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======== A Guide to PC-Hooker's Advanced Features ======== The Quick Reference Booklet gave you a basic introduction to PC-Hooker which showed you how simple it is to transfer files. You also learned to connect both computers correctly. With that experience in hand, you are now ready to move on to the more powerful features of PC-Hooker. The Main Command Line Much of PC-Hooker's power is contained in the Main Command Line. A thorough discussion of each command is given below. The X-Fer Command Transferring files with the F2 key is easy, convenient and available at almost any time. However, the PC-Hooker program has a more powerful method of transferring a file, X-fer. When X-fer is selected, you will see the X-fer Command Line containing five options. A description for each is given below. Tagged - To transfer all of the tagged files select Tagged on the X-fer Command Line. PC-Hooker immediately transfers the files. The Host and Target computers provide verification of the transfer. Retag - Once the transfer has been completed successfully the tags are removed and are replaced by dashes. These are temporary markers that allow you the option of retagging the files if you wish to take additional action on them. To retag the files just sent, return to the Main Command Line by pressing the Esc key. Wildcard - Wildcard is an option available in several PC-Hooker commands. It works exactly like the wildcard facility found in DOS. Wildcard allows the use of global characters in file specifications. Among these are ? and *. The question mark serves as a replacement for any single character in the file name or extension. The asterisk can be substituted for multiple characters. You can transfer a group of files using the Wildcard option. For example, to transfer all files that have the extension of DOC, choose the Wildcard option. A pop-up window will appear asking for your file specification. Use the wildcard option to control which files in the current directory are to be sent. In order to transfer all of the requested files input *.DOC and press <Enter>. All of the DOC files will immediately be sent. All - You can transfer all of the files residing in the current directory, whether tagged or untagged, by selecting the All option on the X-fer ] Command Line. Drive - You can transfer an entire drive by selecting this command. PC-Hooker will recreate the Host's structure wherever you are logged to on the Target. For example, assume the Host and Target computers have the following structures: Host Target Root Root | | ------------- ------------ | | | | Word Spread Sales Future | | | Letters Accounting Building With the Target logged to the Future directory, the resulting structure would be: Target Root | -------------------- | | Sales Future | | Building -------------- | | Word Spread | | Letters Accounting The files from the Host's Root directory would be placed in the Future directory on the Target. Subdirectories - The X-fer Subdirectories command will transfer the files you specify in the current directory, in addition to any subdirectories contained in that directory, along with their respective files. PC-Hooker will create directories on the Target computer as necessary. It works in a manner similar to that described in Drive above. Both Drive and Subdirectories produce a Wildcard pop-up window. This gives you the option of limiting the transferred files to the specification you provide. Tag Command The Tag command lets you mark files on which PC-Hooker will take action. Files will remain tagged until you clear them or change directories. When selected, the Tag Command Line appears and presents you with seven different ways to tag files: All, Wildcard, Invert, Clear, Retag, Below and DateTime. An explanation of each is given below. All - Tag every file in the current directory. Wildcard - When the Wildcard command is chosen, a pop-up window appears and asks for a file specification. Any file names in the currently logged directory that match the file specification provided will be tagged. If none are found, no files are tagged. Invert - The Invert command reverses tags. In other words, it removes the tags from the files that have been marked and tags the files that were not marked. This feature is very useful if you wish to tag all but a few files in a directory. To do this simply tag those few and select Invert. Clear - The Clear command will remove all the tags from the current directory. After the tags have been cleared, the Retag command will no longer be able to restore the tags. Retag - After a successful transfer of tagged files, the tags change from triangles to hyphens. By using the Retag command, the tags can be restored. Only the most recent successfully transferred files can be retagged. Below - The Below command will tag the file that is highlighted by the Directory cursor and all those below it in the Directory Box. Even the files that are out of view will be tagged. DateTime - The DateTime command will tag the files between a specified range of date and time. This may be useful if you want to transfer the files you've worked on today or the files you worked on last week. Upon selection, a pop-up window appears containing the prompt "Low" followed by a default date. Enter the date and time of the oldest files to be tagged and press <Enter>. The prompt "High" appears. Input the date and time of the most recent files to be tagged and press <Enter>. PC-Hooker tags all the files within the specified range. Option Command The Option command contains Sort, Find and Purge. Sort gives you control over how files are displayed. Find helps you locate and take action on files anywhere on the disk. Purge is useful for removing groups of files and directories from the disk. Sort - Sort lets you determine the order files are displayed in the Directory Box. It only affects the way in which the file names are displayed; it does not affect how the files are arranged on the disk. Files can be displayed by Name, Type, Size, or Creation date. The files can also be displayed unsorted in their natural, DOS order. The default for Sort is Name, in the ascending order. This default can be changed by selecting the appropriate Sort option. Name - Sorts the Directory Box listing alphabetically starting with the first eight characters of the file name. Type - Sorts the Directory Box listing alphabetically starting with the three-character file name extension. Size - Lists the files in numerical order according to their size in bytes. Creation - Sorts the