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ActaeOn V2.00 - The Hard Disk manager Jon Clempner Sept 1991 ActaeOn V2.00 - The Hard Disk manager COPYRIGHT 1989,91 by Jon Clempner. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED ActaeOn is a Shareware program, it is NOT free software. You are granted a limited licence to use ActaeOn for evaluation purposes only. Use beyond this evaluation requires you to register this software. See section 9 for registration details. See the file SHAREW.TXT for a definition of the Shareware concept. The program and the associated documentation on disk may be freely distributed on the following conditions 1) No changes whatsoever are made to the program, its documentation or any associated files. 2) Anyone wishing to charge a fee for distributing ActaeOn must have the written consent of the author. No charge will be made for this consent but I need to know who is distributing it so that I can send out updates - Apply in writing to the address at the end of this document. This written authorisation is not required for Vendor Members of the Association of Shareware Professionals or Corporate members of the Association of Shareware Authors - UK. LIMITED WARRANTY For registered users, and users who have obtained ActaeOn directly from the publisher only, the author warrants that the distribution disk is an accurate reproduction of the software. In the event of any defect in the duplication process the author will replace the disk, as long as it is returned within 30 days of receipt. No other warranty, implicit or otherwise, including but not limited to merchantability or fitness for any particular purpose, is made. Under no circumstances will the author be liable for any loss or damage suffered by any user arising out of the supply, use, or operation of this software, whether such loss or damage be direct, consequential or otherwise. Contents ======== 1. Introduction 2. Getting Started 3. Reference 4. Using ActaeOn with a Mouse 5. User Defined Commands 6. System Requirements 7. Future Enhancements 8. Acknowledgements 9. Registration 10. Association of Shareware Professionals Copyright 1991, Jon Clempner Page 1 ActaeOn V2.00 User Guide 1. INTRODUCTION More and more people are using hard disks. While they have a number of advantages over floppy disks, their very size can cause problems. Simple tasks such as finding a particular file, or moving a group of files, take on a new dimension as the volume of data increases. It was this, coupled with the fact that MS-DOS is not the most friendly of operating systems that prompted the design of ActaeOn. ActaeOn is a hard disk management program. It is designed to make life easier, by having a menu interface to most of the DOS commands and being able to see your directory structure at a glance. In addition ActaeOn provides a number of facilities which are either not possible or are extremely difficult to do using native DOS. 2. GETTING STARTED Before you do anything else you should look at the READ.ME file on your distribution disk. This contains any last minute amendments to this document and a list of changes since the last release. You may read this file by using the DOS command TYPE A:READ.ME or some equivalent utility such as LIST.COM. If you have a printer you can print this file using the command COPY A:READ.ME PRN To install ActaeOn on your computer, all you have to do is copy all the files on your distribution disk onto your hard disk. To gain most benefit from ActaeOn it is recommended that you place it in a directory that is on your PATH (See your DOS manual for details). Having done this just type ACTAEON followed by the ENTER key. If you wish to look at a disk other than the current one, then just type the drive letter after ACTAEON. eg ACTAEON D: All the cursor control keys, including the <HOME>, <END>, <PGUP> and <PGDN> keys may be used to move about the directory listing. You may obtain context sensitive help at any time by pressing the F1 key. Copyright 1991, Jon Clempner Page 2 ActaeOn V2.00 User Guide 3. REFERENCE 3.1 Screen Layout The main screen display is divided into 6 main sections A. Current Path +----------------------------------+---------------+ | B. | C. Disk Info | | | | | +---------------+ | | D. | | Directory Window | | | | File Window | | | | | | | +----------------------------------+---------------+ | E. No of Tagged Files | F. Dir Info | +----------------------------------+---------------+ G. Commands A. Current Path This shows the full path name of the currently highlighted directory. B. Directory Window This shows a graphical display of the directory structure on the currently logged disk. When in directory mode a highlight bar shows the current directory. You may scroll up and down in this window by using the cursor control keys. C. Disk Info This shows the currently logged drive, its volume name, the total size of the disk and how much free space is left. D. File Window This shows a listing of all files in the current directory. When in file mode, a highlight bar shows the currently selected file. The display may be scrolled up and down by using the cursor control keys (or a mouse if you have one). E. No of Tagged Files This shows the number, and total size of all tagged files. F. Directory Info This shows the number of files and the total size of the currently selected directory. G. Commands These two lines show all the commands which are available. The commands shown will depend on whether you are in file mode or Directory mode. Copyright 1991, Jon Clempner Page 3 