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------------------------------------------------------------------------------ DISK WIZ Disk Drive & Printer Management Program ShareWare Version 1.30 c. 1986-8 Ted Wood All Rights Reserved Computer Creations 3538 Walker Avenue Memphis, TN 38111 901/327-9210 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ User's Manual- Shareware Version ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Introduction: ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Welcome to Disk Wiz. Disk Wiz is a File Manager for both floppy and hard disks, a Printer Setup Utility program and other useful things too. It requires an IBM or compatible computer using PC or MSDOS 2.0 or higher. We're sure you'll be delighted with it and will use it every time you turn on your computer. If you have any problems, suggestions or feedback (and hopefully, orders), please call Computer Creations during normal business hours. Thank you. The following is a summary of Disk Wiz's features: Disk Operations --------------- * Displays file names (hidden and subdirectories too!) on any disk in alphabetical order, up to 100 at a time, as well as disk size, free space, and number of entries. * Directory searches with standard DOS wildcards (ie. *.*). * See any subdirectory or parent(root) directory with a single keypress. * Easy file selection by highlighting with cursor keys- No typing of names! * Select all files matching a pattern (ie. ".BAK") at one time. * Select up to 100 files to work on at a time, unselect files too. * Set the DOS Drive and File Path to the current Disk Wiz path with one key. * Keeps selection list intact for multiple or repeated operations. * Create and Delete Subdirectories. * Get the Directory information on files and display the total of sizes, as well as the space required for them on a floppy disk (always bigger). * View any file's contents on screen, including program & hidden files. * Display Text files on screen with or without line numbers. Makes Wordstar files legible! * Print Text files with or without line numbers. Special program listing mode for condensed printout with Epson type dot matrix printers. * Word Count, printable character count and line count for text files. DOS Operations -------------- * Displays current date and time. * Size, Date and Time directory data for any file. * Erase, Rename, Copy up to 100 different files at one time. * Copy with rename. * Copy with easy path access to all drives & subdirectories without typing path names! * Overwrite warning for copying over existing files. * Interrupt file operations at any time. Special Functions ----------------- * Send Printer any special codes for print style changes, special characters, line feeds, form feeds, reset, etc. * Edit or Create Disk Text files with mini-word-processor. * Typewriter emulation with printer for those quickie jobs like envelopes. * Switch between two printers (LPT1<-->LPT2) and show which one is active. * Display all 256 PC/ASCII characters. * Display all 256 Screen display colors/attributes. * Change Cursor size- (also restore it if lost). * Toggle Disk Wiz Sound cues on or off. * Screen Saver blanks monitor during non-use upon entering Disk Wiz. Resident Feature: Available with full Disk wiz program package only. ---------------- All these capabilities are available at the press of the special key combination from DOS or from within almost any program (Text mode only). A keystroke then sends Disk Wiz back to memory and returns you to your original program. The screen and cursor will be just as you left it (unless you changed the cursor shape deliberately)! In this mode, Disk Wiz needs only a little over 40K of memory. It can be used as a stand alone, non-resident program as well. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Disk Wiz Shareware Agreement & Registration ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ As most readers already know, shareware software is NOT free software, but is a freely distributed version of a program that you get to try out to see if you like it, before paying for it. If you use the program on a regular basis, you are obligated to send in the required payment. The shareware concept will only work if software users pay for the privilege of using these programs that otherwise would cost much more to distribute through commercial channels. Since the shareware success stories are few, we decided to release only part of the Disk Wiz package in this way. This Shareware version of Disk Wiz consists of a complete copy of the stand alone Disk Wiz version that one runs from the DOS prompt as an independent program. It is identical in operation and capabilities to the same stand alone version in the commercial Disk Wiz product. The manual for Disk Wiz included here has been modified to reflect that the shareware version does not include the memory resident (Pop Up) Disk Wiz, Customization program, or other utilities you receive when you register for the full program release (which includes a printed manual). If you have received any of these additional programs with this shareware version, please call on our toll free number and let us know- thanks. A "Demo" program is also included to show visually how to use Disk Wiz. The power of Disk Wiz really shows through when it is available at the press of a key within your other programs or at the DOS prompt without having to run the program each time. It is usually within a program that you want easy and complete access to your disk drives and printer. That is exactly what the memory resident version gives you. To get that power though, you have to send (or call) in your order for the complete package. You also get the Customization program that permits you to change the Disk Wiz screen colors, install your own Printer Control Menu selections, and "Pop Up Hot Key". To order your complete Disk Wiz, call Computer Creations at 1-800-654-7684 or (901) 327-9210 and use your credit card, or you can send in your order to us at 3538 Walker Avenue, Memphis, TN 38111. The cost is only $25 + $3 postage & handling. Your Disk Wiz will be sent immediately by first class mail. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ What does Disk Wiz do? ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ The list of Disk Wiz features above is complete, but doesn't really tell you what to do with it. A typical example of using Disk Wiz in real life will show you what it's all about: The Situation: ------------- You've been using the same data disk for word processing on your 2 floppy drive system all semester and it is full up with a bunch of files, about half of which are the backups the word processor creates when you resave an existing file. You want to clean up the disk, eliminate the backups, throw away the out-of-date files and separate what's left onto a couple of floppies organized by subject. The horrible prospect of doing this with DOS or the file functions built into the word processor is the reason you haven't done it all along! The Solution: ------------ You just got a shareware copy of Disk Wiz from a friend who talks about it like a religious experience. After watching the DEMO program, you run Disk Wiz from the A> prompt and then replace the Disk Wiz disk with your data disk. Pressing the "A" key at the "Directory?" prompt, you quickly see most of the screen fill up with a list of the 70 or so files on the floppy in ALPHABETICAL order! You observe that a lot of them have "BAK" as a file name extension, indicating they are the backups of final versions of your documents. You press "Q" to Quick Pick file names and then enter ".BAK" as the pattern to match. Instantly, all the backups are selected and the highlight bar is on the last one. You press "Enter" again to finish the list, then "E" to erase them and confirm your action when Disk Wiz checks to see if you really want to erase these files. A moment later, the directory is redisplayed, half its previous size, with all the backups gone. Piece of cake! You have a good idea what's in most of the files, but several of the file names don't ring a bell at all. So using the cursor and Enter keys, you flag them all and then press "T" for Text functions and the Enter key twice to select the defaults of "Screen" and "No Line Numbers". Continuing to hold the Enter key down, the first file scrolls up onto the screen, appearing like it did in the word processor. Good thing too, because you were using WordStar and DOS's "TYPE" command displayed a bunch of illegible garbage when you tried it, and loading each of these into WordStar would take forever. After a few lines, you recognize the document and press ESC to skip to the next one. Repeating this procedure, you quickly see what is in each file you had in the list. When the directory is redisplayed, all the files are still flagged. You "Unselect" a couple of them, add a couple more to the list and press "C" and then "B" to copy them to floppy you put in your B drive. After a bit of disk activity, you are back to the directory with the list still intact. That was so easy, you decide that now is a good time to start the practice of making backups of your floppies, so you put another disk in B and press "C" & "B" again to copy the files a second time. Back at the directory again, you press "E" to erase the files you copied from the original disk. When the new directory is displayed, it is considerably smaller. Repeating the process of selecting a group of files, copying them and then deleting them from your data disk, you soon have sorted out the whole mess- all without ever typing in a single file name or command! Disk Wiz has also been telling you how much space these files are taking up on your floppies- you didn't realize that those one line files each required more space than DOS told you. You also decided to rename some of them so you'd be able to recognize them better in the future, which Disk Wiz did easily. While you're at it, you decide you need a couple of the files printed out to refer to. It would be nice if you didn't use up all the paper they originally took when you handed them in. With 2 keys you switch to the Printer Codes Menu and then select Condensed type with 88 lines per page. 2 more keys later, you are back at a floppy directory and highlight the file(s) you want to print. Using the Text & Print options, they are soon appearing on the printer. After that, you want to write a quick note, so you switch to Disk Wiz's Editor function in Typewriter mode and zip it out without needing to run your word processor or save it on a floppy first. You press the ESC key and soon you're back to drab old DOS. "Wow!" you say- "This is a great little program!" You realize that it would be even more wonderful to do this all from within your word processor or spreadsheet- so you pick up the phone and call in your order for the whole Disk Wiz program package right away- and then start thinking of all the people you know who would love to have a copy of the shareware version of Disk Wiz too! ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Getting Started: ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ The first thing you should do with any new program is make a backup copy of it. Store the original in a safe place and use the copy. Next, we suggest running the Disk Wiz Demonstration program to familiarize you with Disk Wiz's capabilities. Do this by entering "DWIZDEMO" from the DOS prompt with the disk containing the Disk Wiz programs in your floppy drive. It will take about 10 minutes to go through the demonstration. To run the Disk Wiz program you enter "DISKWIZ" from the DOS prompt. The title and copyright screen will appear, at which time you can remove the floppy disk if desired. Disk Wiz has been designed to be as simple to operate as possible for a program of its power and size. The emphasis has been on small size, retaining displayed information on the screen and minimizing keystrokes. Size, of course, is of utmost importance for a memory resident program. We have not cluttered up the program with fancy border displays, windows and lengthy descriptive menus. Everything you need to know about the choices at any time is displayed in easy to read terms. If you exclusively use floppies, without the need for subdirectories, you will not be hindered by Disk Wiz's enhanced hard disk capabilities. On the other hand, If you have a ton of files and directories on a hard disk, Disk Wiz will let you access them with unprecedented ease. Enjoy! ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Disk Wiz Menu & Operation Structure ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ If you look at the following "map", you will be able to see how to get to all of Disk Wiz's features. When you are running the program, you will almost always find the information you need on how to proceed displayed on the screen, albeit in an abbreviated form to reduce program size. Please look over this map and refer to it as we elaborate on Disk Wiz's features. Main Disk Wiz Prompt: ---Directory For Which Drive? <----------------------------<-------------\ : : : | : : :.....F1= Toggle between DIR:"*.*" and user defined | : : Directory search. | : : | : : "Enter" Key= | : :.....Special Function Menu | : : | : :....Printer Codes Menu = "P" | : : :....Preset Menu for Epson type printers | : : :....Send any byte value(s) to printer | : : | : :....Text File Editor = "E" | : :....Typewriter = "T" | : :....Switch printers (LPT1<-->LPT2) = "L" | : :....ASCII + Graphic Character set = "C" | : :....Screen Display Color Set = "S" | : :....Cursor Shape Editor = "U" | : :....Turn Disk Wiz Sound Cues On or Off = "O" | : :....Remove Memory Resident Disk Wiz = "#" | : :...."ESC" = return to main prompt --------------->-------->| : | : Drive Letter,ie. "A" | : or Space Bar for current DOS path | : | Directory Display= Alphabetical list of files <--------<---------------\ | : : : : : | | : : : : : "Enter" key while Parent or Subdirectory Highlighted= | | : : : : :....Go to Parent directory or Subdirectory ------->------->| | : : : : | | : : : : "P" key = Path Set | | : : : :....sets DOS Drive & Path to currently displayed one ---->--->| | : : : | | : : : "X" key = Subdirectory Operations | | : : :....Make & Delete Disk Subdirectories Function ------->------>| | : : | | : :...."N" key = New drive selection ------------->--------------->| : : | | : :...."S" key = Start file selection over from scratch -------->---->| | : : | | : :...."ESC" key = Exit from Disk Wiz ------->DOS prompt | | : | | :....File Selection | | : : | | : : Cursor, "Enter" keys | | : :....Move Highlight bar to & Select files to work with | | : : | | : : "U" key = Unselect file | | : :....Remove files from Selected file list | | : : | | : : "Q" key = Quick pick | | : :....Rapid selection of all files matching a pattern, ie. ".BAK" | | : | | :...."Enter" Key again on an already selected file = completed list | | : | | : | | File List Action Menu | | : : : : | | : : : : "D" key = Directory data display | | : : : :....Display of File Size, Date & Time of Creation, & amount | | : : : : : of space file will take up on a floppy disk. | | : : : : :..Total of files sizes | | : : : : | | : : : : "R" key = Rename files | | : : : :....Rename each file on File List, entering a blank name | | : : : : quits this function. | | : : : : | | : : : : "V" key = View files | | : : : :....Displays contents of files (hidden ones too) directly | | : : : : to screen with no conversion of code to text. | | : : : : | | : : : :."S" key = Start file selection over from beginning with | | : : : : current directory --------->-------------->---->| | : : : : | | : : : :."N" key = Start over again with a NEW directory -------->--->| : : : | : : : "E" key = Erase files | : : :....Delete files from disk with Yes/No Verification | : : : | : : :...."ESC" key = Abort erase files operation ------->------>| : : | : : "C" key = Copy Files | : :............Copy files from current disk/subdirectory | : : : : to another disk or subdirectory | : : : : | : : : :Drive letter (ie."B") | : : : :....Copy files directly to that disk drive ----->----->| : : : :"P" key | : : : :....Copy files directly to printer ------------->------>| : : : | : : :..........."Enter" key = Current Disk Wiz directory path | : : : or : | : : :..Spacebar : = Current DOS directory path | : : : : | : : : : | : : Subdirectory/Path Edit Line for copying | : : : : : | : : : : :Left/Right Cursor keys | : : : : :....Move Towards & Away from Root Directory | : : : : | : : : :Up/Down Cursor keys | : : : :....Select between subdirectories within current one | : : : | : : :"Enter" key | : : :....Start copying to the selected Path ------------>-------->| : : | : :"ESC" key | : :....Interrupt copying of files immediately! ---------------->----->| : | :"T" key = Text File Functions | :.........Display or Print Text Files | : : : : | : : : :"S" key = Screen | : : : :....Display of text files to screen ------------>---->| : : : : | : : : :..Question: Display file with line numbers? | : : : :...."Y"=Yes.... Question: Start at what line? | : : : File is displayed to screen with all special characters| : : : converted to text. (WordStar files made legible!) | : : : | : : :"E" key = Edit | : : :........Edit text files in sequence --------->--------------->| : : : using mini-word processor. | : : : | : : :"P" key = Print | : : :........Print text files ----------->-------------->| : : :..Print Options: | : : :..Line Numbering? | : : :..Special program