files in order according to their system date. That is the date DOS stamps on the file when it was created or last modified. DOS - Displays the files unsorted in the same manner DOS does. Order - Lets you choose to display your files in ascending or descending order. Find - The Find feature provides the capability to quickly locate a file, or group of files, on a disk. When All, Question, or Locate is chosen, a prompt will appear asking for a file specification. A file name or a wildcard may be entered. The search then begins and a pop-up window displays the subdirectories being searched until a match is found or the Find is complete. The action allowed after a match has been found depends on which Find option has been chosen. All - Indicates that any files located will automatically be transferred to the Target computer's current active drive/directory. Question - When selected, a pop-up window will appear when a file is located that matches the file specification. Press Y for Yes to transfer the file to the Target computer's current active drive/directory. Enter N for No to skip the file and continue the Find operation. PC-Hooker will wait for a Yes or No response for approximately five seconds. If nothing is entered by that time, the file will be skipped and the search will continue. Locate - Finds files on your system. Enter the file specification at the pop-up window. When a file is found that matches the specification, PC-Hooker will let you Delete, List, Skip, or Jump to the file. Delete - the current file and continue the search. List - all the files on the disk. Skip - over the current file and continue with the search. Jump - Move to the directory containing the file just located and place the cursor on the file. Quit - Exit the Locate mode. Scope - Tells PC-Hooker the extent at which to look for all Find operations. The choices are Drive and Subdirectories. Choose Drive, the default, to tell PC- Hooker to search the entire logged disk drive for the desired file. Selecting Subdirectories will cause only the current directory and its subordinate directories to be searched. Purge - Purge is a powerful option that helps you maintain your disk drive. There are three Purge options: Clip, Prune and Hacksaw. Each lets you delete files from different directories with a simple command. There is a great deal of power associated with the Purge option. You can delete anything from a single file to all the files and directories on a drive. It is important that you become familiar with Purge by reading this section before you use it. We suggest you use Purge on a floppy disk before you try it on your hard drive. All of the Purge options begin by deleting files in the directory you are currently logged to and then removing them from associated subdirectories. Verify the logged directory by checking the Path Line. Clip - Similar in operation to the Locate command described above, Clip will let you delete the files of your choice and will let you confirm your choice before each file is deleted. To use Clip, position the cursor over Clip and press <Enter>. The Enter File Spec window will open. Clip will search for the files you specify. Prune - Prune will let you delete the files of your choice. To use Prune, position the cursor over Prune and press <Enter>. The Prune window will open. To continue Prune, type Yes exactly as it appears in the Pop Up window. The Enter File Spec window opens. Prune will find and delete the files you choose without confirming. When done, the Find Complete message appears in the bottom of the Prune window. Hacksaw - Hacksaw will delete all files and directories in and below the directory in which you are currently logged. To use Hacksaw, place the cursor over Hacksaw and press <Enter>. The Hacksaw window will appear. Before you continue, be absolutely sure you are logged in the right directory. Type Yes exactly as it appears in the Hacksaw window. Hacksaw will remove all files and directories starting with the directory you are logged to. Only the files and directories contained in the logged directory will be removed, the directory itself will not. When finished, the Find Complete message will appear in the bottom of the hacksaw window. If you are logged in the root directory, Hacksaw will give you a second warning. Type Yes exactly as it appears in the warning message window and you will delete all of the files and directories on your drive. We suggest that you try Hacksaw on a floppy disk before you use it on a Hard Drive. MS-DOS Command You can temporarily leave PC-Hooker at any time and enter the DOS environment. This is done by selecting the MS-DOS option on the PC-Hooker Command Line. There are two options available under this command. One Command - When you select One Command, PC-Hooker prompts you for the single DOS command that you wish to execute. The command is then executed and upon completion you will immediately return to PC-Hooker. Shell - When you choose Shell, the DOS prompt appears and you are allowed to execute as many DOS commands as you like. To use DOS Shell, the file COMMAND.COM must reside in your current directory or in a directory that is in the search path. Once you are finished with the DOS shell, simply type EXIT at the DOS prompt, and you will return to PC-Hooker. Hooker-DOS Command Hooker-DOS is provided to take the drudgery out of using DOS. It eliminates the necessity of memorizing DOS's cryptic commands. Dir - With the Hooker-DOS Dir command, you can display the files and directory listings of any desired directory. When the command is selected, a pop-up window will appear. Enter the drive or directory name, and Hooker-DOS will display a directory listing for you in much the same way DOS would. Hooker-DOS also displays the file attributes in addition to disk space information. Erase - Hooker-DOS provides an Erase command that deletes files on any drive or directory. Simply enter the file name; wildcards may be used. A display listing the files to be deleted will appear, followed by the prompt "Confirm Delete?". AddDir - A subdirectory may be added to a disk using AddDir. Enter the new subdirectory name at the pop-up window and press <Enter>. Any directory added will be subordinate to the current logged directory. RmDir - A directory may be removed from a disk using RmDir. Select RmDir and enter the directory name at the pop-up window and press <Enter>. A directory cannot be removed if it still contains files or subdirectories or it is the currently logged directory. Move - The Move command allows files or groups of files to be