ActaeOn V2.00 User Guide 3.2 COMMANDS The commands are displayed on the last two lines of the screen. To select the command simply press the letter that is highlighted and in capitals. A number of the commands require further information (for example when requesting Find file you will need to enter the file to search for). In these cases a window will pop up for you to enter the data. You may press the <ESC> key to abandon these commands. Most commands, particularly those which may alter the contents of your disk, ask you for confirmation before the command is executed. The commands are split into 5 basic groups a) General Commands b) Directory mode commands c) File mode commands d) Control commands e) User defined commands The general commands are equally applicable to both Directory mode and File mode. Control commands become visible when you press down the <CTRL> key. User defined commands become visible when you press down the <ALT> key. Only the commands appropriate to the mode you are in are displayed on the command line. Copyright 1991, Jon Clempner Page 4 ActaeOn V2.00 User Guide A) GENERAL COMMANDS These commands may be used in both Directory mode and File mode. Where commands exist in both Directory mode and File mode, but which have slightly different meanings depending on the mode, they are described in the appropriate section. QUIT - This exits the program. This command may also be activated by pressing the <ESC> key. CONFIGURE This option enables you to configure ActaeOn to suit your requirements. This includes the ability to change the screens colors, the number of lines in the display (on EGA and VGA screens only), whether the bell is on or off, and the sort order of the files. It also allows you to assign your favourite utilities to ALT key combinations. On selecting this option a menu will pop up with the configuration options. You can select the option you are interested in by moving the highlight bar with the cursor keys, double clicking on the option with the mouse, or typing the first letter of the command and then pressing <ENTER>. If you wish to make your changes permanent, be sure to select the Save option before you exit out of ActaeOn. Pressing F1 at any stage, either while an option is highlighted or while your are within an option, will give you full context sensitive help. For details of how to integrate your own commands into ActaeOn see Chapter 5. This command may also be activated by pressing the <F10> key. FIND FILE This searches the entire disk for a specified file. A window pops up for you to enter the filename and extension which you wish to search for. You may use the '*' character as a wildcard. For example if you wish to search for a file which starts with the letters ACT and you don't care what the extension is then enter ACT* in the filename and * in the extension. GLOBAL This toggles the special form of Zoom mode. All the files on the currently logged disk are sorted in to alphabetical order, regardless of the directory that they are in. Copyright 1991, Jon Clempner Page 5 ActaeOn V2.00 User Guide HELP This command displays help information relevant to the mode you are in. For example when in Directory mode, only those commands that you may use are displayed. You may also obtain help by pressing the F1 function key. For help to be displayed the file ACTAEON.HLP must be in the same directory as the main program file. You can obtain a complete index to all the help text by pressing the F1 key again when in the help system. INFORMATION This command displays the following information : The amount of free memory Number of files on the disk Number of directories on the disk The version of ActaeOn and the release date The amount of memory reported by DOS The amount of EMS memory (if installed) The number of serial ports The number of logical drives The number of floppy drives The version of DOS Whether or not a maths co-processor is present The type of CPU in your machine The serial number of ActaeOn JUMP This command 'jumps' to the next tagged file. If no files are tagged then a prompt message will pop up. LOG DISK - This enables you to change the currently logged disk. A window will pop up with a list of all the drives installed on your machine. You can select the drive to log by simply entering the drive letter or positioning the highlight bar over the required drive with the cursor control keys and pressing ENTER. If you have logged this drive before and ActaeOn has it stored in memory then (Fast) is displayed next to the drive letter. Copyright 1991, Jon Clempner Page 6 ActaeOn V2.00 User Guide SHELL TO DOS - This temporarily exits ActaeOn allowing you to enter DOS commands at the familiar C> prompt. When you have finished, typing EXIT will return you to ActaeOn. Shell does not re-read the directory when you return to ActaeOn, nor does it release any memory. If the applications you intend to run require more memory then you should use Ctrl-Shell (see control commands). VOLUME LABEL - This command changes the disks volume label. A pop-up window will appear for you to enter the new volume label. WINDOW - This changes the currently active window. For example if you are in Directory mode (ie the highlight bar is in the directory window) then the program will switch to File mode and visa-versa. The TAB key performs the same effect. XPLORE This command searches the entire disk for a text string entered by yourself. You have the option of ignoring case while doing the search. For example if you set the Ignore Case field to 'Y' and your search string is 