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▒▒▒▒▒▄ ▒▒▄ ▒▒▒▒▒▒▄ ▒▒▒▒▒▒▄ ▒▒▒▒▒▒▄ ▒▒▒▒▒▒▄ ▒▒▒▒▒▒▄ ▒▒▒▒▒▒▄ ▒▒▄ ▒▒▄ ▒▒█▀▒▒█ ▒▒█ ▒▒█▀▒▒█ ▒▒█▀▀▀▀ ▒▒█▀▀▀▀ ▀▒▒█▀▀ ▒▒█▀▒▒█ ▒▒█▀▒▒█ ▒▒█ ▒▒█ ▒▒█ ▒▒█ ▒▒█ ▒▒▒▒▒█▀ ▒▒▒▒▒▄ ▒▒█ ▒▒█ ▒▒█ ▒▒█ ▒▒▒▒▒█▀ ▒▒▒▒█▀ ▒▒█ ▒▒█ ▒▒█ ▒▒█▀▒▒▄ ▒▒█▀▀▀ ▒▒█ ▒▒█ ▒▒█ ▒▒█ ▒▒█▀▒▒▄ ▒▒█▀ ▒▒▒▒▒█▀ ▒▒█ ▒▒█ ▒▒█ ▒▒▒▒▒▒▄ ▒▒▒▒▒▒▄ ▒▒█ ▒▒▒▒▒▒█ ▒▒█ ▒▒█ ▒▒█ ▀▀▀▀▀ ▀▀ ▀▀ ▀▀ ▀▀▀▀▀▀ ▀▀▀▀▀▀ ▀▀ ▀▀▀▀▀▀ ▀▀ ▀▀ ▀▀ ▒▒▒▒▒▒▄ ▒▒▒▒▒▒▄ ▒▒▒▒▒▒▄ ▒▒▒▒▒▒▄ ▒▒▒▒▒▄ ▒▒▒▒▒▒▄ ▒▒▒▄▄▒▒▒▄ ▒▒█▀▀▀▀ ▒▒█▀▒▒█ ▒▒█▀▀▀▀ ▒▒█▀▀▀▀ ▒▒█▀▒▒█ ▒▒█▀▒▒█ ▒▒█▒▒█▒▒█ ▒▒▒▒▒▄ ▒▒▒▒▒█▀ ▒▒▒▒▒▄ ▒▒▒▒▒▄ ▒▒█ ▒▒█ ▒▒█ ▒▒█ ▒▒█ ▀▀▒▒█ ▒▒█▀▀▀ ▒▒█▀▒▒▄ ▒▒█▀▀▀ ▒▒█▀▀▀ ▒▒█ ▒▒█ ▒▒█ ▒▒█ ▒▒█ ▒▒█ ▒▒█ ▒▒█ ▒▒█ ▒▒▒▒▒▒▄ ▒▒▒▒▒▒▄ ▒▒▒▒▒█▀ ▒▒▒▒▒▒█ ▒▒█ ▒▒█ ▀▀ ▀▀ ▀▀ ▀▀▀▀▀▀ ▀▀▀▀▀▀ ▀▀▀▀▀ ▀▀▀▀▀▀ ▀▀ ▀▀ VERSION 4.50 Copyright 1989 - 1991 by Gordon Haff and Bit Masons Consulting. All rights reserved. Command: DF Syntax: DF [d:][source-path][file-mask] [d:][dest-path]] [/O,N,E,D,T,or O][+/-] [/F] [/V] [/Ccfg_file] Prereqs: 100% IBM Compatible PC running DOS 3.0 or higher Purpose: DF provides a fast, compact alternative to both the DOS 'dir' command and large, unwieldy hard disk managers. DF displays all files in a directory in sorted order (name, date, size, or extension) and provides an easy way to copy, delete and rename marked files. The directory structure on the disk can be quickly traversed by simply selecting a directory name from the displayed list. A wide range of user-defined functions and SmartViewers enables DF to work with and augment existing customer software. DF is very simple to use. A menu of DF's basic functions is displayed next to the list of files; no need for the novice or infrequent user to refer to a manual or a complex set of help screens. There is on-line help, however, and it can be customized by the user! DF is also advanced. A wide range of functions such as directory creation, file date/time alteration, archive file creation, and directory printing are available on alternate menus which are displayed merely by pressing the Alt, Control, or Shift key. In addition to the many intrinsic functions, the companion program DFCONFIG allows users to add their favorite programs to DF's menus or file viewers. DFCONFIG also makes it easy to change operational features such as the default color. Archive Name: DF450 ┌─────────┐ ┌─────┴───┐ │ (tm) ──│ │o │────────────────── │ ┌─────┴╨──┐ │ Association of │ │ │─┘ Shareware └───│ o │ Professionals ──────│ ║ │──────────────────── └────╨────┘ MEMBER TABLE OF CONTENTS ----------------- 1.0 History and Program Philosophy .......................... 9 2.0 Installing Directory Freedom .......................... 10 2.1 Quick Installation ................................. 10 2.2 Detailed Installation Instructions ................. 10 2.3 COMSPEC variable ................................... 11 3.0 Using Directory Freedom ................................. 12 3.1 About this Manual .................................. 12 3.2 Manual Conventions ................................. 13 3.3 Program Limitations ................................ 13 3.4 Starting up Directory Freedom ...................... 13 3.5 Key by key Summary of Commands (by category) ....... 15 3.6 File Marking ....................................... 20 3.7 Mouse Support ...................................... 20 4.0 Program Feature Information ............................. 20 4.1 Built-in Viewer .................................... 20 4.2 Shell functions and SmartViewers ................... 21 4.3 Attribute Functions ................................ 23 4.4 Ultravision Compatibility .......................... 23 4.5 DESQview Compatibility ............................. 24 4.6 Hints and Suggestions .............................. 24 5.0 Customization ........................................... 25 5.1 DFCONFIG Command Line .............................. 25 5.2 DFCONFIG Usage Notes ............................... 26 5.3 DFCONFIG Main Menu ................................. 26 5.4 Commands Modification .............................. 27 5.5 Attributes Modification ............................ 30 5.6 Filenames .......................................... 36 6.0 Supplementary Programs .................................. 36 6.1 Included Programs .................................. 36 6.2 Non-Included Programs .............................. 37 7.0 Technical ............................................... 38 8.0 Acknowledgements ........................................ 39 9.0 Recent Revision history ................................. 40 10.0 Appendix A: User-defined Commands ....................... 42 11.0 Appendix B: Patching Instructions ....................... 44 12.0 Appendix C: Site Licenses ............................... 45 13.0 Appendix D: Keystrokes for Data-entry ................... 46 14.0 Appendix E: "Undocumented" Patches ...................... 47 Directory Freedom 4.50 Page 3 DISCLAIMER OF WARRANTY (a.k.a. Legal Stuff) ------------------------------------------- The Shareware evaluation (trial use) version is provided AS IS. Bit Masons Consulting MAKES NO WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION, ANY WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND/OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. Bit Masons Consulting warrants the physical diskette(s) and physical documentation provided with registered versions (only) to be free of defects in materials and workmanship for a period of thirty days from the date of registration. If Bit Masons Consulting receives notification within the warranty period of defects in materials or workmanship, and such notification is determined by the publisher to be correct, the defective diskette(s) or documentation will be replaced. The entire and exclusive liability and remedy for breach of this Limited Warranty shall be limited to replacement of defective diskette(s) or documentation and shall not include or extend to any claim for or right to recover any other damages, including but not limited to, loss of profit, data, or use of the software, or special, incidental, or consequential damages or other similar claims, even if Bit Masons Consulting has been specifically advised of the possibility of such damages. In no event will Bit Masons Consultings' liability for any damages to you or any other person ever exceed the lower of suggested list price or actual price paid for the license to use the software, regardless of any form of the claim. BIT MASONS CONSULTING SPECIFICALLY DISCLAIMS ALL OTHER WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO, ANY IMPLIED WARRANTY OF MERCHANTABILITY AND/OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. LICENSE ------- Directory Freedom is a Shareware product. As such, it is made available to the general personal computing public for evaluation. Users are licensed to operate this program on their computers for the purpose of test and evaluation on a trial basis for a limited trial period. It is not possible to reasonably define the limits of a fair and equitable time period for evaluation; therefore it is left to the user's judgment and sense of fair play as to the time required to make a decision as to its usefulness. (As a guideline, 30 days should generally be sufficient time to evaluate the utility of a program of this type.) If the user decides the program is not of sufficient merit to warrant purchase through registration with the author, he/she should remove the program from his/her personal computer. Otherwise, if the program is deemed useful and is in regular use on the user's computer system, registration with the author is required. Directory Freedom 4.50 Page 4 Registered users are those users who elect to pay for Directory Freedom and register that payment with the author. By virtue of registration and payment for the program, registered users are granted a license to continue to utilize the program on their personal computer for as long as they choose. This license authorizes the user to use the program on any personal computer system he or she may own or use so long as the program is operated on only one computer system at a time. GUARANTEE --------- Directory Freedom is offered with an unconditional 30-day money-back guarantee. If you become dissatisfied with the program for any reason within that period, just let me know and your registration fee will be refunded. If you purchased a registration package which included a diskette and/or a manual, please return these when requesting a refund. This guarantee is unconditional. I would ask, however, if you are having a problem to let me know before giving up on DF since your problem may be something I can solve. Finally, if you order a registration package which includes a diskette or manual and either of these items are defective -- either through my error or through postal service "processing", let me know and I will send replacements promptly. REGISTRATION ------------ The registration fee is $20, payable to: Bit Masons Consulting 3205 Windsor Ridge Dr. Westboro, MA 01581 The payment of this registration fee to the author entitles the user to full use of the product for an unlimited period of time in addition to product support. The distribution of diskette copies of Directory Freedom and future upgrades is not included as part of the basic registration fee. See the REGISTER.DOC file for the charges associated with these services. Directory Freedom is a fully functional Shareware product. Shareware is a computer program distribution and marketing method that permits potential buyers to thoroughly try the program prior to purchase. It is NOT free and it is not in the Public Domain. If, after evaluating the program, you find it useful enough to use on a regular basis, you are expected to pay for it by registering with the author. Please note that the registration fee is specifically limited to Directory Freedom (DF.COM), the configuration program (DFCONFIG.EXE), and their associated documentation. Other Directory Freedom 4.50 Page 5 copyrighted "Freeware" (i.e. copyrighted software for which no fee is asked) and public domain software is distributed with Directory Freedom only for the convenience of users. The copyrights for such software remain with the original authors. In addition, various software is mentioned in this documentation in conjunction with DF's user-defined functions and SmartViewers. Much of this software is Shareware for which a registration fee must be paid to the individual authors to use their programs past an initial trial period. SITE LICENSING -------------- Attractively-priced site licensing is available for commercial users. Pricing for "typical" site licensing is given in an appendix to this manual. If you have needs which are not met by the standard license terms, please call or write for a quote which addresses any unique support or product update requirements. Customization is also available on a contract basis. UPGRADE AND UPDATE POLICIES --------------------------- There has been some confusion in Shareware circles recently about upgrade/update policies for certain pieces of software. Therefore, I'd like to take this opportunity to spell out my policies. First, some definitions: I define upgrade as the RIGHT to use a later revision of a piece of software. I define update as the physical media on which the upgrade resides. I'll further define an update as not including hard-copy documentation unless specifically defined. With that out of the way, I'd like to spell out my current upgrade/update policies: There are no upgrade charges associated with DF and I do not have any plans at present to institute such charges with future revisions. I do reserve the right to do so, however, if in my sole opinion the nature and magnitude of DF changes to such a degree as to constitute a substantially new product. I currently do charge for updates and plan to continue to so charge. The content and pricing for specific update packages is described at the end of this document and in the REGISTER.DOC file. Pricing is subject to change without notice, however, to accommodate postage, printing, and other price increases. ASP