listing | : : | : :"W" key = Words | : :....Count Lines, Words, Printable characters in file. ------>--->| : | :...."ESC" key = interrupt display or printing of current file | : | :...."END" key = interrupt display or printing of whole file list ---->| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Using Disk Wiz ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ After entering "DISKWIZ" at the DOS prompt, Disk Wiz will load and run from the disk. You will first see the Title & Copyright display and will need to press a key to continue with the program. You will then see a brief Disk Wiz title and copyright notice again with the current Time and Date displayed as stored in the computer. If you didn't set the internal clock when turning the computer on, it may be wrong. The Printer that is currently active (LPT1 or LPT2) will also be shown. You will also see the Main Disk Wiz prompt: "Directory for ? Drive: " This is the point where the Map above starts. There are three general directions you can go: Disk Directory -------------- See a disk's directory by pressing a letter (ie. "A") to see that drive's directory or the <SPACE> bar to see the current DOS Path's directory. No ":" or "Enter" is needed. The default directory command retrieves ALL the files in the directory. The F1 key is used to toggle (switch) between this "all files" mode and one where you can enter any normal DOS DIR wildcard specif- ication. For example, normal mode is equal to DIR *.*. A possible Alternate Mode specification could be "*.BAT" to retrieve only the batch files in that directory. This mode is very useful when the directory contains too many (>100) files to fit on the screen at one time. It will remain active until you switch it back to "*.*" by pressing F1 again and then "Enter" to select the default. Special Functions Menu ---------------------- Press "Enter" to access the Special Functions Menu for the Printer Commands, Editor, Typewriter & non-file functions. Quit Disk Wiz ------------- Exit to DOS by pressing the <ESC> key. If you had been using the Pop-Up version of Disk Wiz, you would return to the other program (ie. word processor) that was running before you brought up Disk Wiz with the "Hot Key". The Escape key "ESC" is very important in Disk Wiz. At almost any time, pressing it will either interrupt whatever process is underway or exit the program. With the shareware (stand alone) Disk Wiz, you always have an opportunity to cancel the "Exit to DOS" and continue running the program. There are also a few places where Disk Wiz will ask you to press "ESC" before proceeding. This gives you a chance to digest the screen contents before they scroll up and away. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Directory Display ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Copying, renaming, deleting, displaying(viewing) & printing files are the main reason to use Disk Wiz. Except for renaming files, you will not have to type in any commands or file names to perform these actions! Being able to do this in the middle of your word processor or other program brings a level of convenience to your computer you won't want to work without. File selection begins at a disk directory, so press the letter of the disk drive you want to work on. If you have a hard disk, you can press the Spacebar to go straight to the current DOS path. Disk Wiz will read the directory from that drive, assuming you have a disk in it. We've tried to make Disk Wiz "error-proof"- if you specify a drive that doesn't exist, or don't have a floppy in it, or the door's open, Disk Wiz will tell you. NOTE: the timeouts for these errors to be detected varies on different machines, so be patient, especially if you accidentally try to send output to a printer that isn't there! Normally, the disk directory is sorted and displayed in alphabetical order, up to 100 files at a time. You have the option to see the actual order by pressing any key while the directory is being read. At the top of the display are several pieces of information: * The current drive and subdirectory(if any) path. * The DIR wildcard mask used to pick the directory entries (*.*=all). * The size of the disk. * The amount of free space on the disk. * The number of file entries (not including "." & ".." entries). * The sum of the file sizes. * The number of subdirectories. There are three different types of files you may see. * Normal files have no prefix character in the display. * Subdirectories have a diamond prefix character. * Hidden files have an 8 pointed asterisk prefix. If you are in a subdirectory, the "Parent Directory" has two diamonds in front of it. Disk Wiz does not use the confusing "." and ".." Parent & current SubDirectory listings. To see the directory of a subdirectory, simply move the cursor bar to that item and press Enter. You can change the "mask" used to select files from the entire disk directory to a customized one that will display only selected files according to the DOS DIR wildcard rules. Press F1 at the Directory? prompt or from the File Selection Menu to enter a new mask. The default (selected by pressing Enter) is "*.*". This is useful for displaying only a specific type of file out of a directory with hundreds of entries. Note that subdirectories usually are excluded from the selection process with a special mask, and you therefore cannot change directories by merely selecting it from the display. The mask that is current will remain active until you change it back to the default or another mask. This is also true with the Pop-Up Disk Wiz after you leave it and then return later. For those of you who do not know about DOS "wildcards" for files: When you do a directory listing from the DOS prompt with the command "DIR", the default file mask is "*.