erased from one directory and placed into another. It does not create a copy of the file. When the process is complete the file will reside only where you moved it. Files can be moved to any directory on the same drive or any other drive in the system. You can move files according to the options described below. Highlight - Move a single file, position the Directory cursor to the desired file and select Highlighted. Tagged - Move a group of files by tagging them and selecting Tagged. Wildcard - Move a group of related files by selecting Wildcard. Enter the file specification at the pop-up window prompt, and press <Enter>. All - Move all of the files in the currently logged directory by selecting the All command. After selecting your option the DirTree window appears. PC-Hooker lets you point to where the file should be moved through DirTree. Move the cursor to the desired directory and press <Enter>. The file will be moved and verification of this is displayed on the screen. A Moving Shortcut - You can move a file without using DirTree by pressing Esc when the DirTree window appears. PC-Hooker will display a pop-up window for you to enter the destination of the file. For instance, to move a file to a directory called Test on the C drive, enter C:\TEST and press <Enter>. Copy - The Copy command works in the same manner as the Move command. The difference is that a copy of the file is made and placed in the destination directory. Unlike Move, the files are not removed from the Source directory. Setup Command PC-Hooker has several preset controls. Although these default settings are suitable for most users, you may find it necessary to change them. To facilitate this, PC-Hooker provides the Setup command. Any changes made through the Setup command will remain in effect only during the current PC-Hooker session. In order to make the changes permanent, the Update command must be executed. The new settings will then become the defaults. File - There are four settings under the File command. These settings affect the transfer of files and the way they are displayed in the directory box. Overwrite - Use Overwrite to determine what action will be taken when PC-Hooker is transferring a file and discovers that a file with the same name already exists. This setting affects transfers, copying and moving files. Question - Makes PC-Hooker ask for direction, through a pop-up window, each time it finds a duplicate file. The choices available under this setting are: Overwrite - Puts PC-Hooker in an automatic overwrite mode. When a file with the same name exists on the Target computer, PC-Hooker overwrites without prompting for your instructions. This is a good option to choose when you want to transfer a large number of files and you don't want to remain at your computer, responding each time a duplicate file is encountered. Skip - PC-Hooker does not overwrite when this option is selected. If a duplicate file is encountered it is skipped without transferring. Newer -Examines the time and date of a duplicate file when one is found. If the file being transferred has a later date, the file will be overwritten. TimeDate - This option affects the dates assigned to files when they are transferred. There are two options under this command: Original - When this mode is selected, transferred files retain the date of their creation. Current -Transferred files will be labeled with the current time and date of the Target computer. Case - The Case option lets you decide how file and directory names can be displayed. Case does not change the way DOS stores file names. Upper - Display file names in UPPER case. Lower - Display file names in lower case. Hidden - Use this option to show hidden files in the Directory Box. PC-Hooker can only take action on files that are shown. There are two options: Hide - Do not display hidden files. Show - Display hidden files. Port - A port is the part of a computer that is dedicated to receiving data from or transmitting data to an external remote device. PC-Hooker communicates between computers via a cable connecting the RS232 Serial Port or the Parallel Port on both machines. Parallel connection requires an additional cable that can be purchased from Amica. When you enter the PC-Hooker program it is assumed that you will be transferring information through the first available serial port. If you have more than one serial port or an internal modem on your computer or plan to use a parallel port for transfers, you must tell PC-Hooker which port to use for communication. With the PC-Hooker software loaded and the Main Screen showing, do the following: 1. Select the Setup command from the Main Command Line by pressing S. 2. Choose the Port option at the Setup Command Line. 3. PC-Hooker will give you a list of the serial ports (COM1, COM2 etc.) and the parallel ports (LPT1,LPT2 etc.). Only the ports actually available on your computer will be displayed. Choose the appropriate port. After you have made your selection, PC-Hooker will display the new port in the lower right hand corner of the screen. It will then become the system default. Ports Don't Mix When the desired port has been selected on both computers, the status will be Remote Active. Keep in mind that transfers can only be made through matching ports. Serial to serial or parallel to parallel. Do not attempt to place the parallel cable in the serial port. It is unlikely it would damage your computer. However, it will certainly not allow you to transfer files. The parallel cable is 5 feet long and allows you to transfer 25-100 percent faster than with a serial cable. Because of the technical limits of parallel transmissions at high speed, you should not attempt to use a longer cable. For greater distances (up to 1000 feet) we suggest you use serial connection. Do not attempt to use a parallel cable to increase the length of the serial cable. The cables are customized for parallel or serial and are not compatible with each other. Baud Rate - Baud Rate is the unit of measurement for the transmission of data through a serial port. It does not affect parallel transfers in any way. On PC compatible computers baud rates range from 300-115,200. PC-Hooker defaults at its top speed of 115,200 baud. Most IBM and compatibles can operate at 115,200 baud. However, repeated transfer failures can frequently be corrected by progressively lowering the Baud Rate, and retrying the transfer until successful. Seldom will the rate have to be lowered more than one step to 57,600. To change the Baud Rate, select Baud from the Command Line. Highlight the