Inside Multimedia 1995 May

home *** CD-ROM | disk | FTP | other *** search

/ Inside Multimedia 1995 May / IMM0595.ISO / share / os2 / afe / afe.doc < prev next >

Wrap

Text File | 1994-12-27 | 51.5 KB | 1,117 lines

Certified by IBM "Ready for OS/2" AAAAAAAA FFFFFFFFFFFFF EEEEEEEEEEEEE AAAAAAAAAA FFFFFFFFFFFFF EEEEEEEEEEEEE AAAA AAAA FFFF EEEE AAAA AAAA FFFF EEEE AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA FFFFFFFFF EEEEEEEEE AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA FFFFFFFFF EEEEEEEEE AAAAA AAAA FFFF EEEE AAAAA AAAA FFFF EEEE AAAAA AAAA FFFF EEEEEEEEEEEEE AAAAA AAAA FFFF EEEEEEEEEEEEE ARCHIVE FRONT END Version 2.41 28 Dec 1994 Copyright 1993, 1994 by H. M. Weiner 28 Dec 1994 Contents AFE Version 2.41 ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Contents Page -------------------------------------------------- i. Background . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 ii. Registration Plea . . . . . . . . . . . 1 iii. Included Files in the AFE Package . . . 2 A. Program Features . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 B. Assumptions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 C. Installation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 D. Notes on Running the Program . . . . . . 5 1. Opening Choices . . . . . . . . . . 5 2. File Selection . . . . . . . . . . 5 3. Creating a New Archive . . . . . . 6 4. Updating an Existing Archive . . . 7 5. Extract . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 6. V-Scan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 7. M/V-Scan . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 8. View, Print or Delete . . . . . . . 9 9. Exiting AFE . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 10. Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 11. Internal Archive Detection . . . . 10 12. Archive Errors . . . . . . . . . . 11 13. TryAll Subroutine . . . . . . . . 11 14. Variable Errors . . . . . . . . . 11 15. Display Size . . . . . . . . . . . 11 16. Miscellaneous Tips . . . . . . . . 12 E. Cautions and Limitations . . . . . . . . 13 F. Contacting the Author . . . . . . . . . . 14 G. Copyright Notices and Disclaimer . . . . 14 H. What's New (AFE History) . . . . . . . . 15 28 Dec 1994 Page 1 AFE Version 2.41 ------------------------------------------------------------------------- i. Background AFE started out as a personal project to fill my need for a native OS/2 front-end for archive manipulation, and at the same time, give me some particular goal while learning to use REXX. After many hours of effort, I came up with AFE 1.1, which utilized IBM's in-house developed VREXX for the PM graphics. I realized that other OS/2ers might be interested in this type of front-end, since what was available at the time in this catagory was very limited, so I posted my work as Freeware on two local BBSes that I frequented. Unfortunately, VREXX imposes some severe limitions in many respects, so I decided to give it a shot using Watcom's VX-REXX. After building some less complex projects with VX-REXX to understand its capabilities, it was time to tackle a new and improved version of the "Archive Front End". This package is the result. Please pass AFE on to other BBSes, including all files in this archive. ii. Registration I have many, many hours of work invested in developing and testing AFE. What you have here is the complete package, whether you register or not. But you will be reminded whenever you boot up AFE that this is shareware. The registered version will not have this shareware delay/notice. The registration is $22.50 for the individual user. I'm not trying to retire on shareware income, but it would be nice to be able to pay for my development environment and the phone bill for posting it here and there. When your registration form and check are received, you will be mailed a diskette with the registration file that will register all future versions. You will also be established as a registered user on the support BBS,which will allow you to download future versions in progress. AFE is a copyrighted program. It is not public domain or free software. A limited license is granted for the purpose of determining suitability of the program. Registration is required for any use beyond a 15 day evaluation period. Registered users have the right to use this program for their personal use on one or more computers provided that only 1 copy is in use at the same time. After a couple of weeks of using AFE, you ought to know if it's the archive tool for you. Fill out and print REG-FORM.AFE and make out a check. 28 Dec 1994 Page 2 AFE Version 2.41 ------------------------------------------------------------------------- iii. Included Files in the AFE Package AFE.EXE - The executable program AFE.ICO - The icon used to represent AFE on the desktop AFE.DOC - This documentation file AFE-INST.CMD - The AFE installation program AFE-CFG.EXE - The AFE re-configuration program to change variable settings (must be called from AFE) README.1ST - An extraction of the installation section from this document VROBJ.DLL - The VX-REXX library for the PM graphics REG-FORM.AFE - The registration form/mailer FILE_ID.DIZ - A BBS description of AFE A. Program Features - create or selectively update archives - view or print selected files in an archive - selectively delete files from an archive - virus scan an archive - mark a list of archives in a directory for virus scanning - unarchive member files selectively or in entirety - supports Drag 'n Drop or double-click of archive files to start - detects archives within archives infinite levels deep and