OMBUDSMAN STATEMENT ----------------------- This program is produced by a member of the Association of Shareware Professionals (ASP). ASP wants to make sure that the shareware principle works for you. If you are unable to resolve a shareware-related problem with an ASP member by contacting the member directly, ASP may be able to help. The ASP Ombudsman can help you resolve a dispute or problem with an ASP member, but does not provide technical support for members' products. Please write to the ASP Ombudsman at 545 Grover Road, Muskegon, MI Directory Freedom 4.50 Page 6 49442 or send a Compuserve message via Easyplex to ASP Ombudsman 70007,3536. DISTRIBUTING DIRECTORY FREEDOM ------------------------------ DF may be freely distributed subject only to the following distribution for-charge restrictions: Directory Freedom is the sole property of Gordon Haff. The program may be freely copied and transferred to individual parties for evaluation purposes. It may be posted on Bulletin Board systems (BBS) for electronic access as long as NO FEE is charged for its distribution except for private BBS operations that charge a regular user subscription fee. Computer information services such as Compuserve (CIS), Genie, and Byte Information Exchange (BIX) are authorized to post this product for subscriber access. Directory Freedom may be distributed on diskette only by 1) disk distributors/vendors who are associate members of the Association of Shareware Professionals (ASP) or 2) users groups which do not charge more than a nominal fee ($5) to cover the costs of distribution. Any changes to these policies must be made in writing by the author. Please feel free to distribute copies of this program to friends, co-workers, bulletin boards, and users' groups. I do ask, however, that you please distribute all of the original files and not modified copies. The main reason for this is that modified (e.g. with DFCONFIG) versions may have different default attributes or other settings from those specified in the manual and will have different CRC values from those files in the standard distribution. The former could confuse new users. The latter may cause someone to conclude that DF is damaged. In particular, some non-default (but user settable) switch settings such as "Enable F11/F12 " will not work properly on systems without the requisite hardware and BIOS support. If you have come up with command-line settings which you would like to share with others, please do so by describing them in a separate file (or by distributing a copy of your own .CFG file) rather than distributing a modified version of DF.COM. I strongly encourage such sharing of ideas about using DF most effectively. Please distribute such information in a separate archive, however, rather than adding to my archive. Thank you in advance for your cooperation. Directory Freedom 4.50 Page 7 TECHNICAL SUPPORT ----------------- Registered Users: Full technical support is available to registered users of Directory Freedom. I have found that the most effective product support can be delivered through the electronic services listed below. If this option is not open to you, however, I also offer full product support through the mails, or, if the problem absolutely cannot wait, the telephone (no collect calls please). I will do my best to resolve any software bugs in a timely manner and I am always open to incorporating new features or changes which are appropriate to the nature of the product. Unregistered Users: I will attempt to respond to software trouble reports made by non-registered users if the problems concern the general functionality of the program. Such users should not, however, expect product support beyond initial aid to determine if the program is suitable for their needs. If you have a problem: I ask that, before calling or writing, you take the following steps: 1) Check the manual. We all sometimes approach a piece of software with preconceived ideas about how it ought to work which may not correspond to how it actually does work. (Of course, I'm interested in your input if you have this sort of experience.) 2) See if you can duplicate the problem with your original, unmodified version of DF. (You do still have an original, unmodified version, don't you?) 3) If you're still stuck, please make a note of a) your hardware and software environment; b) your attribute and command settings. DF is a very configurable program and, unfortunately, one of the downsides of this configurability is that user-defined settings can sometimes interact in unexpected ways. (I try to test a broad range of configurations and settings, but obviously can't try every one.); and c) the sequence of actions which lead to the error. If I can't reproduce an error, it will be very difficult to correct, so your help is vital in isolating the problem. If you follow these steps, it will help me to solve your problem in a more efficient and timely manner. Contact via: Channel 1 BBS (617) 354-8873 Compuserve User ID# 72561,2637 (See Note 1) InterNet 72561.2637@compuserve.com U.S. Mail 3205 Windsor Ridge Dr. Westboro MA 01581 Telephone (508) 898-3321 (after 6pm Eastern time) Directory Freedom 4.50 Page 8 I usually check Channel 1 daily and Compuserve weekly. In addition, I monitor the Ilink and RIME Shareware relays through Channel 1. Note 1: When contacting me via Compuserve, please use the Easyplex mail system since I do not regularly monitor any of the message bases such as IBM SIG. Directory Freedom 4.50 Page 9 1.0 History and Program Philosophy The Directory Freedom of today originally grew out of a variety of programs which owe their "look and feel" to Michael Mefford's DR and CO utilities in PC Magazine Volume 6, #17 and #21. DF was most directly adapted from Peter Esherick's DC (Directory Control) version 1.05B. Peter helped get DF started by making the source code for DC available to me and has also shared some fixes which he has made in subsequent revisions of his program. DF came into being because, while DC became a staple in my utilities subdirectory, it still lacked a few features which I wanted. Some of these were included in Brad Stephenson's modifications to DR; others didn't exist at all. At the same time, more conventional DOS shells usually lacked these features as well plus they tended to be rather big clunky things by comparison. The initial revisions of Directory Freedom represented minor enhancements to DC. As time went by, users suggested more and better features, many of which were incorporated into DF. With Revision 3.0, I made DF shareware. I felt that, at this point, DF had achieved a unique identity and was substantially different from the software on which it was originally based. Furthermore, by making DF shareware, I was able to commit to a significantly higher level of ongoing development and support than would have otherwise been possible. So what uniquely defines DF? Some of the major features are listed below. These are just a sampling but should help to give the user of one or more of the earlier programs mentioned a flavor for how DF has been extended from its original roots. The usual file copying, moving, deleting, and renaming Directory creation, deletion, and renaming Ability to run external programs from a menu (and pass them file names, etc.) SmartViewers (external file viewers calls keyed to file extension) File and directory attribute manipulation Send a directory listing to a printer Change file dates On-line help Support for 43/50 line modes with EGA/VGA High degree of configurability: colors, beep type, verify flag, exclude attributes and more Command-line file mask A wide range of sort methods (including by attribute) Create file archives (e.g. with PKZIP) A user-friendly configuration program Yet, for all the above, the main DF program is still less than 30 KBytes in size! (As you might guess, it's written 100% in assembly language.) Directory Freedom 4.50 Page 10 Directory Freedom is designed to provide what one user called "a rational alternative to the DOS 'dir' command." While, at this stage in its development, DF has grown far past the point where it merely provides DOS directory services, I have tried to stay true to one fundamental philosophy of design. This philosophy is that DF should stay sufficiently small and fast that tyou does not feel that he is bringing up an applications program every time he types "DF". Rather, it is the intent that the user will find it faster and easier to just type "DF" that typing DIR, or COPY, or whatever other DOS command is required. Along the way, additional functionality has been added, but with the intent of never compromising this basic design goal. 2.0 Installing Directory Freedom Installing Directory Freedom is straightforward. If you obtained the program from a bulletin board or other source which stores all distribution files in a compressed "archive", you may first have to "de-archive" DF using the appropriate software. If you don't know how to do this, consult with the disk vendor or the bulletin board from which you obtained this software. 2.1 Quick Installation 1) Make a backup of the distribution disk 2) Copy the files on the distribution disk to a working diskette or a hard disk. Only DF.COM is required to run Directory Freedom.. 3) Make sure that you have a COMSPEC environment variable defined per Section 2.3. (Now that wasn't hard, was it?) 2.2 Detailed Installation Instructions Copy the files DF.COM and (optionally) DFCONFIG.EXE to a working floppy diskette or a subdirectory on your hard disk. If you've got a hard disk, the easiest thing is probably just to copy these files to whatever subdirectory you normally keep your utilities in. Since DF is nice and small and simple, there's really no need to go off creating a separate subdirectory for it. To be most useful, whatever subdirectory DF ends up in should be part of the PATH setup in your AUTOEXEC.BAT file. You can also go ahead and copy any of the associated utilities distributed with DF to the same location if you like and do whatever you normally do with the documentation. In addition to the main files listed above you have received, either as part of the DF archive or on diskette, DF is supported by a variety of other utilities such as the X-Ray archive Directory Freedom 4.50 Page 11 viewers and ND. These utilities can be used to enhance DF but are in no way required for its operation. After you've done all this, put your original files in a safe place! Having the original files will allow you to start over again if something happens and your modified files are lost or corrupted. Please also use the original files if you ever have an urge to distribute copies of this program to a local bulletin board or user's group. At this, or any other point, you can also run the DFCONFIG customization program. Full instructions for doing so are given in Section 5.0 of this manual. DFCONFIG.EXE allows you to easily configure DF, so you'll probably want to keep it handy [unless you are in an environment in which you are setting up DF in a standard manner for the use of others and don't want that standard setup to be changed]. Revision 4.50 Note: In the interests of further increasing user-configurability (more switches, longer and more user-defined command lines, multiple extensions per SmartViewer) many changes were made in the user-changable data area of DF in revision 4.50. As a result, users of earlier revisions will need to bring their switch settings and command lines over from previous revs manually. This will hopefully be the last time this sort of incompatibility between revs comes up. Finally, you MUST make sure that you have a COMSPEC environment variable defined. This is explained below. 