/* * File: lcmdfaq.txt * FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS ABOUT LARSEN COMMANDER. * Created: September 06, 1998. * By: Leif-Erik Larsen * Updated: July 14, 1999. */ Frequently Asked Questions ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Q: What is Larsen Commander? A: Larsen Commander is a File Manager program which is intended to almost clone the grand old classic Norton Commander, but in a GUI environment. In addition, Larsen Commander can do a lot of things that Norton Commander was never able to do at all. Q: Is it free? A: No. Larsen Commander is shareware. You have to register it if you use it periodically for more than two or three months. Q: How can I register it? A: There is no way to register Larsen Commander until it reaches version 1.0. In the mean time you can freely use the temporary freeware beta releases. Q: What does it cost? A: Not decided yet. Q: Will the registration fee include all future upgrades? A: No. If you register version 1.0 you will need to update the reregistration to get version 2.0. You will, however, get free access to all upgrades up to and including version 1.99 of Larsen Commander. Q: Where can I get the latest version? A: I will always upload the latest version of Larsen Commander first to the Larsen Commander Homepage at "http://home.sol.no/~leilarse/lcmd/index.html" before anywhere else. Q: How can I report bugs, ideas, suggestions and comments about Larsen Commander? A1: Join the Larsen Commander mailing list and post your bug reports, questions and requests there. A2: Send mail to me at "leifel@online.no", or visit the Larsen Commander homepage at "http://home.sol.no/~leilarse/lcmd/index.html". Q: How can I join the Larsen Commander mailing list? A: Just send a message to "majordomo@bmtmicro.com" and put "subscribe lc-list yourid@your.domain" in the body of the message, using your own email adress of course. To get off, just replace "subscribe" with "unsubscribe". To post a message to the list, use the e-mail address: "lc-list@bmtmicro.com". Q: For which systems does Larsen Commander exist? A: At the time being, IBM OS/2 Warp only. Q: Does it run on Warp 3? A: Yes, starting with version 0.97, Larsen Commander runs well on all version of OS/2 Warp version 3.0 and newer. Q: Which utilities was used to develop Larsen Commander? A: Among others, Borland C++ 2.0 for OS/2 and IBM Visual Age C++ 3.0 for OS/2. The executable that follows the distribution is compiled with IBM Visual Age C++ 3.0 for OS/2. IBM Visual Age C++ 3.0 for OS/2 has an uncomparable better memory management library than Borland C++ 2.0 for OS/2, but produces an executable module that is somewhat larger (just a few kilobytes, though). The GNU (R)evision (C)ontrol (S)ystem is being used to keep track of the versions and changes on the source files. Q: How many lines of code are there? A: The current version of Larsen Commander consist of approximately 55000 lines of C++ code. Q: Why didn't you write it in Java? A: The Java environment and language is a very nice way of computing, but not for programs like Larsen Commander. At least not at the time being. Q: Is it a limit on how many files Larsen Commander can show in a single directory? A: No. Larsen Commander uses dynamic arrays with no limits to manage its internal tables of file items and other data structures. Q: If I type HELP at the prompt, I always get LCMD's help. How can I pass the HELP command to the system shell? A1: Just type HELP.CMD. This forces LCMD to look for the external program which filename is HELP.CMD. A2: In the options dialog, activate the COMMANDS page and disable the HELP internal command of Larsen Commander. Q: Does the current release contain any expiration date? A: Yes. Larsen Commander release 0.98 will expire on November 1, 1999. After all, it is a beta release that I will prevent from any long term survival. Just in case of any unknown dangerous bugs. Q: Do you plan to add FTP support to Larsen Commander? A: Yes, but probably not in version 1.0. Q: Is Larsen Commander aware of DESCRIPT.ION files made by 4DOS/4OS2? A: No, not at the time being. Maybe in the future. Q: Are there any easter eggs in the program? A: No. (Except from some unknown bugs, I guess ;-) Q: How can I change the colors used by Larsen Commander? The "options"/"colors" menu brings up a blank notebook page, no controls, buttons, text, or anything else. A: This is simply because the color selection panels are not implemented yet. I have not prioritized it, simply because in OS/2 you can always use the Color Palette objects to drop any color you want on any part of the Larsen Commander window. As long as you use the OS/2 WPS, that is. Q: Can I change the font size for the command shell? I find the default is too small with my monitor and need to increase the size considerably to make it readable, but I can't find a setting for it. A: As for with colors, you can also use the standard OS/2 Font Palette object(s) to drop and activate any font you like on any part of the Larsen Commander window. Q: How can I make the header bar of the active file panel have a bit highlighting added so that I can easily see which is the active file panel by looking at the header bars? A: Just drop any color you like (from the OS/2 color palette) on the header bar of the active panel. Then press TAB to activate the other panel an drop the same color on the header bar of that panel. Now you will have your color on the active panel header only. Q: Can I somehow set not to close the window after the program started with ALT+ENTER is finished? A: No, not at this time. Maybe in a future version, though. Q: I can edit the file LCMDUSER.RC and add some external programs to the User Menu. Can I add an external program in a way that when I click on it via the User Menu that the currently selected file from one of the panels is passed to it as an option? If yes how? A: You can use the same argument tags as are documented for the external programs settings. See the pages under the "Programs" section of the Options dialog. For instance: item (id=cmdUserCommand COMMAND="e.exe !p" text="Edit the current file")