allows you to selectively unarchive them - capability to open a folder view of the archive contents to execute a contained program 28 Dec 1994 Page 3 AFE Version 2.41 ------------------------------------------------------------------------- B. Assumptions - REXX support is installed. See the OS/2 documentation on how to use "Selective Install" if you need to add it. - ZIP.EXE for OS/2 is installed. This is a Public Domain program, currently version 2.0.1, and is available on most BBSes that support OS/2. - UNZIP.EXE for OS/2 is installed. This is a Public Domain program, currently version 5.11, and is available on most BBSes that support OS/2. - LH16.EXE or LH32.EXE for OS/2 is installed. This is a Public Domain program, currently version 2.22, and is available on most BBSes that support OS/2. - ZOO.EXE for OS/2, version 2.1 is installed. This is a Public Domain program and is available on most BBSes that support OS/2. Note that you should be using either the 16 bit version dated 7/14/91 or the 32 bit version dated 10/6/93. The 32 bit version dated 9/20/92 WILL NOT WORK properly at all when called from AFE. - ARJ.EXE 2.41a (DOS) is installed. This is a Shareware program by Robert K. Jung. Note that when a OS/2 native mode ARJ creation/ extraction program becomes available, AFE's support will be recoded for that program. - OS2SCAN.EXE is installed. This is a Shareware program from McAfee Associates, currently at version 2.13 (OSC-213e.ZIP), and is available on most BBSes that support OS/2. - An OS/2 native file viewer is installed. By default, E.EXE is used. While E is not the worlds greatest editor, it works just great as a viewer with AFE, and it's free! Whatever you decide, a PM program will work best with AFE. - VIEW.EXE is installed. This is OS/2's viewer for INF files. Note: any of the external executables may be omitted if you do not intend to use the associated capability. That capability will be disabled in AFE. For example, if you omit support for ZOO type archives, then the ZOO button will be disabled on the Create Archive submenu. In addition, if you were to drag 'n drop a .ZOO file on the program object, AFE would greet you with an error message. Caution: If you attempt to open a file which doesn't have an extension of ZIP, ZOO, LZH or ARJ, AFE would normally attempt to open that file with all four methods. If one of the archive types is not supported, then AFE can only attempt to open it with the others. Also, if you elect to not support a file viewer, you also are disabling the capability to 28 Dec 1994 Page 4 AFE Version 2.41 ------------------------------------------------------------------------- view the report output by the virus scanner from within AFE if a virus is detected. You will still be notified that a virus was detected, and a file named VSCANRPT.### will be left in the directory you designate in the configuration as "ARC DIRECTORY". C. Installation With version 2.4, AFE reads the users settings in a whole new way, and upgraders should proceed just as with a new installation. If upgrading from 2.4 to 2.41 you can simply overwrite AFE.EXE and VROBJ.DLL with the same named files included in this package. 1. UnZIP AFE241.ZIP. If you're reading this, you've probably already done that. 2. Type AFE-INST from the directory where all the unzipped files are located. This program will prompt you for the path to where you want AFE installed and a directory where you want the .DLL to be installed. This must be a directory that's in your LIBPATH statement of your CONFIG.SYS. After the files are copied to their respective directories, the installation program will create the desktop object for AFE, which will have all the critical settings for proper operation of the program. Normally, the object will appear in the upper lefthand corner of your screen. AFE will automatically start and go directly to the settings note- book. The entry fields in the notebook support all the standard editing functions supported in the WPS such as destructive backspace, overwriting highlighted text, etc. When you are satisfied with all your entries, close the notebook and the main program will restart. If the meanings of the directory variables are not clear to you with the explanations in the notebook, read the next section on running AFE to understand how the the directories are used. Note that you will get better performance from AFE if you do not make the root directory of any drive your "ARC DIRECTORY" or "PICK DIRECTORY". 3. (Optional) Set the font in "E" to SYSTEM VIO. This makes viewing plain text files easier because of its even spacing. I have the program object along the bottom of my Desktop since I use it everyday. I use a Shareware File/directory manager that supports drag 'n drop from its file list which makes it super easy to start AFE by highlighting the file name and dragging it to my program icon. Plus, if I want to run AFE from the main menu, I don't have to dig into a folder to start it. 28 Dec 1994 Page 5 AFE Version 2.41 ------------------------------------------------------------------------- D. Notes on Running the Program AFE progresses in logical steps (I hope), and has no online help, as I think this would add unnecessary bulk to the program. Once you start using the program, its operation should become apparent. If not, below are some details about using the program. 