*". This matches up any and all files and is equal to "????????.???". The "*" and "?" are the DOS wildcards. The "?" says: accept any character in this position including a blank one. The "*" says: accept any sequence of characters in this position and is shorthand for filling in all the allowable spaces with "?"s. DOS filenames can be up to 8 characters + a period + 3 more characters. Examples: ???.* will match any files with 3 or less characters in the prefix and any suffix: ie. TED.DOC or 1.BAT *.BAT will pick all files with "BAT" as an extension: ie. AUTOEXEC.BAT DW*.DAT will pick all files beginning with "DW" and DAT as a suffix, like DW1.DAT or DW123.DAT ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ File Selection ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Selecting files to work with is easy. Use the Cursor Keys to move the highlight bar to the file you want to select. Press "ENTER" to select that file name. If you select a directory, Disk Wiz will immediately go to that subdirectory and display it's contents using the same file mask, though you may not see any subdirectories displayed, depending on the mask. You can select up to 100 files to work on at one time, including Hidden files. You can save time by using "Quick Pick" (press "Q") to automatically select all the files matching a pattern, such as ".BAK", in one operation. Just enter the pattern to match at the prompt. If you enter no pattern, Disk Wiz will select all the files except the hidden ones, which you will have to do manually. You can start the selection process over again by pressing "S". If you need to Unselect a file from the list, use the "U" key. To complete your list and advance to the File Action Menu, cursor to one of the files you already picked and press "Enter" again. Picking any file twice signals Disk Wiz to move on. If there are more than 100 files to display, you will see a special option: "<A>dditional Files". You can work on the files presently displayed and then access the additional ones later with this command or press "A" now to see the additional files. You can only work on one "page" at a time though. This is where the special DIR mask comes in handy. By using it to sift through the whole directory and pick up only certain ones, you can usually pull the ones you want up all at one time. There are other things you can do at this point besides selecting files, but reduce confusion, we will cover them later. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ File Action Menu: ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Copy, Rename, Erase, View, Directory Info, Text File operations. Once you've completed the list of files to work on, you can perform these DOS and additional operations with them. Simply press the letter indicated by <>'s in the menu command. While Disk Wiz is performing the selected operation, you can Interrupt it with the <ESC> key. In the View and Text operations, you can interrupt the whole file list with the <END> key. Disk Wiz keeps the list of files you selected intact so you don't have to reselect them to do another file operation. The exceptions to this rule are after erasing or renaming files, which cause the directory to be changed. Special Notes: Erase: You are asked before the erasing begins if you really want to delete the files. Pressing "Enter" selects the default of "Yes". Pressing "ESC" at this point or during the erasing procedure will stop the procedure and send you back to the directory display. Rename: Prompts you for the new name of each file and then makes the change to the disk directory. Enter a blank name to quit this function without changing the file name at the new name prompt. View: Displays files directly into the video display memory. This allows you to examine programs and other non-text files. The offset into the file is displayed at each line in decimal. You can interrupt the display with the <ESC> and <END> keys. Directory Data: Displays the information about the file in the disk directory. This consists of the Date and Time the file was created, and the Size of the file in bytes. Disk Wiz supplies additional information on the file sizes. In parentheses you will see another size for each file. This number is the actual space the file will take up on a floppy disk. Floppy disks portion out their space in 512 byte chunks, so a 600 byte file takes up 1024 bytes or 1K of space. Disk Wiz also shows you the total of the files' sizes in both formats. The Text and Copy operations have enough subtopics each to warrant their own sections. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Text File Operations ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Disk Wiz can display, edit, print or derive information from your text files. Many word processors (ie. WordStar) convert some of the letters in your text to unreadable form. Disk Wiz will display and print them normally. Some word processors format the text on the fly and save their files without any line breaks in the text. These will be displayed, but Disk Wiz has no way to tell where the lines are supposed to end, so the display may not be exactly what you expect. Disk Wiz converts the files by "stripping" the eighth bits off of each byte in the file. Form feeds and Tabs are indicated by displaying those words in the text, rather than forwarding them through. Disk Wiz will step through the files you selected, one by one, with chosen text file function. To skip to the end of the current file, press the ESC key. To skip to the end of your selected file list, press the END key. Display to Screen: After selecting text operations, the default operation is Screen Display, selected with the "S" key or simply pressing "Enter". The display can be with line numbers and if numbering is selected, can start anywhere in the file. You must hold down a key to scroll the text up the screen. Edit: The Disk Wiz Editor is a sophisticated