appropriate Baud Rate, and press <Enter>. The newly selected Baud Rate will now appear on the right side of the Command Line, as well as on the Condition Line. Because it is necessary for both machines to be operating at the same speed, when the Baud Rate is changed on one machine, PC-Hooker will automatically change it on the other. Colors - PC-Hooker works equally well on color and monochrome monitors. If you have a color system, you have complete control over the colors PC-Hooker displays on your screen. Most laptop computers also allow you to set colors which refers to the various shades of gray. No color changes can be made on monochrome systems. PC-Hooker lets you select the color of the Main Screen, pop-up windows, error messages, and cursors by giving you a palette of colors to work with. The color palette consists of two windows, the Color Selection window, and the Sample window. The Color Selection window consists of five vertically oriented bars. Each bar controls the color selection of a particular portion of the screen: (Bar 1) BACKGR - Background of the Main Screen (Bar 2) TITLE - Background color of Cursor (Bar 3) TEXT - Text color of the Main Screen (Bar 4) TITLE - Text color of the Cursor (Bar 5) BORDER - Border Lines The Sample window which is located on the right side of the color window is provided for you to see the results of color changes as they are made. It also tells you which aspect of the screen you are affecting. The Sample windows are labeled as follows: The Main Screen - the majority of the PC-Hooker screen. Pop-Ups and Cursor - highlighted cursor and pop-up windows. Error Messages - the error message provided by PC-Hooker. Highlighted Areas - areas of the screen where technical information is shown. Changing the Main Screen Color - You can tell which portion of the screen is affected by your color selection by checking the Sample Window. PC-Hooker moves from one Sample Window to another through use of the PgUp and PgDn keys. When the Color Window is displayed, your cursor will be resting in Bar 1 on the color blue. Press the up and down arrow keys and you will notice that the background color of the Main Screen in the Sample window is changing. The color in the Sample window is the active color. When the color of your choice is displayed, use the right and left arrow keys to move to Bar 2. Continue this procedure on Bars 3 through 5. After you are finished making your selections press <Enter>. A pop-up window will appear to ask if you wish to save your changes. Your changes will be made and your new screen colors will be displayed. Your color selection is temporary; the new colors will appear on your screen only until you exit the PC-Hooker program. If you are satisfied with your new color scheme, you can permanently save them through the Update command. Reset Colors - If you prefer the default colors over your new color display, you can change the screen back in a few easy steps. With the Color Window displayed press F10 and a pop-up window will appear. Input Y for Yes at the prompt. Save the color settings by pressing <Enter> as described above. You now have a working knowledge of how to change all five color aspects of the Main Screen. You can change the other sample windows in the same fashion. To get to windows 2 through 4 enter the color palette as you did for changing the Main Screen. Now press PgUp. You will be on window 2, Pop-Ups and Cursor. Continue to page up to view windows 3 and 4. Display - The Display setting is provided so that PC-Hooker can take full advantage of any video cards that may be installed on your computer. The default setting is CGA, for Color graphics adapter board. This configuration works best on CGA equipped computers. If your computer has a CGA board, and your screen is frequently plagued with what appears to be snow, select the Snow/CGA option. This should eliminate the Snow that appears on your screen. If your computer is equipped with an Enhanced Graphics Adapter (EGA) board, select EGA to take full advantage of its capabilities. Update - Update permanently saves the changes you made in the Setup, Option. To use the Update command, PC-Hooker (PCH.EXE) must be in the path. When Update is selected, a pop-up window appears asking if you wish to save your changes. If you respond positively, the changes are saved as the permanent defaults until you use Update again. X-Fer - X-Fer affects the speed and efficiency of file transfers. There are two options under this command, Interleave and Block. Interleave is for connecting systems which have similar disk drives, or transferring files from floppy disk to a hard disk system. The Block setting is best for transferring data from a hard disk to a floppy disk system. Changing the X-fer setting may yield as much as a 30 percent improvement in transfer speed. Size - The characters within a file are transferred sequentially in groups called blocks. After a block is transmitted from one computer to another, an accuracy check is made to ensure that the block was received without any errors. If an error is found, the block is automatically retransmitted until no errors are present. Smaller block sizes mean more tests have to be done to verify correct transmission. This would tend to slow transfers down slightly. That is why PC-Hooker's default block size is Large (8K block size). If during file transfers you notice frequent errors, you may have an error-prone system. This situation may be remedied by lowering the block size. By lowering the block size to Medium (2K block size), or Small (128 byte block size), transfers will be slowed somewhat, but the fast baud rate that PC-Hooker uses will still allow very fast file transfers. The block size can be changed using the Size option. First try Medium. If CRC errors are still occurring, go down to Small. If you still encounter errors after changing the size to Small, then try a lower baud rate. DirTree PC-Hooker provides several tools to assist you in organizing files and directories. One of these tools is DirTree, which gives you a graphic display of the directory structure of your disk. DirTree lets you move within and print copies of the displayed structure. When you select DirTree in the Command Line, you will be prompted to specify the drive to be scanned. PC-Hooker will suggest the current drive. After inputting the desired drive letter, press <Enter>. PC-Hooker will then take a quick look at the disk's structure and display it alphabetically. DirTree provides useful directory statistics. It reveals how many files there are in each