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Text File | 1991-05-28 | 160.3 KB | 3,814 lines

ELFTREE (TM) (C) Copyright 1988-1991 By Alan J. Avery This program was written by: Alan J. Avery 1408 Noble Avenue Springfield, Illinois 62704 (217)-698-8600 (8 a.m. to 9 p.m. CDT please!) ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── Register For Support, Updates To get support for this product and notices of updates, you must register. See the user manual for the registration form. ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── DISCLAIMER The Author specifically disclaims all other warranties, expressed or implied, including but not limited to, implied warranties of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose with respect to defects in the diskette and documenta- tion, and the program license granted herein. In particular, and without limiting operation of the program license with respect to any particular application, use, or purpose, in no event shall the Author be liable for any loss of profit or any other commercial damage, including but not limited to special, incidental, consequential or other damages. Your use of this program constitutes acceptance of these terms. ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── Introduction ELFTREE is designed to simplify your goal of getting the most out of your computer. The heart of the program is a marvelously integrated file and directory manager. With it, you can install software in record time, move files from one spot to another (even across a network!) with ease, and locate files fast on even the largest hard disk, regardless of whether you use DOS 2.X, 3.X or 4.X, or 4DOS. You won't believe how easy it is to run a program from within ELFTREE, or to customize the colors displayed. You will see in all of ELFTREE's features that great care was taken to marry great power with extreme convenience. The result is a delightful product with the power to make you much more effective. ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── What Makes ELFTREE Unique? 1. Convenience - you can customize ELFTREE from within it, so you don't need to run an installation program. You can get ELFTREE to run a program for you by simply pointing to it and tapping [ENTER]. You can create billions of menus that can be nested any way you want, with just about any command you need (even multiple commands on a line), and with the ability to preload the keyboard buffer before carrying out the command. You can attach short, descriptive notes to files (4DOS users can use the notes they've already created - see Customize for more info). 2. EGA/VGA modes - you can run ELFTREE in either 43 line mode or or 25 line mode if you have an EGA, and you can toggle the setting from within ELFTREE while you are looking at the directory tree, the file information screen, or while you are viewing a file. This lets you see double the information at a time! (The mode is reset, if needed, when you exit.) If you have a VGA, you get a 28 and a 50 line mode. 3. Flexible Capacity - ELFTREE can manage 24 to 4000 directories per disk, and from 50 to 16,384 files per directory! Also, you can work with files from up to 999 directories and 26 disks as if they were in one location! This gives you plenty of power to manage your system. 4. Consistency - When you rename a directory, ELFTREE updates your directory tree, keeping your directories sorted. If you remove the current directory, you are moved to the parent directory. If you attempt to enter a directory that no longer exists, ELFTREE prunes the tree for you. 5. Trim - ELFTREE saves the directory tree on your disk, if it can. This helps ELFTREE start faster for your use. Plus, when you run a program from within ELFTREE, only 3K of RAM will be reserved, leaving you with the room to run your memory-hungry programs. If even 3K is too much, or you want to install a TSR, you can tell ELFTREE to unload itself completely before running a program. 6. Viewing Options - When viewing a file, you can print portions of it, save portions to another file, or convert portions to upper, lower or proper case. You can adjust the amount by which tabs are expanded (or turn it off completely) and the manner in which text is displayed. This helps you to align the text on your screen so that it looks as it was intended. For example, Assembler files usually use a setting of 8, but Pascal programs use a setting of 3. You can also view the file in hex mode, with CR/LF suppressed, with only printable characters shown, or with the high bit on characters turned off. ELFTREE can scroll the file forward or backward for you at differing speeds. If you have an EGA or VGA, you can adjust the number of lines on the screen. (See #2. above) You can search for text in the file, either forward (top-to- bottom) or backward (bottom-to-top), and either with case sensitivity on or off. 7. Powerful Editing - ELFTREE has an editor that can edit files as large as available memory. Furthermore, the editor is packed with features you need: Column block operations, Normal block operations, 11 stored keyboard macros, Fast operation, etc. 8. Intuitive and Fast - ELFTREE responds instantly to commands, most of which require tapping only one key that suggests the operation to be performed (for example, [C] for Copy). When combined with high-speed routines, ELFTREE becomes a delight to use because it feels so "natural". ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── ELFTREE FEATURES ELFTREE can assist you in many ways. Here is a list of them, and how you select them: ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── Selectable From The Menu Bar 1. Tagging - To work on a group of files, you `tag' them. To tag the highlighted file, just tap [SPACEBAR] and a `' will appear to the left of the name. To clear the tag, tap [SPACEBAR] again. More tagging options can be found under the Tag command. (There is no need to tag an individual file to work with it.) 2. Attributes - You can change file and directory attributes quickly. For example, you will want to make some of your important files read-only, so that they can't be erased `accidentally'. Also, you will probably want to hide some of your personal files on your office computer so that a casual snoop won't know they're around. (If you have DOS 3.0 or later, you can run programs even though they are hidden!) 3. Copying - You can quickly copy files to another directory or disk, or a selection of directories to another disk, or duplicate the highlighted file. 4. Directory - ELFTREE will show you your directory as a tree, with the directories in alphabetical order. You can move from one directory to another with the cursor keys, create a new directory ([N]), delete empty subdirectories ([F7]), change to a different disk ([F6] or [L]), rescan the current disk ([S]), find a directory ([F]), tag directories ([SPACEBAR] or [T]), or hide ([H]), copy ([C]), move ([H]) or graft ([G]) directories. 5. Edit - You can call up an editor (or word processor) to work on one or more files by selecting them and tapping [E]. 6. Find - Lets you manage files across 999 directories and 26 disks, even on networked drives! 7. Moving - You can quickly move files to another directory or disk, or a selection of directories to another disk. 8. Note - Attach, edit, erase or find notes about files. If you use 4DOS, ELFTREE can use its note files directly. 9. Print - Print files, or a directory listing. 10. Rename - You can rename a file or directory by entering a new name for it when prompted. 11. Space - You can check space utilization on a disk. This will show how much space the disk can hold, how much is used up (also as a percent), how much is free, how much disk space tagged files use (or would use), and how much free RAM your system has. 12. View - You can browse the contents of the highlighted file through several filters. Any file you have on your disk, regardless of size, can be viewed. You can adjust expansion of tabs, print or save portions of the file, or convert portions to upper, lower or proper case, or search for text while viewing the file. ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── Selectable By Function Keys (File Display) F1: Help - Brings up the help system for ELFTREE. F2: Sort - Lets you order the file information in many ways. Choose from Name, Extension, Date/Time, Size, Attribute, Disk Order, or Tag, in Ascending or Descending order. [X] or F3: DOS - Enter a DOS command, run a program, select a command from a user-defined menu, or exit to DOS temporarily. ELFTREE remembers your last 15 unique commands. When you run a program, ELFTREE reserves only 3K for its own use, but you can trim this to 0K if needed. F4: Customize - Lets you configure ELFTREE to your needs. Many choices are available. Go try it out! Ctrl-F4: Toggles between Immediate and Delay operation modes. F5: Rearrange - Lets you move the highlighted item up or down in the display. This can be handy when you want to print files in a particular order, but can't quite get that order by sorting alone. L or F6: Change Disk - Changes to another disk, or rereads the current directory if the same disk is selected. [DEL] or F7: Erase - Deletes files, or removes a directory. The file can be recovered if you have a utility that does this. F8: Last Directory - returns you to the directory you were in before you entered this one. Ctrl-F8: Compare Directories - tags files in current directory that are dissimilar to files in previous directory; retags those that are not in the previous directory. F9: Save - Saves the current ELFTREE system settings. F10: Change File Spec - Lets you tell ELFTREE what files to show. (You can reverse the spec, if desired) ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── Directory Display Functions ESC: Returns you to the File Display. F1: Brings up Help. F6: Change Disk - Selects another disk. F7: Remove Directory - Deletes an empty directory and all empty subdirectories of it. In Professional mode, you can delete non-empty directories. F9: Save - Saves the current directory tree, temporarily overriding any /K=0 command-line switch. F10: Lets you quickly change what files you wish to be used when you select Move, Copy, Graft or [ENTER]. C: Copy - copy all tagged directories to another disk. E: Expose - Shows all subdirectories of the one highlighted. W,F: Find - locates a directory with the given name. G: Graft - Attach the tagged directories to another one, even if it's on another disk. Great for reorganizing your directories, or moving directories between nodes on a network. H: Hide - hides all tagged directories from view. M: Move - move all tagged directories to another disk. N: New Directory - lets you create a subdirectory of the one currently highlighted. P: Print Tree - prints the directory tree. R: Rename - rename the currently highlighted directory. S: Scan - rebuilds directory tree for the current disk. T: Tag Subdirectories - tag the highlighted directory and all subdirectories of it. U: Untag Subdirectories - untag the highlighted directory and all subdirectories of it. [Ctrl-Z]: Toggles whether ELFTREE unloads itself completely before running a program for you. ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── Unusually Activated Features When you highlight a file with an extension of EXE, COM or BAT in the file information window and tap [F3], ELFTREE will `preload' the name of that file in the command line that appears. To run the program, you simply tap [ENTER]. Alternatively, if you set ELFTREE for Mode: Immediate instead of Mode: Delay, you can skip the [F3] entirely, and just tap [ENTER] to run the program. You can train ELFTREE to be sensitive in another way. Say you want to load your word processor when the highlighted file has an extension of DOC, or your spreadsheet when the extension is WK1. When you've prepared ELFTREE appropriately, you just tap [ENTER] and the program is launched with that file loaded for you. Similarly, if you have programs that are designed to view certain types of files, you can train ELFTREE to load the viewer you want by simply tapping [V] once you've highlighted the file. Finally, if you have an EGA or VGA (ELFTREE will detect it), you can vary the number of lines displayed on the screen by tapping [Ctrl-V] (think of the V as in VIDEO). ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── Enjoy! Active Keys In ELFTREE The choice of keys used in ELFTREE is designed with your convenience in mind and, with practice, will quickly become familiar to you. Here is a list of them, and a description of what each one is programmed to do for you: Part I - The Elvish Touch Part II - File Information Screen Only Part III - Directory Information Screen Only Part IV - Editing Keys ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── Part I - The Elvish Touch ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── Elvish Consulting is proud to introduce The Elvish Touch, which lets you use any feature of ELFTREE without needing more than one finger! (Incidentally, this will NOT interfere with any keyboard handlers you may be using.) For example, suppose you want to locate a file that starts with `E'. In ELFTREE, the keystroke [Alt-E] performs this action, and normally requires you to hold down the [Alt] key and then tap the [E] key. If you use The Elvish Touch, you can also select this by tapping [Alt], and then tapping [E]. Such convenience! ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── Activating The Elvish Touch ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀ Here's how to start up ELFTREE with The Elvish Touch enabled: ET /1 The `/1' indicates that you want the feature activated. To make ELFTREE remember this, tap [F9] to SAVE the system settings. To disable The Elvish Touch, use: ET /2 ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── ALT and CTRL LOCK ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀ ELFTREE offers a way to `lock' the [Alt] and [Ctrl] keys. For example, to lock the [Alt] key, you tap it twice, and an `A' will appear in the lower right corner of your screen, signifying that [Alt] is in a locked state. While [Alt] is locked, any key that can be affected by [Alt] is. Thus, [E] becomes [Alt-E], [F1] becomes [Alt-F1], etc. To `unlock' [Alt], tap [Alt] or [Ctrl] once, and the `A' will disappear. Also, if [Alt] is locked, you can lock [Ctrl] by just tapping it twice. When [Ctrl] is locked, a `C' will appear in the lower right corner of your screen, and any keys that can be modified are, so [E] becomes [Ctrl-E], etc. It is not possible to lock both [Alt] and [Ctrl] at the same time. This `locking' feature is always available, regardless of whether you have `The Elvish Touch' enabled. ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── Part II - File Information Screen Only ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── CURSOR KEYS [->](cursor right): Highlights the choice to the left on the moving-bar menu on the top of the screen, if not in a multicolumn format. [<-](cursor left): Highlights the choice to the right on the moving-bar menu on the top of the screen, if not in a multicolumn format. [](cursor up): Highlights the previous item in the file information area. [](cursor down): Highlights the next item in the file information area. ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── TAB, HOME, END, PGUP, PGDN, Ctrl-PGUP, Ctrl-PGDN [TAB] - Advance to the next file display format setting. The possible selections show 1, 2, or 5 files per row or one file-note pair per row. [Shift-TAB] - Back to the previous file display format setting. The possible selections show 1, 2, or 5 files per row or one file-note pair per row. [HOME] - Highlights the first item in the file information area, if in 1-column mode. In multi-column mode, its function depends on how many times you tap it without using any any other key. Tap it once, and the highlight moves to the top of the current column. Tap it again, and the highlight moves to the top of the first column. Tap it a third time (or more) and the highlight moves to the first item in the file information area. [END] - Highlights the last item in the file information area, if in 1-column mode. In multi-column mode, its function depends on how many times you tap it without using any any other key. Tap it once, and the highlight moves to the bottom of the current column. Tap it again, and the highlight moves to the bottom of the last column. Tap it a third time (or more) and the highlight moves to the last item in the file information area. [Ctrl-PGDN] - Moves the highlight to the last item. [Ctrl-PGUP] - Moves the highlight to the first item. [PGDN] - Moves the highlight to the last item on the screen, then then on to the next screen, if any. [PGUP] - Moves the highlight to the first item on the screen, then then back to the previous screen, if any. ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── MISCELLANEOUS KEYS [SPACEBAR] - Tags/untags the current file, highlights the next. [ENTER] - Selects the item highlighted on the moving-bar menu bar menu on the top of the screen, if in Delay mode. In Immediate mode, this executes the highlighted program (or program associated with it), if possible, enters the directory (if a directory), or selects the menu command, if none of these apply. [Ctrl-ENTER] - Selects the highlighted item on the moving-bar menu. [ESC] - Cancels current operation; exits program if no operations pending. [Plus] or [+] - Moves highlight forward to the next directory. [Minus] or [-] - Moves highlight backward to the previous directory. [Greater] or [>] - Moves highlight forward to the next tagged file. [Less] or [<] - Moves highlight backward to the previous tagged file. [%] - Toggles whether the percentage of slack space for the displayed files should be shown. See the Help section on Sorting files for a description of slack space. [,] - Tap this twice to cycle among the various characters used to separate thousands in large numbers. [;] - Tap this twice to change the way time is displayed. The selections are HH:MM am (or pm), HH:MM:SS (with HH in 24-hour format), and HH:MM:SSa (or p) for 12-hour format with seconds. ["] - Duplicates the highlighted file. [&] - Combines two or more tagged files into one. [*] - Marks a block of files to be tagged. To use it, you move to the first file in the block, tap [*], then move to the last file in the block and tap [*] again. All of the files between the first and last ones will then be tagged for you. [\] - If working with files from more than 1 directory, this jumps to the directory of the highlighted file (and keeps it highlighted). If working with files in just 1 directory, this rereads the current directory, and keeps the same file highlighted. ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── A through Z [A]-[Z] - If the letter you tap matches the first character of a menu item, the corresponding command is chosen. [B] - Toggles file column borders. If on, this turns them off. If off, this turns them on, if there's a box around the line of statistics near the bottom of the screen. [L] - Change to the current directory on another disk, or reread the current directory (same as [F6]). [O] - Takes you immediately to DOS. [U] - Pops up a menu file called MENU.ETU. [Y] - Tap this TWICE to change the date format. The selections available are MM/DD/YY, YY/MM/DD, DD/MM/YY, Mon-DD-YY, YY-Mon-DD and DD-Mon-YY. ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── ALT KEYS [Alt-Key] - Search for an item whose first letter matches `Key' For example, [Alt-A] looks for the next item that starts with `A'. ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── FUNCTION KEYS [F1] - Activates the Help system. [F2] - Use this to sort the file area information. (See [F5] below for further rearranging.) [X] or [F3] - Allows you to enter a DOS command, run a program from inside ELFTREE, or go to DOS from ELFTREE (use EXIT to return). [Ctrl-F4] - Toggles Immediate/Delay mode. [F4] - Brings up menu of more items you can customize, such as the screen colors, the name of the editor (or word processor) you want to use, the types of items you want ELFTREE to show you when it scans a directory for you, or the various ELFTREE operation modes. [F5] - Use this to rearrange the order of the file information area to something not achievable via the Sort facility alone. [L] or [F6] - Change to the current directory on another disk, or reread the current directory. [Ctrl-F6] - Displays a table of ASCII characters. [DEL], [F7] - Erase a file or, if the highlighted item is a directory, or [Ctrl-K] remove it and all subdirectories (assuming they're empty). [F8] - Returns you to the last directory you looked at. [Ctrl-F8] - Tags files in the current directory that are dissimilar to files in the previous directory you looked at, retags those that are not in the other directory. [F9] - Save the current ELFTREE configuration. [F10] - Lets you quickly change what files you wish to be seen. [Ctrl-F10] - Immediately searches for all files on all non-floppy drives or [F11] that match the current file specification as chosen by [F10]. ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── CTRL KEYS [Ctrl ->] - If the item highlighted is a directory, and the last key tapped was not [Ctrl <-], this puts you into that directory. Otherwise, it moves you forward to the next directory. [Ctrl <-] - Moves you to the Parent directory, or up to the most previous directory if you are in the root directory. [Ctrl-A] - Steps through 7 predefined color schemes. [Ctrl-Z] - Toggles whether ELFTREE unloads itself completely before running a program for you. [Ctrl-T] - Lets you change the date/time stamp for files. [Ctrl-P] - Returns you to the parent directory of the one you are in (if it has one). [Ctrl-V] - For EGA adapters, this toggles between 25 and 43 line modes. For VGA adapters, this cycles among 25, 28 and 50 line modes. [Ctrl-S] - Same as [<-] (cursor left) [Ctrl-D] - Same as [->] (cursor right) [Ctrl-E] - Same as [] (cursor up) [Ctrl-X] - Same as [] (cursor down) [Ctrl-R] - Same as [PgUp] [Ctrl-C] - Same as [PgDn] [Ctrl-F] - Same as [HOME] [Ctrl-J] - Same as [END] ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── Part III - Directory Information Screen Only ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── CURSOR KEYS [->] - Highlights the next directory below the current one in (cursor right) the column to the right. If none exist, then highlights the next one in the same column as the current one. [<-] - Highlights the next directory above the current one in (cursor left) the column to the left of the current column. [] - Highlights the directory that precedes the current one (cursor up) that is also in this column. If none exist, go one column to the left. [] - Highlights the directory that follows the current one that (cursor down) is also in this column. If none exist, go one column to the left. [Ctrl ->] - Highlights the next item on the moving-bar menu. [Ctrl <-] - Highlights the previous item on the moving-bar menu. ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── HOME, END, PGUP, PGDN [HOME] - Highlights the first (root) directory. [END] - Highlights the last directory shown. [PGDN] - Moves the highlight to the bottom of the directory screen, then on to the next screen. [PGUP] - Moves the highlight to the top of the directory screen, then back to the previous screen. ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── MISCELLANEOUS KEYS [Ctrl-ENTER] - Selects the highlighted item on the moving-bar menu. [ENTER] - Selects the directory for display of files, then shows the items in this directory. If copying/moving files, this just selects the destination directory. [ESC] - Leaves the directory screen; displays files. [#] - Displays directory statistics (# of dirs, # hidden, # tagged, #of files in them, total size of files). [SPACEBAR] - Tags/Untags the highlighted directory, updating the combined size of the files affected. [Plus] or [+] - Highlights the next directory in the tree. When you reach the end, it starts over at the first directory. [Minus] or [-] - Highlights the previous directory in the tree. When you reach the beginning, it starts over at the last directory on the tree. ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── A through Z [C] - Copy the tagged directories to another disk. [E] - Exposes hidden subdirectories of the highlighted directory. [W] or [F] - Find a directory by name. (DOS wildcards can be used.) [G] - Graft the tagged directories onto another directory. [H] - Hides tagged directories from view. [M] - Move the tagged directories to another disk. [N] - Make a new subdirectory of the one currently highlighted. [P] - Print the current directory tree. [R] - Rename the currently highlighted directory. [S] - Rebuilds the directory tree for the current disk. [T] - Tag the highlighted directory and all subdirectories of it. [U] - Untag the highlighted directory and all subdirectories of it. ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── ALT KEYS [Alt-Key] - Search for a directory whose first letter matches `Key' For example, [Alt-A] looks for the next one that starts with `A'. ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── FUNCTION KEYS [F1] - Brings up help on using Directories. [F2] - Displays current ELFTREE settings set via command switches. [F4] - Lets you customize the style of tree you want to use. [F5] - Rescans the subtree from the currently highlighted directory. [L] or [F6] - Change to the current directory on another drive. [DEL], [F7] - Remove all empty subdirectories as well as the highlighted one. or [Ctrl-K] If you remove the current directory, you are put into the parent of it. [F8] - Toggles whether the [ENTER], [->] and [<-] keys affect the moving-bar menu selections. [F9] - Saves the current directory tree, temporarily overriding the /K=0 command-line switch. [F10] - Lets you quickly change what files you wish to be used when you select move, copy, graft or [ENTER]. ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── CTRL KEYS [.] or [Ctrl-P] - Go left to the parent directory of the one highlighted. [Ctrl-V] - For EGA compatible adapters, this toggles between 25 and 43 line modes. For VGA, this cycles among 25, 28 and 50 50 line modes. [Ctrl-S] - Same as [<-] (cursor left) [Ctrl-D] - Same as [->] (cursor right) [Ctrl-E] - Same as [] (cursor up) [Ctrl-X] - Same as [] (cursor down) [Ctrl-R] - Same as [PgUp] [Ctrl-C] - Same as [PgDn] [Ctrl-F] - Same as [HOME] [Ctrl-J] - Same as [END] ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── Part IV - Editing Keys (for editing popups only) ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── CURSOR KEYS [->] Moves the cursor one column to the right. [<-] Moves the cursor one column to the left. [HOME] Moves the cursor to the start of the field. [END] Moves the cursor to the end of the field. [PGDN,PGDN,,] Ends editing (unless in DOS window). ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── OTHER USEFUL KEYS [INS] Toggles between Insert and Overtype mode. [DEL] Deletes the character at the cursor. [BACKSPACE] Deletes the character to the left of the cursor. [Ctrl-Backspace] Deletes all characters immediately. [Ctrl-END] Deletes all characters from the cursor on. █▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀█ █ Sorting Files █ █▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄█ ELFTREE provides numerous ways to order the items in the file information area of your screen. This lets you look at these items in many different ways and quickly reorganize them. To prepare a sort, tap the [F2] key. A menu will appear, listing the types of sorting you can select (Name, Extension, etc.). These options are explained below. The primary sort order is highlighted, with either a '+' to the left of it (for Ascending order) or a '-' to the left (for Descending order). For example, ELFTREE's default primary sort is ascending order by name, so Name is highlighted, with a '+' to the left of it. To sort the items by Size in descending order, tap [-] to select descending order, then tap [S] to select the Size option. If two or more items are 'tied' after being compared with your primary sort option, you may wish to specify a secondary sort option to tell ELFTREE how to break the tie. To do this, tap [F2] again (immediately after selecting the primary sort), and select the option to use for breaking ties from the menu. Repeat this if you wish to specify a third or fourth level sort option to break ties. (The level currently being set is indicated on the last line of the menu options window.) Here is a description of each of the sorting options you can select from the menu: ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── BY NAME ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀ When you sort these items by name, the displayed files will be listed in name-first order. For example, TODD.DOC would come after STEVE.TXT, if the sort were in ascending order. ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── BY EXTENSION ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀ After sorting by extension, for example, FIRST.BAS would come before ALPHA.COM. An item with no extension would precede any item with an extension under this type of sort, if the sort were in ascending order. ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── BY SIZE ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀ When you sort your items by size, and choose descending order, your largest files would be listed first, and your smallest ones (directories, if any) would be last. ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── BY DATE/TIME ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀ With this sort selected, if you choose ascending order, the oldest files would be listed first, and the most recent listed last. Files with identical dates are compared by time. If you do not wish to have times compared automatically, select the Date Only option. ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── BY DISK ORDER ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀ This option will list the items in the order in which they are on the disk, or in the reverse of this order. One way this can be used by you, for example, is if you want to put frequently accessed files near the top of the chain, so DOS can find them faster. To do this, first arrange the files in the order you want them to be chained (use the REARRANGE key [F5] if needed), then move them to a new directory, then move them back to this one. (Or delete the old directory and rename this one.) ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── BY ATTRIBUTE ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀ Sorting items by attribute is handy when you want to group all files of similar attribute together, such as archived files that need to be copied to a disk for backup. ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── BY TAG ▀▀▀▀▀▀ This option lets you group all of your tagged, retagged and untagged files together. ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── BY PCT SLACK ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀ When a file is stored on a disk, it may not use all of the space assigned to it. The term `slack' refers to that portion of the assigned space that does not contain data for that file. For example, a 12-byte file may be allocated 2,048 bytes of disk space, which `wastes' 2,036 bytes of storage. This option lets you order the files by the percentage of wasted, or slack, space. ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── BY DATE ONLY ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀ This sort groups files with identical dates together. If you select ascending order, older files would be listed before newer ones. ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── BY TIME ONLY ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀ This sort orders files by time of creation. This can be handy, for example, to see if anyone created any files in the wee hours of the morning, or when you were away at lunch. ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── NOTE: You can rearrange the file display in a manner impossible by just sorting with the Rearrange [F5] key. This lets you move one item at a time to a new position up or down in the display. █▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀█ █ DOS Gateway █ █▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄█ The facilities available to you through the DOS Gateway let you: 1. Run a program with 3K or ZERO K of RAM overhead! Imagine yourself pointing to a program to run, tapping [ENTER], and ELFTREE loading it for you. Then, when you exit your program, ELFTREE reloads itself automatically. 2. Select commands from one of billions of menus that you create (up to 20 commands per menu and 10 levels of submenus, with comments and user-specified Help lines and selector characters). 3. Execute DOS commands easily. In addition, ELFTREE remembers the last 15 unique commands you used. It also provides a quick, temporary exit to DOS (tap [O]), so you can work with DOS (or 4DOS) for a period of time, if you need to, then return to ELFTREE when ready. 4. Use short symbols to represent items that you want to include in one or more commands. Here is a table of them: Symbol Alternate Description ====== ========= =========================================== ^ Join multiple commands #D {MoveTo} Move to program directory before executing. #E {Ext} Extension of current file #C {Cname} Drive:\Path\Name.Ext of current file #F {Fname} Name.Ext of current file #G {FDate} Date of current file #H {FTime} Time of current file #N {Name} Name of current file #I {Input} Ask user for input to a command. #0 {DInput} Default response to user input query #U {UInput} Response to previous user input command #Q {Prompt} Prompt user with message before continuing #J {Macro} Stuff ELFTREE keyboard buffer for macro #K {Stuff} Stuff DOS keyboard buffer before execution #L {List} Execute command against list of tagged files #A {COM1} Send string to serial port COM1 #B {COM2} Send string to serial port COM2 #1 {LPT1} Send string to printer port LPT1 #2 {LPT2} Send string to printer port LPT2 #3 {LPT3} Send string to printer port LPT3 #P {Page} Current page (use for printing) #R {Repeat} Repeat command until user wants to quit #T {Tag} Execute command against each tagged file #W {Wait} Wait for a key after command execution #! {NoWait} Don't wait for a key after command execution #V {Date} Current date #X {Time} Current time #Z {Zero} Shrink to 0K prior to command execution #Y {Nozero} Don't shrink to 0K #@ {Temp} Execute command using file of filenames #\ {Path} Currently displayed path #4 {Drive} Current drive (e.g. [A:]) #* {Free} Free file space before executing program. #( {V25} Select 25-line video mode (all displays). #) {V43} Select 43-line video mode (EGA only). #- {V28} Select 28-line video mode (VGA only). #= {V50} Select 50-line video mode (VGA only). ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── IMMEDIATE MODE ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀ If ELFTREE is set up for Immediate mode, and the item highlighted is a program that can be run, or has an extension that ELFTREE is sensitive to, you launch the program by just tapping [ENTER]. ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── DOS WINDOW ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀ Tap [F3] or [X] to open the DOS Gateway. A window will appear, with a line for you to enter your command. For example, you could give the command DIR A: to get a directory listing of your A: disk, or you could enter DATE to change your system date. COMMAND SHORTCUTS ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀ ELFTREE offers you additional power by allowing you to combine multiple commands as one, to use short symbols for commonly used objects such as the name of a file, or to execute a command against all tagged files. Here are examples of how to use each of these: Examples: a. Multiple commands (use ^ to separate each command): dir a:^dir b:^dir c: b. Using symbols for file names, etc. type {Fname} or dir {Name}.* c. Signal a directory change. C:\QPRO\Q.EXE {MoveTo} (changes to C:\QPRO, starts up Quattro Pro) d. Ask for input to a command, with an optional prompt. dir {Input}"Enter a directory name" Notes: The prompt must be surrounded by quotes. If you want to just give the user a message and have them tap a key to continue, (for example, "~~ Insert disk in drive A"), use {Prompt} instead of {Input}. e. Supply a default response for user input. dir {DInput}"{path}"{Input}"Enter a directory name" Notes: Here, the symbol {path} is expanded to the current path before editing begins. f. Use a response to an earlier user input command. {Input}"Enter a directory"^cd {UInput} g. Just stuff the keyboard buffer (don't execute). Up to 5000 keys can be stuffed using this option (you must use the command-line switch /K=#### to get more than the default of 100, however - see the Help selection on Customize). Copy file(s) to A${Macro}ca~y (Note: this stuffs the characters [C], [A], [ENTER] and [Y], then processes them) h. Stuff the keyboard buffer, then execute the command. backup {Stuff}12~ Note: These character(s) have special meaning: ~ - [ENTER] ` - [TAB] @ - [ESC] =1 - [F1] (similarly for F2,...,F9) =0 - [F10] +1 - [Shift-F1] (similarly for [Shift-F2],...,[Shift-F9]) +0 - [Shift-F10] (1 - [Ctrl-F1] (similarly for [Ctrl-F2],...,[Ctrl-F9]) (0 - [Ctrl-F10] (A - [Ctrl-A] (similarly for [Ctrl-B],...,[Ctrl-Z]) )1 - [Alt-F1] (similarly for [Alt-F2],...,[Alt-F9]) )0 - [Alt-F10] )A - [Alt-A] (similarly for [Alt-B],...,[Alt-Z]) !1 - the cursor key with `1' on it (i.e., End) (similarly for !2 [DownArrow],..,!9 [PgUp]) [1 - [Ctrl] + the cursor key with `1' on it (i.e., [Ctrl-End]) (similarly for [2 [Ctrl-DownArrow],..,[9 [Ctrl-PgUp]) Macro expansion continues after a {Stuff} is encountered; the keyboard is not stuffed until all have been resolved. (up to 15 characters can be stuffed) For example: Load Spreadsheet$C:\QPRO\Q.EXE {Stuff}/fr{Fname} This stuffs the keyboard with `/fr' followed by the name of the highlighted file. i. Execute a command against a list consisting of the names of the tagged files. print {List} j. Cause ELFTREE to repeat a command. print {Fname}{Repeat} k. Wait after execution of a command. print {Fname}{Wait} l. Execute a command against each tagged file. print {Tag}{Fname} m. Execute this command against a file consisting of the names of the tagged files (1 name per line). archive -a {Temp} saveme n. Do not unload completely prior to executing command(s). archive -a {Temp} saveme {NoZero} o. Unload completely prior to executing command(s). archive -a {Temp} saveme {Zero} p. Represent the currently displayed path. xcopy {Path}\*.