'Test' then Actaeon will match with TEST, Test, test etc. If you have the Ignore Case field set to 'N' then it will only match with Test. You can also ask ActaeOn to search all drives that are currently logged. The number of files searched is displayed as it reads them. You can abort the command at any time by pressing the escape key. ZOOM When entering this mode, the file display is expanded to fill the entire screen. The default display is in three columns, showing the file names and sizes. The display can be changed to be in four columns (showing just the file names), or two columns (showing file name, size and date) by pressing the appropriate number (2, 3 or 4). All of the file mode commands are available in Zoom Mode. Pressing the ENTER key toggles between Zoom Mode, Directory Mode and File Mode. Copyright 1991, Jon Clempner Page 7 ActaeOn V2.00 User Guide Copyright 1991, Jon Clempner Page 8 ActaeOn V2.00 User Guide B) DIRECTORY MODE COMMANDS The following commands are only applicable in directory mode. Directory mode is indicated by the highlight bar being visible in the directory window. DELETE DIRECTORY This command deletes the highlighted directory. A window pops up to confirm that you wish to proceed with the deletion. The directory must have no files or subordinate directories in it and must not be the root directory. NEW DIRECTORY This command creates a sub-directory in the currently highlighted directory. A window pops up for you to enter the name of the new directory. RENAME DIRECTORY This command allows you to change the name of the currently highlighted directory. You cannot change the name of the root directory. TAG FILES This tags all the files in the currently highlighted directory. See 'control commands' for commands which operate on all tagged files. UNTAG FILES This command untags all the files in the currently highlighted directory. Copyright 1991, Jon Clempner Page 9 ActaeOn V2.00 User Guide C) FILE MODE COMMANDS The following commands are only applicable in File mode. File mode is indicated by the highlight bar being visible in the file window. ATTRIBUTES This command displays the file attributes of the currently highlighted file and the date and time of the last amendment. The file attributes may be amended by pressing the letter corresponding to the attribute you wish to change. r - Read Only a - Archive s - System File h - Hidden File Press Enter to make the amendments and return to the file mode display. BROWSE FILE This command allows you do look at the highlighted file. Unlike the editor, there is no restriction on the size of the file that can be viewed. COPY FILE This copies the currently highlighted file. The system will display a pop up window for you to enter the drive to which the file is to be copied to. If the drive is the currently logged drive then you should just position the highlight bar on to the directory which you wish to copy to. If the drive is not the currently logged drive you should enter the full path name of the destination directory. If the file you are copying already exists in the destination directory you will be asked whether you wish to overwrite it. DELETE This command deletes the currently highlighted file. A window will pop up asking you for confirmation before the deletion is actioned. Copyright 1991, Jon Clempner Page 10 ActaeOn V2.00 User Guide EDIT FILE This command edits the currently highlighted file. The editor uses Wordstar type commands which are as follows : Exit Editor Ctrl-K D or ESC Top of Block Ctrl-Q B Bottom of Block Ctrl-Q K Jump to marker 0..3 Ctrl-Q 0 .. Ctrl-Q 3 Set marker 0..3 Ctrl-K 0 .. Ctrl-K 3 New Line Ctrl-M Insert Line Ctrl-N Delete word Ctrl-T Delete to end of line Ctrl-Q Y Delete line Ctrl-Y Find Ctrl-Q F Find and replace Ctrl-Q A Find next Ctrl-L Begin Block Ctrl-K B End Block Ctrl-K K Copy Block Ctrl-K C Move Block Ctrl-K V Delete Block Ctrl-K Y Print Block Ctrl-K P Toggle Word wrap Ctrl-O W Set right margin at cursor Ctrl-O R Commands such as Read Block, Find etc can be cancelled by typing Ctrl-U When doing a 'Find' operation Actaeon will prompt for the find options. These are as follows: B Search backwards L Limit search to currently marked block U Ignore case W Search for whole words only The editor will only edit files up to 64Kb and requires that amount of free memory. You may display the above list of commands while in the editor by pressing the F1 function key. MOVE FILES - This moves the currently highlighted file. The system will display a pop up window for you to enter the drive to which the file is to be moved to. If the drive is the currently logged drive then you should just position the highlight bar on to the directory which you wish to move to. If the drive is not the currently logged drive you should enter the full path name of the destination directory. This command is the equivalent of copying the file and then deleting the original. Copyright 1991, Jon Clempner Page 11 ActaeOn V2.00 User Guide PERFORM FILE You may run any executable file by simply highlighting the appropriate file and pressing P. You will then be asked to enter any parameters to be passed to the program. You may only Perform files that have an extension of .EXE, .COM or .BAT RENAME FILE This command renames the currently highlighted file. A window will pop up asking you for the new name of the file. The new name must not contain any wildcard (* or ?) characters TAG FILE This command will tag the currently highlighted file. See Control Commands for commands which operate on all tagged files. UNTAG FILE This