directory and their size. The bottom line of the DirTree Window displays the total number of directories and files, and bytes. DirTree provides a simple means of changing directories. Assume you want to get to a directory and are currently in the Root. To get there, position the cursor over the name of the desired directory and press <Enter>. The DirTree window will then disappear and the Main Screen will show the contents of the selected directory. Rescan - After you scan a drive with DirTree, PC-Hooker saves the directory structure information and keeps it available to you until you exit the program. The next time you select DirTree, PC-Hooker asks if you want to rescan the drive. If no changes have been made to the structure, you can save time by not rescanning. Rescan if you wish to view the structure of a different drive or if changes have been made to the current drive since the last scan. Scanning has no effect on your disk; it only gathers information and displays it. Add and Remove Directories - DirTree also allows you to add or remove directories. Adding a directory is simple. Place the cursor on the desired parent directory and press the Ins key. A pop-up window appears. Type in the new directory's name and press <Enter>. The created directory will appear highlighted in the DirTree window. To remove a directory, place the cursor over the directory to be removed and press the Del key. You can remove directories only when three conditions are met: 1. There are no files present. 2. You must be logged to a directory that is higher (closer to the root) in the structure than the one to be removed. If your Path Line is set to the directory to be removed, PC-Hooker will not remove the directory. 3. The directory contains no subdirectories. Transfer Directory - The files in a single directory can be transferred from the Directory Tree. To do this, move the cursor to the directory you wish to send and press F2. The files are transferred to the remote machine and placed into the active directory. When the transfer is complete, the Host remains in the DirTree mode and the Remote shows the files it has received. Exit DirTree - You can exit DirTree by logging onto a directory. You can also exit DirTree by pressing Esc. Esc removes the DirTree window from the display and takes you back to the Main Screen. You will be returned to the directory you were in before you used DirTree. Execute Command Programs can be run directly from PC-Hooker, without exiting back to the DOS prompt. To do this, highlight a program file which will have a COM, EXE, or BAT extension. Select the Execute command, and the PC-Hooker screen will disappear temporarily. The chosen program will then execute. To return to PC-Hooker, exit from the program in the normal manner and the following message appears: Type any key to return to PC-Hooker. Press a key and the Main Screen reappears. If a non-executable file is highlighted, PC-Hooker will ignore the selection of Execute. It may be helpful to run your favorite application program with the Execute command, using PC-Hooker as a operating environment. This way, when you've completed a work session, you can exit back to PC-Hooker and use its file transfer capabilities to back up files on another computer's disk drive. Function Keys Box PC-Hooker provides the function keys to simplify use of the system. Function keys give you single keystroke operation of several features. This section will describe each of the features. F1-Help - Any time you are using the PC-Hooker program, you can access the help system by depressing the F1-Help key. The help system is like having a complete user guide on-line any time you need further instruction. Shift-F1 Serial Number - Each PC-Hooker package has its own serial number. This number is used for registration purposes. To view your serial number, press the Shift and F1 keys simultaneously and a pop-up window will appear. When calling with problems or questions, you will be asked for your personalized serial number. Please be prepared. F2-Transfer - F2 is the quick transfer key. Depressing the F2 key will cause any tagged files to be transferred to the Target computer. If no files are tagged, then the file that is under the directory cursor will be sent. If the directory cursor resides on the current directory indicator, the entire current directory will be transferred. F3-Log - F3 is used to change the current logged drive or directory. For instance, if you are currently on the A drive and you want to go to the B drive, press F3 and a pop-up window will be displayed. Simply enter the desired drive, in this case B:, and you will be logged to the new drive. If you wish to be logged to the TEST subdirectory on B: simply type B:\TEST and press <Enter>. This will take you to the TEST subdirectory of drive B. A Selected Listing - Through the use of the F3-Log key you can control which files are listed in the directory box. For example, if you were only interested in the files with the extension EXE, enter *.EXE at the pop-up window. The directory box will then list only those files with the EXE extension. Note that once you have chosen to display a select group of files you will only see those files even after changing directories. If you then wish to see all of the files in the current directory, press F3 and enter *.*. You can also combine the two functions of the F3 key by entering B: *.EXE at the pop-up window. You will then be logged to the B drive and only the EXE files will appear in the directory box. F4-Remote - The F4 key is used to enter and exit the Remote mode. Remote provides the convenience of controlling both the Host and Target computers from the same keyboard. The computer upon which the F4 key is pressed becomes the Local machine, which makes the other computer the Remote machine. When the Remote mode is invoked, the Local machine acts as the master and the Remote acts as the slave. Any keyboard entry on the slave will be ignored. When the F4 key is pressed, a directory listing of the Remote machine is displayed just to the left of the Local Directory Box. The Directory cursor initially appears in the Remote, which means it is the active machine. Any commands entered at this point will affect the Remote machine. The current logged drive/directory of each machine is listed on the Path Line, above each of the Directory Boxes. The Tab key lets you switch the Directory cursor back and forth between the Local and Remote. To enter commands into the Local computer, the cursor must reside in the Local's Directory Box. Any commands