1. Opening Choices When you start the program by double-clicking its desktop object,there are eight major choices represented by the following pushbuttons. New: Create a a new archive Update: Add files to an existing archive Extract: Unarchive all or selected files V-Scan: open and virus scan an archive. M/V-Scan: open and virus scan a list of archives in a given directory. View: start the process to view an internal text or INF file in an archive. Print: start the process to Print an internal text file in an archive. Delete: start the process to delete an internal file in an archive. In addition, there are two more buttons available. Choose "Settings" to bring up the settings notebook if you want to change any of the variables set on installation. Closing the notebook restarts the main program. "About" will display a window with product information and how to contact the author. 2. File Selection THE KEY TO UNDERSTANDING WHAT YOU ARE BEING SHOWN IS THE CAPTION FIELD JUST UNDER THE TITLEBAR AND THE PUSHBAR BENEATH THE DIRECTORY WINDOW. More about this at the appropriate times. File selection is done by clicking the left mouse button on the file of choice to highlight it. If this is a single file choice, then double clicking has the same effect as pressing the "OK" button. When a single file choice is appropriate, clicking on another filename will unselect a previously selected file. When a multifile choice is 28 Dec 1994 Page 6 AFE Version 2.41 ------------------------------------------------------------------------- apropriate, unselecting a file previously selected is accomplished by clicking the highlighted filename. To change directories, double-click (or highlight and enter) on the directory name desired in the directories list. To go a level higher in the directory tree double-click the ".." on top of the list. Changing to a different drive is accomplished by single-clicking the down arrow alongside the displayed drive letter. This reveals a list of available drives on the system (or LAN). Single click the drive letter of choice. While an archive is opened to the temporary directory, the pushbar's label reads "Open Folder". At this point, pushing the bar will result in a folder being opened containing all the file objects from the archive. From this folder, an executable program may be run by double- clicking on it's object. A text file may be dragged and dropped on a viewer object. If an archive file is contained within the archive, its object may be dragged and dropped on the AFE program object to start another session of AFE on this file. If you change directory while in the course of choosing an archive to open for processing, that directory then becomes the default ARC DIRECTORY for that AFE session, unless you change directory again while in this mode. It reverts back to the pre-configured ARC DIRECTORY when you create a new archive or start a new AFE session. If you change directory while in the course of choosing files to include in a new or updated archive, that directory then becomes the default PICK DIRECTORY for that AFE session, unless you change directory again while in this mode. It reverts back to the pre- configured PICK DIRECTORY when you start a new AFE session. 3. Creating a New Archive After pressing "New" you are presented with four buttons to make your selection of archive type. After making this selection, the filename entry field will become enabled for you to type in the name of your new creation. Note that the archive type may be changed until you press "OK". Also note that if you want the new archive to be created in some other path besides the ARC DIRECTORY, you may type a full path spec before the archive name. Either way, DO NOT include the archive extension when you type the name. After pressing "OK" you will be shown the file selection screen. The default directory displayed is that which you set as your "PICK DIRECTORY" during installation/configuration. The caption field reads "HIGHLIGHT FILE(S) TO ADD THEN OK, CANCEL TO ABORT". If files are present in this directory, one of the pushbuttons below filelist is labeled "All". If the archive to be created will be made up of all the files in just this directory, simply press "All" to start the archive process. 28 Dec 1994 Page 7 AFE Version 2.41 ------------------------------------------------------------------------- If you wish to select individual files, highlight them (the "All" button will change to "OK"), then press "OK". This action creates a temporary subdirectory where the chosen files are stored. As each file is copied, the highlight will be removed. The "Cancel" button then changes to "Go". If no other files are to be added, press "Go" (or ESC) to create the archive. If you wish to add other files (perhaps from a different drive or directory), before pressing "Go", highlight and "OK" those other files and press "Go" when all selections are completed. The new archive is created in the directory you've designated as the "ARC DIRECTORY" during installation/configuration. After the archive is created you are returned to the initial view. 4. Updating an Existing Archive The process is similar to creating a new archive as outlined above. From the initial view, select "Update". You will be presented with a file selection window. The default directory that is displayed is the "ARC DIRECTORY". The caption field reads "HIGHLIGHT ARCHIVE TO UPDATE THEN OK". You choose the archive to be updated by highlighting the filename and pressing "OK" or by double-clicking the filename. You can change drive/directory if the archive to be updated is elsewhere. After the selection is made the display will be updated to show your "PICK DIRECTORY". From here, the process is identical to that outlined above for creating a new archive. After you have completed a virus scan, view, print or delete action, the file selection window is still displayed with the selected archive still open. At this point you may push the "Update" button at the top of the window to update the current archive. This will take you to the point of selecting files to include as detailed above. 