command untags the currently highlighted file. Copyright 1991, Jon Clempner Page 12 ActaeOn V2.00 User Guide D) CONTROL COMMANDS Control commands are accessed by holding down the <CTRL> key. This will show you which commands are available. COPY This command copies all tagged files. The system will display a pop up window for you to enter the drive to which the files are to be copied to. If the drive is the currently logged drive then you should just position the highlight bar on to the directory which you wish to copy to. If the drive is not the currently logged drive you should enter the full path name of the destination directory. If the file currently being copied already exists in the destination directory you will be asked whether you wish to overwrite it. You may type one of the following letters: Y - Overwrite the current file and continue. N - Do not overwrite the current file. A - Overwrite all files that already exist in the destination directory. If you wish to stop the copying process, then press the ESC key. DELETE This command deletes all the tagged files. A window will pop up asking you for confirmation and then ActaeOn will ask you whether you wish to confirm each deletion individually. It you say No then all the tagged files will be deleted without further prompting. If you say Yes, then ActaeOn will ask for confirmation before deleting each file. FIND (AGAIN) This command repeats the last search criteria and will find the next file matching the name and extension entered. MOVE This command moves all tagged files. The system will display a pop up window for you to enter the drive to which the files are to be copied to. If the drive is the currently logged drive then you should just position the highlight bar on to the directory which you wish to copy to. If the drive is not the currently logged drive you should enter the full path name of the destination directory. This command is equivalent to copying all tagged files and then deleting the originals. Copyright 1991, Jon Clempner Page 13 ActaeOn V2.00 User Guide SHELL TO DOS - This temporarily exits ActaeOn allowing you to enter DOS commands at the familiar C> prompt. When you have finished, typing EXIT will return you to ActaeOn. Ctrl-Shell re-reads the directory when you return to ActaeOn, and it releases as much memory as possible. If the applications you intend to run require more memory then you should use the normal Shell (see General commands). TAG This command allows you to tag files by criteria such as name, date, size or attribute. For example if you wish to tag all files ending with a BAK extension, enter CTRL-T, select the Name option from the menu and then enter * for the filename and BAK for the extension. Tag by Date allows you to tag all files older or newer than a specified date. Tag by Size allows you to tag all files larger, or smaller than a specified size. Tag by attribute allows you to tag all files with a specified attribute. UNTAG This command untags either all files on the disk (if in Directory Mode) or all files in the current directory. Copyright 1991, Jon Clempner Page 14 ActaeOn V2.00 User Guide 4. Using ActaeOn with a Mouse Although a mouse is not required to use ActaeOn it can make its use considerably easier. You may select a directory or file by simply positioning the mouse cursor over the object in question and clicking on it using the left mouse button, regardless of whether you are in directory mode or file mode. You can scroll the displays by dragging the scroll bar on the right of either window. To do this position the mouse cursor on the scroll bar and hold down the left mouse button. Move the mouse in the required direction and then release the button. Files may be tagged by positioning the mouse cursor on the file and pressing both mouse buttons together (or the centre button if you have a three button mouse) You may also select commands by clicking on them. If you wish to access Control commands then first click on CTRL (top right hand corner of the screen) and then click on the appropriate command. You may select User Defined commands my first clicking on ALT in the top right hand corner of the screen and then clicking on the appropriate command. In general the Left mouse button is treated as the Enter key and the right button is treated as the Escape key. Copyright 1991, Jon Clempner Page 15 ActaeOn V2.00 User Guide 5. User Defined commands In ActaeOn you can assign you own commands to ALT key combinations. These are displayed, like other internal commands when you press down the ALT key. To define your own commands, go to the Configuration menu and select the Add command option. When you select this option a window will pop up which will allow you to enter details about the command. This includes the title of the command to be displayed in the <ALT> menu, the command itself and any parameters to the command. The parameter definition can include special characters to substitute the currently highlighted file, directory, cause a window to pop up for the user to enter details etc. Context sensitive help on each field is available. User defined commands are stored in a Command Definition File called ACTAEON.CDF An explanation of each field follows: COMMAND TITLE This is the name shown when the <ALT> key is pressed down. It must be 10 characters or less and the first character (which is used to select the command) must be unique. When you enter a command title for which has already been used, the details are filled in the remaining fields. COMMAND This is the file name, including