entered will now affect the Local machine. You can send or receive files at the Host computer. When the Directory cursor is in the Local window, transferred files will be sent to the Remote computer. When the Directory cursor is in the Remote window, any files transferred will be received by the Local computer. To transfer files in Remote mode, use the Tab key to move the Directory cursor into the Directory Box of the source computer. The X-Fer command or the F2 key can then be used to initiate the transfer in the normal way. Most of PC-Hooker's commands can be issued to the Remote computer from the Local machine. However, there are some commands that cannot be used on the Remote computer. These are: Execute, Setup, Hooker-Dos, and Quit. Unlock Keyboard - When you are in the Remote mode you take total control of the Remote computer. All activity is directed through the Local computer keyboard. There are two indications that the Local computer is in control. The first indication is the display of Remote/Slaved in the Status box. This signifies that the Remote computer is a slave to the Local. The second is the appearance of a capital letter L in the lower right corner of the screen. This verifies that the keyboard of the Remote computer is locked. There are occasions when you may need to regain the use of the Remote keyboard. Do this by pressing the shift and F2 keys simultaneously. The capital letter L disappears from the screen and the keyboard is activated. The locked condition of the Remote computer is its natural state. You should only unlock the keyboard when it is absolutely necessary. When you turn off the Remote the keyboard is automatically released. F5-View - When you press F5 you invoke the PC-Hooker Editor. Complete instructions on the use of the Editor can be found later in this guide. F6-Change Directory - Moving from directory to directory is a very simple matter. Position the Directory Box cursor over the directory you wish to go to and press F6. You will be immediately moved to the new directory and the files of that directory will be displayed. Move up one directory level by selecting the parent listing and pressing <Enter>. F7-Print - F7 is the Print request key. With it you can print the list of files in the current directory, the directory tree structure, the contents of a single file, or a group of tagged files. Print Directory - Press F7 and the print Directory window is displayed. PC-Hooker will list the files in the current directory. If the printer is not available, PC-Hooker displays the Printer Not Available message. When this occurs, correct the problem by touching any key. Then press F7 to restart the printing process. Print DirTree - You can also print the structure of the Directory Tree with F7. Begin by displaying DirTree on your screen. Press F7 and the Print Tree window appears. Enter Y and the directory structure is printed. The printout also includes the statistical information associated with the directory structure. Print File - Position the cursor over the file to be printed. Press F7 and the Print Directory window appears. Since you want to print a file and not a directory, respond with No. The Print File window appears. Press Y and the file is printed. Print Group of Files - To print a group of files, begin by tagging the desired files. Then press F7 and the Print Tagged Files window appears. Respond Yes and the Separate With Form Feed window is displayed. Answering Yes will tell the printer to separate each file with a form feed. The group of files will be printed. F8-Rename - It is often desirable to rename files. Press F8 and you will see a pop-up window. Type the name of the file as you wish it to appear on the directory and press <Enter>. The file being changed is the one identified by the Directory cursor. Rename directories in the same manner. Create a new File - Alt-F8 allows you to create and edit a new file. Pressing the Alt and F8 keys simultaneously produces a pop-up window. Input the file name and press <Enter>. PC-Hooker creates the new file and places you in the Editor. Keep the following points in mind when naming your file. 1. A file name can be from 1 to 8 characters long. 2. An extension can be 3 or fewer characters. The extension should help in identifying the contents of the file, i.e. TEXT.TXT, LETTER.LTR, STOCK.LST or MENU.BAT. F9-Refresh - The F9-Refresh key serves two important functions. It allows you to update the directory and re-establishes the connection between the Host and Target computers. Update Directory - PC-Hooker provides a continual window to view the directory of your disks. It lists complete file information. All activity on the logged directory is updated automatically. You can physically change disks at any time. However, PC-Hooker will not know you have made the switch until you press the F9 key. PC-Hooker will display the directory of the new disk when you press the F9-Refresh key. This is an especially helpful feature when you have a number of disks to review. Re-establish Connection - When the electronic connection between the two computers is healthy, both display Remote Active in the Status Box. Sometimes one or both of the computers will display a status other than Remote Active. For instance, one might remain in the Transmit mode after transferring files. This is not necessarily an indication of a problem. Press F9 to test and re-establish the connection between the two computers. The test brings both computers in sync and displays Remote Active when successfully completed. F10-Quit - Pressing F10 indicates that you wish to quit PC-Hooker. Alt Keys You may find that at times you are deep into the command line structure and wish to execute a primary function such as Tag. Pressing the Esc key until you reach your destination will solve this problem but is somewhat of a burden. The Alt keys let you get to commands with a single keystroke. They provide access to most of the primary functions from anywhere in the command line structure. For example, if you were at the Setup Command line and wanted to tag all of the files, pressing Alt-T would produce the Tag pop-up command line. You would then select All and your files would be tagged. A list of the Alt keys is shown below. Alt Key Commands Alt-T Tag Command Line Alt-D DirTree Alt-H Hooker-DOS Alt-O Options Command Line Alt-X X-Fer Command Line Alt-A Change File Attribute Alt-C Chat Mode Alt-S Search for a File Alt-A Change File Attribute - To change the attribute of a file make sure the cursor is highlighting the file and press the Alt and A keys