5. Extract To extract files from an archive, "Extract" may be chosen from the initial view. This selection takes you to the file selection view which lists the files found in the "ARC DIRECTORY". The caption field reads "HIGHLIGHT ARCHIVE TO OPEN THEN OK". Select an archive from here, or you can change drive/directory and select a file from somewhere else on the system. Once the archive is selected it will be opened and you will be taken to another file selection dialog that displays a list of files within your archive. The "current directory" window displays the name of the archive file. The caption field reads "HIGHLIGHT FILES(S) TO EXTRACT THEN OK". 28 Dec 1994 Page 8 AFE Version 2.41 ------------------------------------------------------------------------- At this point, the "All" button is enabled to allow you to easilly extract all the files in the archive. Simply press "All" (or Enter) to start the extraction process. If you choose to select specific files, just highlight those. When you do this, the "All" button becomes the "OK" button. When all files are selected, push "OK" (or Enter). If a single file is what is desired, you can simply double-click that filename. However you have chosen to start the extraction, the selected files are saved to your designated "UNARC DIRECTORY". You are then returned to the main menu. "Extract" may also be selected after the completion of View, Print, Scan or Delete operation, while the subject archive is still open. 6. V-Scan Choose V-Scan when you want to virus scan a single archive file, then do other operations on the chosen archive. The choice takes you to the now familiar file selection dialog, which displays all the files in the "ARC DIRECTORY". You may choose a file from here or change drive/directory to scan a different archive. The caption field reads "HIGHLIGHT ARCHIVE TO SCAN THEN OK". Select an archive by double-clicking the filename or highlighting it and pressing "OK" (or Enter). The archive is opened, then scanned. Progress is displayed on the pushbar under the directory list box. If OS2SCAN finds no problems with the files in the archive, then you are notified with "No Viruses Found" on the pushbar. You may dismiss this dialog by pressing "OK" (or Enter), then you may choose another action to perform on this archive from the buttons across the top of the window. By pressing "Cancel" instead, you are returned to the initial view. If a problem is detected, then you are notified with an alarm sound and a generated report is displayed by the file viewer that you've designated in the "VIEWER EXECUTABLE" variable. This report gives you the details of what OS2SCAN found. If you have not defined a "VIEWER EXECUTABLE" then you are notified by the alarm, plus a notification on the pushbar. In either case, when a problem is detected, a report file named VSCANRPT.### (where ### is a random number) will be left behind in the "ARC DIRECTORY" "V-Scan" may also be chosen while a subject archive is being displayed. Virus scanning is immediately started on this opened archive. Operations from that point on are the same as outlined above. 28 Dec 1994 Page 9 AFE Version 2.41 ------------------------------------------------------------------------- 7. M/V-Scan Choose this option if there are several archives in a given subdirectory that you wish to scan, or even if there is only one archive to be scanned, but you wish to return directly to the main menu after completing the scan (if you will have no other operations to perform on the given archive). When you make this choice, the file selection dialog will list the files in your "ARC DIRECTORY". The caption field reads "HIGHLIGHT ARCHIVE(S) TO SCAN THEN OK". Again, you may change drive/directory as desired. Select the archive(s) by highlighting each then pressing "OK" (or Enter). Each archive is opened and scanned one at a time. If no problem is detected, you are notfied in the same way as for a single scan. After pressing "OK", the next previously selected archive is opened and scanned. If a problem is detected by OS2SCAN, you are notified of the problem the same way as with a single scan. When you dismiss the virus report from the viewer, or when you dismiss the dialog (in the absence of a designated viewer), the next previously selected archive is scanned. Note that whether a virus is detected or not, the temporary directory where the archive file is opened is removed as soon as you dismiss the report or dialog, and a new temporary directory is established for the next archive. If more than one archive is found to have a problem, each will have its own unique VSCANRPT.