2.3 COMSPEC variable When DF shells to (i.e. executes) another program, it uses something called the COMSPEC variable located in its environment block. This variable tells DF what command interpreter it should use when it shells and where that command interpreter is located. Now in the good old days, most programs didn't bother to look for this variable. They just assumed it was COMMAND.COM and that it was located in the root directory of the current drive. Nowadays, fortunately or unfortunately depending upon your point of view, things aren't so simple. Some people use software such as J.P. Software's excellent 4DOS as a COMMAND.COM replacement (a version of 4DOS is included with the Norton Utilities as NDOS). Others don't want to put COMMAND.COM in the root directory of every drive they use. The result is that good software doesn't go around making assumptions any longer. It looks to see what the user actually wants. How does the user tell the software what she wants? By setting the COMSPEC variable. How do you set it? In the following Directory Freedom 4.50 Page 12 manner: At the DOS prompt (or more commonly in your AUTOEXEC.BAT file), type or include a line like the following: SET COMSPEC=C:\COMMAND.COM The above example tells your software to look in the root directory of your C: drive for the COMMAND.COM interpreter. This is probably the most common setting for users with hard disks. Other common settings include the following: SET COMSPEC=\COMMAND.COM (look in root of current drive) or SET COMSPEC=C:\4DOS.COM (Use 4DOS in root of C:) You can check your COMSPEC (and other environment settings) at any time by typing SET at the DOS command line. If you found this whole section hopelessly confusing, just use one the COMMAND.COM settings listed above. Use the first if you have a hard drive and the second if you have only floppies. Ask a friend to modify your AUTOEXEC.BAT file if you don't know how to do so. 3.0 Using Directory Freedom I'm tempted at this point to offer a monetary reward to anyone who has actually read this far into the manual. (But I'm not going to -- sorry.) If you're still with us and awake -- Congratulations! (but no cash prizes). DF is so easy to use that people like me probably think they don't need to read the manual. I suggest reviewing the full manual anyway; DF has many advanced features and shortcuts which even experienced users can overlook. 3.1 About this Manual This documentation was written at a level which, I hope, is appropriate to the level of computer sophistication of most DF users. This level assumes a degree of familiarity with keyboard usage on an IBM-PC/AT compatible and a basic understanding of how DOS runs programs and executes commands. DF attempts to make life easier for the person who knows how to use the command line but, unlike a DOS shell, does not try to insulate the user from the underlying system. If the above scares you a bit, don't let it. We have all been beginners at one time and I'm sure you can borrow a book or friend who will help you through any rough spots you run into. (And feedback on any spots of opaqueness in this manual is always welcome as well.) This manual does go into some depth explaining the hows and whys of certain functions. These explanations exist largely to satisfy the curiosity of the more technical users of this program and therefore the beginning user should not feel put off Directory Freedom 4.50 Page 13 if he does not understand every concept mentioned in these supplementary discussions. 3.2 Manual Conventions The commands on the main alternate menu are designated throughout this manual as Alt-Fx commands for simplicity and consistency with previous revisions of this program even though they can be alternately defined as LeftShift-Fx. Which, by the way, suggests that I'd better say what I mean by expressions such as Alt F1. It means that you should press on the Alt key with one finger and (while continuing to hold down the Alt key) press the F1 key with some other appendage. The Source or Working directory refers to the directory which is being displayed on the screen by DF. The Destination directory is the default destination for copies and other operations. It is also the current DOS directory. 3.3 Program Limitations - Maximum of between 500 and 1000 files in a directory - Up to 1GB per logical disk - Operating system revision of at least DOS 3.0 3.4 Starting up Directory Freedom The basic syntax of the DF command line is: DF [d:][source-path][file-mask] [d:][dest-path] [/T,N,E,D,S,or O][+/-] [/F] [/V] [/Ccfg_file] All parameters are optional. If no pathnames are entered, both the source and the destination directories default to the current DOS directory. If only one path is entered, this path is taken to be that of the source directory and the destination directory defaults to the current DOS directory. (Pathnames can be a maximum of 63 characters long, starting at the drive letter and including the filename.) The file-mask is a wildcard specification such as *.EXE which allows for the display of a subset of files in a directory. Options, specified by a "/" followed by a letter, may appear either before or after the pathnames and override any settings made with the DFCONFIG program. The options are as follows: /N Sort directory by filename /E Sort directory by extension /D Sort directory by date and time /S Sort directory by file size /T Sort Directory by attribute /O Use original order, i.e. do not sort directory at all. Directory Freedom 4.50 Page 14 + or - Any of the sort attributes can be appended with a + or a - on the command line (though the suffix has no effect on an Original order "sort"). A + indicates that the sort is to take place in ascending order, while a - indicates that it is to be in descending order. If no suffix is specified, the sort will take place in whatever has been stored as the default order for that key. /V Turn on DOS Verify switch for disk file writes /F Fast display on IBM Color Graphics Adapter (CGA) -- i.e. no snow check /Ccfg_file Use specified cfg_file for parameter and command-line settings Examples of valid command lines: DF Use default settings. Source directory = Destination directory = Current DOS DF c:\util Use default settings. Source directory = c:\util Destination = current DOS DF c:\util\*.com As above, but display only files with a .COM extension DF .. Source directory = Parent (directory above current) Destination = current DOS DF . c:\util Source directory = current. Destination = c:\ut DF c:\util d:\foo Source directory = c:\util. Destination = d:\foo DF c:\util /N- Source directory = c:\util. Display files in descending name order DF c:\util /T /V Force verify ON for all disk file writes. Sort in default attribute order DF /Cdft.cfg Use settings stored in the configuration file DFT.CFG DF comes up displaying the "source" (also referred to as the "working") directory. A brief menu of optional commands is displayed to the right of the directory display. You may move up and down the directory list with the up and down arrow keys on the cursor keypad. Files may be individually copied, deleted, moved or renamed by pressing the function keys F1 through F4, respectively. Alternatively, a number of files may be selected, or "marked" using the Grey + and Grey - keys on the right side of the keypad. After marking, pressing the appropriate function key will apply the chosen operation to the entire group of files. New directories can be displayed in one of two ways. You can press the F9 function key and enter a new drive and path name. Directory Freedom 4.50 Page 15 Alternatively, if you want to move to different subdirectories on the same drive, you simply press the <Enter> key after using the up or down arrow keys to high-light the desired subdirectory. Note that as always within DOS, ".." denotes the parent of a given subdirectory, i.e. the level above the currently displayed directory, and "." denotes the current directory. 3.5 Key by key Summary of Commands (by category) Exiting DF ---------- Esc Exit program and return to original directory. Alt-Q Exit program leaving the currently displayed dir as the current default drive and directory for DOS. Marking files ------------- Grey + Mark current file entry, if not a subdirectory or hidden or Ins file, and advance cursor to next line. Grey - Remove mark on current file, and advance cursor to next or Del line. Space Swap marking of highlighted file. Same as Grey + (Mark) unless currently highlighted file is already marked in which case it is the same as Grey - (Remove Mark). F5 Clear all marks. F6 Mark all remaining files, i.e. those not marked with an * . F7 Swap marked and unmarked files. F11 Re-mark files (i.e. mark those files with *'s next to their names). This function is equivalent to F6 followed by F7. Most functions operate on the marked files, if any, otherwise they operate on the currently highlighted file. If the operation is successful the mark is replaced with an asterisk (*), if unsuccessful the file is passed over, leaving the mark, and the program proceeds on to the next marked file. Directory Freedom 4.50 Page 16 Copying, Moving, and Deleting files ----------------------------------- F1 or Alt C Copy file(s) via a read/write sequence to requested target Alt F1 Protected Copy -- similar to F1 except that an error is generated if the target file already exists or cannot be written to (e.g. is Read-only or Hidden) F2 Delete file(s) or directory after asking for confirmation (unless empty directory). Directories containing subdirectories or Read-Only/Hidden files cannot be deleted. F3 or Alt M Move file(s), i.e. Copy to requested target, delete source. Where possible this function is performed using an across directory rename instead of a file read/write sequence. Alt F3 Forced Move -- Unlike a regular move (F3), this option will overwrite the target file if it already exists. (This command has the same relationship to MOVE as COPY has to PROTECTED COPY.) F4 Rename file(s) or directory within the currently displayed directory. Changing active source and destination directories -------------------------------------------------- F8 Swap the Working (source) Directory and the Destination Directory. F9 Prompt for a new Working (source) Directory. (Also use this function to change the file mask, e.g. *.COM.) F10 Prompt for a new Destination Directory. ] Make the Destination Directory equal to the Working (source) Directory. [ Make the Working (source) Directory equal to the Destination Directory. <Left Arrow> Change to next drive specified in Drive Table. <Right Arrow> Change to previous drive specified in Drive Table. Directory Freedom 4.50 Page 17 Re-sorting the working directory -------------------------------- Alt N Sort by filename (ascending), Ctrl N (descending) Alt E Sort by file extension (ascending), Ctrl E (descending) Alt D Sort by date & time (ascending), Ctrl D (descending) Alt S Sort by file size (ascending), Ctrl S (descending) Alt O Re-read and display dir in original DOS order. (unsorted). Ctrl O (same thing). DOS Shell functions ------------------- Alt F2 Invoke DOS Shell. Alt F5 Run a program. Parameters may be added after the program name. Directory functions ------------------- Alt F6 Create a directory. Creates a new subdirectory under the working (displayed) directory using a name provided by the user. Alt F7 Returns the size of the highlighted directory in terms of disk space used both on the working drive and on a typical floppy diskette (assumes 1024 byte clusters). Miscellaneous additional ALT menu commands ------------------------------------------ Alt F4 Re-read working directory. Required after changing diskettes in a floppy disk drive. Also useful if a copy or shell command has changed the current directory. Alt F8 Swap video mode between 25 lines and 43 lines (EGA) or 50 lines (VGA). Only operational if you have an EGA or VGA display adapter. Alt F9 Set file date/time. Prompts for new date and time for marked files. Uses the system date and time by default. Alt F10 Creates an archive file (e.g. ZIP file) from marked files using a command line specified through DFCONFIG. RShift F10 Secondary 'Create Archive' key Alt F11, Ctrl L Edit Volume name of Working (source) Volume. Alt F12, Ctrl P Prints the Working (source) directory listing to your printer. Alt Z Show Help screen. Directory Freedom 4.50 Page 18 Miscellaneous Commands ---------------------- Ctrl F Toggle display of directories