simultaneously. Note: The cursor must be highlighting a file. If it is highlighting a directory, no action will take place. Select the attribute you wish to change by moving the cursor to highlight your choice. Press <Enter> and the attribute will be changed. R/W - Marks the file as write or read only, not to be modified or erased. Hidden - Makes a file invisible to the DOS commands Dir, Copy, and Del and invisible to the PC-Hooker directory. System - Essentially the same as hidden. Archive - Marks a file as having been changed. This is useful for keeping track of when files need to be backed up. Chat - Alt C - Chat is a handy feature that lets you send and receive messages between the two computers. It is especially useful when the two computers are separated and you want to send messages to the person located at the remote computer. Enter Chat by pressing the Alt and C keys simultaneously. When Alt C is pressed from either keyboard, the other computer beeps and the Main Screen disappears from both monitors. The Chat Screen is split into two sections. The top of the screen displays the characters you type on the local computer. The bottom half shows the messages received from the remote. Messages typed on either keyboard appear on both screens simultaneously. These messages can be edited in the usual manner and cannot be saved to disk. Either user can press F10 to exit the Chat mode. Then the Main Screen reappears on both monitors. ======= Using the PC-Hooker Editor ======= PC-Hooker lets you view and modify files by using either Hooker Edit or the word processor of your choice. Hooker edit is a powerful text editor that has the ability to view, edit, and print files. It is similar in function to the popular Wordstar word processing system. You can also integrate PC-Hooker with any word processor with which you are already familiar. To use an external word processor, you must first install it using the simple directions provided. F5-View and Edit Activate View by positioning the cursor over the file to be viewed and pressing F5. PC-Hooker then displays a pop-up window where you can choose whether you want to view the file in the Hex or Regular format. The cursor must be highlighting a file. If it is positioned on a directory, DirTree will be executed. Regular View - Select Regular mode and the Hooker Edit screen will display the file on the screen in regular (ASCII) characters. In the Regular mode you can only view files up to 64K in size. Some word processors insert control characters into the file. These may show up as strange characters in the View mode. If you see strange characters when viewing the file, press the Alt and F keys simultaneously. This turns on the filter which should remove the unwanted characters. Edit A File - When you are in the Regular mode you will see the word View on the top right side of the screen. At this point you can move around in the file but you can not edit it. If you wish to make changes to the file, enter the Edit mode by pressing F5 again. The words Insert On will now replace the word View on the right side of the screen. In the upper right corner of the screen you may see a WW. It tells you that word wrap is on when you begin editing. When you type in characters that exceed the 80 column display they are automatically moved to the next line. You do not have to enter a return until you are at the end of a paragraph. A typical directory contains several types of files. Among these are data files and program files. Data files or text files contain documents such as letters and mailing lists. Program files are files that actually tell the computer what to do. These files will usually have the extension of EXE or COM. PC-Hooker will let you view and edit any type of file. However, we suggest you limit your editing to text files. If you edit an executable (EXE) or command (COM) file you run the risk of making them inoperable. Hex View - If you select the Hex format, the file is displayed in Hexadecimal. PC-Hooker limits the Hex mode to viewing and printing the file: Use PgUp, PgDn, Home, and End to move around the file. The top line of the hex screen contains pertinent information about the file being viewed. It lists the name of the file and how many hex bytes it contains. Print A File Files can be printed in either the View or Edit mode. With the file displayed on your screen, press F7. The Print File window appears. There are four options: All, Screen, Before and End. These are explained below. Option Prints All The entire file Screen The text displayed on screen Before From beginning to cursor End From cursor to end After you make your selection, the file is printed immediately. Cursor Movement Hooker Edit lets you modify text by entering or deleting characters. The first thing to learn about using Hooker Edit is cursor movement. Cursor control is identical to that found in Wordstar. Cursor movement is activated by pressing the desired key on your numeric keypad (Num Lock must be off). Cursor Key Response Left Arrow Key - move one character left Right Arrow Key - move one character right Down Arrow Key - move one line down Up Arrow Key - move one line up PgUp - move one page up PgDn - move one page down Ctrl Key Cursor Control - The Ctrl key, together with one of the following, will give you the same cursor control movement. In this guide ^ indicates the Ctrl key. This allows you to move the cursor without removing your hands from the keyboard. ^E - One line up ^A - One word left ^S - One character left ^X - One line down ^D - One character right ^F - One word right Basic Editing Operations Hooker Edit lets you do more than just view the file. It also allows you to change the contents of the file. With Hooker Edit you can add, move, or delete text within the file. The following provides instructions on how to use Hooker Edit. Insert (^V) or Ins - The top line of the Hooker Edit screen displays Insert On or Insert Off. When Insert is on, the characters you type push the existing characters to the right to make room for the new ones. If you use the tab key, characters are pushed to the next tab stop. This is known as the Insert mode. When insert is turned off, you type right over the characters that are on the screen. The tab key moves the cursor over the text to the next tab stop. When you enter Hooker Edit, Insert is on. Turn it on and off by pressing ^V or the Ins key. Delete operation - This facility allows you to delete characters, spaces, words or lines. The remaining text will automatically be moved into the space created by the deletion. 