###. After the completion of all scans you are returned to the main menu. 8. View, Print or Delete The file selection process for viewing, printing or deleting an archive's internal file is the same, so all threes will be discussed together. When one is chosen from the initial view, you are presented with a file dialog which displays a list of files in your "ARC DIRECTORY". The caption field reads "HIGHLIGHT ARCHIVE TO VIEW (or "PRINT" or "DELETE") THEN OK". You may select the desired archive from here, or change drive or directory to choose an archive from somewhere else. Select the archive file that contains the file that you wish to view, print or delete by either double-clicking the filename or selecting it and pressing "OK" (or Enter). This takes you to another file selection dialog where the files within the archive are listed. The caption field reads "HIGHLIGHT FILE TO VIEW (or whatever) THEN OK". The name of the archive file is shown in 28 Dec 1994 Page 10 AFE Version 2.41 ------------------------------------------------------------------------- the current directory window. Select the desired file. After any of these operations are completed you then may perform another operation on this archive by selecting the next action from the buttons across the top if the window. Had you chosen the "View" mode, the selected file is loaded into the program you've designated as "VIEWER EXECUTABLE". If this file is a tagged .INF type file and you've opted to enable an "INF EXECUTABE" in configuration, then the file will be loaded into that. The "Delete" action would update the the current archive and "Print" would send the selected file to the OS/2 print spooler. From this point you can perform other operations on the current archive, or return to the initial view by pressing "Cancel". 9. Exiting AFE There are a few different ways to exit AFE. From the initial view you may simply press "Cancel" (or ESC). You may also double-click the AFE icon on the titlebar. AFE may be exited from the the OS/2 window list as with any other program. Note that if you currently have an archive file opened when you do this, the "cleanup" routine will not be performed and AFE's temporary work directory will not be cleaned out and removed. 10. Settings If you wish to change any of the variables that AFE uses, pressing this button will open a settings notebook. After modifying the variables you wish, closing the notebook will cause AFE to reread its INI file and restart. 11. Internal Archive Detection In the process of opening an archive (for unarchiving, viewing, printing or virus scanning), AFE checks for other archives within it (by examining the file extensions, looking for ZIP, LZH, ZOO or ARJ). If one or more is detected, a file selection dialog dislays the archive files within the archive. The caption field reads something like "ZIPFILES IN ARCHIVE, HIGHLIGHT FILE(S) TO EXTRACT THEN OK", the first word depending on the type of archive file found. You may, at this time, select any, all or none of these files to unarchive along with the other files in the original archive. After the selection is made, you will proceed as normal. 28 Dec 1994 Page 11 AFE Version 2.41 ------------------------------------------------------------------------- 12. Archive Errors AFE examines the exit codes of the various archive programs it calls. If an exit code is returned other than success, AFE reports that the archive it tried to manipulate is errored or not an archive file (of the ZIP, LZH, ZOO or ARJ type). The return code from the archive program is displayed so that you may check the documentation from that program for an explanation. The exception to this is when the file in question does not have one of the regular archive file extensions and all the archivers are tried. Note that if you have defined the appropriate archiver executable with the wrong program, it is possible that you will get this error dialog. 13. TryAll Subroutine If the archive you have chosen to open or update does not have an extension of ZIP, LZH, ZOO or ARJ, AFE will still attempt to work with it. The TryAll subrountine is called automatically and runs the "test" mode of all (and only) the archivers you have defined in the settings notebook. If it detects success from one of the archivers it then calls the appropriate subroutine to open or update the archive. If it doesn't detect success from any of the defined archive programs defined, it reports an error as outlined in the previous section. 14. Variable Errors In many cases, where possible, AFE disables the appropriate capability if you do not define the corresponding executable. For example, if you do not define a program for the "ZIPPER EXECUTABLE" the "ZIP" pushbutton is disabled when you are building a new archive. If AFE detects that a program it wants to call doesn't exist, then you are notified with an error message, which names the appropriate variable in question. A similar approach is taken with the paths you've defined for your default directories. For example, if you have not defined a "ZIPPER EXECUTABLE" and then try to update and existing ZIP file, you will be notified via the above mentioned error message. 15. Display Size AFE has two available display sizes. Pressing the "V" will shrink the window to minimum size, while pressing the "^" button will restore the window to full size. AFE "remembers" the size you want when you exit. 28 Dec 1994 Page 12 AFE Version 2.41 ------------------------------------------------------------------------- 16. Miscellaneous Tips If you want to work with an existing archive, then start AFE by dragging and dropping the archive file on the AFE desktop object. You may also double-click the archive file (assuming that you haven't removed the file associations in the AFE desktop object). Pressing the ESC key is equivalent to pushing the CANCEL button. Hitting ENTER will "push" the button that the "focus" is on. The "focus" can be moved from button to button or window to window with the tab key. When selecting files to include in an archive, make sure that you highlight AND "OK" every file you want! As mentioned above, "Go" from this dialog will not add any more files to the list even if files are highlighted. If you have not yet chosen any files, pushing "Cancel" will return you to the initial view. After completion of many operations, you