line editor using many word processing commands, with WordStar control key compatibility. This Shareware version of Disk Wiz is limited to editing a 388 line file. You have a 20 line cut/copy "clipboard area" to recover deleted lines from and copy lines into for insertion at another point. Due to its smaller data area, the Pop-Up Disk Wiz has a smaller capacity. The Editor is described in detail below. Print: This is similar to the screen display, except that it is output to the printer. There is a special listing mode for Epson type dot matrix printers. It prints the file name in Bold Pica followed by the file in condensed type with 8 lines per inch, line numbers and form feeds between files. This listing mode also does no character translation. If your file contains graphic characters (box, etc) you may want to use the "Copy to Printer" feature of the Copy Files function. These characters, as well as many special symbols, have values above 127 and would be changed by the Text Print function. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Copying Files ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ To simply copy to another disk drive, just press the letter for it (ie. "B") after selecting the Copy option from the File Action Menu. If you want to copy to a subdirectory, press "Enter" or the Spacebar. This will drop you into the "Edit Path" line. Either the Disk Wiz path or the current DOS path will be displayed depending on which you pressed. You can use the cursor keys now to select the path to copy to. Cursor left to back up the path all the way to a different drive if desired. Cursor right to display the next subdirectories available along the path. When a list is displayed, use the up/down cursor keys to select the desired one. When the full desired path is displayed on the Path Specification line, press <ENTER> to start copying to that path. If you want a different subdirectory within the current parent directory, back up to the parent and then cursor right to display the child list. This isn't as complicated as it sounds. Once you try it, you will find this method to be fast and intuitive. If all you use are floppies, and you don't understand this subdirectory talk, don't worry about it. All you need to do is press the drive letter at the "Copy to:" prompt! If you try to copy over an existing file of the same name, Disk Wiz will beep and ask you for permission to overwrite it. The default (Enter key) is to overwrite. You also have the option to rename it, which you always get if copying only one file. You can Halt the copying process at any time with the <ESC> key, though this may leave you with a partial copy on the target disk. Disk Wiz will warn you if this happens. You can copy a file and rename the copy at the same time by selecting only one file at a time. If you are copying several files and select "Rename" instead of overwrite for any existing file, you will be prompted for a new name on each of the remaining files on the selected file list. You can copy files directly to the Printer by pressing "P" at the "Copy to:" prompt. In this way, you can print out a file without any of the conversion that the Text Print Function performs. This is useful for sending the printer a long sequence of codes instead of using the Printer Codes Menu. This file can be created with the TEXT2BYT program included with the full Diskwiz package. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Making & Removing Subdirectories ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ One of the key functions we skipped at the File Selection Menu is "X" for Disk Wiz's Subdirectory functions. When entering the name of a subdirectory to create, remember that you are limited to normal DOS file names. Also, you cannot delete a subdirectory while it is the active DOS directory or if it has files in it. Refer to the DOS manual for more information on subdirectories. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Setting DOS Drive & Path ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ The other skipped function at the File Selection Menu is the Path command. Pressing "P" will change the active (default) DOS drive and path specification to that of the currently displayed directory. When you exit to DOS (or your "surface" program if using the Pop-Up DiskWiz), you will find the new path set. This is an easy way to move to a subdirectory deep in the hard disk without typing in the whole "CD" command line. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Special Functions ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Disk Wiz has several Special Functions, accessed by pressing <ENTER> at the "Directory for ? Drive:" prompt. These are: Printer Commands ---------------- The Printer Code Menu is a list of 19 preset 5-byte instructions can be sent to your printer by pressing the appropriate menu key. Normally, this would have to be done through a word processing program, if even possible then. These commands can be a simple as a form feed or printer reset, to as complicated as setting a different print style and line spacing. Disk Wiz comes with a set of Epson dot matrix codes. The abbreviations used in the menu list are: FF/LF: Formfeed/Linefeed Cnd: Condensed Exp: Doublewide Micro: Superscript & condensed (tiny print) Mic: Micro Emp: Emphasized Und: Underlined LPI: Lines per inch +: turn it on -: turn it off Ital: Italics The "ESC" key exits the Printer Menu prompt, but you must enter a blank line to quit the special codes prompt. Note that you can change these menu selections for your printer if you have the customization program that comes with the full Disk Wiz package. Also note that some programs, such as PC-Write, will completely reset the printer before sending the document to it, though a work-around can usually be found with a little trial and error. The last menu selection is for special codes not listed in the menu. Disk Wiz makes it very easy to send a whole string of commands. You can almost copy them directly from your printer manual. Normally, a printer instruction consists of several bytes (a number from 0 to 255). For example, turning on underlining might be 27,95,1. Usually though, the printer manual lists the byte sequence as a combination of numbers and letters. Disk Wiz lets you type in byte numbers, hexadecimal numbers and characters all on the same line and converts them to the bytes required by your printer. The procedure is simple, once you understand the "rules": 1. Commands are entered as lines of text. Several commands can be on each line. 2. Each entry in the line MUST be 3 characters long separated by a space. 