories 36 date/time 26, 40 display format 9, 10, directory 5, 7, 25 16 renaming members 39 environment variables searching 28, 29 57 sorting 27 header lines 11 template variables 49 memory utilization 64 Ask 45, 46 number of lines 16 AUTOEXEC.BAT 57 pattern separators 63 pausing the display 9 B print margins 15 BAKup files 40 print mode 15 batch 43, 50, 53, 55, 60 remove empty directories 56 directories 36 preview 55 sorting 27 batch generation 49 statistics lines 11 Bios 61 upper/lower case 12 verify level 37 C verify options 43, CD 55 44, 45, 46 CHDIR 55 video handling 61 checksum 30 Cyclic Redundancy Check cluster size See: disk 30 allocation colors 12 D background 13 date/time directory 13 12-hour format 12 foreground 13 ARChive/LiBRary 26 highlight 13 current 24 column sorting 27 display 5, 10 Compare 38 indirect reference compare files 38 24, 36, 40 compatibility matching files 23 disk drives 61 setting file 40 network 62 setting target 36 video 61 sorting 27 Compressed 15 specification 23 CONFIG.SYS 62 Default 38 configuration See: defaults See: customization customization copy files 33 defer special processing create missing 47 directories 36 deleting files 42 Criterr 62 DIR 5, 16 critical error 62 Direct 61 customization Directory 9, 28 12-hour format 12 directory attribute See: /LIst processor 47 file attributes Page 72 0.0 Index Version 2.0 Directory eXtended DIRECTSnow 61 L disk allocation 5, 10, Larger 45 11, 29, 35, 42 LBR See: ARChive/LiBRary display 5 Library 28 display format 5, 9, 10, library See: 11, 16, 29 ARChive/LiBRary DOS VERIFY See: VERIFY LIST.COM 47 list directories 29 E list of files 55 EGA 16 list processor 47 environment variables 57 lock violation 62 Epson 14 Log 26, 36, 47 ERRORLEVEL 60, 65 Lower 12 lower-case 12 F Fail 62 M feature summary 2 memory 64 file attributes move files 33 batch generation 56 multi-pass special display format 5, 6, processing 48 10, 11 Mustexist 45 hidden directories 22, 28 N indirect reference network conflicts 62 37, 41 Never 46 matching 20, 21 Newer 45 read-only handling NO 45 44, 46 Nolog 26, 36, 47 setting file 41 Normal 15 setting target 37 normal attribute See: sorting 27 file attributes file find 28 file-matching 5, 6, 7, O 18, 23, 28, 29, 56 Off 10, 38 file size 29 Older 45 file size range 23 ON 38 overwriting 45 G Global 10 P pattern matching See: H file-matching help 64 pattern replacement 33 hidden attribute See: PCED 63 file attributes performance 62 piping 14, 49, 50, 51, I 53, 54 Ibm 14 print Ifcompare 38 compressed 15 Ignore 46 formatting 14 Initial 12 margins 15 initial caps 12 mode 15 installation See: number of lines 16 customization tiny 15 Copyright (C) 1985-1989, Robert K. Blaine/ECONO-SOFT Page 73 Directory eXtended Version 2.0 R T read-only attribute See: target 32, 33, 35, 36 file attributes target attributes 37 read-only handling 46 target date 36 redirection 14, 49, 50, template 43, 47, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53 52, 55 remove empty directories template variables 49, 36 51 rename files 39 time See: date/time running files 43 execution 65 Tiny 15 S Screen 9 U screen size 16 Upper 12 searching 28 upper-case 12 setting date/time 40 setting file attributes V 41 verification 37, 44 ShareWare 4 VERIFY 35, 37 sharing violation 62 verify options 43 size range 23 verify questions 44 Smaller 45 VGA 16 sorting 27 viewing files 43 special processing 32, 47, 48 W defer 47 Wait 62 multi-pass 48 statistics 65 Y Subtotals 10 Yes 45 system attribute See: file attributes Page 74 0.0 Index