* a: q. Represent the current date or time. echo date={Date} time={Time} r. Represent the current file date or file time. echo {Fname} is dated {FDate} {FTime} s. Represent the current page number. Note: Use this in a page header when printing. {Date} {Time} Page {Page} t. Send a string to one of three printer ports. {LPT1}"I'm going to printer port 1" u. Send a string (enclosed in a pair of ") to one of two serial ports. (Note: if a modem is hooked up to COM1, this can be used to dial a number.) {COM1}"ATDT1-800-555-1212~" (Notes: The ~ character is converted to a carriage return before the string is sent, and the symbol \0 is converted to a null before sending.) These special characters, which we call macro symbols, give you powerful shortcuts to specifying commands. They are especially useful when combined with ELFTREE's user menus, described next, or with ELFTREE's extension sensitivity (three sections down). ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── USER MENUS ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀ ELFTREE can automatically load one of 13 menus for you when you tap the key it is attached to. These menus can be activated from the file information screen or the DOS Gateway, and they can each nest other submenus up to 10 levels deep. You can also make ELFTREE load a menu for you by attaching it to a specific file extension. See the section below on Extension Sensitivity for more information on this feature. The keys to which you can attach a menu are [U] (from the file information screen only), [Alt-U] (from the DOS Gateway only), and [Alt-F1] through [Alt-F12] (from either the DOS Gateway or the file information screen). Note that you must have an enhanced keyboard to use F11 and F12. Here's how to attach a menu to [Alt-F1]. Tap the [Alt-F1] key. You will be told that the menu does not exist, and will be asked if you want to create it now. Answer [Y]. This loads the editor with the menu file ALTF1.ETU. On each line of this file, type a command you want to appear on the menu, preceded by a label (recommended, but not required). Each line may be up to 500 characters in length (not including label); follow each label by a single $ symbol. COMMENTS ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀ To include a comment line in your menu file, put an asterisk (*) in the first column of the line. If you want a comment to span several lines, just begin EACH line with an asterisk. USER-DEFINED HELP ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀ To designate a line of text as a help descriptor for the next menu selection, put an exclamation point (!) in the first column. When you highlight a menu line that has Help associated with it, this Help text will appear (centered) at the bottom of the menu panel. USER-DEFINED SELECTOR ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀ By default, the first character of each label denotes a key that, when tapped, selects that item. If you wish a different selector to be chosen for an item, just put an `@' symbol in front of the character you wish to be used as the selector. Study these examples carefully: :New Menu Title Line (signified by colon) * * Any line beginning with an asterisk is ignored. * !Formats disk in Drive A: * The N key is used for the selector. Prepare @new disk$format a: * !Brings up Quattro Pro * The Q key is the selector here. Borland's @Quattro Pro$C:\QPRO\Q.EXE * !Pretty obvious * By default, T is the selector here. Type a File$type {Fname} * * These two items have no label associated with them. * The selector is R (first character) for both of them. rr c all rm d {Input}"Enter string to look for" You may use any of the special macro symbols defined in the preceding section as part of the command for a menu selection. All menu files you create must be stored in the directory where you store your global search files (the environment variable ETFIND is used to determine this - if you don't have one, then the menus go into the directory where ELFTREE is stored). Tap [Alt-F1] to activate this menu. To select an item from the menu, use the cursor keys to highlight it, then tap [ENTER]. Or, tap the key corresponding to the first character of the item. If the selected item does not have a label, and you activated the menu from the DOS Gateway, it will appear on the command line so that you can modify it. Otherwise, it will be executed immediately. If you decide that you want to make a change to your menu, just tap [Alt-E] and ELFTREE will let you edit it again. If you wish to make a menu for [Alt-F2], follow the same procedure, but tap the key [Alt-F2] to get started. You can put up to 20 selections in each menu file. The menu attached to either [U] (or [Alt-U]) is named MENU.ETU, and is stored in the same directory as all of the other menus. SUBMENUS ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀ To set up a menu selection as a submenu, simply type the name of the menu (it must have the extension .ETU and be located in the same directory as the other menus) where you would normally type the command. Here is an example of a menu with both commands and submenus: Utilities Menu$UTILS.ETU * !Format Disk in Drive A: Format disk$format a: * Spreadsheet$C:\QPRO\Q.EXE * Database Menu$DBASES.ETU * Project Menu$PRJ.ETU Selecting a submenu is identical to selecting any other menu item; just highlight it and tap [ENTER], or tap the first letter of its label. The submenu will appear next, and you can proceed to make another choice, or you can tap [ESC] to back up to the previous parent menu. IMMEDIATE KEYS ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀ If you create a menu with one selection, then tap the key for that menu, ELFTREE will select that item IMMEDIATELY if you are in Immediate mode . This convenience lets you use menus as "Immediate Keys", or keys that carry out a command immediately upon activation. In other words, if you are in Immediate mode, ELFTREE will only display a menu if it has more than 1 selection on it, otherwise it will execute the command in it IMMEDIATELY. ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── AUTOMATIC LOADING ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀ When the currently highlighted file has an extension of EXE, COM, BAT or BTM, the name of the file will appear in the command line when the Gateway is activated. This design lets you execute a program by first pointing to it, then tapping [ENTER]. ELFTREE can be much smarter than this, however. Read on. ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── EXTENSION SENSITIVITY ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀ You can train ELFTREE to bring up your word processor when the currently highlighted file has an extension of, say, DOC, or to load your spreadsheet program when the current file's extension begins with W, or to pop up a user-defined menu of commands if the extension is, say, ZIP. To do this, create an ASCII file with this layout (the file extension is in the first 3 columns): DOC C:\MSWORD\WORD.EXE /c (parameters can be used) W* C:\QPRO\Q.EXE (DOS wildcards can be used) R?D C:\REFLEX\REFLEX.EXE {Fname} (macro symbols can be used) ZIP ZIPSTUFF.ETU (user-defined command menu) Save this file under the name PROGRAMS.ELF in the same directory that the other ELFTREE files are located. Any time you read this directory, ELFTREE will be `sensitized' to these extensions. Once sensitized, when you highlight the file REPORT.DOC (for example) and tap [F3], the DOS window will pop up, and the command line will look like this: C:\MSWORD\WORD.EXE REPORT.DOC Now, tap [ENTER] and the program will be started for you. You can choose up to 40 extensions for ELFTREE to be aware of, and the extensions can use the DOS wildcards `*' and `?'. Notes: One of the joys of Immediate mode is that you can tap [ENTER] on a file with a special extension and have ELFTREE load the program (and file) Immediately. ELFTREE will allow you to have multiple PROGRAMS.ELF files. When you enter a directory, ELFTREE looks for a PROGRAMS.ELF file and, if it finds one, `resensitizes' itself to what is in this new one. When you then move on to another directory, ELFTREE stays sensitive to these extensions. See the help on Viewing A File for related information. ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── RAM USAGE ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀ When you run a program from inside ELFTREE using one of these methods, ELFTREE will release all but 3K of RAM to it! This lets you run memory-hungry programs without worries about whether there's enough memory free. For BAT or BTM files, ELFTREE frees up all but 6 or 7K, depending on which DOS (or 4DOS) you use. ZERO RAM USAGE ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀ If you wish ELFTREE to unload itself completely from memory before executing a command or program, there are three easy ways to make this happen: 1. Start up with the /Z=1 command line switch: ET /Z=1 2. Use {Zero} somewhere in the command. 3. Tap [Ctrl-Z] once. When you elect to unload completely, ELFTREE will build a file called ETRUN.BAT for you, then unload itself and run this file. Because ELFTREE has to stuff the keyboard with ETRUN.BAT~ before unloading itself, {Stuff} is unavailable for your use. We recommend using {Stuff} instead of the command line switch /Z=1 whenever possible. The ETRUN.BAT file is built in the directory where ELFTREE stores all of its menus, trees, configuration files, etc., and is erased when ELFTREE starts up. ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── GO TO DOS ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀ You can go directly to DOS from ELFTREE by not giving a command when you pop up the window, but by just tapping ENTER instead. ELFTREE will release all but 6 or 7K of RAM to you. If you want a quicker way to get to DOS, don't bother with tapping [F3], etc. - just tap [O] from the main menu screen. ELFTREE will temporarily change your prompt to remind you that you are shelled out to DOS - you'll see a >> in your prompt. ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── ELFTREE REMEMBERS ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀ ELFTREE keeps track of the last 15 commands entered in its DOS window. You can cycle through a menu of them by tapping the [DownArrow] and [UpArrow] keys. To clear a command you no longer want remembered, just tap [Delete]. To select the currently highlighted command, tap [ENTER]. If you don't want any of the commands, tap [ESC]. To clear the currently displayed command, tap [Ctrl-Backspace] (hold down or lock the [Ctrl] key, then tap the [Backspace] key). ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── PROBLEMS ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀ You may encounter a program that refuses to be run from inside ELFTREE. Here's a trick that usually works: Type the phrase COMMAND.COM /C before the program name. Here's an example of what this might look like: COMMAND /C PEST.EXE If this doesn't work, then you should have ELFTREE unload itself from RAM completely before attempting to run the program. See the section above on ZERO RAM USAGE for more information. If none of these methods works, but the program runs fine from DOS, please contact us so we can help you get it fixed. █▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀█ █ Customizing ELFTREE █ █▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄█ You can easily customize ELFTREE from within it! There is no separate installation program to run. You can change the colors displayed on the screen or the borders to use for popups, speed up or slow down your keyboard, tell ELFTREE what items you want to see when it shows you the contents of a directory, specify what editor (or word processor) to use when you invoke EDIT, and set dozens of other options. In addition, you can tell ELFTREE how much memory to use for files, directories and other items. NOTE: For all of these, you must SAVE [F9] your settings before leaving ELFTREE, if you want ELFTREE to use them the next time. ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── START CUSTOMIZATION ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀ You initiate customization by tapping the [F4] key. A menu will appear, showing you what items can be changed. Some of these items are themselves menus of options. Select an item to work with by tapping the key for it, or by highlighting it and then tapping [ENTER]. Next is a description of each menu option. ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── Screen Colors/Borders (Submenu) ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀ This menu allows you to change the colors of various screen elements, or the types of characters used to draw borders for boxes or columns. Here is a brief description of each: BOX BORDER TYPE ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀ This determines the border (box) used on popup prompts and menus. When selected, the inside of the menu will change to a prompt telling you what to do next. Use [UpArrow]/[DownArrow] to move to the next/previous choice of border style. Continue until you find one you like, then tap [ENTER] to keep it. If you don't want to change the style, just tap [ESC]. FILE BORDER TYPE ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀ This gives you additional control over whether borders will be drawn to separate the file information displayed, and lets you choose the border that is most visually appealing. Nine (9) types of borders are possible (including none at all). To select the one you want, tap [SPACEBAR] to cycle through the selections and, when you spot the one you want, tap [ENTER] to keep it. [ESC] cancels the selection. If you chose no border at all, ELFTREE uses more rows to display file information for you. COLOR SELECTIONS ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀ When you tap a key corresponding to a color option, a color table will appear in the lower right corner of your screen, and the cursor will be located at the current color of the item you selected. Just move the cursor to the color you want, and watch how the color of the selected item changes. When you have found the color you want, just tap the [ENTER] key to keep it. If you change your mind about picking a color, just tap [ESC] to go back to the original color for that item. Be sure to SAVE [F9] any changes if you want them to be permanent! ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── EDITOR PROGRAM NAME ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀ ELFTREE has its own editor that can edit multiple files quickly and efficiently. You can also use your favorite editor or word processor with ELFTREE. To indicate your editor, select [B] from the menu, and fill in the box with the name (use the drive and path if you know them) of the editor you want to use. For example: C:\EDITOR\MYEDIT.EXE Next, tell ELFTREE what parameters you wish to be included with each invocation of the editor, if any. Feel free to use ELFTREE's powerful macro symbols among the parameters. Then, you'll be asked if your editor needs lots of memory. If you answer [Y] to this, then ELFTREE will shrink itself to 3K of RAM before loading the editor, giving it maximum RAM. After you've entered all this, ELFTREE will check to see if the editor is available, and will tell you if it cannot find it. ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── FORMAT PROGRAM NAME ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀ To format disks with ELFTREE, you need to tell it the name of your formatting program. Most people use the one supplied with DOS, which is called FORMAT.COM or FORMAT.EXE. Fill in the box with the name that applies to your machine, if you know it. If you know the directory it is stored in, enter this as well. Next, tell ELFTREE what parameters to use every time it invokes this formatting program. You should NOT enter any disk letters such as A: or B:, as ELFTREE will supply these for you when they are needed. In fact, under normal circumstances, you will never need to enter any parameters here. However, if you format DSDD disks on a high-density 5 1/4" disk drive, you will need to supply the parameter /4 to ensure that they format correctly. Ask your system specialist if you need help. ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── KEYBOARD SETTINGS (Submenu) ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀ This option pops up a window showing the current keyboard delay and key repeat rate. To change the delay, move the highlight bar (up or down) to it and tap [SPACEBAR] until the setting you want shows (the only choices supported are 1/4, 1/2, 3/4 or 1 second). Repeat this procedure for the keyboard repeat rate, if desired. Tap [Enter] to save your changes when you have completed your selection. If you change your mind, tap [ESC] to keep the former settings. Note: Not all computers allow the keyboard to be customized. ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── Miscellaneous Settings (Submenu) ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀ These settings control various features of how ELFTREE behaves when it is started, exited, looking for files, idle, searching for text, or responding to command-type keystrokes. Here is a brief description of what each option controls: MODE ▀▀▀▀ You can tell ELFTREE to automatically choose the submenu option it highlights when you select a tool. This is called Immediate mode, and here's an example of how it works: Suppose you tag a few files and choose the Copy tool. ELFTREE assumes that you want the Tagged files copied, so it goes ahead and taps [ENTER] for you. The default is Delay mode, which lets you confirm the next choice before proceeding. Immediate mode has other advantages. If the highlighted file is a program, or the data file associated with a program that you've trained ELFTREE to recognize, you can run it by simply tapping [ENTER]. If a directory is highlighted, you can enter it by tapping [ENTER]. This makes ELFTREE even simpler to use. Note: Tap [I] from the file screen to toggle the mode. CASE (looking for text) ▀▀▀▀ ELFTREE can quickly find text in one or more files. By default, it ignores upper and lower case when searching so that, if you were searching for ELFTREE, it would find elftree, Elftree, ELFTREE and so on. If this is not what you want, this is where to change it to what you want. You have four (4) choices here: Respect - find exact matches only. Ignore - find matches that agree except for case. Ask - ask about case sensitivity before searching. Smart - If the string to look for has both UPPER and lower characters, then case is respected, otherwise it is ignored. For example, a search for `Copyright' would respect case, but not for `copyright'. OPEN CHOICES ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀ When you first get into ELFTREE, it shows you the files in the current directory. You may prefer to always see the directory tree first, however, or the commands you've put into a menu file This option lets you choose what you prefer to see when ELFTREE starts up. `Files' is the default. If you choose `Menu', you can control which main menu will appear with the STARTUP MENU option. EXIT CHOICES ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀ When you wish to leave ELFTREE (we can't imagine why), you can have it always drop you off in the Current directory or your Original directory (where you started ELFTREE up), or you can make it always ask before exiting. This latter option is handy if you tend to `lean' on the [ESC] key. The default is Ask. STARTUP MENU ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀ When ELFTREE is told to Open In a menu (see above), you can tell it which menu to open to with this. Every time you select this option, the next possible menu is selected. There are 13 menus that can be initiated on startup, and they are attached to the [U] and [Alt-F1]-[Alt-F12] keys. For example, if MENU.ETU is the current choice, then ALTF1.ETU would appear next when you select this option. SCREEN SAVE ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀ If, while using ELFTREE, you must be away from your computer for awhile, you can have it safely blank the screen for you. Just enter how many minutes to wait before doing this. If you do not wish ELFTREE to blank your screen (the default), use 0. To make ELFTREE immediately blank the screen, hold down both shift keys on your keyboard. FILE SEARCH SPEC ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀ Choosing File Search Spec gives you control over what will be displayed by ELFTREE in the file information area. You choose this in two parts. The first tells ELFTREE what names to use when it is looking for things to show you. When you first start ELFTREE, this is "*.