in listing on/off View Commands ------------- <Enter> (i.e. the <Enter> key on the central portion of the keyboard). or Alt V If file highlighted: SmartView uses the external viewer specified for the extension of the highlighted file. If the extension is not defined, default viewer is used. If directory highlighted: Change to highlighted directory. Grey <Enter> (i.e. the <Enter> key on the numeric keypad) or If file highlighted: Force default viewer. Ctrl <Enter> If directory highlighted: As above. Note: The function of the <Enter> and grey<Enter> keys can be exchanged through the SmartViewers switch in DFCONFIG. F12 Use Secondary Viewer. Attribute Commands ------------------ Alt A Add Archive bit Ctrl A Remove Archive bit Alt R Add Read-Only bit Ctrl R Remove Read-Only Alt H Add Hidden bit Ctrl H Remove Hidden bit Alt Y Add System bit Ctrl Y Remove System bit User-defined Commands --------------------- Ctrl-F1 through Ctrl-F12, RShift-F1 through RShift-F6, RShift-F11, RShift-F12 plus external file viewers. The two Create Archive functions can also be customized. View Mode commands ------------------ These commands are ONLY applicable when using internal viewer W Toggle word wrap/horizontal scroll. A Toggle ASCII string display. B Toggle blanking of non-ASCII characters. Grey * Toggle Wordstar bit mask (shift non-ASCII high-order characters (from 128 to 255) down into the displayable ASCII range of 1 to 127. In addition, the cursor control keys act as you would expect. The <Enter> key duplicates the <PgDn> key. Directory Freedom 4.50 Page 19 Dir of D:\TD\PROGS\DF Default dest D:\TD\PROGS\DF .. <DIR> 9-20-91 9:41p ╔════════════════════════╗ AAAAAAAA <DIR> 9-20-91 9:42p ║ Directory Freedom ║ BBBBBBBB A <DIR> 9-20-91 9:42p ║ Version 4.50 ║ DC <DIR> 9-20-91 9:42p ║ Copr.Gordon Haff,1991 ║ DF350A <DIR> 9-20-91 9:42p ╟────────────────────────╢ DF350B <DIR> 9-20-91 9:42p ║ F1 Copy ║ DF400 <DIR> 9-20-91 9:42p ║ F2 Delete ║ DF450 <DIR> 9-20-91 9:42p ║ F3 Move ║ INVOICE <DIR> 9-20-91 9:42p ║ F4 Rename ║ LETTERS <DIR> 9-20-91 9:42p ║ F5 Clear marks ║ PICS <DIR> 11-03-91 8:39p ║ F6 Mark remainder ║ SA <DIR> 9-20-91 9:42p ║ F7 Swap Mark/Unmark ║ TEST2 <DIR> 9-20-91 9:42p ║ F8 Swap Dir/Dest. ║ TEST3 <DIR> 10-31-91 6:16p ║ F9 Change Dir ║ MEERR TMP 0 3-10-91 1:13a ║ F10 Change Dest. ║ DFMAKE BAT 17 8-21-90 8:41p ║ F11 Re-Mark files ║ TMP 18 8-25-91 8:35p ║ F12 Secondary Viewer ║ MAKETEMP BAT 25 11-18-90 1:36a ║ Alt-Z Help ║ MKSOUND BAT 41 4-09-89 1:10a ║ Esc or Alt-Q to Exit ║ MAKEB BAT 54 1-14-90 9:31p ╚════════════════════════╝ Volume: 1234567890A 74,774,528 bytes free Destination disk has 74,774,528 bytes free Row 1 of 123. 2,791,424 bytes/109 files ---------------------------------------- Figure 1. Example of opening DF screen. ---------------------------------------- This screen displays a typical Directory Freedom file listing. The displayed directory is referred to throughout this manual as the Source or Working directory. The Destination directory is shown on the second line of the display. This directory is the default destination for copies and moves; it is also the current DOS directory -- and hence the default directory for many user-defined commands. The main menu is shown on the right. Other menus are brought up my pressing the Alt (or Left-Shift), Control, or Right-Shift keys. Directory Freedom 4.50 Page 20 3.6 File Marking Entries may be marked, as explained above, with the following exceptions. The marking keys will NOT operate on the following: - Subdirectories - Hidden files 3.7 Mouse Support As of Revision 4.0, DF directly incorporated mouse cursor emulation -- functionality which was previously provided by the companion memory-resident program, DFM. This mouse cursor emulation provides for the following: Mouse up/down movements emulate <up arrow> and <down arrow> Mouse left button emulates <Enter> Mouse right button emulates <esc> Mouse middle button (if present) emulates <space> In addition to using the mouse in the main directory listing, the Mouse button emulation is also active in the internal viewer. I realize that the above mouse support is relatively limited. I do not, however, have plans to significantly increase the level of this support since I believe that doing so would tend to decrease the ease-of-use of DF from the keyboard. In DF 4.50, the mouse initialization code was changed to do a mouse software reset rather than a hardware reset. This lets DF start up quite a bit faster. If this change causes you any problems, see Appendix E for "undocumented" patch location information. 4.0 Program Feature Information 4.1 Built-in Viewer (Note that this section applies ONLY if an external file viewer is NOT configured. The internal viewer obviously has a speed and size advantage over external viewers -- especially on a floppy disk system. On the other hand, an external viewer such as Vern Buerg's LIST can have a much wider array of features (e.g. text searching). DF is shipped with the internal viewer preconfigured although the user can, of course, change this easily by adding a command line such as LIST ~ from within the DFCONFIG program.) Just as pressing <Enter> lets you view a new directory, pressing <Enter> when a filename is highlighted lets you view the contents of the file. In the default mode the display is wrapped at the edge of the screen if a line is more than 80 characters wide. This option can be toggled by pressing W. Display of non-ASCII characters can be toggled with the ASCII and Blank Directory Freedom 4.50 Page 21 options by pressing A or B. In ASCII mode only strings of 5 or more normal ASCII characters (including tab or space) are displayed. This is useful for viewing the messages contained in an .EXE or .COM file. With the Blank option, non-ASCII characters are replaced with a blank or space. A final option, Grey *, masks the high-order bit of non-ASCII characters to make Wordstar files readable. 4.2 Shell functions and SmartViewers DF allows the user to significantly build on the internal program functions by accessing external programs in a variety of useful ways. While this functionality has existed in DF from the start (in fact, it was the major new feature of DF 1.0), with version 4.0 I added a wide new array of methods to access external programs. User-defined functions ---------------------- Up to 16 (or 20 if the F11/F12 keys are enabled) external shell functions can be assigned to the CONTROL-F1 through CONTROL-F10 and RShift-F1 through RShift-F6 keys. (Why not all the RShift keys, you ask? Answer: I'm reserving the rest of the RShift keys for DF's own use in future versions.) Functions such EDIT and UNARCHIVE can be added to the user-defined menus to correspond with the programs which you use, not to some arbitrary set of functions which I've set up. To illustrate the use of these functions, DF comes configured with a few typical external programs predefined, but these can be easily added to or changed through the use of the DFCONFIG program. (Those of you wondering how someone could ever have a need for this many user-defined functions might want to take a look at Appendix A which contains some of the clever things which users have done with these functions.) An important note: The user-defined functions (and SmartViewers) depend on external DOS programs. If a defined program cannot be found (either by specifying its full path in the command line or by having it in a directory contained in your DOS PATH), the corresponding user-defined function will not work. Viewers ------- DF has both default viewers and SmartViewers. If you wish, the main default viewer can be left in its shipped configuration of using DF's internal viewer. Alternatively, a program such as Vern Buerg's LIST or PC Magazine's SMOOTH can be substituted by entering the appropriate command line for the default viewer in DFCONFIG. (For example, to use LIST, enter LIST ~ as the default viewer command line.) The default viewer will be used to examine the contents of the highlighted file if Directory Freedom 4.50 Page 22 1) the file's extension has not been configured for a SmartViewer or 2) one of the default viewer override keys (e.g. Ctrl <Enter>) have been pressed. In addition to the main default viewer, a secondary viewer (accessible through the F12 key) was added in version 4.50. The purpose of this viewer is to permit easy access to a viewer which is used frequently but which does not correspond to specific file extensions. For example, you might want to leave the internal viewer configured as the main viewer because of its speed, but assign a more fully-featured program to the secondary viewer. SmartViewers allow you to automatically use the external viewer most appropriate to a given file's type (as reflected in its extension). For example, you can configure ZR (the author's ZIP file viewer) for files with a .ZIP extension and a program such as VGIF or VPIC for a file with a .GIF extension. As with all the other user-defined functions, customizing the settings for your personal preferences is easy with DFCONFIG. Each SmartViewer command line can have up to three corresponding extensions defined. Single character wildcards (i.e. ?) are allowed. (Multiple character wildcards, i.e. *, are not supported.) For example, a multi-purpose graphics viewer such as VPIC might have a command line and extensions line which looks like the following: Command Line: VPIC ~ Extensions: GIF PCX RLE (Hint: If you require more than the allowed three extensions, just replicate the command line and define additional extensions which correspond to the replicated command line.) Run a Program ------------- The Run-a-Program function (Alt-F5) allows you to run an executable program from within DF. The program under the highlight bar will be executed when you press this key combination. You will then be prompted for the command-line parameters to pass to the executing program. Press <Esc> to abort the operation or <Enter> to continue without parameters. Use this option with caution on programs you haven't tried out before. For one thing, DF has no way of testing a program's memory requirements. If a program doesn't do its own testing it may hang your system. Also, some programs seem to be allergic to being run in shells. NEVER execute a Terminate-And-Stay-Resident (TSR) program from a shell. You'll end up creating a hole in memory which will, at the least, cause you to lose memory and, at worst, will cause a system crash. Directory Freedom 4.50 Page 23 DOS Shell --------- The DOS Shell (Alt-F2) allows you to temporarily exit to DOS. You should be able to do anything in this shell which you would normally do from the DOS command line subject to the constraint that the DF parent is using approximately 64KB of memory. Type EXIT at the DOS prompt to return to DF. 4.3 Attribute Functions DF incorporates functions which allow you to add or remove file attributes. The ALT-attribute functions allow you to set attribute bits while the CTRL-attribute functions allow you to remove the bits. The A, R, H, and Y keys control the Archive, read-Only, Hidden, and System bits respectively. (An S-key would have conflicted with the sort function, so the system attribute was assigned a different key since it will be seldom used anyway.) In general, attribute functions can be performed using standard marking just like all other functions. The exception is un-hiding hidden files. Hidden files can be unhidden one-by-one, but hidden files cannot be marked. This is because the ability to mark must carry over to all program functions and I thought that, in general, users would want hidden files to be automatically skipped since most DF functions are illegal on hidden files. (On a broader note, DF intentionally forces a few extra steps to delete or otherwise disrupt both Read-Only and Hidden files. I believe that this philosophy represents reasonable, if conservative, practice. Files are generally made Hidden or Read-Only for a reason and, therefore, I don't believe it should be too easy to tamper with them.) 4.4 Ultravision Compatibility Directory Freedom Revision 4.0 and later is compatible with Personics' Ultravision. Ultravision is a very nice program which allows for an expanded range of screen modes on EGA/VGA systems as well as providing for alternate palette sets. DF will respond to Ultravision in the following ways: If the screen mode is 80 columns by n rows (where n is any number), DF will come up in that mode, whether n is 25, 43, 50, 63, or whatever. The Swap Video Mode (Alt-F8) will, however, alternate between 25 lines and 43/50 lines only. If the screen mode is j columns by n rows (where j is any number not equal to 80 and n is any number), DF will come up in 80 column by 25 row mode. The Swap Video Mode will work as above. Directory Freedom 4.50 Page 24 In all cases, DF will, upon exit, restore the screen to whatever mode was in effect on entry. In other words, DF can display any number of rows but requires an 80 column display and will act accordingly. 