3. Decimal numbers require no prefix, but must have the leading zeros required to make them 3 characters long, ie. 000 001 027 123 255. 4. Hex values are prefixed with a "$" (dollar) sign, ie. $07 $FF $1a 5. Letters, number & punctuation characters must be sandwiched, one at a time, between quotes ("), ie. "A" "0" "." Disk Wiz will check the line for errors before sending anything to the printer, and will point out where the problem is. To get out of this function you must enter a blank line (not escape). Example: 015 027 "S" 000 027 "3" 015 This turns on condensed print, then turns on superscript, then sets line spacing to 14 lines per inch for a really tiny printed output on Epson compatible dot matrix printers. Characters ---------- Disk Wiz will display all 256 characters that your computer is capable of displaying. The first 128 of these are known as the ASCII character set, the remainder are the special IBM character set. The first 31 ASCII characters are normally special purpose codes such as #12 for form feed, #13 for carriage return, #10 for line feed, #7 for bell, etc. They appear as characters on the screen since your computer has a full 256 character set for display purposes, though 0 and 255 normally don't display anything. You can find the value for any character by adding the row and column values together at the character location. Screen Colors ------------- Depending on the display adaptor and monitor (screen) type, your computer can display up to 256 different foreground and background color combinations for text display. Color is put on the screen by placing the value of the color combination (including blinking and intensity) in the attribute byte for the specific letter position on the screen. The values for a color in this function is obtained by adding the row and column values. Typewriter ---------- Disk Wiz will let you use your computer and printer just like a typewriter, except better! The printer doesn't receive anything until you finish editing the document and send it. You can even print multiple copies. The Typewriter function uses the same editor as the Disk Wiz File Editor, described in detail further on. When your page looks the way you want it, press the ESC key to exit the Editor. You will be asked whether to send the page to the printer. You can also go back to editing. After printing is completed you will be prompted to print it again or re-edit it if you like. This function is perfect for whipping out an envelope or quick note when you don't want to quit what you're doing and load your word processor. You can even do a manual mail merge by re-editing in a new address and printing out the document again. Disk File Editor ---------------- You can make or edit existing text files, such as DOS batch files, with Disk Wiz's Mini-Word Processor. The function is the same as the Typewriter except you are prompted for the name of the file before starting the editing. Usually, you will enter the Editor for an existing file through the Text File Operations function after selecting it out of the directory display. That way, you don't have to type in the file name or path. Selecting the Editor through the Special Functions menu allows you to create new files. If you try to edit an existing file that is too big for the data area in Disk Wiz, you will get a warning. You can then proceed with as much of the file as will fit in. Note: when making "Batch Files" (list of DOS commands), you sometimes want to have the last line finish without a carriage return (CR). Disk Wiz's Editor will do this if you make that line the last line of the file. Again, when you are done editing the document, press the ESC key to get to the "Save/Print File?" prompt. As in typewriter mode, you can print, re-edit, and print again if you like, and actually never even save the file. Switch printers --------------- If you have two parallel ports (printer ports) and two printers or devices hooked up to them, you can use Disk Wiz to switch the output between them. These printers are called LPT1 and LPT2. This is very useful for outputting draft copy or graphics on a dot matrix printer and then switching to a daisy wheel printer for final copy. Of course, this assumes your printed output would be normally going to LPT1. If you change your word processor to print to LPT2, and then use Disk Wiz to swap LPT1 & LPT2, you'll print on 1. You can always see which printer is going to receive output at the "Directory for ? Drive" prompt, which will display "Printer 1" or 2. Disk Wiz does its best to figure out which printer is 1 or 2 when you first run the program. This means that if you run once, switch printers, exit and then run it again, you will find the correct display. If your computer does not follow the standard LPT addressing, you may find 1 & 2 switched in the display, but it will be consistently so. Change Cursor ------------- Disk Wiz allows you to change the cursor appearance for Disk Wiz and the program from which you invoked it. You can restore the cursor if you lose it from another program as