are returned to a view with the archive still open, ready for further activity. The two exceptions to this are completion of an extraction operation, or completion of a create/update operation, where you are returned to the initial view. AFE "remembers" its size and position on the screen and will restart in that size and at that location. If you have started AFE with multiple archive file "drops", the AFE window for each will be stacked upon each other. "Peel" the layers to address each archive. The name of the archive will be different in each "Current Directory" window. Note that while AFE supports multiple sessions, it is not recommended that the program be started as outlined above, since the various sessions will be competing with each other for the disk drive and the net result will be that it takes longer to open all the files "at the same time" than it would to drop individual archives one at a time after the previous archive is already opened. Once AFE is running, you may still open additional sessions by dragging another archive to the AFE desktop object. If you started AFE via an archive file drop, you can also start another AFE session by double-clicking the desktop object. AFE should handle long filenames, filenames and archive file names with spaces without fail. This is assuming that you are running OS/2's HPFS. 28 Dec 1994 Page 13 AFE Version 2.41 ------------------------------------------------------------------------- E. Cautions and Limitations When (DOS) ARJ is executed, it forces full screen mode. While I believe there may be a workaround for this, it would cause extra work for the user to configure AFE. Since the OS/2 version of ARJ is in the works, and the DOS version doesn't support HPFS style file names, I plan to wait for the OS/2 version. Again, if registered users request a nearer term fix for this, I will work on it. When extracting files, if a file in your designated "UNARC DIRECTORY" exists with the same name as a file being extracted, it will be overwritten. If an archive file is detected within your archive (identified by extension), you will be notified. If you are going to virus scan, choose the option to process this file so all of the internal files are scanned. If you use a program like PSPM/2 or another "brute-force" type program to close AFE, cleanup will not be performed. In addition, you run the risk of "hanging-up" resources and not being able to use AFE again without a system reboot. If you use the OS/2 window list to close AFE, the cleanup rountine will not be run. If you have an archive open at the time, AFE's temporary directory will be left behind perhaps containing files from the archive. AFE doesn't allow existing archives to create directories during extraction, nor does it save path information in newly created archives. You will have problems with filenames with multiple periods in them with ARJ. AFE was developed and tested under OS/2 2.1 GA, 2.11, and Warp. For all I know it may work with 2.0 or any of the 2.1 or Warp betas, but it has not been extensively tested with them. 4OS2 Users: If the VX-REXX "Console" window appears momentarily when AFE calls one of the archivers or OS2SCAN, make sure you put @echo off at the top of your 4START.CMD (or .BTM). If the console still opens and displays an output message from a program you call in 4START.CMD, try a redirect to null ( >null) on the line that runs that program. If the console displays a message like "INVALID VIO CALL", I believe this is related to a combination of 4OS2 and certain drivers. While any of these displays are annoying, they should NOT effect the functioning of AFE, or the program that is being run from AFE. Another way around this is change back the the COMSPEC statement in CONFIG.SYS to use OS/2's CMD.EXE while leaving the SHELL statement pointing to 4OS2.EXE. While this will retain the command line benefits of 4OS2, CMD.EXE will be used by AFE. 28 Dec 1994 Page 14 AFE Version 2.41 ------------------------------------------------------------------------- F. Contacting the Author Please contact me with bug reports or other comments via email. I have spent many hours building and reworking this program, and would appreciate any feedback, positive/negative. There are several ways to email me. If you have internet access, send mail to: hmweine@pacbell.com I log onto a few BBSes on an everyday basis. You can leave mail to "Howie Weiner" on ATT-PAC Auntie BBS in Dublin, Ca., (510)829-6062 or H-D-M Auntie BBS in Concord, Ca., (510)682-1371. Note: ATT-PAC is the home of AFE. Any new releases of AFE will be posted there first! SYSOP Randy Young allows messaging and downloading on the first logon. Big "Thanks!" to Randy. G. Copyright Notices and Disclaimer AFE or Archive Front End is Copyright 1993, 1994 by H.M. Weiner OS/2 and OS/2 Warp are registered trademarks of International Business Machine (IBM) Corp. ZIP is copyright by Mark Adler, Richard B. Wales, Jean-loup Gailly, Kai Uwe Rommel UNZIP is copyright by Info-ZIP, portions by S. H. Smith LHA is copyright by Haruyasu Yoshizaki LH2 is copyright by Peter Fitzsimmons ZOO is copyright by Rahul Dhesi ARJ is copyright by Robert Jung OS2SCAN is copyright by McAfee Associates VX-REXX is copyright by WATCOM AFE IS PROVIDED AS IS AND COMES WITH NO WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED. IN NO EVENT WILL THE AUTHOR BE LIABLE FOR ANY DAMAGES RESULTING FROM THE USE OF THIS SOFTWARE. 28 Dec 1994 Page 15 AFE Version 2.41 ------------------------------------------------------------------------- H. What's New (AFE History) 1.1 - 9/6/93 - First release of AFE, Freeware. Written in REXX and VREXX. 