1. Delete character(s) [^G] or Del Deletes the character which the cursor is resting on. 2. Delete word(s) [^T] Position the cursor on the first character of the word to be deleted and press ^T. 3. Delete entire line [^Y] Here, position the cursor anywhere on the line to be deleted and press ^Y. 4. Delete line from cursor position to the end of line [^QY] Position cursor at the beginning of the part of the line that you wish to delete and press ^QY. Saving Edited Files - A file which you have created or are editing is not permanently stored until a Save command is issued. All changes or additions made are temporary and will be lost in the event of power failure, full disk, etc. To keep the changes, you must use the Save command after every editing session. There are three ways to save. ^KS Save File and Resume - Saves the file you are working on while it is being displayed and remains ready for further edits. ^KD Save File When Done - This command is used if you are done editing and do not wish to come back to this file after saving. This command saves the file and all changes made to it and then returns you to the Main Screen. ^KQ or Esc Abandon File - Terminates editing of the file without saving the changes. The file will remain in its original state when it was first called to the screen. Changes will not be saved when you answer Y to the discard changes prompt. Find and Delete - You can apply the ^QA command to find and delete words as well. In response to "Replace" simply press <Enter>. This will replace the occurrence with nothing, (i.e. delete it). Press ^L for the next occurrence to repeat. ^L Next - This will bring you to the next occurrence of the specified search string. Find Words [^QF] - This facility will do an automatic search of a file for a particular specified word. The search will start from the position of the cursor, through the rest of the file until the next occurrence of the specified word. As such, it is advised that you first position the cursor to the beginning of the file before initiating this command. Block Operations This facility enables you to move, copy and delete text by block. A block could consist of a sentence, a paragraph or any number of lines. For block operations, first indicate the beginning and the end of the block. Begin Block [^KB] - This command marks the beginning of the block. First, bring the cursor to the position where you want the block operation to start. Type ^KB. The block will not appear marked until you indicate the end of the block. End Block [^KK] - This command marks the end of the block. Bring the cursor to the position where you want the block operation to end. Type ^KK. On color monitors, blocks appear as different color text. On monochrome monitors, blocks are displayed with a different intensity or brightness. Copy Block [^KC] - Copies the entire block of text marked earlier to cursor position. The original text is still at its previous position. An exact copy of it is made at the cursor position. Move Block [^KV] - Moves the entire block of text marked earlier to cursor position. This block of text will no longer be in its previous position. It is shifted to the new place. Delete Block [^KY] - Deletes the entire block of text marked earlier. Hide Block Markers [^KH] - With this command, block markers (^KB, ^KK) set earlier will be undisplayed if currently displayed, and redisplayed when entered again. Upper Case Block [^KU] - This command changes an entire block of earlier marked text to upper case letters. Lower Case Block [^KL] - Changes the entire block of text to lower case letters. Installing an External Word Processor To install a word processor to use as part of PC-Hooker, you must first set the MS-DOS Environment Variable (EV). EV is a part of MS-DOS and fully explained in the MS-DOS user guide. You can set EV either manually by using the SET command or automatically by including it in your AUTOEXEC.BAT file. Setting The EV Manually - If you choose to set the EV manually, remember to do so each time you boot your computer and before you enter PC-Hooker. If you have not set your EV, you must exit PC-Hooker, set EV and return to PC-Hooker. You cannot change the EV using the MS-DOS facility provided in PC-Hooker. This must be done outside of PC-Hooker. In the following example, the word processor being installed is Wordstar (WS). SET is the MS-DOS command that will change the environment. PCHED=WS informs PC-Hooker that WS or Wordstar will be integrated as the PC-Hooker External Word Processor. PC-Hooker recognizes the name you enter to start your word processor. For example, with Microsoft Word you would use PCHED=WORD and for WORD PERFECT PCHED=WP. To SET EV, type the following command from the boot drive DOS prompt: SET PCHED=WS <Enter> Setting The EV Through AUTOEXEC.BAT - You may include the SET command in your AUTOEXEC.BAT file. It is simple to add this command to your AUTOEXEC.BAT file by using Hooker Edit. After you have modified your AUTOEXEC.BAT file it should look something like this: PATH C:\;C:\DOS3;C:\WS4 SET PCHED=WS There are two lines that must be included for an external editor to work properly. The PATH must include the full directory extension that your word processor is in. In this case, Wordstar is located in C:\WS4. Now, each time you boot your computer, the SET command will be carried out. Using an External Editor - You will find that it is easy to use the external editor. Position the cursor over the file you wish to edit. Then press F5. A View pop-up window with the external option is displayed. The Regular and Hex option are unchanged. Only the External option has been added. The cursor will be highlighting the External option. Press <Enter> and the word processor of your choice will appear on the screen. The file you select will be displayed. Freely use the word processor in the normal fashion. After you are finished using your word processor, exit and the message "Type any key and you will return to PC Hooker" is displayed. When you press any key the PC-Hooker Main Screen will be displayed. From now on the external editor is available for your use. When you combine your word processor with the features of PC-Hooker, you have a powerful tool. For instance, you can use PC-Hooker to access any file anywhere on your computer and automatically load it into your word processor. Congratulations! You now have a complete working knowledge of PC-Hooker. Please remember that Amica does maintain a hotline to assist registered users so if you have encountered any problems along the way give us a call.