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XDIR USER'S GUIDE VERSION 2.02 APRIL 1988 XD SYSTEMS 1014 SHIPMAN LANE MCLEAN, VA 22101 CONTENTS Disclaimer of Warranty 1 Background 2 Regarding Registration 2 XDIR Modes 4 Help Mode 4 Directory Mode 4 Edit Mode 4 Copy Mode 5 Kill Mode 6 Display Options 6 Pick Option 6 Alternative Display Formats 7 Normal Display 7 Full Display 7 Usage Display 7 Wide Display 8 Sort Switch 8 Quick Write Display Toggle 9 Installation 9 General Use of XDIR 9 Installing File Use Monitoring 10 Use of XDUPDATE to Clear Usage Data 10 Conversion From Previous Versions of XDIR 11 Customizing XDIR Features 11 Files Supplied 12 XDIR Version History 14 Software Registration Form and Order 13 DISCLAIMER OF WARRANTY THIS SOFTWARE AND MANUAL ARE SOLD "AS IS" AND WITHOUT WARRANTIES AS TO PERFORMANCE OR MERCHANTABILITY OR ANY OTHER WARRANTIES WHETHER EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED. BECAUSE OF THE VARIOUS HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE ENVIRONMENTS INTO WHICH THIS PROGRAM MAY BE PUT, NO WARRANTY OF FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE IS OFFERED. THE USER MUST ASSUME THE ENTIRE RISK OF USING THE PROGRAM. ANY LIABILITY OF THE SELLER WILL BE LIMITED EXCLUSIVELY TO PRODUCT REPLACEMENT OR REFUND OF PURCHASE PRICE. 1 XDIR User's Guide Version 2.02 Copyright (C) 1988 I. J. Weinstein A.BACKGROUND I've tried a number of the available DOS Shell programs and Hard Disk Managers and am still left with two frustrations. DOS restricts file names to 11 characters, not enough in my opinion. Also, I'm always short of space on my hard disk. It's full of files that I probably don't need. It would be nice to know how often I use SUPERPRG.EXE and what is it anyway? XDIR is my solution to this frustration. XDIR is a replacement for the DOS commands DIR and COPY. It allows you to add your own comments to be displayed along with the normal DOS directory. You won't have to remember what MPDPROG.MEM was all about. The directory will remind you with a display like: MPDPROG MEM 2620 01-17-87 2:19p Maxon Paper Div. Progress Report XDIR allows you to edit these comments freely. You can copy or move files between directories or to another disk, and the comment text will automatically go right with it. XDIR also keeps track of usage of all files on your hard disks, and records the number of times each file is used and the date of last use. This feature is not active unless you have executed the resident module XDCOUNT.COM. Installation of this module is discussed in Section E. XDIR has six modes: Help, Directory, Edit, Copy, Kill and Move. These modes are selected from the command line, e.g., XDIR /e, and are explained in Section C. In addition, XDIR has a number of display options that can be selected as well. Options include: Pick, Sort, and Wide. These options are explained in Section D. B.REGARDING REGISTRATION XDIR is being distributed in two versions under the ShareWare concept. The program and its associated documentation are the copyrighted property of the author. Non-commercial users are granted the right to use copy and share XDIR with the follow- ing conditions: 2 Public Domain/Shareware distributors and Users Groups may charge a nominal fee for copying and distributing this program and Bulletin Board Systems may likewise carry it. Any distribution of XDIR must include without alteration only the files listed in Section F of this documentation. Permission is also given for electronic distribution of ARCed versions of these files on electronic bulletin boards. Distribution of XDCOUNT.COM or XDUPDATE.EXE is not authorized. The full capabilities of XDIR as described in this manual require the programs XDCOUNT.COM and XDUPDATE.EXE. These are provided only to registered users. The version distributed on bulletin boards and by users' groups implements all features, but without these additional programs, no file usage data is recorded. XDIR is ShareWare. The law requires that if you use this program, you must pay for it. So, if you find XDIR useful, please register your use with the author. The basic registration fee is $10. If you want the file usage features (I think they're invaluable), send $20 for registration. Registered users will be notified of upgrades to XDIR as they are released, and will receive a printed copy of this manual. Online help is available through CompuServe, by EasyPlex. Sorry, but online help is available ONLY to registered users. Help is also available by mail. I will try to answer all letters within 48 hours. Non-registered users must include a SASE for a reply. The degree of help available to non-registered users is purely discretionary. Registrations and inquiries should be sent to: Iram J. Weinstein XD Systems 1014 Shipman Lane McLean, VA 22101 Voice (703) 821-3215 CIS 70741,3711 A registration form is included at the end of this manual. Commercial use of XDIR without payment of the registration fee is prohibited. Site licenses are available for users with multiple machines. Please contact me for information. 3 C. XDIR MODES 1. Help mode XDIR /? Displays a series of help screens describing the XDIR modes. If you can't wait to use XDIR, try this for a quick and handy tutorial. 