2.0 - 10/15/93 - First Shareware release written in VX-REXX to get around the limitations of VREXX. 2.01 - 10/31/93 - If you tried to overwrite an archive that you started AFE with by drag and drop, AFE would terminate soon after the program deleted the original. Still not quite sure why it did this as this would not occur if you started AFE from the command line with the file name as an argument, but probably something in the WPS. Got around this by changing the "Overwrite" button to "Update". The orginal archive is no longer deleted, but updated with the new files. When creating or updating an archive and the "PICKDIR" is empty, the PICKDIR\* button is now disabled. When updating an existing archive and at the PICKDIR\* vs Select submenu, somtimes a fully qualified filename would run off the title-bar. Added code to just display the filename, itself. When 4OS2 was used and the mode command was utilized in the 4START.CMD to set lines to something other than 25, the VX-REXX Console opened with an error message when an external executable was called. There was no problem with program function, just cosmetically annoying. Now fixed. I decided to spell "Copyright" correctly! (how embarrassing) 2.2 - 1/15/94 - The file selection dialog is all new to accomodate multifile selection, where appropriate. Mutliple archive V-Scan added by user request. AFE's temporary workdirectory is now named "\~AFETEMP.###" (###=random number) When a virus is detected on a single scan, the main menu does not appear until after the virus report is dismissed. After the report is dismissed on multiscans, the next selected archive (if any) is scanned. Fixed a small problem that looks like it goes back to 2.01. When archives are found within archives, a list is displayed by archive type. You were supposed to be able to select several or all (if there was more than one) to unarchive. What I found was that it only unarchived the first selected. FIXED IT! Added support to view an internal .INF file with VIEW.EXE. Added support for (DOS version) ARJ.EXE per several user requests. 28 Dec 1994 Page 16 AFE Version 2.41 ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Changed the layout of AFE.CFG to simplify it and provide a AFE-CFG program to modify it that is called from AFE. Wrote a PM installation program. After the first time AFE.CFG is read from disk, it is stored in a QUEUE so that it doesn't have to be read from disk the next time. This QUEUE stays active until the host system is rebooted or the user runs AFE-CFG from AFE. QUEUE the directory list for each disk the first time a particular disk is scanned for the file dialog. This QUEUE stays active until the host system is rebooted or the user presses the "Directory Reset" for the particular disk being viewed. During the "cleanup" routine user is notified of progress via a banner that says "PERFORMING HOUSEKEEPING ...". Corrected some display bugs with certain combinations of 4OS2 and video drivers and UNZIP run under AFE. When more archive files are found within an archive, and the user is presented with a list of those archive(s), the cancel button is now changed to "None". Eliminated the printer window after the user chooses a file to print. This was present only to remind the user to make sure the printer was on and online before sending the file to the printer. Since OS/2 manages the printer, this was probably unnecessary, so I eliminated it to reduce program size. Combined the New vs. Existing window and the New Archive Name window. Put the choice of archive type on this window. Now, to create a new archive or update and existing one you press "Archive" from the main menu. A secondary menu will be displayed, and you want to update an existing file simply press "Existing" which will take you to the file menu. If you press "New" then the archive type buttons will be enabled. Select a type and then the name entry field will be enabled. Until you hit OK, you can still change the archive type. Reworked the code that is accessed when an archive is opened for any reason and the archive doesn't have a proper extension. Originally this routine was built for unarchiving only, and directly tried to unarchive. Now that I'm also using this code to test for the type of archive when updating or creating, I've changed this to use the various archivers' "test" mode. Once an errorlevel 0 is received the program jumps back to the appropriate routine for unarchiving or archiving depending on which test was passed. Added an "About" window to AFE. 28 Dec 1994 Page 17 AFE Version 2.41 ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Removed closing copyright notice since there is now an "About" panel. Upgraded VX-REXX to 101b and c level. New VROBJ.DLL (dated 11/19/93) required. 