well! Note that some programs (notably BASIC) reset the cursor with every keystroke, so using Disk Wiz to change the cursor will not help within that program, but will be invaluable for restoring it after running the program! Note that when you enter Disk Wiz, you'll always get a cursor. When you exit Disk Wiz, the cursor is normally restored to the way it was before, unless you specifically use the Change Cursor option. So don't be confused by seeing a cursor in Disk Wiz and having it disappear when you exit. Sound Toggle ------------ This function turns the sound cues (beeps) of Disk Wiz on or off for silent operation. Screen Saver ------------ This feature extends the life of your monitor(screen) by filling it with black spaces after 30 seconds of not using Disk Wiz. This ONLY occurs when you first run Disk Wiz (or call it up with the Hot Key in the Pop-Up version) and don't reply to the "Directory for ? Drive" prompt. Pressing any key will bring back the screen. Because Disk Wiz's screen saver feature works by filling the screen with black spaces instead of using a hardware setting, it will work with any monitor! ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Disk Wiz Editor ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ The Editor built into Disk Wiz may well be the nicest little line editor you've ever used. "Line Editor" means that you work on one line at a time without any word-wrapping (you can't type past the end of a line). Except for that limitation, you have an excellent set of word processing functions, including copying lines, moving lines, recovery of accidentally deleted lines, and extended cursor movement functions. To top it off, almost all of the WordStar cursor, deletion and insertion keys work with Disk Wiz's Editor. You are limited to a maximum of 388 lines of 79 characters each with the shareware and stand-alone Disk Wiz versions. The Pop-Up version has 60 lines, enough for a full page of text. The cut & paste area is 20 lines (4 lines in Pop-Up Disk Wiz). The Editor is always in "Insert" mode. This means that what ever you type in is inserted into the line at the cursor position, and does not overwrite what was already there. Whenever a line becomes longer than 70 characters, you will hear a short beep reminding you that the end is near. Cursor Movement --------------- The following keys and Control key combinations move the cursor through your text file. A Control key combination means to press the Ctrl key down and then press the second key in the combination. This is written as "^" + the key. For example, ^T is Ctrl+T and deletes a word to the right of the cursor. * Cursor keys move the cursor left or right along the line or up and down the page. The corresponding WordStar keys are ^S, ^D, ^E, ^X. * PageUp (or ^R) and PageDown (or ^C) keys move the text up or down 21 lines at a time. * Home and End keys move the cursor to the beginning and end of lines. * Control + Cursor Right or Left move one word at a time along a line. ^F and ^A are the WordStar equivalents. * TAB: On a blank line the Tab key moves the cursor to the next increment of 8 spaces from the left edge. Since you are actually inserted the necessary number of spaces to do this, any text on the line will be moved to the right as well. * ENTER: The Enter key drops the cursor down to the next line, and "starts" a new one if at the end of the file. Inserting, Deleting, Copying Text --------------------------------- The Editor has a special area where it keeps a copy of deleted lines. If you accidentally delete a line with the "delete line key" you can recover it from this area. You can also copy lines into this Cut & Paste area and recover them as well. This gives you the ability to move lines from one part of the file to another or to repeat lines from one part to another. The INSERT key is the one that recovers these lines back into the file, inserting them between existing lines. The Cut & Paste area is 20 lines with this Shareware Disk Wiz. Note that you can't recover text deleted with the Delete or Backspace keys which erase characters one at a time, either at the cursor or to its left. * Delete lines with Alt + "D" or ^Y at the cursor position. * Insert lines with Alt + "I" or ^N. A blank line will appear above the current line and the cursor will be moved to the beginning of it. * Copy lines to the Cut & Paste area with Alt + "C". You'll see the line disappear momentarily and then reappear to let you know you actually did something. * Insert lines from the C & P area with the Ins key. * Erase a word at a time with the ^T key. Editor File Format ------------------ Disk Wiz's Editor is a straight ASCII editor. It expects only normal characters and standard linefeed/CR's and does not do any conversion when reading in a file to edit. You can convert files to this format with the utility included with the complete Disk Wiz package. Alternatively, you can use Disk Wiz to print out a file (which does some conversion) and capture it with a print spooler. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Error Messages ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ The following are the meanings of some error message numbers which you might get under unusual circumstances. Normal error messages are displayed in Disk Wiz's operation. 1. File does not exist. 2, 3, 4. File not open. 32. Operation not allowed on logical device. 34. Operation not allowed on standard file. 145, 153. Unexpected end of file. 240. Disk full. 241. Directory full. 243. Too many open files. (Put Files=20 in Config.Sys). 255. File Disappeared. 256. Disk write protected. 768, 2816, 3072. Device not ready. 1280, 1792, 2048, 2304. Bad disk or drive. Thank You for using our Shareware Disk Wiz version! I hope you enjoy it and will order the full package. -Ted Wood, Disk Wiz author. END OF DOCUMENTATION.