4.5 DESQview Compatibility While Directory Freedom is not fully "DESQview-aware," the LShift key can be substituted for the Alt key as the "hot-key" for the secondary menu. This solves a problem encountered in older revs in which pressing the Alt key caused the DESQview menu to pop up. This addition, in conjunction with the following setup information, should allow you to effectively use DF in a DESQview environment. When configuring DESQview to add DF to its program list, the following characteristics should be specified in the advanced program setup: Writes directly to screen Y Uses its own colors Y Maximum height/width 25,80 Starting Row/Column/Height/Width 0,0,25,80 4.6 Hints and Suggestions The following techniques, explanations, and hints have proven useful to myself or to other users. They may help you to get more out of your copy of Directory Freedom. To "re-mark" a group of files (i.e. mark the same group of files which have just been operated on and which now have a * next to their entries) press F6 and F7 in sequence. (If you have an extended keyboard, just use the F11 function.) One of the PC Magazine utilities is called SWEEP and allows you to automatically repeat the execution of a command through multiple directories. If you type 'SWEEP DF' from the root directory, therefore, DF will be executed in succession in each directory on the hard disk. Ben Stock suggests that this "is the best thing for housekeeping, reclaiming disk space, and preparing for major backups." SWEEP should be available on most major bulletin boards. To pop up a directory level, highlight the '..' entry and press <Enter>. The DF Destination directory is also the current DOS directory. Hence user-defined commands which send output files to the default directory regardless of the directory of the source file (e.g. PKUNZIP) will send their output to the DF Destination directory -- NOT the (displayed) Working directory. Directory Freedom 4.50 Page 25 To print a file, COPY the file to your print device. For example, to print a file to LPT1:, press F1 and give LPT1 or PRN (note that there is no trailing colon) as the destination file name. To efficiently pack files on to multiple floppies, do a sort in descending size order. This way, DF will copy the all the files it can (starting with the largest) onto each diskette in order. When DF runs out of room on a diskette, it will skip all files which don't fit. Just put in a new diskette and press the COPY key again. (There's a bit of beeping associated with this procedure -- if you set the Beep Option to "Beep 1" rather than "DOS Beep", the sound is a good bit less obnoxious.) 5.0 Customization User customization is carried out through the DFCONFIG program which is menu driven and includes its own help screens. DF version 4.50 requires that DFCONFIG also be version 4.50. The matching revision requirement is enforced by the software and DFCONFIG will give you an error message if you attempt to use it to modify a mismatched revision of DF. 5.1 DFCONFIG Command Line There are three possible permutations of the DFCONFIG command line: a) DFCONFIG If you do not specify a path and filename on the DFCONFIG command line, DFCONFIG assumes that the program you wish to modify is called DF.CFG (the name for the Directory Freedom configuration file as shipped) and is in the current directory. The current configuration settings will be initially read from this file and any modifications made will be saved to this file. If DF.CFG cannot be found, DF.COM is searched for. If that cannot be found, DFCONFIG terminates. b) DFCONFIG [path\filename] The specified filename will be used for both input and output as specified in a). c) DFCONFIG [path\in_file] [path\out_file] The current configuration settings will be initially read from in_file. Any modifications will be saved to out_file. If you do specify any path\filename(s) on the command line, you must give a full legal pathname from either the current directory or a root and the full filename with extension. This allows you to use any names you desire for DF and/or its Directory Freedom 4.50 Page 26 configuration files. (You must maintain either the .COM or .CFG extensions, however.) 5.2 DFCONFIG Usage Notes A mouse is supported in DFCONFIG's menus. The <Left Mouse Button> button is equivalent to <ENTER> on the keyboard, the <Right Mouse Button> button to <ESC>. If you make changes to DF's parameters, make sure that you tell DFCONFIG to save them; i.e. changes are not automatically saved. DFCONFIG operates by reading in DF.COM, making changes to the memory image of the program, and then saving the memory image back to disk if told to save the changes thereby overwriting the original. This modification procedure may alert certain anti-viral programs such as Flushot+ and will alter the CRC (Cyclic Redundancy Check) value of the DF.COM file. Starting with version 4.50, a configuration file may be used in place of direct modification of the program file. DFCONFIG cannot work on a DF.COM (or DF.CFG) file if it has been compressed with a program such as LZEXE or PKLITE. DF.COM is compatible with these programs, but it cannot be modified in its compressed state since DFCONFIG depends on data being in specific locations in the program. DFCONFIG is compatible with Ultravision from Personics. If Ultravision is detected, DFCONFIG will set an 80x25 screen mode, but will restore the initial screen dimensions upon exit. If you have a monochrome monitor attached to a graphics card (CGA/EGA/VGA), DFCONFIG will automatically map the screen colors to their monochrome equivalents (with minor changes to make it easier to recognize the "quick selection characters" in the menus). The best results will be obtained, however, if you issue the "MODE MONO" command prior to invoking DFCONFIG. 5.3 DFCONFIG Main Menu Attributes: Accesses the Attributes sub-menu for changing DF settings such as color and Printer Port. This menu item is described in detail in Section 5.5. Commands: Accesses the Commands sub-menu which allows the specification of user functions such as SmartViewers. This menu item is described in detail in Section 5.4. Info: Gives registration information. Registration Form: An easy way to enter your information and print a registration form for DF. Directory Freedom 4.50 Page 27 Filenames: Allows the current in_file or out_file to be changed. See Section 5.6 for additional information. Save and Quit: Saves the current settings in memory to the current out_file. These settings could have been read in from another copy of DF and/or could have been entered by the user through the Attributes and Commands sub-menus. Quit w/o saving: Quit the program without making any alterations to the out_file. 5.4 Commands Modification DFCONFIG can be used to modify the user-defined shell functions accessed by the following menus: Control Keys (Ctrl F1 through Ctrl F10) Right Shift Keys (RShft F1 through RShft F6) Extended Keys (Ctrl and RShft F11 and F12) Viewers (SmartViewers and default viewers) More SmartViewers (What do you think?) Archivers (Command line used by 'Create Archive' functions) See Appendix D for the edit keystrokes used in these data entry screens. At the simplest level, the shell functions can merely be used to run an external program with no arguments (or at least no variable arguments). Thus, if you had a program called CPUTYPE which you would ordinarily run just by typing: CPUTYPE at the DOS prompt, you would just enter the same thing as one of the command lines within the DFCONFIG commands modification screen. There may indeed be situations where you want to access such a program from within DF, however, this usage does not take full advantage of the DF user-defined shell feature. Since the DF highlight cursor is always resting on a file or directory, it might seem useful to be able to pass that information to a shell command line. DF can do exactly this. By entering a ~ (tilde) as part of a defined command line in DFCONFIG, the user tells DF to "Insert the full path and filename of the file or directory under the highlight at this spot in the command." Directory Freedom 4.50 Page 28 Command-line syntax ------------------- In addition to the aforementioned tilde, a variety of other parameters are available to increase the flexibility of the user-defined command lines. %n Synonym for ~. This parameter is replaced with the full drive:path\filename of the highlighted file. (e.g. c:\util\df.txt) %d Work/displayed drive (e.g. c:) %p Highlighted pathname (e.g. c:\work\) %f Highlighted filename only (e.g. df.txt). This differs from %n in that drive and path information is not included. %e Highlighted extension only (e.g. .txt) %c Current DOS = destination drive %% Literal % ` (grave, i.e. the backwards accent under the tilde on most keyboards). This allows for the runtime insertion of parameters. The user is prompted for the input to this field. More than one grave may be placed on a command line, but the user will only be prompted one time and the input will be replicated. Example ------- All the above is really a whole lot more complicated to read than it actually is to do, so let's go through an example. Let's suppose that we want to define a key for Phil Katz's PKUNZIP program which views or extracts the archives found on many electronic bulletin board systems. Although we would normally set this program up on two different keys (one to view and one to extract), let's assume for the purposes of the example that this is a seldom used function and we only want to use one key for it. We go into DFCONFIG and the Commands menu. We then enter the desired command line. (We'll assume we've programmed CTRL-F3): PKUNZIP ` ~ (Enter whatever you like for the menu name -- it's only for your own reference. Don't worry about the Pause?, Refresh?, and Multi? fields for now. They're described later.) We save the modified data entry screen with a <CTRL-Enter>, Directory Freedom 4.50 Page 29 return to the main menu, and choose Save and Quit from the main DFCONFIG menu. When we next run DF, you'll notice that, when pressing the Control key, the new item has been added to the menu. We now select a file to operate on. Just move the cursor down until the desired file is highlighted and, while holding down the Control key, press F3. DF will prompt you to enter parameters. Let's assume you want to view the archive. In this case, type -v and then hit the <Enter> key. If the highlighted file were called ARCHIVE.ZIP and was in the DOWNLOAD directory on the C: drive, DF would expand the command line to the following: PKUNZIP -V C:\DOWNLOAD\ARCHIVE.ZIP Other command line controls --------------------------- The Pause? value is asking whether you want a "Press any key to return" after exiting the program. You probably don't want a pause for things such as editors and do for programs which place information on the screen without inserting their own pause before exiting. The Refresh? value is asking whether you want DF to reread the directory before returning from the shell. You will generally want to set this value to 'Y' when performing functions such as extracting archives. There is a minimal performance penalty attached