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WinXs Version 2.0 Copyright (C) 1997 Mick Meaden All Rights Reserved INTRODUCTION WinXs for Windows is a shareware program that provides UNIX-like tool functionality under Windows 3.1, Windows for Workgroups, Windows 95 and Windows NT. To run WinXs, you will need a 386-based PC (or later), at least 4mb of main memory and approximately 2.0mb or 3.5mb of disk space to install the software (see below). WinXs comes in 16-bit and 32-bit versions. The 16-bit ver- sion will run on Windows 3.1, Windows for Workgroups or Win- dows 95; the 32-bit version will only run on Windows 95 and Windows NT. The two versions are functionally identical, albeit that for integration with Explorer, or to take advan- tage of long filenames and pre-emptive scheduling on Windows 95/NT, you will need to run the 32-bit version. This ver- sion also requires 3.5 mb of disk space for installation, as opposed to the 2.0mb required for the 16-bit version. CONTENTS Features of this version of WinXs include: i. Cat for Windows. Concatenates one or more files and appends them to a named output file, which is created if it does not already exist. ii. Col for Windows. Filters reverse line-feeds and vari- ous other control characters. Optionally, this filter can also be used to remove backspace sequences or to convert spaces to tabs. iii. Compress and Uncompress. Windows version of the UNIX compress(1) and uncompress(1) commands, which are use- ful when downloading files from the Internet or when transferring large files to and from UNIX systems. iv. Csplit. Splits a text file based on context. Sec- tions of a named input file can be written to dif- ferent output files or skipped based on an argument list, which consists of a series of regular expres- sions and line numbers that indicate the end of each input section. Any lines left in the input file after all arguments have been matched are written out as a single section to the last output file. v. Dos2unix and Unix2dos. Filters for converting between DOS and UNIX text file formats; that is, CR-LF (DOS) and LF (UNIX). vi. Du for Windows. A Windows implementation of the UNIX du(1) command, which recursively lists the number of blocks allocated to files and directories. vii. Expand for Windows. Performs the opposite function of col(1) and expands tabs to spaces. viii. File Compare. A set of programs that perform various file comparisons, including binary comparisons based on the UNIX cmp(1) program, directory comparisons based on dircmp(1), and differential text file com- parisons based on diff(1). ix. File for Windows. This program attempts to determine the contents of a file or files by examination of the Windows registration database, a table of magic numbers uniquely identifying file types, and finally the contents of the file itself. x. Fmt for Windows. A simple text processing utility for performing modest tasks such as formatting mail mes- sages. Text can be formatted using block, indented, crown or centered paragraphs, optionally with left and right text justification. xi. Fold for Windows. Folds lines from its input files, breaking the lines to have a maximum column width (after tab and backspace processing) or a maximum number of bytes. Optionally, lines can be broken at the last blank character within the specified column or byte width. xii. Grep for Windows. A pattern searching program that scans one or more text files for a specified character sequence. Grep uses basic regular expression pattern matching, as defined in X/Open Portability Guide Issue 4. xiii. Grex for Windows. Is a simple stream editor that sup- ports various ed(1)-like editing commands. These include text matching and substitution, text deletion, line deletion, and multi-line text insertion. xiv. Gzip and Gunzip. Provides a Windows interface to GNU gzip(1), which is a separate DOS program that can be obtained free of charge under the terms and conditions of the GNU software license (see associated help file for further details). xv. Hd for Windows. A file viewer that will display any type and size of file in hexadecimal format. Hd sup- ports the same scrolling, search and text marking com- mands as More. It also supports printing and print previewing. xvi. Head and Tail. These tools display the first, middle or last part of one or more text files. The amount of text displayed (in numbers of lines) is specified via the associated dialog. xvii. More for Windows. A file viewer that supports more(1) functionality and file movement commands. This is a full featured Windows MDI (multi-document interface) application, with print and print previewing using pr(1), basic regular expression searching, text mark- ing, configurable display and printer fonts, escapes to your favourite editor, rendering with or without line numbers, text or hexadecimal display, etc.. More supports File Manager drag and drop and will display files of any size, depending on virtual store availa- bility. xviii. Nl for Windows. A filter that allows line numbers to be added to one or more text files. Line numbers are added on the left under the control of various options, which permit line numbers to be left or right justified and padded with