2.3 - 3/26/94 - For this version, I've concentrated a lot on cleaning up the user interface. You'll find that a lot of the miscellaneous notifications such as "scanning", "housekeeping", and "opening" have been integrated into the File Selection Window. This seems to speed up the overall execution (or at least creates the illusion of speed) since time is not wasted destroying entire windows and creating new ones. One of the negative results is that is requires more code to change the stati of the various objects in the existing window. This probably accounts for about half the growth of the resulting AFE.EXE with the new features accounting for the rest. I've offset some of the growth by eliminating the custom notification windows I had created for variable errors and archive error messages. In their place, I've used one of the VX-REXX built in notification windows to notify the user of these errors. You'll find that the main menu has changed. Their are separate buttons for creating a new archive ("New") and updating an existing one ("Update"). The "UnArchive" button has been changed to "Extract"). And a new button has been added ("Delete") for deleting files from an existing archive. A tip: Pay attention to the text on the titlebar and the directory refresh button on the File Selection window. These two things will keep you informed of status and directions to proceed. A file delete option can be selected from the main menu, or from the File Selection window when an open archive is displayed. Ability to open a folder of the workdirectory while you have an archive open, so you can execute a program from there, or drag 'n drop a text file on a LIST object, or even drag 'n drop an internal archive on the AFE object to initiate another session on that one. Caution: If you open a file from the displayed folder, then dismiss the File Selection window, cleanup of the temporary working directory cannot be completed. You don't have to close the folder, itself. After, cleanup has been completed, the folder will eventually go away. Detection (by file extension) of archives within archives infinite levels deep. 2.2 only checked one level deep. I've tested this every which way I can think of and it seems to work well. Archive submenu eliminated. Now, when you start AFE from a drag and drop, you go directly to the File display dialog where the buttons from the Archive Submenu now reside. Also, after completing a View, Print, V-Scan, or Delete, you come back to the File Selection window, where you can initiate another action on the same archive. 28 Dec 1994 Page 18 AFE Version 2.41 ------------------------------------------------------------------------- If an archiver exits with an error, the return code is now displayed on AFE's error message panel, and the filespec of the archiver that reported the error. The one exception to this is when the file did not have an extension and all supported archivers have tried and failed. AFE now "remembers" the last directory from where you selected an archive for viewing, deleting, scanning, updating, extracting, or the directory where the archive was if AFE was started from an association or drag 'n drop. Similarly to the above, he now "remembers" the last directory where you picked files from to build or update an archive. The next time you do one of these actions within the same AFE session, the File Selection window will display that directory first for you to select files to add. If you are creating a new archive, and you don't want it to end up in the ARC DIRECTORY, you can type a path in front of the archive name (omit the extension), and that's where it will end up. Found a few places where large blocks of code could be reused for different process by setting flags, elimiating many lines of fat. This reduced the overall program size by about 7K. Well folks, I was all ready to release AFE 2.3 and Watcom released VX-REXX 2.0. So, I upgraded my version. There are several new objects available in the new version, at least one I'll take advantage of in AFE 2.4. What this did was to make a large VROBJ.DLL even larger! They also fixed a bug from previous versions which caused me to have to modify the code in AFE to avoid the program throwing up when run with the new DLL. Also, because I changed the code, it won't work right with the older DLL, so you'll have to upgrade both. I found a the way to list only the immediate subdirectories in the directory list window. To see directories below those displayed, you double-click (or highlight selection, then enter) on the directory name. To come up a level you double-click the "..". This results in SPEEDIER creation of the directory list, and alleviates the need to store the list in a QUEUE. For best performance DO NOT designate a root directory for your "ARC DIRECTORY" or "PICK DIRECTORY". 2.4 - 9/31/94 - The main change is that there is no longer a separate "main menu" or New Archive naming window. Everything is integrated into the file selection window. Converted to VX-REXX 2.1 Created New AFE-CFG program with Notebook object. Fixed up proportions so that it looks right in either 800x600 or 1024x768 mode. 28 Dec 1994 Page 19 AFE Version 2.41 ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Created new REXX installation procedure (AFE-INST.CMD). Converted AFE and AFE-CFG to store variable settings in an INI file instead of an ASCII file (AFE.CFG). AFE now saves its exiting position in the INI file and restarts in that same position. Improved look: Put Group Boxes around selection boxes and made them invisible when not active. Eliminated the CFG queue as its no longer necessary with the use of the INI file and VX-REXX's speedy way of reading it. This eliminates the need for the init check that was there to help manage the problem of contention for eading lines of the AFE-CFG if multiple sessions were started. There is now only one AFE.EXE. Shareware notice/delay is built in but disabled with the presence of a proper AFE.REG file which is sent to users when they register. Added a resizing mode to AFE. A press of the "V" button will shrink AFE down to about 76% of normal size with font changed to 8.Helv. A press of the "^" button restores AFE to its designed size with the default font selected. Either way, AFE will remember its exiting size and position for the next startup. As before the "hide" button is also available. 2.41 - 12/28/94 - Upgraded with VX-REXX 2.1a Very minor code cleanup