to performing such a reread on hard disks unless the directories are very large. If a function is regularly used on a floppy diskette directory, however, you may wish to perform Rereads manually (Alt-F4) only when you need them. Refresh will wipe out any file markings. The Multi? value is asking whether or not you want the function to operate on Marked files (if any exist) or the highlighted file. If Multi? is set to 'N', the function will operate only on the currently highlighted file -- whether or not other files in the directory are highlighted. If Multi? is set to 'Y', the function will operate SEQUENTIALLY on the marked files in the directory (or the highlighted file if no files are marked). The Multi switch is not available for viewers. In the customization screen, you save your work by either typing CTRL-<Enter> at any point, or <Enter> when positioned on the last field of the screen. Exiting with <Esc> DOES NOT SAVE THE CONTENTS OF THE SCREEN! All the movement and edit commands for the data screen are available through on-line help in DFCONFIG. Directory Freedom 4.50 Page 30 5.5 Attributes Modification In addition to DF screen colors (NORMAL, INTENSE, MENU, MENU2, BORDER, and INVERSE), the following attributes can be changed by the DFCONFIG program: Switch [Default: / (Standard DOS) Snow check [Default: Off] Sort Default [Default: Ascending Name order] Verify Default [Default: Floppy only] Beep tone [Default: Standard DOS Beep] Secondary Menu Key [Default: Alt] Extended Keyboard [Default: Auto] Startup Video Mode [Default: 25 lines] Exclude Attributes [Default: N for all attributes] Printer Port [Default: LPT1] Mouse [Default: Enable] SmartViewer Key [Default: <Enter>] Disable CFG Read [Default: No] Drive Table [Default: empty] Each of these options are explained below. Color ----- Both the foreground and background settings of the six color combinations used in DF can be modified through DFCONFIG's Attribute modification. To aid you in this process, a sample color screen changes dynamically based on the currently set and currently highlighted colors. Switch ------ / ("Standard" DOS switch) - ("UNIX" switch) For the UNIX hackers, the switch character is used to identify an option entered on the DOS command line when you first call up DF. Normally this is '/', so that options would be specified by /d or /o. By changing the byte to '-', options can be entered as -d or -o. This lets you use '/' in your path names, so that instead of entering command lines like: DF C:\COMM\DOWN D:\UTIL /D You can now enter: DF C:/COMM/DOWN D:/UTIL -D or DF C:\COMM\DOWN -d D:\UTIL or DF -d C:/COMM\DOWN D:/UTIL -D But not: DF C:\COMM\DOWN D:/UTIL /D (This will confuse DF) Directory Freedom 4.50 Page 31 (Note that since the confusion results from the option switch, and since there are no options entered with pathnames once the program is running, you can use either / or \ as a path delimiter when entering a destination or changing the path with F9 or F10 keys.) Verify Default -------------- No Change Yes No Floppy Only From the DOS command line, you can type VERIFY ON or VERIFY OFF to change DOS's write-verify status. If Verify is on, MS-DOS performs a series of checks following each disk-write operation to attempt to verify that the data just written can be read without error. The downside of such checking is that write operations are slowed down significantly and the enhanced security provided by VERIFY ON is questionable, at least with hard disks. In any case, DFCONFIG allows the write-verify status within DF to be set in one of four different ways. It can be set ON, in which case all affected DF commands will operate with write-verify status enabled. It can be set OFF, in which case all affected DF commands will operate with write-verify status disabled. It can be set to NO CHANGE, in which case DF will use the write-verify status which was in use by DOS prior to running DF. Or it can be set to FLOPPY ONLY in which case verify is set on if the target is a floppy diskette and set off otherwise. Using DF's /V command-line switch will force write-verify status ON no matter how this switch is set. Beep Default ------------ DOS Beep Beep 1 If an error is made when using DF (e.g. an illegal operation such as deleting a Read-only file is attempted), the program beeps to alert you of the error. By default, the standard DOS beep (ASCII 07) is used. Some users find this standard tone rather obtrusive and grating on the ear so DFCONFIG allows an alternative "soft beep" to be chosen instead. (This alternative tone is generated by programming the timer chip directly instead of using standard DOS or BIOS services. Therefore it may not work on some computers which are not 100% IBM PC/AT hardware compatible.) Directory Freedom 4.50 Page 32 Snow Check ---------- Yes No When DF starts up it determines the primary display type. If it isn't monochrome, EGA, or VGA, then DF can query the display adapter before writing a character to the display memory to see if it is ok to do so. This procedure is necessary to avoid spurious dots or "snow" on old IBM Color Graphics Adapters (CGA's) caused by the CPU and the display-refresh circuitry simultaneously accessing the video buffer. Unfortunately, this check also slows things down quite a bit. If you prefer speed over a clean display update, or if you have a (relatively) modern Color Graphics Adapter that doesn't need to do this checking, choose No for the snow check option. Otherwise, choosing Yes will enable snow checking (unless a monochrome, EGA, or VGA has been detected -- in which case snow checking is neither performed nor necessary). Using DF's /F command-line option switch forces snow checking off and will override the setting of this switch. Sort Option ----------- Name Extension Size Date Attribute Original A new default sort key and order can be chosen from within DFCONFIG. The choices (Name, Extension, Size, Date, and Original) are the same as those which can be specified on either the DF command line or by pressing the appropriate Alt- or Ctrl-key. If a sort order is specified as a command line switch, this default setting is overridden. If (O)riginal is chosen, no sort takes place and the filenames are displayed in the same order as they are displayed when typing the 'dir' command at the DOS prompt. Other choices (e.g. (N)ame) bring up a secondary menu which asks you to specify (A)scending or (D)escending. You can use the sort menu to specify a sort order for each primary key (except for (O)riginal). This sort order will be used as the command-line default if you specify a primary key but not an order suffix. (In other words, if you specify a sort key but no order on the command line, (e.g. /D) whether the sort takes place in ascending or descending order will be a function of what you set up in this menu item.) Directory Freedom 4.50 Page 33 If (N)ame or (E)xtension is chosen, the sort is in ascending (i.e. alphabetical) order by default. If (S)ize is chosen, the sort is in descending order by default to allow for more efficient packing when copying to multiple floppy diskettes. (D)ate also sorts in descending order by default to place the most recently created or modified files at the top of the directory listing. DF automatically uses a logical secondary key and secondary key order for each primary key sort. The identity and sort order of this secondary key is not configurable. Press <esc> from the primary sort key menu to return to the main attributes menu. Secondary Menu Key ------------------ Alt Left-Shift (i.e. the Shift key on the left side of the keyboard) This switch chooses the "hot-key" used to bring up the secondary menu of "hardwired" DF functions. (This is the menu which includes the Directory-specific functions and items such as "Run a Program.") The choice is offered because pressing and releasing the Alt key also brings up the DESQView menu if DESQView is active. Since Alt has been the secondary "hot-key" in all versions of Directory Freedom to date, however, it has been left as the default for backward compatibility. Choosing Left-Shift as the hot-key will also lessen the chance of keystroke conflicts with memory resident programs. Extended Keyboard ----------------- Yes No Auto On systems with extended keyboards (101-key or equivalent), selecting Yes will allow the user to program two additional function keys on the Control and RightShift menus (and use the function key commands Alt-F11 and Alt-F12). The status of this switch does NOT affect the ability to program these keys in the DFCONFIG command line editor. Unless this switch is set to Yes, however, those programmed keys cannot actually be used (nor will they be displayed) within DF. In revision 4.0, a new default setting (Auto) was added to this menu. The Auto setting attempts to automatically detect the presence of a BIOS which supports a 101-key keyboard. Unfortunately, this sort of detection is kind of a kludge and 101-key support will NOT be automatically detected on all systems. If automatic detection doesn't work on your system and Directory Freedom 4.50 Page 34 you know that you have an extended keyboard BIOS (or memory resident software which emulates such a BIOS), just manually force the support by selecting "Yes". Simply having a 101-key keyboard does not guarantee that the BIOS of your system will support the extended function keys. If you do not have an extended keyboard BIOS, enabling F11/F12 may hang your system. Startup Video Mode ------------------ 25 line 43/50 line The setting of this item will determine whether your system starts up with a 25 row display or a 43 row (EGA) / 50 row (VGA) display. If you do not have an EGA or VGA display adapter, this switch setting will have no effect and you will start up with a 25 line display. Exclude Attributes ------------------ Read-Only Y/N Hidden Y/N System Y/N By default, DF will display all files in the Working (source) directory regardless of their file attribute bits. This menu item allows you to exclude the display of one or more of the "special" attribute settings. (There is also an archive bit which is most commonly used to handle backups as well as subdirectory and volume bits -- the latter two are already handled in a special manner by DF.) If , for example, Read-Only were set to 'Y', files with a Read-Only bit would not be displayed by DF. This switch settings allows a person such as a PC manager to protect files which would be hidden from normal DOS displays or protected from normal DOS functions such as ERASE but which DF would normally display. Printer Port ------------ LPT1 LPT2 This item selects the printer port which will be used by the Print Directory Listing command. Directory Freedom 4.50 Page 35 Mouse ----- Enable Disable By default, DF uses mouse cursor emulation if a mouse driver is detected. If you wish to disable this support for some reason, use this menu. Disable CFG Read ---------------- Yes No Normally, DF searches for a DF.CFG file in its home directory if no configuration file is specified on the command line. If that search fails, the settings stored in DF.COM are used. If you definitely don't want to use configuration files, you can save a little time when DF starts up by disabling DF's search for a configuration file. Note that this setting is not stored in any configuration files created. Doing so wouldn't make sense since DF would see the setting too late to do any good. This setting is only stored when DFCONFIG saves directly to a DF.COM file. SmartViewer Key --------------- <Enter> Grey<Enter> DF normally uses the <Enter> key on the main keypad as the SmartViewer key (i.e. the one which calls up user-defined viewers if an extension matches). Some people prefer to use the numeric keypad <Enter> key as their primary key. This switch lets them do that. Drive Table ----------- The Drive Table is the list of drives which you can move among with the <left arrow> and <right arrow> keys from the main DF menu. By default, the table is empty. Fill it up with the drive letters you wish to add to the list unseparated by colons or spaces. For