either spaces or zeros. Optionally, all input lines can be numbered, or numbering can be limited to non-blank lines only. xix. Pax for Windows. Provides a Windows interface for the creation, reading and writing of cpio, ustar or tar portable archives. The archive formats supported by this utility are fully compatible with the extended cpio and extended ustar archive formats defined by X/Open and POSIX. Pax can be used for local archiv- ing, or it can be used for information interchange with UNIX systems. xx. Sed for Windows. A stream editor that applies an editing script to one or more input text files, overwriting the input files with the results or con- catenating the output to a single named output file. The command syntax supported by this tool is fully compatible with the stream editor command syntax defined in ISO/IEC 9945-2: 1993, Information Technology - Portable Operating System Interface (POSIX) - Part 2: Shell and Utilities. xxi. Sort for Windows. Sorts and/or merges one or more text files, either numerically or lexicographically. Options allow the sort order to be reversed, diction- ary sorting, case folding, blanks or non-printing characters to be ignored, and duplicate lines to be omitted from the output. xxii. Split for Windows. A Windows version of the UNIX split(1) command, which breaks a file up into a speci- fied multiple of line, byte, kilobyte or megabyte pieces. This version also provides an Unsplit facil- ity for combining output files generated by a previous call to Split back into a single, large file. xxiii. Strings for Windows. This utility is commonly used on UNIX systems to search object files for copyright statements, error messages, etc.. This version will scan files of any size and content, and will option- ally display file offsets of located strings. xxiv. Tr for Windows. Substitutes, deletes or squeezes characters from its input. This is a general purpose filter that can be used for such things as converting the case of characters, deleting control characters, breaking files up into word lists, reducing multi- character sequences to single characters, etc.. xxv. Uuencode and Uudecode. Windows versions of the UNIX commands of the same name. Useful when downloading stuff from the Internet, or when using UNIX mail. xxvi. Wc for Windows. A Windows version of the UNIX wc(1) command, which counts the number of lines, words and bytes in one or more text files. xxvii. Winxsdll.dll. This DLL adds an extra menu to the Windows File Manager menu bar, allowing the above WinXs programs to be initiated directly from File Manager (see below for details). xxviii. WinXs Shell (32-bit version only). This is activated from the Folders context menu within Explorer and provides A UNIX-like directory display, plus easy access to any of the WinXs tools. The WinXs shell is also available from the context menu associ- ated with the Start button on Taskbar. The WinXs utilities can be accessed directly from File Manager, or from Explorer and the Taskbar (32-bit version only). To use More as the default text file viewer or text file print program on your system, run WinXs setup and check the appropriate configuration options (see setup help for further details). In addition, this version if WinXs also includes the follow- ing command line tools: cat, cmp, col, compress, csplit, df, diff, dircmp, dos2unix, du, expand, file, find, fmt, fold, grep, head, ls, man, nl, sed, sort, split, strings, tail, tr, uudecode, uuencode, unix2dos, wc. These can be used either in batch files or from the Command prompt. All WinXs commands line tools support an option -h, which causes the tool to display a brief synopsis and usage line. For more detailed information use the "man" command, which displays a reference manual page for the named command or commands (e.g., man man). Use "man -k -" to display a com- plete list of manual reference pages. INSTALLING WINXS To install WinXs on your system, do the following: 1. Create a directory to hold the installation (e.g., c:\winxs). 2. Unzip the distribution file (winxs16.zip or winxs32.zip) into the above directory. Note that the directory structure of the ZIP file should be preserved. If you are using PKUNZIP, this can be done by using the -d option as follows: pkunzip -d winxs32.zip If you are using WINZIP, ensure the Use Folder Names option is checked in the Extract dialog box. Other ZIP tools should provide a similar facility. 3. Run the WinXs setup program (SETUP.EXE), which is located in your installation directory. This will add Win&Xs to the File Manager menu bar, add the WinXs shell to Explorer context menus (32-bit version only), associate a text editor for use from File Manager and the WinXs shell, and allow configuration of other options present in this version of the product. SETUP.EXE can be re-run at any time to change these options. NOTE. If File Manager is running when setup is exe- cuted, it must be stopped and restarted before changes affecting File Manager (e.g., adding WinXs to the menu bar) can take effect. If you prefer, you can try out the WinXs tools before integrating the product with File Manager or Explorer, and before making any changes to other system files. Create a WinXs directory, as