*", which means "show me everything that's out there". However, you might want ELFTREE to display only your memos, which have an extension, say, of MMO. No problem, just enter *.MMO, and these will be the only ones shown. However, you may want ELFTREE to display files that match a group of names, instead of what can be given in one specification. To do this, simply enter more such specifications where indicated, and separate each item by a colon (:). (For your convenience, tapping the semicolon with or without the SHIFT key held will enter a colon for you. For example, to bring up only files with an extension of .COM, .EXE or .BAT, this will do the trick: *.COM:*.EXE:*.BAT If you give no file specification, the default one used is *.*, which will display all files with the desired attributes. Regardless of the file specification you enter, you have the option of `reversing' it - that is, show all files EXCEPT those that match this spec. To reverse it, just tap [F10] instead of [ENTER] when you are through typing in the spec you want. Next, you indicate what types of items that have such names should be included. You can specify hidden, system, read-only, or archived files, and you can specify whether directories, labels, or files with no attributes (called Normal files by DOS) are included. If a selection on this menu has a Yes by it, then it will be included; otherwise, it will be excluded. To change from a Yes to a No, or vice versa, simply highlight the selection you wish to change, and tap [SPACEBAR] once. ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── Switches (Submenu) ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀ This menu controls the operation of various switches that affect how ELFTREE responds to the Alt and Ctrl keys, whether borders appear between the columns of file information, whether noise feedback is permitted, and other options. ALT/CTRL LOCK ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀ This option allows the Alt or Ctrl keys to be `locked' by tapping either one twice. Once locked, the behavior of normal keys is modified by the status of the locked key. For example, [A] becomes [Alt-A] or [Ctrl-A]. This was designed as a convenience to those users for whom typing is a challenge, but it can also be used to circumvent the action of a `hotkey' for a resident program. ELVISH TOUCH ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀ Activating this enables the user to enter keys that require Alt or Ctrl to be pressed without the bother of holding them down at the same time. Thus, [Alt-A] can be had by tapping [Alt], then [A]. This is handy for people who find typing bothersome, such as people with arthritis, or executives who are not used to using a keyboard to communicate. FILE COLUMNS ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀ If you prefer to have vertical lines separating the columns of file information, set this for Yes, otherwise set it for No. Yes is the default; however, columns will still not be shown if the border type (see next item) is hidden. The [B] key will toggle this setting from the file screen. QUIET ▀▀▀▀▀ When ELFTREE needs to get your attention, it beeps. Use this option to turn the beep off or on (the default). STORE TREE ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀ When ELFTREE grows a directory tree for a disk, it can store the information so that it does not have to rebuild the tree the next time it accesses that disk. (This is the default). This option controls whether that file is created and used. VIEW SHRINK ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀ When you tap [V] to view a file, ELFTREE checks to see if it should run an external program to view it (this is controlled by the file VIEWERS.ELF). If it finds one, this option determines whether it shrinks itself prior to running the viewing program. PROGRAM SHRINK ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀ When ELFTREE shrinks itself to run a program, it can either leave a small kernel of itself (about 2.5K) in memory, or not. This option controls whether the kernel is left behind or not. 4DOS NOTES ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀ When ELFTREE stores notes about files, it normally uses a special type of file. This option controls whether ELFTREE should look for and use 4DOS-style note files. DIRS FIRST ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀ When ELFTREE grabs the files from a directory for you, and the directory has subdirectories, this option controls whether the subdirectories always appear at the beginning of the list, or will be mixed with the files. If they are placed at the beginning, they will always be in alphabetical order. (This option does not apply to files gathered from the Find command.) GROW POPUPS ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀ When ELFTREE opens a window to give you a message or to have you type in some text, it can either open the window immediately at full size, or grow it a bit more slowly. This option lets you control how the windows appear for you. Choose 'Yes' (the default) if you prefer flashier popups, and 'No' if you prefer instant popups. ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── Advanced Switches (Submenu) ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀ This menu controls numerous options that are of concern to the person who uses ELFTREE intensively. ALWAYS FREE FILESPACE ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀ This option makes ELFTREE more aggressive in reducing memory before running programs that do not ask it to shrink. With this activated, memory for files, directories and notes is freed prior to running a program, and reallocated afterwards. (If not activated, ELFTREE will still free such memory if it detects that the program might need it.) COPY OVERWRITE ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀ When copying or moving files, ELFTREE is careful not to overwrite any existing file without first asking permission to do so. If this option is activated, you tell ELFTREE not to ask permission. PROFESSIONAL MODE ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀ This setting controls whether directories with files in them can be erased, and whether the word 'Drive' should appear under the root directory name on the tree. PROMPT FOR ERASE ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀ When this is turned on, each time you tap [F7] or [Del] to erase one or more files, ELFTREE will ask 'Erase Files?' before doing so. This prompt is designed to protect the user who may tap [Del] by mistake when they think they are tapping a different key. Note: Professional mode must be ON to activate this. USE UNIQUE EXIT KEY ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀ Some people `lean' a little heavily on [ESC] when backing up from menus, or responding to an option. If ELFTREE is set to Exit to either the Current or Original directory, the user may be tossed out to DOS unexpectedly. This option prevents the [ESC] key from being used to exit from ELFTREE, and allows the user to designate which key to tap to leave ELFTREE. SAVE FILE TAGS ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀ When you run a program with ELFTREE, you may want it to remember which files are tagged when it returns, which `Yes' does. If you run a program that deletes or creates files, however, ELFTREE may not accurately reflect the current status of a directory when it returns if this option is turned on. ENHANCED KEYBOARD ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀ Normally, ELFTREE automatically senses whether you have an enhanced keyboard attached to your computer. This option lets you override what is detected. You can also use the command-line switch /Y=# to control this setting. GET TRUE NAMES ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀ When you change directories or disks, ELFTREE asks your operating system (DOS, usually) for the logical name of the current directory. If the drive used is not on a network, ELFTREE then asks for the 'actual', or 'true' name (in case the drive was aliased by SUBST). Since this uses a feature of DOS that does not work reliably on all work-alikes (network shells, DR-DOS, etc.), this lets you control when ELFTREE uses it. ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── COMMAND LINE SWITCHES ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀ In addition to this customize menu, you can configure ELFTREE with certain command-line switches that you type after the ET that gets ELFTREE up and running. Here are the switches that may be used, and what they represent: /#=<char>- If you prefer not to use '#' as the symbol that identifies a macro symbol (for example, you may have files that have '#' in their names), use this to select another symbol. For example, to make '+' the symbol, use /#=+ /4 - Use 4DOS-style note files (file name DESCRIPT.ION). /5 - Use ET-style note files (file name ELFTREE.NTE). /C - if you have a composite monitor. /D=#### - Set maximum number of directories to handle. Each one uses 16 bytes. (max is 3,999; default is 200) /F=#### - This sets the maximum number of files to handle. Each one use 22 bytes. (min is 50, max is 16384; default is 1500) /G=#### - Set maximum number of directories to handle with the Find feature. Each one uses 64 bytes. (max is 999; default is 50) /H=# - If # is 1, this activates high-speed disk scanning routines for non-networked drives. (default is 1, or ON; /H=0 turns it off) Note: A separate logical variable is maintained for high-speed scanning in the OS/2 Compatibility Box. This switch affects only that variable's setting. /K=#### - If # is at least 10, this refers to the number of internal macro keys to allow. (max is 5000; default is 100) /L=Z - Last drive accessible to user. (default is Z; C-Z is allowed) /N=#### - Set maximum number of notes to handle. Each one uses 64 bytes; the space is shared with /G=####. (max is 1,000; default is 50) /R=### - ASCII code of `retag' character to use (1-255). (default is 9, which looks like a hollow circle) /T=### - ASCII code of `tag' character to use (1-255). (default is 4, which looks like a solid diamond) /U=#### - if #### is at least 500, this sets the maximum allowable length of a menu command line. (max is 10,000; default is 500) /Y=# - If you do not have an enhanced keyboard, but you want ELFTREE to think that you do (this will let you use [Ctrl-Del] and other nonstandard keys), use 1 for #. Use 0 for # if you do not want ELFTREE to use any of the enhanced keyboard facilities, even if you have such a keyboard. (default is 1 if an enhanced keyboard is detected, and 0 if not; /Y=1 activates enhanced support) Here is an example of how to set up ELFTREE to use 2,000 files, 300 directories and 500 notes per directory: ET /F=2000 /D=300 /N=500 Be sure to tap SAVE [F9] if you want these to be permanent. █▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀█ █ Rearranging █ █▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄█ If you can't get the items in the file information area of your screen in the order you want by sorting alone, ELFTREE has a feature just for you. For example, how can you arrange these files: Like this? FIRST .A FIFTH .E SECOND .B FIRST .A THIRD .C SECOND .B FOURTH .D SIXTH .F FIFTH .E THIRD .C SIXTH .F FOURTH .D With ELFTREE, this is no problem. Just highlight the item that you want moved to a new location, and tap the REARRANGE [F5] key. You can now drag the item up or down to the new location by tapping the [] (up arrow) or [] (down arrow) keys. When it's at the new location, tap [ENTER] or [ESC] to quit rearranging. So, in the above example, I would highlight FIFTH.E, tap [F5], tap [] (UpArrow) 4 times, tap [ENTER], then highlight SIXTH.F, tap [F5], tap [] (UpArrow) 2 times, and tap [ENTER]. Note: When you SORT [F2], all rearranging you did previously is cleared, and the items are sorted as you wish. █▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀█ █ Changing Disks █ █▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄█ You can look at a different disk or reread the current directory by tapping the Change Disk ([F6] or [L]) key. Then, just tell ELFTREE what disk to use, and let ELFTREE get it for you. If the drive specified is not available for some reason, you'll be told by ELFTREE when it returns. If you are trying to change to a floppy drive, and ELFTREE detects that the disk is not readable, it will ask if you want to format it. If you do not (it could destroy any data on the disk), simply tap [ENTER] to answer NO to this choice. You can change disks from either the file information screen or the directory tree display. If you change from the tree, ELFTREE will automatically get the tree for the disk specified. If you change from the file information screen, ELFTREE will bring up the files in the current directory for that disk. █▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀█ █ Erasing Files or Directories █ █▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄█ You can erase one or several items at a time in ELFTREE. The files can be recovered with a number of utility programs on the market unless you choose to Wipe the files, which causes the files to be completely overwritten with null characters. ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── ERASING ONE FILE ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀ To erase one file, simply highlight it and tap ERASE [F7]. (Note: [DEL] or [Ctrl-K] can be used as well as [F7].) A box with ERASE FILE(S)? will appear on your screen, to verify that you tapped the intended key. Answer with a tap of the [Y] key if this is what you meant (or [W] to wipe the files). If you did not mean to erase anything, tap [N] or [ESC], and this will be cancelled. Otherwise: If no files are tagged, the highlighted file will be erased. If one or more files are tagged, another box will appear, (if you are not in Immediate mode) asking [H]ighlighted or [T]agged? If you have tagged files, you erase the highlighted file by answering [H]. If the highlighted item is a directory, and no files are tagged, the message in the box will be REMOVE DIRECTORY? instead. See the discussion further down for more on this. ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── ERASING SEVERAL FILES ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀ To erase several files, simply `tag' them and tap the ERASE key. The message ERASE FILE(S)? will appear, to check to see if this is what you want to do. Answer [Y] to proceed, and then [T] to the prompt of (H)ilighted or (T)agged? to start erasing. While erasing, ELFTREE can be interrupted at any time by tapping a key (such as the [SPACEBAR]). You can then resume by tapping [R], or tap [ESC] to quit. ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── REMOVING A DIRECTORY ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀ If you want to remove a directory, you first have to be sure that no items are left in it. This means that there can be no files in in it, nor any nonempty child directories. A child directory, if it exists, will appear to the right on the directory tree display. Here's a sample: . . │ ├─ PARENT ──────┬─ CHILD1 │ └─ CHILD2 . . Here, PARENT cannot be removed, even if it has no files in it, unless CHILD1 and CHILD2 are empty. If CHILD1 and CHILD2 are empty, they will be removed immediately and ELFTREE will attempt to remove PARENT. You can remove a directory from either the directory tree display or the file information area. This gives you added convenience. As a further convenience, if you select a directory from the tree that no longer exists, ELFTREE will automatically adjust its tree for you. This may happen, for example, if you remove a directory using DOS or another program. ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── REMOVING A DIRECTORY (PART II) ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀ If you would like ELFTREE to be capable of deleting the files in a directory for you automatically, instead of having to delete them yourself ahead of time, there is a way to do this. Simply start ELFTREE like this: ET /P=1 We call this Professional Mode. When you start ELFTREE this way, it will warn you if files exist in a directory you want to delete, and it will ask if you want them erased for you at that time. Tap [N] if you DO NOT want them erased, otherwise tap [Y] to erase them. To deactivate Professional mode, start ET with: ET /P=0 █▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀█ █ Return To Last Directory █ █▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄█ You can quickly return to the directory you were in last by tapping the LAST DIRECTORY [F8] key. To return to the directory you left, tap [F8] again. This is handy when you need to compare two directories before copying or moving files from one to another, or if you simply need a quick way to return to where you came from. Compare Directories ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀ Tap [Ctrl-F8] to quickly tag files in the current directory that are also in the last directory you visited, but are not identical due to their having a different size or date/time stamp. Files which are not in the other directory will be `retagged', which you can promote to `tagged' with the Retag option of the Tag menu command. If you wish to also process the previous directory, simply switch back to it with [F8], then tap [Ctrl-F8] again. You have two choices on the comparison. The Slow option will compare files of the same size on a byte-by-byte basis to see if they are identical. The Fast option does not perform this internal comparison; it just looks at the file properties. █▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀█ █ Save ELFTREE Settings █ █▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄█ The changes you make to ELFTREE via the Customize [F4] key are not saved until you tap the SAVE [F9] key. This creates a file called ELFTREE.CFG in the directory where ELFTREE's menus and Find files are stored. To use a configuration file with a different name, use the environment variable ETCONFIG to set it. For example: set ETCONFIG=MONO.CFG You can VIEW the configuration file with ELFTREE, and can make changes to it with an editor, although this is not recommended. ELFTREE.CFG currently stores such items as the colors to use, the number of lines to use on the screen, the number of lines you were using before invoking ELFTREE, the file search specification, the Find search specification, the name of your editor, any editor parameters you want, etc. It does not store any of the DOS commands you used during a session; if you need ELFTREE to supply menus of commands, read about ELFTREE's DOS Gateway. █▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀█ █ Go To Child Directory █ █▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄█ If the currently highlighted item in the file information area is a directory, you can jump into it by tapping the CHILD DIRECTORY [Ctrl-RightArrow] key. This will display the files in the highlighted directory for you. ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── GO TO PARENT DIRECTORY ▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄ To quickly go to the parent of the directory you're currently in, tap the PARENT [Ctrl-LeftArrow] key. This will display the files from the parent directory for you, and the child directory you came from will be highlighted, if possible. If you are in the root directory when you tap this key, you will be moved up to the next previous directory in the display, if there is one. Note: You can also get to the PARENT directory by tapping the PERIOD (.) key. This may seem more natural for those of you who are familiar with the DOS command `CD..'. █▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀█ █ For EGA/VGA Displays █ █▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄█ If your computer has an EGA or VGA display, you can see more information at a time, if you want to, by changing the number of lines ELFTREE will display on the screen for you. ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── HOW TO ACTIVATE EGA/VGA MODES ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀ To change the number of lines on the screen, just tap [Ctrl-V] (hold down the Ctrl key and tap V). If you are viewing a file, looking at your directories, or looking at the menu screen, you will switch to the next mode automatically. The available number of lines per screen are 25/43 for an EGA, and 25/28/50 for a VGA. So, if your current screen is set for 25 lines, your next one will be 43 for an EGA, and 28 for a VGA. If you tap [Ctrl-V] one more time, you'll get 25 on an EGA, and 50 on a VGA. On a VGA, one more tap will get you back to 25 lines. This is a handy way of getting more information (directories, files, browsed file) on your screen at a time. You will find the directory tree display gives you almost twice as many branches in 43 line mode as in 25, and thus you get a better picture of your disk directory structure. █▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀█ █ Change File Date and Time █ █▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄█ You can change the date and time of one or many files with ELFTREE. This is handy, for example, if you are working on a group of files in a project, and you want them all to have the same date and time. To change the date and time for one or more files, tap CHANGE FILE DATE [Ctrl-T]. A box will appear on your screen, and you should enter the date and time desired where indicated. Be sure to follow the format supplied in the example. For example: 1-1-90 12:00p is a valid date (Note: Tap the [F10] key to put in the current date and time.) If no files are tagged, the highlighted file's date and time will be changed to what you specified. If one or more files are tagged, another box will appear, asking [H]ighlighted or [T]agged? If you have tagged files, you change the highlighted file by answering [H]. To change the date and time for the tagged files, just tap [T] and they will be processed. █▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀█ █ Attributes █ █▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄█ You can use ELFTREE to provide some additional security to your computer system by marking your important files as `read-only', `hidden', or `system'. Also, ELFTREE will show you the current attributes of the items displayed in the last column. Here is a brief description of what each symbol displayed there means: ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── R READ ONLY ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀ When you make a file `read-only', you tell DOS that it is not allowed to make changes to the file. This prevents others from erasing it easily. Of course, you can use ELFTREE to erase a `read-only' file, but the DOS Erase command will give you the message `Access denied'. As a rule, you should never make data files `read-only', or else the programs that use them will probably not function correctly. For example, if you make ELFTREE.CFG `read-only', then you will not be able to save any configuration changes you make to ELFTREE. ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── HS HIDDEN/SYSTEM ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀ Marking a file as `hidden' or `system' keeps it from being shown by DOS when you give a DIR command (this is true for hidden directories as well). This is a good way to keep casual snoops from seeing what you have on your disks. If you have DOS 3.0 or later, you can hide executable files (such as ELFTREE.EXE), yet still run them as if they weren't hidden! Be careful of unhiding files that come with your software; the files might be part of a copy protection scheme, and unhiding them could prevent the program that uses them from working. NOTE: If you mark files as `hidden', `system', or `read-only', any disk defragmentation program you use will NOT MOVE THESE CLUSTERS. If you want them reorganized, you'll have to change their attributes, then run your defragmentation program, then change them back. Use the ELFTREE Find feature to help you if the files are spread across many directories or on many disks. ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── A ARCHIVED ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀ When you make changes to a file, DOS sets the `archive' attribute to denote that it needs to be backed up. Backup programs that perform so-called `incremental' backups look for files that have their `archive' attribute set. ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── D DIRECTORY ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀ This denotes that the item is a directory (as opposed to a file or disk volume label). ELFTREE can hide directories as well as files, and can make directories `read-only' also. Hiding a directory is a quick way to hide the files it contains as well. ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── L LABEL ▀▀▀▀▀ This denotes that the item is a disk volume label (name on the disk). ELFTREE does not currently let you modify labels; this is included for your information only. ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── NORMAL ▀▀▀▀▀▀ A file with no attributes is called a NORMAL file. ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── Changing Attributes It's easy to change attributes with ELFTREE. Simply select Attribute from the menu bar, and a box will pop up. In this box will be the attributes you can change (Archive, Read-only, Hidden and System). In front of all of these will be `N/C', which means `no change'. Simply move the highlight bar up or down until you are at the attribute you want to change, and tap [SPACEBAR] once for `YES', or once more for `NO'. The `yes' choice means `give this item this attribute', and the `no' choice means `remove this attribute from this item'. If you tapped [SPACEBAR] by accident, and don't want to change a particular attribute, tapping it once after `NO' will return it to `N/C'. After selecting the attributes you want, tap [ENTER] and the files/directory will be given these attributes. Note: You can also tap [Y] to set a particular attribute, or [N] to remove it. █▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀█ █ Copying Files and Directories █ █▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄█ You can copy one or many files (even entire directories) with ELFTREE, and with just a few keystrokes! With a little practice, you'll swear off DOS forever for copying your files. You may be aware already that when you use DOS to copy a file, and already have a file with the same name on the disk, DOS will overwrite that file without any warning message. This can cause you to lose data!! ELFTREE will not overwrite files unless you specifically tell it to do so. Also, if you have a note attached to a file, the note will be copied with the file if there is no file with that name in the directory you are copying to. ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── HILIGHTED ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀ To copy the highlighted file only, simply select the COPY option on the menu bar, and HILIGHTED from the submenu displayed. Next, find the directory you want to copy files to (or make a new one, if you need to), tap [ENTER], and sit back and let ELFTREE copy it for you. You can duplicate a file by selecting the same directory for the destination, or by using the ["] key. ELFTREE will ask you to enter a name for it, and then proceed to copy it. ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── TAGGED ▀▀▀▀▀▀ After you have tagged the files you want to copy (by tapping [SPACEBAR], or using the TAG menu command), you can COPY them by selecting COPY from the main menu, and Tagged from the submenu. Next, find the directory you want to copy files to (or make a new one, if you need to), tap [ENTER], and sit back and let ELFTREE do the work for you. If you don't want ELFTREE to ask for permission about replacing files that may exist in the target directory before starting to copy the tagged files, use the command-line switch /O=1. Be careful, though - you may replace files you didn't intend to replace! If you don't want ELFTREE to replace existing files when copying then, when it encounters a file with the same name in the target directory, ELFTREE will ask for directions. Replying: `Yes' - replaces the current file. `No' - skips to the next file. `Append' - adds the contents of this file to the target file. `Overwrite All' - replaces this file and any others that have the same name as a file being copied from the original directory. `Compare' - determines whether the two files are identical. `Rename' - lets you choose a different name for the file to be created. `View' - views the target file. `Edit' - edits the target file. COMBINING TAGGED FILES [&] ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀ To combine several files into one, just tag them and use the `&' key to indicate that you wish to copy them into one file. ELFTREE will ask you for the name of the file to copy it into, and will then start pouring the contents of these files into the one you specified (if the file already exists, you can either add the new files to the end of the one you specified, or replace it). ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── COPYING ENTIRE DIRECTORIES ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀ ELFTREE will let you copy entire directories on the current disk to another disk. To do this, you must be looking at the directory tree (tap [D] to get to it); Tag the directories you want copied. Here's how to tag them: 1. Tap [SPACEBAR] to tag an individual directory. 2. [T] - to tag the current directory and all of its subdirectories. (Hint: to tag all directories on a disk, move to the root directory before tapping [T].) 3. [U] - to untag the current directory and all of its subdirectories. Now, tap [C], tell ELFTREE what disk to copy to, and sit back and let ELFTREE do it for you. As ELFTREE copies files, it checks to see if there's enough room on the disk to store the copy. If there is not, and you are copying to a floppy, ELFTREE will tell you there is not enough room to copy the file, and will let you Skip the file, put in a fresh disk and Continue, or Quit copying altogether. If you put in a disk that has not been formatted, ELFTREE will give you an error message (such as "General Failure error on Drive A"), and then ask if you want to format the disk right now. Just tap [Y] to format it, and ELFTREE will invoke the format program you gave to format the disk. (If you have not supplied ELFTREE with the format program yet, then you will be requested to supply it at this time before proceeding to format.) ELFTREE will not format a drive that is not a floppy, so that you cannot use it to format a hard disk inadvertently. After formatting, ELFTREE will resume copying the files. NOTE: When copying directories, ELFTREE will only copy those files that match the current search specification (set under the [F10] key) and attributes. You may want to change the specifications before copying. ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── COPYING TO MORE THAN ONE DIRECTORY ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀ ELFTREE can copy one or more files to more than one directory quickly and easily. Here's how: 1. Tag the files to copy (if more than one). 2. Select the Copy tool. 3. Tag each directory you want to copy them to. 4. Tap [Enter] to start copying. ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── EMPTY FILES OR THOSE WITH SPECIAL ATTRIBUTES ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀ DOS will not copy files of zero length, and when it copies read-only files, the newly created files will not be read-only. As a convenience, ELFTREE will copy zero-length files for you and, if any of your files have special attributes set (hidden, read-only, etc.), they will be retained when copied. (Some older programs use this as a form of copy protection.) ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── SPECIAL CHOICES WHEN A FILE ALREADY EXISTS ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀ If you are copying to a file that already exists, and have not given ELFTREE blanket permission to overwrite it, then ELFTREE will ask you what to do at that time. Your choices are as follows: [N]o - Don't Replace it [Y]es - Replace it [A]ppend - Add to the end of the file. [O]verwrite all - Replace this file, and give permission to overwrite any others that may exist. [V]iew - View the file that already exists. [E]iew - Edit the file that already exists. [R]ename - Rename the file (preserving both). If the file you are about to overwrite is read-only, ELFTREE will ask you for permission to remove this protection before proceeding. If the target file is a directory or label, then ELFTREE will ask you to rename it before proceeding. █▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀█ █ Directory Display █ █▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄█ ELFTREE shows the directory structure on your disk in the shape of a tree. This representation makes it easy for you to manage your directories with a minimum of bother. Here is what you can do while you are looking at the display of your directories: ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── SOME SPECIAL KEYS ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀ [Ctrl-V] - For EGA adapters, this toggles between 25 and 43 line modes. For VGA, this cycles among 25, 28 and 50 line modes. [Ctrl ->] - Highlights the next item on the moving-bar menu. [Ctrl <-] - Highlights the previous item on the moving-bar menu. [Ctrl-ENTER] - Selects the highlighted item on the moving-bar menu. [ENTER] - Selects the directory for display of files, then shows the items in this directory. If copying/moving files, this only selects the destination directory. [ESC] - Cancels current command, if any, and returns you to the directory you left. If that directory no longer exists, you'll be put into a nearby directory. [SPACEBAR] - Tags the current directory, moves to the next one. [F1] - Brings up this help information. [F2] - Displays current ELFTREE settings set via command switches. [F4] - Lets you customize the style of tree you want to use. [F5] - Rescans the subtree from the currently highlighted directory. [F6] - Change to the current directory on another drive. [F7] - Remove an empty directory and all empty subdirectories. If you remove the current directory, you are put into the parent of the one you removed. [F8] - Toggles whether the [ENTER], [->] and [<-] keys affect the moving-bar menu selections. [F9] - Saves the current directory tree, temporarily overriding the /K=0 command-line switch. [F10] - Lets you quickly change what files you wish to be used when you select move, copy, graft or [ENTER]. [C] - Copy the tagged directories to another disk. [E] - Reveals hidden subdirectories of the highlighted directory. [W] or [F] - Lets you search for a directory by name. (DOS wildcards can be used.) [G] - Graft the tagged directories onto another directory. [H] - Hide the tagged directories from view. [M] - Move the tagged directories to another disk. [N] - Make a new subdirectory of the one currently highlighted. [P] - Print the current directory tree. [R] - Rename the currently highlighted directory. [S] - Rebuilds the directory tree for the current disk. [T] - Tag the highlighted directory and all subdirectories of it. [U] - Untag the highlighted directory and all subdirectories of it. [Alt-Key] - Search for a directory whose first letter matches `Key'. For example, [Alt-A] looks for the next one that starts with `A'. ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── MOVING AROUND THE TREE ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀ To navigate around the tree display, these keys are available for your use: [->](cursor right): Highlights the next directory below the current one in the column to the right. If none exist, then highlights the next one in the same column as the current one. [<-](cursor left): Highlights the next directory above the current one in the column to the left of the current column. [](cursor up): Highlights the directory that precedes the current one that is also in this column. If none exist, go one column to the left. [](cursor down): Highlights the directory that follows the current one that is also in this column. If none exist, go one column to the left. [HOME] - Moves the cursor bar to the ROOT directory. [END] - Moves the cursor bar to the last directory. [.] or [Ctrl-P] - Moves the cursor bar to the parent of the currently highlighted directory. [PGUP] - Moves the highlight to the first directory, if it's not already there, otherwise backs up one screen of the tree. [PGDN] - Moves the highlight to the last directory on the screen, if it's not already there, otherwise goes forward to the next page of the display. [Plus] or [+] - Moves the cursor bar forward one directory, wrapping around when it gets to the end. [Minus] or [-] - Moves the cursor bar backward one directory, wrapping around when it gets to the beginning. ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── TREE WIDTH ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀ ELFTREE is sensitive to the length of directory names. Shorter names yield a tree with narrower columns than one with longer names. Thus, more columns of directories are displayed if you keep these names short. (When determining the width of the tree columns, only visible directories are used. So, you can make ELFTREE see only short names by Hiding the ones with long names!) ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── [DEL], [F7] ERASE DIRECTORY ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀ Once you've deleted all of the items in a directory, you can delete the directory itself by tapping the [F7] or [DEL] key. If successful, the directory tree is updated to reflect the change. If not, you still have files (or nonempty subdirectories) still in the directory. Check the file search specification ([F10] key) to see if you may have excluded certain files inadvertently when you performed the erasure. If you still have subdirectories in the directory, the subdirectories will appear attached to the right of the directory you are trying to remove. You will have to delete the files in these `child' directories before you can delete the `parent' directory. ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── [C, M] COPY/MOVE DIRECTORIES ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀ To copy or move one or more directories, just tag them (tap [SPACEBAR] to tag the currently highlighted directory) and tap [C] to copy them or [M] to move them. Next, indicate what disk to copy or move them to, and let ELFTREE do it for you. The files will be copied or moved to directories of exactly the same name on the disk you specified. ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── [E] EXPOSE DIRECTORY ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀ To expose one or more hidden child subdirectories of the currently highlighted directory, simply tap [E], and they will be exposed. ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── [F] FIND DIRECTORY ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀ To find a directory of a given name, you can search for it by tapping the [F] or [W] keys. You will be prompted for the name to look for (wildcards can be used), then ELFTREE will move the cursor bar to directories that match the name you entered. For example, if you want to find a directory called TREE, you could search for it by entering TR*. ELFTREE would find TREE, of course, but it would also find TROUBLE, TRACK, and other directories you have that begin with TR. After finding a directory for you, ELFTREE asks you if it should keep looking. If you have the one you want, tap [ENTER] to select it, or [ESC] to return to the directory you started from. This is especially handy when looking at a tree display of a disk with many directories. Using it will help you find the directory you want quickly. ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── [G] GRAFT DIRECTORY ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀ To graft one or more directories onto another, just tag them and tap [G]. Next, specify whether the directories should be copied or moved during the grafting process, and what disk to graft the directories onto (you can graft them onto any disk, including the current one). You'll be shown a directory tree for this disk; highlight the directory you want to graft onto, and tap [ENTER] to select it and begin the grafting process. Here's an example. Suppose I tag five directories to graft: C:\ ─────┬ DUMMY1 ──┬ A │ ├─ B ───────┬ C │ │ └ D │ └─ E ├─ DUMMY2 ──┬ 1 │ ├─ 2 │ └─ 3 └─ DUMMY3 Next, I'll specify that I want these directories moved, that I want drive C, and I'll select DUMMY3 as the target directory. This is what the tree will look like after the grafting is done: C:\ ─────┬─ DUMMY1 ──┬─ B │ └─ E ├─ DUMMY2 ──┬─ 2 │ └─ 3 └─ DUMMY3 ──┬─ DUMMY1 ──┬─ A │ ├─ C │ └─ D └─ 1 Notice that, even though DUMMY1 was not able to be removed (it has child directories of B and E), all of the files that it contained have been moved to the DUMMY1 child of DUMMY3 (assuming here that the filespec used was *.*). Notice, too that directories C and D are now attached directly to DUMMY1, instead of being attached to B. You can see that grafting directories is a quick way to redo the directory structure of a disk. With ELFTREE, you can graft files onto another disk, which is especially handy on networks. ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── [H] HIDE DIRECTORY ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀ To hide one or more directories, just tag them (tap [SPACEBAR] to tag the currently highlighted directory) and tap [H]. The tagged directories will be immediately removed from view (they still exist, but are just not shown). To expose them again, move to their parent directory and tap [E]. ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── [N] NEW DIRECTORY ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀ To create a new subdirectory, just highlight the directory you want to serve as the `parent' of the new directory and tap [N]. You will then be prompted for a name to give this `child'. Just tell ELFTREE what name to use, and let ELFTREE make it for you. If successful, ELFTREE will show you the updated tree with the new directory in it (if it fits on the screen). ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── [P] PRINT TREE ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀ To print the current directory tree, simply tap [P] when you are looking at the tree, and it will be printed immediately. [F4] CHANGE TREE STYLE ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀ You can change the characters used to show the tree with the [F4] key. This may be needed if your printer has a difficult time trying to draw the tree (for example, you might get letters where lines should appear). ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── [S] SCAN DISK ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀ Sometimes, such as after copying directories to another disk, or inserting a new floppy disk into your machine, you may need to rescan a disk. Simply tap [S] to start the scan, wait a few seconds to complete, and ELFTREE will display the tree for you. If you wish to scan only the portion of the tree beginning with the current directory, tap [F5] instead of [S]. If you have told ELFTREE to exclude files with certain attributes from the display, then any directories with these attributes will likewise be excluded when the disk is scanned. ELFTREE is respecting your wish for privacy for these directories. ELFTREE will automatically initiate a scan of your disk if you ask to bring up the tree display while in a directory that was not created with ELFTREE. This is a convenience for you, so that ELFTREE can give you up-to-date information on your disk. When ELFTREE builds a new tree by scanning the disk, it reveals all directories that were formerly hidden through use of [H], as described above. Simply tag them and tap [H] to hide them again. █▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀█ █ Editing A File █ █▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄█ ELFTREE comes with an editor (ELFEDIT.EXE) that provides the functions and simplicity you need. With it, you can use block commands of copy, cut, paste, print, and save, and can convert a block to UPPER, Proper and lower cases instantly! The editor has support for EGA/VGA displays, 11 keyboard macros for complex editing tasks, adjustable TAB stop settings and a host of other niceties. Best of all, this editor is designed to work not just on one file, but as many as will fit into memory! This lets you transfer your work from one file to many others with speed. You will love it, we're sure. The editor can handle large files - even 500,000 bytes, and a line length of up to 20,000 bytes (the defaults are 65,500 and 1,000), but you can change this. Here's an example of how to command it to use only 5,000 bytes per file, with a line length of 2,000 bytes: ELFEDIT /M=5000 /L=2000 Of course, you can use the editor from the DOS environment as well, and there is one distinct advantage to doing so, namely, you can specify which files to edit by using wildcards. Here's how to load a number of .BAT and .PRG files at once, using only 10000 bytes per file: ELFEDIT *.BAT *.PRG /m=10000 The number of files ELFTREE can edit simultaneously is determined by the size of the editing buffer you select with the /M=##### command-line parameter. If you specify an editing buffer of 500000 bytes, then you'll only be able to edit one file. If you choose a buffer size of 10000 bytes, you'll be able to edit dozens of files. If you are not sure how much memory you have available, use ELFTREE's Space command to tell you. Here is a list of 12 features available to you in the editor: 1. Edit large/multiple files - depending on available memory. 2. FAST Block functions - Copy, Delete, Paste, Print, Save, Convert to UPPER/Proper/lower case, Print Mailing Labels. 3. FAST Column Block functions - Copy, Delete or Paste. 4. FAST Search and Replace - replace a phrase with another. You can confirm each selection, change just one occurrence, or change all of them. Also, you can count the number of times a word or phrase occurs in the file. 5. Merge File - Insert a file into the one currently being edited at the cursor position. 6. Instant Key Help - Tap [F1]. 7. Delete/Copy/Paste single lines quickly. 8. FAST loading - the editor is small, so it loads very quickly, and any file you load displays immediately. 9. FAST Cursor Operations - Immediate Page Up, Page Down, etc., no matter how fast your cursor is. 10. Keyboard Macros - Create and store up to 11 macros for complex repetitive editing chores. 11. Customizability - Customize the video mode (supports 25/43 lines for EGA, 25/28/50 for VGA), the colors, the tabstops, autosave, and backup of files. 12. Load a new file into a fresh buffer - if there is room - or jump to any file currently loaded. ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── USING ANOTHER EDITOR ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀ Of course, it's okay if you have another editor you prefer. To use your editor from within ELFTREE, you have to tell ELFTREE how to find it. Tap [F4] for the Customize options, and select [K] for Editor Path. Enter the complete name (with path, if known), any any parameters you want included with each invocation, whether it needs lots of memory, and what key it uses for the command [Go To Line #]. Notes: You may use ELFTREE's macro symbols among the parameters. The [Go To Line #] key is only used if you tap [E] while viewing a file with line numbers active, and makes the editor start at the line currently shown at the top of the viewer. (Be sure to save [F9] your configuration before leaving ELFTREE, so this information is remembered.) ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── INVOKING THE EDITOR ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀ Once you tell ELFTREE the name of your editor, and what parameters you want to use with it (macro symbols can be used), it is available for use by selecting EDIT from the menu bar. (Tap [E], or highlight EDIT and tap [ENTER].) ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── EDITING MULTIPLE FILES ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀ To edit multiple files, just `tag' the files you wish to edit, and select the `Tagged' submenu option under `EDIT'. ELFTREE will supply the names of the tagged files (up to 115 bytes, counting the spaces between the names, if in list form). █▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀█ █ Finding Files █ █▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄█ Ever wish you could work with files from dozens of directories and on several disks as if they were in one? For example, you might want to locate all of those files relating to a particular project so you can copy them to a floppy, or transfer them to someone else across the network. With ELFTREE, this is easy. The Find menu selection makes this possible. Notes: If you wish to quickly locate all files on all non-floppy drives that match the current file specification, the special keys [Ctrl-F10] or [F11] will do this for you. Networked users should set the ETDRIVES environment variable so that ELFTREE will know which drives to search when looking for files. Here's an example of how to set it to search drives C, D, E and F: SET ETDRIVES=CDEF ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── DATE ▀▀▀▀ This lets you gather a group of files within a range of dates. To activate it, select Date from the Find submenu by tapping [D]. You'll be asked to enter a pair of dates for ELFTREE to use when it builds the table of files for you - only files whose dates are between the ones you supplied will be included. You will then be asked to enter a range of filespecs to look through, to indicate any special attributes you want to include, and to specify what disks to search for these files on. Finally, if you chose only one disk to search, ELFTREE will ask if you want to search all of the directories on the disk (you may only want to search a particular subtree, for example). If you choose No, you'll be asked to tag the directories you want searched, and ELFTREE will only search these directories. Otherwise, ELFTREE will look through all of the directories on the disk, grabbing all of the files matching these specifications and displaying them for you. Note: To find all files with a particular date, just type the same date twice to make the pair. ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── GLOBAL ▀▀▀▀▀▀ This lets you gather a bunch of files that match a group of filespecs you want to search for. To activate it, select Global from the Find submenu by tapping [G]. You'll be asked to enter the filespecs to look for (feel free to use DOS wildcards here, or to put multiple specs on the line, separated by colons), and the file attributes you are interested in. Next, tell ELFTREE what disks to look on - include network drives if you wish them to be searched as well. Finally, if you chose only one disk to search, ELFTREE will ask if you want to search all of the directories on the disk (you may only want to search a particular subtree, for example). If you choose No, you'll be asked to tag the directories you want searched, and ELFTREE will only search these directories. Otherwise, ELFTREE will look through all of the directories on the disk. For Example ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀ For example, to find all files that begin with ELF, or have an extension of .ELF, you would tell ELFTREE to look for: ELF*.*:*.ELF This would find ELFTREE.CHL, AUTOEXEC.ELF, etc. As ELFTREE searches for the files, it tells you which directory and disk it is currently looking in. When it completes the search, it displays the files that it found. (If it didn't find any, you'll be returned to what you had previously.) WHAT CAN YOU DO NOW? ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀ From the display, you have access to ALL of ELFTREE's usual tools, so you can tag several files, copy or move them to a particular directory or disk, dupe them, edit them, erase them, print them, rename them, view them, etc. Just use the tools provided to get the job done. ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── LOAD ▀▀▀▀ If the highlighted file is a list of files that you had saved using the Save submenu option under Find, this command will load it immediately for you to use. ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── MERGE ▀▀▀▀▀ If the highlighted file is a list of files that you had saved using the Save submenu option under Find, this command will merge the stored files with the ones you are currently working with (or load them if none are already loaded). ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── PREVIOUS ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀ When you select the Date, Global, or Text options for a search, ELFTREE automatically stores the file information it finds in a file called LASTFIND.ETG. The Previous option loads this file for you, as a convenience. ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── REFRESH ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀ When working with a saved selection of files, the information in them may get stale with age, as files get moved, changed, erased, etc. This option updates the information kept for each file currently loaded, and removes those that no longer exist where they once did. If you wish to only refresh a few files, just tag them before selecting this tool. ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── SAVE ▀▀▀▀ This saves the current file display for later use. If you are working on a global list of files, the file will be saved, with the extension .ETG, either to the directory where ELFTREE is stored or in the directory specified by the environment variable ETFIND. If you are working on a local list of files, this will be saved, with an extension of .ETL, to the current directory. To make such a file of files auto-loading when ELFTREE starts up, simply use a filename of AUTOET. Such a file is used by ELFTREE if it saves your files before running a program, and is erased when it starts up again. ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── TEXT ▀▀▀▀ This lets you gather a bunch of files that have a specific piece of text in them. To activate it, select Text from the Find submenu by tapping [T]. You'll be asked to enter the text to search for, and whether to look only through files in the current directory. If you specify the current directory, it will either search the highlighted file, if none are tagged, or all of the tagged files. When it finds a file that has this text, it `retags' it, otherwise it `untags' it. If you specify a broader search scope, you will be asked for a group of filespecs to search through, then the attributes that are acceptable (Directory has no meaning here). Next, you'll be asked for the disks to search on. By default, floppy drives are left out, but you can add them now if you wish them searched. If you chose only one disk to search, ELFTREE will ask if you want to search all of the directories on the disk (you may only want to search a particular subtree, for example). If you choose No, you'll be asked to tag the directories you want searched, and ELFTREE will only search these directories. Otherwise, ELFTREE will look through all of the directories on the disk. When ELFTREE is done searching, it will display all of the files that have this text in it, if any. If none were found, you will be returned to directory you were in before you started the search. ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── ADJUSTING CAPACITY ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀ You can adjust the number of directories and files ELFTREE will use (1500 files, 50 directories is the default; up to 999 directories and 16,384 files can be used) for the Find facility. Here's an example of how to start up ELFTREE so that it uses 1000 files and 100 directories: ET /F=1000 /G=100 Remember to Save [F9] ELFTREE's settings if you want this kept for the next time you start up ELFTREE. █▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀█ █ Moving Files and Directories █ █▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄█ You can move one or many files (even entire directories) with ELFTREE, and with far fewer keystrokes than DOS. Also, since ELFTREE will move files to other disks (or other machines on a network), you have much more capability than DOS gives you. If you have a note attached to a file, the note will be moved with the file if there is no file with that name in the directory you are moving to. ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── HILIGHTED ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀ To move the highlighted file only, simply select the Move option on the menu bar Hilighted from the submenu displayed. Next, find the directory you want to move files to (or make a new one, if you need to), tap [ENTER], and sit back and let ELFTREE move it for you. ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── TAGGED ▀▀▀▀▀▀ After you have tagged the files you want to move (by tapping [SPACEBAR], or using the TAG menu command), you can Move them by selecting Move from the main menu, and Tagged from the submenu. Next, find the directory you want to move files to (or make a new one, if you need to), tap [ENTER], and sit back and let ELFTREE do all the work for you. If you don't want ELFTREE to ask for permission about replacing files that may exist in the target directory before starting to move the tagged files, use the command-line switch /O=1. Be careful, though - you may replace files you didn't intend to replace! If you don't want ELFTREE to replace existing files when moving then, when it encounters a file with the same name in the target directory, ELFTREE will ask for directions. Replying: `Yes' - replaces the current file. `No' - skips to the next file. `Append' - adds the contents of this file to the target file. `Overwrite All' - replaces this file and any others that have the same name as a file being copied from the original directory. `Compare' - determines whether the two files are identical. `Rename' - lets you choose a different name for the file to be created. `View' - views the target file. `Edit' - edits the target file. ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── DIRECTORIES ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀ ELFTREE will let you move entire directories on the current disk to another disk. To do this, you must be looking at the directory tree (tap [D] to get to it); Tag the directories you want moved. Here's how to tag them: 1. Use [SPACEBAR] to tag an individual directory. 2. [T] - to tag the current directory and all of its subdirectories. (Hint: to tag all directories on a disk, move to the root directory before tapping [T].) 3. [U] - to untag the current directory and all of its subdirectories. Now, tap [M], tell ELFTREE what disk to move to, and sit back and let ELFTREE do it for you. If you elect to move the directories to another disk, then ELFTREE will copy the files and, if successful, will erase the originals. As ELFTREE copies files, it checks to see if there's enough room on the disk to store the copy. If there isn't, and you are copying to a floppy, ELFTREE will tell you there is not enough room to copy the file, and will let you Skip the file, put in a fresh disk and Continue, or Quit copying altogether. If you put in a disk that has not been formatted, ELFTREE will give you an error message (such as "General Failure error on Drive A"), and then ask if you want to format the disk right now. Just answer `Y' to format it, and ELFTREE will invoke the format program you specified to format the disk. (If you have not supplied ELFTREE with the format program yet, you will be requested to supply it at this time before proceeding to format.) ELFTREE will not format a drive that is not a floppy, so that you cannot use it to format a hard disk inadvertently. After formatting, ELFTREE will resume moving the files. After moving the directories, ELFTREE attempts to remove any empty tagged directories from the tree for your convenience. NOTE: When moving directories, ELFTREE will only move those files that match the current search specification (set under the [F10] key) and attributes. You may want to change the specifications before moving. ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── MOVING TO MORE THAN ONE DIRECTORY ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀ ELFTREE can move one or more files to more than one directory quickly and easily. Here's how: 1. Tag the files to move (if more than one). 2. Select the Move tool. 3. Tag each directory you want to move them to. 4. Tap [Enter] to start moving. ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── EMPTY FILES OR THOSE WITH SPECIAL ATTRIBUTES ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀ DOS will not copy files of zero length and, when it copies read-only files, the newly created files will not be read-only. As a convenience, ELFTREE will move zero-length files for you and, if any of your files have special attributes set (hidden, read-only, etc.), they will be retained when moved. Some programs use hidden empty files as a form of copy protection. ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── SPECIAL CHOICES WHEN A FILE ALREADY EXISTS ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀ If you are moving to a file that already exists, and have not given ELFTREE blanket permission to overwrite it, then ELFTREE will ask you what to do at that time. Your choices are as follows: [N]o - Don't Replace it [Y]es - Replace it [A]ppend - Add to the end of the file. [O]verwrite all - Replace this file, and give permission to overwrite any others that may exist. [V]iew - View the file that already exists. [E]iew - Edit the file that already exists. [R]ename - Rename the file being moved (preserving both). If the file you are about to overwrite is read-only, ELFTREE will ask you for permission to remove this protection before proceeding. If the target file is a directory or label, then ELFTREE will ask you to rename it before proceeding. █▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀█ █ Notes and Files █ █▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄█ Ever need to attach a brief note to a file? It might be a short description of what the file contains, of what still needs to be done with the file (as a reminder), or whatever. ELFTREE lets you attach a note to a file, to erase a note attached to a file, or to search for files whose notes contain a string that you are looking for. (One caution, however. You can only use the Note tool when working with one directory of files.) ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── ADD OR EDIT A NOTE ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀ To add a note to the currently highlighted file, or edit one that has been attached to it just select Note Add from the main menu, and enter (or change) the note. When you have completed it, tap [ENTER] to keep it. To attach notes to more than one file, just tag them first. ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── ERASE A NOTE ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀ To erase a note that is attached to the currently selected file, just select Note Erase from the menu. If you wish to remove notes from more than one file, or you are in Immediate mode, just tag the files whose notes are to be deleted beforehand. ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── FIND A NOTE ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀ Once you've added dozens of notes to your files, you may need help locating a particular note, and that's what Note Find is designed to do for you. After selecting the tool, you'll be asked to enter a character string to look for. Then, ELFTREE will look through all of the notes it has for the directory, and will tag those files where the note has the string you wanted. ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── FOR 4DOS USERS ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀ If you use 4DOS, you may be aware that it has a facility to attach notes to files as well. ELFTREE can use these note files instead of creating duplicate ones, but you won't be able to save a note longer than 40 characters. To enable 4DOS-style notes, use the command-line switch /4 (the switch /5 cancels this). Also, be sure to use the command-line switch /N=#### to tell ELFTREE the maximum number of notes to reserve space for. █▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀█ █ Printing With ELFTREE █ █▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄█ You can print the contents of one or many files, the current listing of files in the file information area, or a picture of the directory tree display for the current disk with ELFTREE. ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── PRINTER PARAMETERS ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀ Before ELFTREE prints something (a file, the directory tree, a marked block) for you, you can tell it how you want the output to look. Here are the parameters you can configure, and what they mean: PRINT AS IS ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀ If you want ELFTREE to print exactly what's in the file, without converting tabs, printing the filename, paying attention to margins, etc., then enter a `Y' for this. If you are in Immediate mode, entering a `Y' will proceed to print the file(s) immediately. SETUP STRING ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀ Sent just before each new page is started, the setup string can be used to change the number of lines per inch for your printer, to print in a particular typeface or a certain pitch, etc. Note: If you need to put the Escape character on the line for the setup string, use the key sequence [Alt-Z]. PAGE HEADER ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀ You may wish to print something at the top of each page printed. Simply type it in the space provided. Note: the Top Margin must be at least 2 for the page header to be printed. LEFT MARGIN ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀ Enter a number to indicate the number of character positions you wish each line to be indented by. RIGHT MARGIN ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀ Enter a number to indicate the last position a character may be printed on a line. A line that is longer than what is allowed by the Left and Right margin settings will be split, with the balance of the line appearing on subsequent lines, as needed. TOP MARGIN ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀ Enter a number to indicate the number of blank lines to put at the top of each page printed. BOTTOM MARGIN ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀ Enter a number to indicate the number of blank lines to put at the bottom of each page printed. PAGE LENGTH ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀ Enter a number to indicate how many lines can be put on a page. For example, if your printer is set for 6 lines per inch, and you are using 11 inch long paper, then use 66 here. The number of text lines printed is this number minus the number of lines used for the top and bottom margins. CHANGE TABSTOP ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀ By default, almost all printers expand tabs to the next tab stop, which are usually 8 positions apart. If you wish for ELFTREE to choose a different tab separation, enter a number indicating what you wish for the new tab setting. Note: If you are printing a file that was printed to disk from your word processor, we recommend a setting of 0, as the file most likely contains its own margin settings. We also recommend that you enter a `Y' for the Print As Is selection. PRINT FILENAME ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀ When you print a file, you may wish the name of the file to appear at the top of each page. If so, enter a `Y' in this box, otherwise enter `N'. Note: the Top Margin setting must be at least 2 for this to have an effect. LINE NUMBERS ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀ If you wish ELFTREE to put line numbers in front of each line that it prints, enter a `Y' for this. Be sure that you enter a value for the Left Margin that will allow sufficient room for the numbers to be printed, otherwise this option is ignored! ELFTREE will print line numbers up to 4 billion plus. PRINTER PORT ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀ Currently, ELFTREE supports printing only to parallel ports LPT1, LPT2, and LPT3. Enter a `1' if you want LPT1, a `2' to indicate LPT2, or a `3' to indicate LPT3. DESTINATION (P/F) ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀ If you wish to print to the printer port specified, enter a `P'. If you wish to print to a file, enter an `F' here, and enter a filename for the file to be printed to in the next area. PAGE START ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀ If you want to start printing beginning with a page other than 1, enter the page in this area. PAGE STOP ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀ To print only a portion of the text, specify what page to stop at in this area. PAGE STEP ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀ To print every page, use 1 in this area. To print every other page, use a 2 here. For example, to print every even page, starting with page 2, put a 2 in the Page Start area, a sufficiently large number in the Page Stop area, and a 2 in the Page Step area. ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── PRINT ONE FILE ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀ To print one file, select PRINT from the main menu and HILIGHTED from the next menu. Fill in the printer parameters, tap [F10], and ELFTREE will start printing. After the file is printed, ELFTREE will send a form feed to the printer for you. ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── PRINT SEVERAL FILES ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀ To print more than one, just `tag' the files you want to use, select PRINT from the main menu, and TAGGED from the submenu, fill in the printer parameters, tap [F10], and ELFTREE will start printing. ELFTREE will send a form feed to the printer for you after each file is done. ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── PRINT DIRECTORY LISTING ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀ To print the current directory listing, just select PRINT from the main menu, and LISTING from the submenu. The listing will be sent to the printer in the order currently displayed, so you may want to Sort [F2] it and Rearrange [F5] it before printing. If files are tagged, ELFTREE will ask you if you want to include only the tagged files when it prints the listing. If any of the files have a note attached, the note will appear as well. ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── INTERRUPT PRINTING ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀ You can interrupt ELFTREE while it is printing by tapping a key on your keyboard. You then tap [R] to resume, or [ESC] to quit. █▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀█ █ Renaming A File Or Directory █ █▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄█ You can rename one or many files listed in the file information area with ELFTREE. In addition, if you have DOS 3.X or later, you can rename directories with ELFTREE as well. ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── RENAME ONE FILE ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀ To rename one file, just highlight it, select RENAME, (select HIGHLIGHTED from the submenu if files are tagged), enter the new name for it, and tap [ENTER]. ELFTREE will not re-sort the file information area when you rename a file, but you can force it to do this by using the Sort [F2] key. ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── RENAME SEVERAL FILES ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀ To rename more than one files , just `tag' the ones you want to use, select RENAME from the main menu and TAGGED from the submenu and ELFTREE will feed them to you for renaming, one by one. If you want to use a pattern to rename all of the tagged files, just type in the pattern (it must either use DOS wildcards, or begin with a period, to be recognized as a pattern by ELFTREE) you want to use for the first file. ELFTREE will sense the pattern, (if any) and will ask if you want to use the same pattern to rename the rest of the files. Answer [Y] if you want the rest of the files to be renamed using this pattern. ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── RENAME A DIRECTORY ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀ To rename a directory, just highlight it as you would a file (directories cannot be tagged), select RENAME, enter the new name for it, and tap [ENTER]. ELFTREE will rearrange the directory tree display, if needed, so that the directories are still in alphabetical order. This saves you the effort of rescanning the disk to rebuild the directory structure. You can rename a directory from the file display or from the tree display. █▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀█ █ Get Space Usage On A Disk █ █▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄█ ELFTREE can tell you how much of a disk's space is in use, how much is available for use and how much space the disk is capable of holding. To check the space on a disk, just select SPACE from the main menu and give it the disk letter to use. The displayed information will look something like this: 5,879,808 left 15,341,568 used 21,221,376 total (72% full) 5,120 tagged 471,284 RAM free 655,360 RAM installed The first number tells you how much space remains on your disk. The second number tells you how many bytes have been used up on the disk by directories and files. The third number tells you the capacity of your disk, if nothing were stored on it. The percentage gives you an idea of how full your disk is. The fifth number tells you how much space the tagged files use on the chosen disk (or would if they were copied there). The last two numbers tell you how much memory is available, and how much is installed on your machine (EMS, etc. is not included). Together, these figures will help you stay on top of how much disk space your current applications are using on your disk. This will help you to decide when to remove them from the disk, or upgrade the capacity of the disks on your system. █▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀█ █ Tagging Files █ █▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄█ ELFTREE can perform many of its operations on either one file or several. The mechanism by which you tell ELFTREE which files to use for your next operation is called TAGGING, and there are eight ways to do it. After you have learned how to tag files, you are ready to discover the real power of ELFTREE. By tagging files, you can instruct ELFTREE to work with a diverse group of them with just a couple of keystrokes. ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── TAG HIGHLIGHTED FILE ONLY ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀ If the currently highlighted item in the file information area is a file, you can `tag' it by tapping [SPACEBAR]. When you do this, a `' symbol will appear to the left of the file name, and the totals for tagged files at the bottom will change to reflect your action. To `untag' a file, just highlight it again and tap [SPACEBAR] again. This will remove the `', and the totals will be changed accordingly. Note: Directories cannot be tagged. When the highlighted item is a directory and you tap [SPACEBAR], the highlight moves to the first file after the directory, if possible. ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── If you need to tag or untag more than a few files, use the TAG menu selection to reveal some additional choices available to you. Here is a description of each option on this submenu: ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── ALL ▀▀▀ Selecting this submenu option will `tag' all files in the file information area. ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── DIFF ▀▀▀▀ Selecting this submenu option will `tag' those files that are not identical to the files in the last directory you were in. You will be asked whether you want the files compared by bytes, which takes longer, or by properties, which just compares the sizes, date/time stamp, and attributes. Answer [S] for the slower operation, or [F] for the faster one. If you choose [S], you must tag the files you want compared if you want to compare more than one. After comparing each pair of files, the file in the current directory is either tagged, retagged, or untagged, according to whether the file in the other directory is different, does not exist, or is found to be identical, respectively. The keystroke sequence [Ctrl-F8] also activates this feature. ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── DUPE ▀▀▀▀ This option appears only if you use Find to gather files from different directories. It will `tag' those files that have the same name as another file (or directory) in the list. To move among the duplicate file names, use the `>' and `<' keys (these are designed to move among tagged files). The keystroke sequence [Ctrl-F8] also activates this feature. ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── GROUP ▀▀▀▀▀ Selecting this submenu option will let you specify (using DOS wildcards * and ? if necessary) which files should be `tagged'. Here are some examples: *.EXE - tags all files with an extension of `.EXE' TR*.* - tags all files that begin with `TR' BA*.PAS - tags all files that begin with `BA' and have an extension of `.PAS' ???.* - tags all files that have three letters in their filename and may or may not have an extension. ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── HIGH ▀▀▀▀ This option will `tag' all of the files above the highlight bar, but will not tag the file highlighted. This is handy, for example, when your files are sorted by date/time, and you want to tag all of the files that are before or after a certain date. ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── INVERT ▀▀▀▀▀▀ Selecting this submenu option will cause all `tagged' files to become `untagged', and all `untagged' files to be `tagged'. This is most useful when you want to tag all but a few of the files in the current directory. In this scenario, you would `tag' the files you DON'T WANT, then select TAG/INVERT. Presto! the files you do want are now `tagged', as desired. ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── KEEP ▀▀▀▀ Select this option when you wish to restrict the file display to only those files that are currently tagged. For example, you may wish to work with files relating to a particular project, and no others. To do this, just tag the files you want kept for the display and select [T]ag [K]eep from the menu bar. If you wish to save this setting to a file, choose [F]ind [S]ave to do so. ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── LOW ▀▀▀ This option will `tag' all of the files below and including the highlight bar. This is handy, for example, when your files are sorted by date/time, and you want to tag all of the files that are before or after a certain date. ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── NOTES ▀▀▀▀▀ Selecting this submenu option will `tag' all files in the file information area that have a note attached to them. ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── RETAG ▀▀▀▀▀ After ELFTREE performs an operation on one or more files, it puts a small `o' in front of it where the `' was. This lets you `tag' the files again, in case you want to perform an additional operation on them. ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── UNTAG ▀▀▀▀▀ When you select this option, you will `untag' some or all of the files in the file information area. If you have one or more files `tagged' (denoted by a solid diamond), and others are `retagged' (denoted by a hollow circle), then ELFTREE will just clear the tags off of the ones marked with the diamond. If no files are tagged, then all of the `retag' symbols will be cleared. This two-step process lets you isolate the files that are `retagged' for a particular operation. As an example, you might use the Tag Diff selection to compare two directories, which leaves some files tagged (which means they are in both but are not identical) and others retagged (which means that they are not in the other directory at all). By clearing the tagged files, you can then use Tag Retag to select the files that did not exist in the other directory. █▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀█ █ Viewing A File █ █▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄█ ELFTREE can show you the contents of any file on your disk, no matter how large it is. This is handy when you need to take a peek inside a file, but your editor cannot handle it. For example, you might want to look at the documents in your word processing directory to see which ones were memos to your boss. ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── VIEWING MODES ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀ ELFTREE can display your file in one of these modes: 1. Hex - ASCII on the right, corresponding HEX on the left. 2. Normal - Filtering of carriage return/line feed pairs only. 3. High Bit Off - Only use lower 7 bits of each character. 4. Text and Graphics - Skip control characters (below 32). 5. Text Only - Skip control and graphics characters (above 126). 6. A-Z, a-z - Show alphabetic characters only. In addition, you can select whether long lines of text should wrap around when the screen border is reached. (When wrapped, a ruler line appears just above the display area for your convenience.) Note: Only text files can wrap; binary files cannot. ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── ACTIVE KEYS ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀ These keys are available while viewing a file: [Ctrl-V] - For EGA adapters, this toggles between 25 and 43 line modes. For VGA adapters, this cycles among 25, 28 and 50 line modes. [A] - Repeats search for text (top-to-bottom). [Alt-A] - Repeats search for text (bottom-to-top). [B] - Mark beginning/end of a block in the file. [C] - Change case used for text search. [Shift-TAB], [TAB],[D] - Change text filter used for displaying file. [E] - Leaves viewer, invokes editor for this file. [F] - Initiates search for text (top-to-bottom). [Alt-F] - Initiates search for text (bottom-to-top). [H] - Toggles the HEX display filter. [J] - Jump to specific position in file being viewed. [L] - Toggles whether line numbers are shown or not. [O] - Toggles whether orphaned [CR] and chars are treated as end-of-line characters. [T] - Toggles whether tabs are expanded or not. [W] - Toggles wrapping of long lines. [I], [Alt-I] - Toggles translation from IBM EBCDIC to ASCII. [Alt-1]-[Alt-8] - Changes tabstop expansion to 1-8, respectively. [+],[-] - Increases/Decreases tabstop setting by 1. [F5] - Marks the file as a block and activates block menu. [F8] - Toggles whether the [ENTER], [->] and [<-] keys affect the moving-bar menu selections. [F9] - Moves backward 1/3 page in the file. [Ctrl ->] - Highlights next menu item on the moving-bar menu. [Ctrl <-] - Highlights previous menu item on the moving-bar menu. [Ctrl-ENTER] - Selects the highlighted menu item. [ENTER] - same as above. [->] - If Menu is active, highlights next menu item, otherwise moves forward 1 byte in the file. [<-] - If Menu is active, highlights previous menu item, otherwise moves backward 1 byte in the file. [] - Moves backward 1 line in the file. [] - Moves forward 1 line in the file. [PgUp] - Moves backward 1 page in the file. [PgDn] - Moves forward 1 page in the file. [HOME] - Moves to beginning of file. [END] - Moves to end of file. [DEL] - Erases the file (after prompting). [Ctrl-PgUp] - Views previous file in the list. [Ctrl-PgDn] - Views next file in the list. ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── BRING UP EDITOR [E] ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀ You can bring up your editor to work on the file you're currently viewing by tapping [E]. This is handy if you see a need for changes in the file you're viewing. ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── CUSTOMIZABLE TAB STOPS [T,+,-] ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀ If you regularly browse text files, you'll appreciate a special feature of ELFTREE. You can tell ELFTREE whether to expand tabs to selected tab stop settings or not and, if they are expanded, how far apart the tab stops should be (from 1 to 8). If you're a programmer, this makes it handier to view listings. ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── FOR EGA and VGA DISPLAYS [Ctrl-V] ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀ While viewing a file, you can advance or go backward one line at a time (two if in hex display mode) or one screen at a time. You can also change the display (if you have an EGA) to 43 line mode from 25 line mode or vice versa. If you have a VGA, you cycle among 25, 28 and 50 line modes. (The keystroke [Ctrl-V] activates this. Hold down the [Ctrl] key, tap [V] once, then release both.) ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── AUTOMATIC SCROLLING [1..9] ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀ You can scroll either forward or backward in your file at varying speeds. To do this, tap either the UpArrow or DownArrow keys (this tells ELFTREE what direction to scroll), and then the speed (1 - 9) digit. A speed of 1 is slowest, and 9 is the fastest. You can adjust the speed during scrolling by tapping the digit corresponding to the new setting. To stop scrolling, tap [0]. (The key you tap will be acted on, so if you touch [E], for example, you will stop scrolling and invoke the editor. ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── SEARCH FOR A STRING [F] ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀ You can tell ELFTREE to look for text in the file. To do this, tap [F], just like when you are looking for a file or directory. In the box that appears, type the text you wish to search for. To begin the search, tap [Enter]. If ELFTREE does not find it, you will be told, otherwise the text will appear near the top of the screen. To repeat the search, tap [A] (for Again). Note: The above directions assume you want the search from the current position in the file to the end of the file (called top-to-bottom searching). If you want to search in the opposite direction, use [Alt-F] and [Alt-A] instead of [F] and [A], resp. To search for a hexadecimal text string such as 'CD 21' (ignore the quotes), you would enter CD 21 in the window, then tap [F10] to begin the search. ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── JUMP AROUND IN FILE [J] ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀ You can jump to a specific position in the file being viewed. Tap [J] (for JUMP) and type in the position you want to jump to. For example, if you're viewing a 24 million byte file, you can jump to the 2 millionth character by entering 2M, 2000K, or 2,000,000. The suffix `M' is treated as `Million' and the suffix `K' is treated as `Thousand'. The byte in the upper left corner of the file viewing area is the byte at this position. You can also enter the position as a hexadecimal (base 16) number. For example, if you wish 2M to be treated as 2 Megabytes, enter it as X2M (the leading `X' indicates that it's in base 16, or `hex'). Of course, you can enter a `hex' number directly, such as FFFF (which is 65,535 in decimal). You only need to use the leading `X' for hexadecimal numbers if there are no `hex' numerals in the position you specify. ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── LINE NUMBERS [L] ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀ When you select a file to view, ELFTREE initializes counters to keep track of what line you are currently on, and what position you are at. If you want to see the line numbers, tap [L] once. If you prefer to see the position, tap [L] to turn the numbers off. If line numbers are shown, if you tap [E] to edit the file being viewed, ELFTREE can make your editor start at the current line! This saves you from having to execute a [Go To Line #] command from inside your editor. Note: ELFTREE may not be able to keep track of the line number at all times; in these cases only your Position in the file will be given; when ELFTREE can compute your line number position again, it will show it. ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── ORPHAN [CR] [O] ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀ Sometimes, files produced by DOS or other programs contain a carriage return [CR] character without a line-feed character to follow it (which makes ELFTREE start a new line). In addition, some word processing programs use the symbol `' to designate an end-of-line character. To make ELFTREE recognize these symbols as additional end-of-line characters, tap the [O] key. ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── TRANSLATE IBM EBCDIC [I] ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀ When viewing a file that is stored in IBM EBCDIC format, you won't be able to read it easily, since your computer is designed to use ASCII characters. However, ELFTREE can translate these characters to ASCII for you - just tap [Alt-I] to activate (or deactivate) it. When activated, you will be able to read the text as if it were stored in ASCII, and you can use ELFTREE's usual viewing filters on the translated text as well. When you mark a block (see next section) and append it to a file with this feature activated, the text appended will be in ASCII, not EBCDIC. ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── WORKING WITH BLOCKS [B] ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀ While viewing a file, you may wish to: A. Print a portion of it B. Append a portion to another file C. Convert a portion to UPPER case D. Convert a portion to lower case E. Convert a portion to Proper case F. Replace a portion with some character G. Replace all Nulls (hex 00) in a portion H. Replace all Control chars in a portion I. Strip the High bit from all characters in a portion J. Delete the block of text from the file. With ELFTREE, this is easy, and requires no programming. Simply move to the start of the block you wish to use, tap [B] to indicate that you want to define a Block (the block is marked at your current position in the file, which is the position of the first character in the file viewing area), then move to the end of the portion, and tap [B] again. A menu of block commands will appear. Just select the command you want, and it will be processed immediately, leaving you at the menu in case you wish to use another command as well, or to repeat a previous one. When you leave this menu, your block becomes unmarked. You can use a block as large as the entire file you are viewing. To quickly select the entire file as a block, tap the [F5] key. Note: The RightArrow and LeftArrow keys will move you one position in the corresponding direction. These are especially handy for marking EXACTLY the block you need. ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── EXTENSION SENSITIVITY ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀ You can train ELFTREE to bring up your word processing viewer when the currently highlighted file has an extension of, say, DOC, or to load your spreadsheet viewer when the current file's extension starts with a W. To do this, create an ASCII file with this layout: DBF C:\TREE\VIEWDBF.EXE DOC C:\WP\WPVIEW.EXE -x (parameters can be used) TXT (ELFTREE uses internal viewer) W* C:\SS\VSHEET.EXE ZIP D:\PKZIP -v {Fname} (macro symbols can be used) Save this file under the name VIEWERS.ELF in the same directory that the other ELFTREE files are located. The next time you load ELFTREE, it will be `sensitized' to these extensions. This means, for example, that when you highlight the file REPORT.DOC and tap [V], this command is performed for you: C:\WP\WPVIEW.EXE -x REPORT.DOC You can choose up to 40 extensions for ELFTREE to be aware of, and the extensions can use the DOS wildcards `*' and `?'. Notes: ELFTREE will allow you to have multiple VIEWERS.ELF files. When you enter a directory, ELFTREE looks for a VIEWERS.ELF file and, if it finds one, `resensitizes' itself to what is in this new one. When you then move on to another directory, ELFTREE stays sensitive to these extensions. If the extension of the file does not match any of the extensions in VIEWERS.ELF, ELFTREE uses its internal viewer. See the help on DOS Gateway for related information. PROGRAMMING THE INTERNAL VIEWER ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀ As you experiment viewing different files with ELFTREE, you may notice that you prefer to view some of them one way, and others another way. For example, files with an .EXE or .COM extension often are best viewed with the Hex filter active, while normal text files are best viewed with Wrap off, using the CR/LF filter. You can make ELFTREE automatically activate several viewing options by specifying your preferences in this VIEWERS.ELF file. Here are some examples to show you how to do this. Note the `=' symbol, used to indicate that what follows applies to the internal viewer. ASM =H- T8 W M- (Hex off; Tabstop=8; Wrap on) EXE =H M- (Hex on; Menu inactive) TXT =H- W- T3 (Hex off; Wrap off; Tabstop=3) * =D1 T0 M (CR/LF; Tabs off; Menu active) In general, a symbol followed by a `-' means `turn this off'. A symbol followed by a space means `turn this on'. Here is a list of what symbols can be used, and how to use them: Symbol Modifier Description ====== ======== ====================================== C 0 - 3 Case for text searches. D 0 - 5 Display filter to use. H - Hex filter off/on. I - IBM EBCDIC to ASCII translation off/on. L - Line numbers shown or not. O - [CR], recognized as end-of-line or not. M - Menu active or not. T 0 - 8 Tabstop distance (0=off, 1-8=on). W - Wrap long lines off/on.