instance, CDEFG would allow you to move among those five drives. It is allowable (though not really recommended) to add floppy drives to the list. Directory Freedom 4.50 Page 36 5.6 Filenames The Filenames item on the main menu allows you to specify new in_file and out_file names to replace those specified (or defaulted to) on the DFCONFIG command line. The filenames can be either entered directly or selected from a directory list of .COM or .CFG files. If filenames are entered manually, they must end in either a .CFG or a .COM extension which corresponds to their identity as configuration or program files. If a .CFG file which does not exist is specified as an out_file (either through this menu item or on the DFCONFIG command line, you will be asked whether you wish to create a new file. DFCONFIG will attempt to validate any selected files to ensure that they correspond to the proper format for the chosen file type. By necessity, however, the checking is limited to a search for certain coded strings which DFCONFIG inserts in .CFG files or which are present in .COM files. If the chosen file is corrupted in a more subtle way (for instance by manual editing outside of the DFCONFIG program), DFCONFIG may still think the file is valid when it is not. The results in such a case will be unpredictable. When a file is chosen for input, its contents will be read into DFCONFIG as the current settings as soon as you verify that the program should go ahead. When a new file is chosen for output, no writing takes place until DFCONFIG is exited through the "Save and Quit" item on the main menu. 6.0 Supplementary Programs With version 4.0, major changes were made to the contents of the DF archive. For a variety of reasons (licensing/copyright restrictions primarily), only programs written exclusively by the author are now included with the DF archive distributed on electronic BBS's and by disk vendors. 6.1 Included Programs The programs described in this section are not part of DF and are distributed with DF only for the convenience of users. X-Ray Viewers ------------- The X-Ray Viewers provide a scrollable environment for examining the contents of various types of archive files and allows the user to view those contents by piping them to LIST. In other words, you can read a text file contained within, for example, a .ZIP file without extracting the archive. In combination with the SmartViewer functions in DF, the X-Ray viewers make the examination of .ZIP, .ARJ, .LZH, and .ZOO files almost automatic (just highlight a file and press <Enter>). Directory Freedom 4.50 Page 37 "Freeware" but requires the appropriate archive program and LIST to function. Latest revision: 1.10; Archive name: XRAY110 Contains ARJ, ZIP, LZH, and ZOO viewers. See XR.TXT on the disk for more information. Subsumes ZR which was in turn a renaming of ZV. ND -- This program can be programmed to a function key and will rename the highlighted file to a new name which is derived from the current date. For example, FILENAME.TXT would be renamed to 891015.TXT if the date were Oct 15, 1989. It append a letter to the base name (e.g. 891015A.TXT, 891015B.TXT, etc.) if the "dated name" already exists. I find this very useful for handling message-base files from BBS's. (Besides, I wrote it and figure that no one can keep me from distributing it with DF if I want to.) ND is "Freeware." Latest revision: 1.0; Archive name: ND100 or NEWDATE 6.2 Non-Included Programs The programs in this section are NOT included with the DF distribution, but I have found these programs (or programs fulfilling the same functions) to complement DF well for certain applications. RF -- RF, a slightly modified version of PC Magazine's RN.COM which provides a higher-level "tree-style" directory program, is no longer included in the DF archive. It will be included on disk for those who order a disk with their DF registration or who order an update disk. RN is available in the PCMAGNET forum on Compuserve and on many bulletin boards. Instructions on patching RN to support DF are in Appendix B. Note that only RN 2.0 and later supports disk partitions of greater than 32MB. PRUNE ----- A more recent Michael Mefford creation which also appeared in PC Magazine is PRUNE. PRUNE shows two disk drives simultaneously and contains powerful functions for manipulating entire directory trees. I personally prefer PRUNE to RF as a Directory Freedom 4.50 Page 38 high-level disk management program. Like RF, PRUNE is available on PCMAGNET and can be patched with the instructions in Appendix B. FV or RV -------- Vernon Buerg's FV can be used to cut down on the number of function keys needed to deal with archives. FV will basically allow you to view any kind of archive (.ZIP, .ARC, etc.) by programming only a single function key. DF is shipped configured for use with FV. You'll still need a different function key for each archive extraction function, but consolidating all the view functions should help those users who were running out of keys. Robert T. Kaya's RV serves a similar function. Most recent revisions as of this writing: FV 1.33; RV 2.13 SLED or TED or QEDIT or ... --------------------------- Since I do not want to start a religious war, I won't even begin to suggest which editor people should configure. SLED is a small shareware editor which many people like and is very sophisticated for its size. TED is a simple editor from PC Magazine which is free copyrighted software. While lacking such features as word-wrap, it is very compact (~ 12K bytes) and more than sufficient to edit batch files and perform similar tasks. QEdit is a very good shareware programmers' editor. Personally, I have my working copy of DF setup to use Multi-Edit (a programmer's editor). LIST ---- As mentioned earlier in this documentation, I recommend Vernon Buerg's LIST in place of the built-in file viewer for many applications. Vernon has been making significant enhancements to LIST recently (current version is 7.6b) and is well worth a look in the event you don't already have a copy. 7.0 Technical DF was written using Borland's Turbo Assembler 2.5 and debugged using Turbo Debugger. The vast bulk of the code is custom although some modified routines from Base Two's Spontaneous Assembler 2.0 libraries were also used. Multi-Edit 4.0 from American Cybernetics was used as an editor. DFCONFIG was compiled using Borland C++ 2.0 in conjunction with the TCXL rev 5.52 libraries. [A sidebar: TCXL was formerly Mike Smedley's CXL. The libraries were purchased by Innovative Data Concepts and Chip Rabinowitz who now own the rights. TCXL 5.52 represents a major rewrite of the entire system. IDC can be Directory Freedom 4.50 Page 39 contacted at 215-884-3373.] Documentation was prepared using Ami Pro 2.0 and converted for the on-disk version with the aforementioned Multi-Edit. DF was developed on a homebrew 386 (named Dejah Thoris) based on an AMI 20MHz full-size motherboard with Micropolis 160MB and 660MB ESDI disks and Ultrastore 12(F) ESDI controller. It is a dual monitor system with an Orchid Prodesigner 512KB VGA board and an IBM MDA board. The system runs DOS 5.0, QEMM, and Windows 3.0. While it is not possible to test with all possible configurations, test systems have included a DG/One 2T laptop, a Northgate 486, a DG Dasher/286 with EGA, and a DG/Dasher 386/25k with VGA. Testing included both DOS 3.3 and DOS 5.0. 8.0 Acknowledgements For Directory Freedom 4.50, special thanks go to my beta testers: Don Dougherty, Mike Cromer, Mike Schmitt, Dennis McCunney, Rick Strom, Ron Lloyd, and others (but especially Don). Blame me for any bugs you find, but rest assured that there would be many more without the efforts of these testers. I would also like to thank the many other users whose suggestions have contributed greatly to the advancement of DF and, of course, those who have registered their copies and made the Shareware concept work. In addition to the above testers, the "inhabitants" of the Ilink and RIME Shareware Relays have been especially forthcoming with many suggestions for improvements and new features. Finally, I would like to thank the sysops of my "home" BBS (Channel One), Brian Miller and Tess Hedder. DF 1.00 was based extensively on Peter Esherick's source code from DC rev 1.05b with the additional help of some code from Brad Stephenson's DR26 program. Peter has also been kind enough to share some DC code fixes with me for incorporation into DF. Peter can be contacted at the following: Albuquerque PC Users' Group Albuquerque RBBS 296-7672, John Maio, sysop ARPANET: esheric@SANDIA.GOV Directory Freedom 4.50 Page 40 9.0 Recent Revision history DF 4.50: Rewrote sort routines. They're now MUCH faster (at least 3x -- not counting time to read from disk) For the technically inclined, the existing bubblesort was replaced with a quicksort algorithm. Sorts can now be done in ascending or descending order Alt-N,E,S,D,T or Cntrl-N,E,S,D,T. Plus logical secondary sorts (Extension when primary key is name; Name otherwise) now take place automatically. Ascending and descending order can also be specified on the command line with + or - suffices to the sort letter. Sorts in attribute order (T) added. Drive table allows movement between drives by pressing left and right arrows. F11/F12 keys added to main menu. F11=Re-mark (equivalent to F6 followed by F7). F12=Secondary main viewer Disable mouse switch added. Plus (for those of you who had been given the patching information on how to disable the mouse previously), disabling the mouse now skips ALL the mouse code. This may help to correct some mouse incompatibilities some people ran across. DF now software initializes the mouse rather than hardware initializing it. This gets DF started a bit more quickly. Added RShift-F11/F12 to user-defined pool. Added Secondary Create Archive key (RShift-F10) -- default is for ARJ. Increased length of user-defined command lines. Function of numeric keypad <Enter> and main keypad <Enter> keys may be swapped. Increased SmartViewer line length. Increased number of SmartViewers. Multiple extensions per SmartViewer command-line plus single-character (i.e. ?) wildcards in extensions. Pause and refresh switches added for SmartViewers. Added new parameters in user-defined command lines Eliminated dir checks from user-defined command lines (i.e. a directory is now treated just like a filename) Directory Freedom 4.50 Page 41 Added configuration file option. It is now no longer necessary to modify the executable DF file. This is particular interest to those who run virus software in the background to detect writes to executables. If a file called DF.CFG in xxx.COM's directory (where xxx.COM is the name of DF.COM), it will be used automatically. Else, the parameters stored within xxx.COM are used. Alternate .CFG files can be specified on the command-line using the /C switch. .CFG file checking can be turned off with DFCONFIG setting. Lots of large disk and large directory display problems fixed. Also, most directory and disk sizes are now displayed with comma separators to make them easier to read. Cluster size for Dir size floppy estimates changed to 1024 bytes (from 512 bytes). Alt-F toggles file only (i.e. no directories) display "Graceful degradation" when the number of files in a directory exceeds DF's limit (512 to 1000 or so files depending upon max memory, TSR's etc.) Help screen modified to reflect changes and increase consistency. It is "believed" that the snow problem is fixed. There was a logic reversal problem and the display is now slower with snow-checking on but I don't have a "snowy" old IBM CGA to actually test on. Bug with last character of a user-entered command line being chopped off fixed. X-Ray Viewers: ZOO SmartViewer written as addition to the XRAY viewers (ZR, etc.). Delete a file option added to SmartViewers ('D'). (Can be disabled with patch) DFCONFIG: DFCONFIG extensively rewritten to handle DF changes and relinked with new versions of user interface libraries. Context-sensitive help added. "Print registration form" option added. Fixes in libraries allowed me to put