extension, of the command. You should generally enter the full pathname of the command, but if you don't then the command must either be in the current DOS directory, the directory from which ActaeOn was loaded or on the DOS PATH. PARAMETERS This field should contain the parameters which are to be passed to the command. In addition to normal text you may enter Special character sequences which will cause, for example the currently highlighted field, directory etc to be substituted. The following character sequences may be used in the parameter definition %F This is replaced by the currently highlighted file including directory Copyright 1991, Jon Clempner Page 16 ActaeOn V2.00 User Guide %D This is replaced by the currently highlighted directory. %Pnn"text" This causes the user to be prompted for a field of length nn with "text" as the window title. %L This is replaced by the currently logged drive letter and colon %E This is substituted with the currently highlighted file's extension %N This is substituted with the currently highlighted file's name (no directory). HOME DIRECTORY ActaeOn will change the current DOS directory to the directory entered here before running the specified command. On return to ActaeOn, the DOS directory will be restored to that value it was when ActaeOn was first started. PAUSE This entry tells ActaeOn whether to wait for the user to press a key before redisplaying the ActaeOn screen when the user's command has finished. RE-READ This entry tells ActaeOn whether to re-read the disk after finishing the user's command. It the entry is Y, then more memory is freed up for the user's command and the directory display is guaranteed to reflect any changes made to the directory structure while executing the command. If your command does not require the memory and does not alter the disk (such as LIST.COM) then this should be set to N as re-entry to ActaeOn is much faster. You may also delete user defined commands. Simply select the Delete Command option from the configuration menu and select Delete Command. A menu will pop up listing all the currently defined commands, select the one you wish to delete and press ENTER. Copyright 1991, Jon Clempner Page 17 ActaeOn V2.00 User Guide 6. System Requirements The program has been designed to run on IBM PC's and 100% compatibles. MS-DOS V3.01 or later 512Kb of free memory A Hard Disk is recommended In addition ActaeOn will take advantage of the following hardware if it is available Microsoft Compatible mouse EGA or VGA Graphics card EMS memory (for overlays) There must be no more than 511 directories and 7200 files on any given disk. Copyright 1991, Jon Clempner Page 18 ActaeOn V2.00 User Guide 7. Future Enhancements ActaeOn is under constant development. Although no commitment can be made as to which features will appear in which future release, the following facilities are being actively considered for future versions of ActaeOn. Format Disk (Floppies only) Undelete File If you have any suggestions for enhancements I would be glad to hear them. A release history may be found in the READ.ME file Copyright 1991, Jon Clempner Page 19 ActaeOn V2.00 User Guide 8. Acknowledgements IBM is a trademark of International Business Machines MS-DOS is a trademark of MicroSoft Inc. Turbo Pascal is a trademark of Borland International Inc. Wordstar is a trademark of Micropro International Corporation. All other trademarks are acknowledged The code to amend Volume Labels was written by Andy Dingley My thanks to the following who helped beta test ActaeOn Ian Bevan Mark Chamberlain Andy Dingley James S Hooton Graham Macleod Mel Pullen Copyright 1991, Jon Clempner Page 20 ActaeOn V2.00 User Guide 9. Registration The registration cost is $39.95 (+$4 S/H). Checks, money orders or Visa/Master Card details should be sent to Shareable Software International PO Box 59102 Schaumburg IL 60159 USA Credit Card orders accepted on : Phone : 708-397-1221 Fax : 708-397-0381 Or call the Runway BBS, J)oin Conference 77, Shareable Software International and fill out the appropriate script for on-line registration. The numbers for Runway are: 2400 baud : 215-623-6203 9600 HST : 215-623-4897 9600 V.32 : 215-623-6845 The cost includes Postage and Packing, a printed manual, a copy of the current release of the software, and an evaluation version of FlexiBak Plus. Technical support is also provided by all of the above or on CompuServe (directly to the author) on 100013,57 We have a 90 day, no hassle, money back guarantee for registered users. If after registration you are unhappy with ActaeOn in any way, just return the manual and disk and we will refund your registration fee. Site Licence agreements, and multiple copy discounts are available; contact the publisher for more details. Please let us know the current version and Serial number when ordering. Both of these may be found in the Information display. Please specify whether you want 5 1/4 inch 360Kb disks or 3 1/2 inch 720Kb disks. An order form (ORDER.FRM) which will print on any printer is provided for your convenience. Simply type COPY ORDER.FRM PRN Copyright 1991, Jon Clempner Page 21 ActaeOn V2.00 User Guide 10. Association of Shareware Professionals _______ ____|__ | (tm) --| | |------------------- | ____|__ | Association of | | |_| Shareware |__| o | Professionals -----| | |--------------------- |___|___| MEMBER Jon Clempner is 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 49442, USA or send a Compuserve message via easyplex to ASP Ombudsman 70007,3536 Copyright 1991, Jon Clempner Page 22