indicated above, and unzip the distribu- tion file. DO NOT RUN THE SETUP PROGRAM. Select the WinXs directory in File Manager or Explorer, and simply double- click any of the .EXE files to try out the tools. The first screen displayed by each tool will contain a Help button; click this to display the associated manual page. The following table indicates which tools are located in which .EXE files: ______________________________________________________ | .EXE File | Tool | |______________|______________________________________| | | | | DOSCONV.EXE | dos2unix(1), unix2dos(1). | | | uuencode(1), uudecode(1), | | | compress(1), uncompress(1), | | | gzip(1), gunzip(1). | | | | | FILTERS.EXE | cat(1), col(1), expand(1), | | | fold(1), fmt(1), grex(1), | | | nl(1), sort(1), tr(1). | | | | | GENUTS.EXE | cmp(1), csplit(1), diff(1), | | | du(1), file(1), grep(1), | | | head(1), sed(1), split(1), | | | strings(1), tail(1), wc(1). | | | | | HD.EXE | hd(1). | | | | | MORE.EXE | more(1), pr(1). | | | | | WINPAX.EXE | cpio(1), pax(1), tar(1). | | | | | WINXSSH.EXE | WinXs Shell (32-bit version only). | |______________|______________________________________| The SETUP.EXE program can be run at any stage to complete the installation process, or not at all. CONFIGURING THE COMMAND LINE TOOLS The WinXs command line tools are made available by adding the appropriate WinXs directory to your environment search path. This is done by adding or modifing a call to the PATH command in the autoexec.bat file. For example, PATH c:\winxs\bin;c:\windows;c:\dos This identifies three directories that will be searched automatically when entering a command at the command prompt; namely, "c:\winxs\bin", "c:\windows", and "c:\dos". The exact nature of this command will vary from system to sys- tem, so you should check your current setting before making any changes. Note that "winxs" in the above example is the name of the directory where you installed WinXs. The command line tools are located in the "bin" subdirectory below this directory. UPGRADING A PREVIOUS VERSION OF WINXS Because this release updates the WinXs DLL, it is important to ensure that File Manager IS NOT running when you upgrade. Copy the ZIP file to your WinXs directory, unzip using pkun- zip, WinZip (or equivalent) and restart File Manager. Re- run the WinXs setup program if you want to add the WinXs shell to Explorer context menus, or if you want to change any of the configuration options. UNINSTALLATION The uninstall process has been made as clean and simple as possible. Re-run the setup program and click the Uninstall button; this will undo all changes made to system files and remove any WinXs .ini files from your Windows directory. To complete the uninstall process, manually delete the WinXs installation directory and all its contents. WINDOWS 95/NT This version of WinXs can be installed on Windows 95 and Windows NT as indicated above. Optionally, the setup pro- gram will add the WinXs tools to the File Manager menu bar, and the WinXs Shell to Folder and Document context menus in Explorer (32-bit version only). It is also recommended that the default text file viewer in the Windows Registry is changed to use the more.exe tool supplied with this package (see setup help for details). REGISTRATION WinXs is a shareware program. It can be used for a period of up to 30 days free of charge, after which it must be removed from your system or a license fee of 18 dollars U.S. (12 pounds Sterling) must be paid. Benefits of registration include: + Free product upgrades. + A key code which unlocks the following additional func- tionality: - Options can be saved from more. This includes font selections, tab settings, editor preference, and window position. The last of these, window position, also affects the hd utility. - Utilities that accept multiple input file names or patterns work correctly without displaying a nag screen, including cat, col, compress, dos2unix, expand, fmt, fold, grep, grex, gzip, gunzip, nl, pax, sed, strings, tail, tr, uncompress, unix2dos, wc and winxssh. + A copy of the WinXs User Reference Manual will be sent by email. This document is distributed in Microsoft Word format and is the definitive guide to using the various WinXs utilities. WinXs can be registered in a number of ways, the quickest and most convenient of which is via the CompuServe Shareware Registration Database (GO SWREG). The registration ID for WinXs is 7400. Alternatively, it can be registered by using the order form in file REGISTER.TXT. Your registration number and a copy of the WinXs User Refer- ence Manual will be emailed to you immediately on receipt of registration (if possible), or will be sent to you by return of post. As a registered user of WinXs, you will be notified about future product updates as soon as they become avail- able. You can download these free of any additional software charges. REPORTING PROBLEMS If you have any problems with WinXs, or if you have any queries or comments, please send email to the following address: 100345.2641@compuserve.com If you do not have access to email, then write to the address given in the file REGISTER.TXT. All support issues and queries will be dealt with as quickly as possible.