back in the up/down cursor movement on the data-entry forms Other: Documentation extensively rewritten. Directory Freedom 4.50 Page 42 10.0 Appendix A: User-defined Commands This section shows just a sample of some of the command lines which myself and other users of DF have come up with to make our computing a bit easier. As stated earlier, many of the programs listed in this Appendix are Shareware. As such, you can fully try out these programs (subject to the limitations, if any) in their individual license agreements. If you find them useful, however, you are expected to register them with the individual authors. Most of these programs should be readily available from private electronic bulletin boards, Information Services such as Compuserve, and disk vendors such as PC-SIG. If you can't find a particular program, I may be able to help, but some of the command lines in this Appendix were contributed by other users so I do not have all (or the latest versions of) some of the software listed here. Thanks to Don Dougherty, Robert Ramsdell, and Shakib Otaqui for contributing to this section. Editors and Word Processors --------------------------- pe ~ [IBM Professional Editor ?] me ~ [Multi-Edit] q ~ [Qedit] word ~ [Microsoft Word] wp ~ [Word Perfect] Virus Detection --------------- chk4bomb ~|list/s scan ~ /nomem Listing Files ------------- These programs tend to have complicated switches; you may well want different settings than in these examples] 4print ~ -h -s [Print 2 to a page on Laserjet] cl -!i~ > prn: [Clist] lp ~ lpt1: /N /132 [Norton Line Print] Other ----- lzeshell ~ [Create compressed executable file] fv ~ /p [View any archive] pkunzip ~ [Extract archive to default directory] pkunzip ~ s:\ [Extract archive to s: drive] 4dos [Execute 4DOS command shell] cs ~ [Run Telix script compiler] Directory Freedom 4.50 Page 43 Viewers ------- list ~ [LIST for general-purpose viewer] smooth ~ [SMOOTH for general-purpose viewer] zr ~ [ZR for .ZIP] vpic ~ [VPIC for .GIF] wpdraw ~ [Word Perfect Draw for .WPG] playrol ~ bank.bnk [Plays Adlib sound files (.ROL) with bank.bnk instrument file] Archiver Command ---------------- The default command line for the main archiver is: pkzip -ao @dfzip998 ' The @dfzip998 is a temporary file which DF creates to hold the filenames to be archived. You shouldn't mess with this. The -ao switch creates an archive, the time/date stamp of which is equal to the time/date stamp of the most recent file in the archive as opposed to the current time/date. (Using the -a switch instead would cause the current date to be used.) Directory Freedom 4.50 Page 44 11.0 Appendix B: Patching Instructions --------------------------------------- As noted earlier, RF and PRUNE are no longer included in the general distribution archive. This section describes how to patch PC Magazine's RN and PRUNE to call DF instead of the default DR. An alternate method of achieving the same effect is to rename DF.COM to DR.COM. The instructions in this section are valid as of the specified revs of the RF.COM and PRUNE.COM which were downloaded from Compuserve on 20 November 1990. This section is not intended to be a tutorial on patching programs. The changes detailed in this section can be made with any byte-level editor such as DISKEDIT or NU in the Norton Utilities or even DEBUG. As always, make sure that you have a backup of the original program before you start messing around with its bytes! RN.COM ------ Instructions apply to RN.COM, Revision 2.0 (4676 bytes). At offset 029Ah old: 52 2F 45 0D 00 new: 46 0D 00 00 00 At offset 043Bh old: 52 new: 46 The above changes alters DR references to DF and changes the command line which spawns DR/O to a command line which spawns DF with no arguments. PRUNE.COM --------- Instructions apply to PRUNE.COM, Revision 1.0 (7388 bytes). At offset 0093h: old: 52 new: 46 At offset 0633h: old: 52 new: 46 The above changes DR references to DF references. I also have patched versions of these programs which will call DF by pressing the <Enter> key. These patches required modification of the source code and I will include them on any update disks I distribute. Directory Freedom 4.50 Page 45 12.0 Appendix C: Site Licenses Site Licenses are available for DF. The rates below are for a "basic" site license. This includes registration for the specified number of copies and support through a single specified individual. I will, however, be happy to address specific requirements such as update subscriptions and support through multiple persons. $40 1 registration with media, typeset manual and update $18 2-5 registrations $16 6-9 $14 10-19 $12 20-29 $10 30-99 $8 100 and up Unlimited $2,500 The above schedule means that the first copy is $40, the 2nd through 5th copies are $18, and so forth. (The exception is the unlimited license which represents the total license cost.) So, for example, 6 copies would cost $128 ($40 + 4x$18 + 1x$16). The table below lists the site license cost for a variety of user counts. My terms read support through a single person, though I'm flexible within reason. (i.e. I won't hang up the phone on anyone who isn't the "official" contact, but I would start to get unhappy if I were to start getting dozens of calls with setup questions.) DF is currently licensed by a wide range of companies and government agencies. I'd like to add you to the list! Users Price Users Price 5 $112 40 $546 10 $190 50 $646 15 $260 60 $746 20 $328 70 $846 25 $388 80 $946 30 $446 90 $1,046 35 $496 100 $1,144 For more information, contact Gordon Haff at: Bit Masons Consulting 3205 Windsor Ridge Dr. Westboro, MA 01581 Tele: (508) 898-3321 Compuserve: 72561,2637 Directory Freedom 4.50 Page 46 13.0 Appendix D: Keystrokes for Data-entry LeftArrow cursor left RightArrow cursor right UpArrow cursor up DownArrow cursor down Ctrl-LeftArrow word left Ctrl-RightArrow word right Tab field right Shift-Tab field left Enter process field Ctrl-Enter process all fields Decimal (.) move to right side of decimal point Home beginning of field End end of field line / end of field Ctrl-Home beginning of first field Ctrl-End end of last field Ins toggle field insert mode Del delete character at cursor BackSpace delete character left Ctrl-BackSpace delete word left Ctrl-R restore field to original contents Ctrl-T delete word right Ctrl-U delete to end of field Ctrl-Y delete to end of last field Esc abort data entry Directory Freedom 4.50 Page 47 14.0 Appendix E: "Undocumented" Patches Most DF user-definable switch settings can be altered quickly and easily through the companion DFCONFIG program. This appendix documents the DF.COM patch locations for values stored in DF which I do not anticipate users having a need to alter (and as such are not settable through DFCONFIG). Each entry in this section describes allowable values for each patch location and what the values mean. It is assumed that any user wishing to do such patching has the appropriate software (DEBUG or a full-screen hex editor such as Norton Diskedit) and knows how to use it. As always, any changes should be made on a backup copy of DF.COM. Mouse_reset @ 002Dh 0: [default] Use software reset 1: Use hardware reset (used in earlier revs of DF) This patch is provided in case the change to a software reset creates any incompatibilities. Such incompatibilities are not expected (and using a hardware reset is slower). DOS_version_check @ 002Ch 0: [default] Check for DOS version. Abort if < 3.0. 1: Skip version check. If you wish to try running DF with DOS versions earlier than 3.0, you can try patching this location. No testing has been done, however, and it is likely that severe problems will be encountered in several areas of the program (possibly including initialization). The recommended solution to running with older versions of DOS (such as on older rev-locked hardware which cannot use standard Microsoft DOS) is to run an older version of DF which does not have code dependent on DOS 3-specific features. Registration for Directory Freedom 4.50 To register, please return this form with your registration check or money order (Purchase orders are also accepted) to: Gordon Haff Bit Masons Consulting 3205 Windsor Ridge Dr. Westborough, MA 01581 Phone: (508) 898-3321 Name ____________________________________ Address ________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________ Phone (_____)_____-______ Where did you get DF 4.50 from? BBS / Service Name ______________________ Number (_____)_____-______ _____ DF 4.50 Registration w/ diskette @ $ 25.00 ea $ _______ (Includes a license for one user, diskette w/ DF and all associated files, and product support.) _____ DF 4.50 Registration @ $ 20.00 ea $ _______ (Includes a license for one user and product support; No diskette or hard-copy documentation.) _____ DF 4.50 Registration w/ diskette/docs/upd @ $ 40.00 ea $ _______ (Includes Registration and product support plus: A diskette with DF and all associated files, typeset documentation, one free update diskette) _____ DF Update w/ diskette only @ $ 5.00 ea $ _______ (Includes diskette with latest DF and all associated files. REGISTERED USERS ONLY) _____ DF Update w/ diskette and docs @ $ 15.00 $ _______ (As above plus typeset documentation. REGISTERED USERS ONLY) (*) Non-North American shipping @ $ 5.00 $ _______ TOTAL Enclosed (in US Dollars please) $ _______ If a diskette is being ordered: 3.5" ____ 5.25" ____ (*) Non-North American orders should please include $5.00 extra to cover additional shipping and handling charges ONLY if a diskette and/or manual is being ordered. Please send all payments payable in U.S. Dollars. Canadian customers may use Canadian postal money orders in dollar denominations. Feel free to attach any other comments or instructions (e.g. program features you'd like to see, or don't send a copy of the program until the next major rev, etc.) Note that the update options are: 1) Only available to users who have registered a previous revision of Directory Freedom and 2) Only required of registered users if they wish a copy of the latest revision on disk and/or a printed manual. In other words, this is a Materials/S&H charge for sending out the latest revision. Registered users of DF who have obtained the latest rev from other sources (e.g. a BBS) are under no obligation to pay an upgrade fee for the use of that rev. (Of course, this revision will be mailed out automatically to those users for whom it represents their free update.) If you or your organization would like a Software Subscription Service so as to receive the latest copies direct from the author as soon as they become available, you may pay for multiple updates at the time of the initial order and, by so doing, will be automatically placed on the list for the appropriate number of future update mailings. If you have special requirements in this area, please call or write. We will try our best to accommodate your needs. NOW YOU CAN ORDER YOUR VERY OWN COPY OF DIRECTORY FREEDOM ON-LINE! ***************************************************************** Registered copies of the full Directory Freedom package (registration, media, typeset manual, and update) can be ordered online from Channel 1 Communications(R). To order: Call Channel 1(R) at (617) 354-8873 with your modem set to 8 data bits, 1 stop bit, no parity (8-N-1) at 2400 or 1200 baud and logon as a new user (if you are not already a member) Type S at the main Command prompt to get to the Signup menu. Then select the Shareware Registration signup. Order Directory Freedom (specifying 5.25" or 3.5" disks -- if you don't specify, you will be shipped 5.25"), charging it to a major credit card. The price is $40. Massachusetts Residents must add 5% sales tax. Note that your credit card statement will reflect a charge from Channel 1 and not from Bit Masons Consulting or Gordon Haff. Bit Masons Consulting will ship your order promptly. Please do not contact Channel 1 for technical support or other questions about Directory Freedom (such as site licensing or other registration options). *****************************************************************