2. Directory Mode XDIR [/d] [d:][path][filename][.ext] [> outputfile] Displays the commented directory. This is the default option, so the option switch /d can be left off. You can specify the directory you wish to view just as with DIR, including the wildcard features '?' and '*'. XDIR shows only a screen at a time. Pressing Esc will terminate the directory display. PgDn will produce the next screen of directory entries. You can scroll the display up and down through the directory with PgUp and PgDn. If the number of files in the display make up less than one full screen, the display sill scroll onto the screen, just like the DOS display. This facilitates use of XDIR to display file choices in batch files. In all other situations, XDIR will clear the screen and start the display from the top. Output redirection to the printer or a disk file is allowed in this mode. For example, you might print the directory of all of your memo files to your printer with: XDIR *.mem >prn 3. Edit mode XDIR /e [d:][path][filename][.ext] This mode allows you to add and modify the directory comments, which are then stored in the file XDIR.CMT. The * and ? wildcard features can be used. The comment field is 65 characters long and can contain any information you desire. The text editor provided is very simple, allowing the usual motion around the comment fields with the cursor keys. You can scroll the display up and down through the directory with PgUp and PgDn. Ctrl-PgUp will display the first screen of the directory and Ctrl-PgDn will display the last screen. Home and End move the cursor to the beginning and end of the current comment field. Ctrl-Home will move the cursor to the first directory entry on the screen and Ctrl-End will move it to the last. The Del BackSpace keys are active and work normally. You can toggle in and out of Insert mode with the Ins key. Alt-Del erases the entire comment line. When you write your Comment lines, you should remember that one of XDIR's display modes shows only the first 38 characters of 4 the comment in order to be able to also display the usual DOS file information. If you plan ahead, you can make this first part convey the most essential part of your comment. When you leave XDIR in this mode by pressing Esc, XDIR sorts the comment file and writes it out to disk. This will take a noticeable time if the directory has many entries. The XDIR.CMT file can also be freely edited in any editor that produces an ASCII file. You must pay attention to the following format: -Column- -Field - 1-8 File Name 9 Blank 10-12 File Extension 13 Blank 14-18 Number of Uses 19 Blank 20-27 Last Use Date 28 Blank 29-93 Comment The blank columns are ignored by XDIR. If you should create a file with more than 93 characters, the excess characters will simply be ignored when XDIR reads the file. Any subsequent edit by XDIR will produce a new file with all of the excess characters deleted. IMPORTANT: If you do edit XDIR.CMT in your own editor, you must be sure to sort the file by columns 1-12 in ascending order. XDIR expects to find a sorted file. 4. Copy mode XDIR /c [d:]path\filename.ext [d:]path[filename][.ext] In this mode XDIR copies files in the same manner as the DOS COPY command. It also copies the corresponding records (if they exist) from XDIR.CMT and inserts them into the file of the same name in the destination directory, creating the file if necessary. The * and ? wildcard features can be used. If a file with the same name exists in the destination directory, XDIR will ask you before it overwrites the file. 5 5. Move mode XDIR /m [d:]path\filename.ext [d:]path[filename][.ext] This mode is used to MOVE files between directories, or from one disk to another. The * and ? wildcard features can be used. This is a feature not provided by DOS. When the two directories are on the same disk, the operation is very fast because XDIR changes the DOS directory entries and does not to copy the files themselves. When the destination directory on a different disk, each file is first copied to the destination and then deleted from the source directory. In any case, the XDIR comment records are transferred properly. If a file to be moved is marked with the Read-Only file attribute, and the Move is not between directories on the same disk, XDIR will ask you before deleting the file from its source directory. Also, if a file with the same name exists in the destination directory, XDIR will ask you before it overwrites a file. This mode can also be used to rename a file. This use is identical to the DOS RENAME feature, but it also updates the entry in the XDIR.CMT file. 6. Kill Mode XDIR /k [d:]path\filename.ext This mode is used to KILL or delete files from the directory,similar to the DOS DELETE or ERASE commands. The * and ? wildcard features can be used. XDIR displays a direct files that satisfy the given filespec and then permits you to PICK from these files those that you wish to KILL. This PICK option allows you to select an arbitrary group of files for action. The option is automatic for the KILL mode but may also be selected for other modes.(See next section). After you have picked the files to be deleted, XDIR will ask you for confirmation before actually deleting the files. D. DISPLAY OPTIONS 1. PICK Option (usable with Modes C, M and K only) XDIR /kp [d:]path\filename.ext [d:]path[filename][.ext] This feature allows you to select an arbitrary group of files for action. The option is automatic for the KILL mode. It may also be selected for the COPY or MOVE modes. XDIR displays a directory of files that satisfy the given filespec and then permits you to PICK from these files those that you want. Move 6 the cursor up and down with the cursor keys. You can scroll through the directory with the PgUp, PgDn, Ctrl-PgUp and Ctrl-PgDn keys. Ctrl-Home and Ctrl-End move the cursor to the top and bottom of the screen. Files can be picked or unpicked with successive pressings of F9. Only the files that are picked at the time you press ESC are copied, moved or killed. 2. Alternative Display Formats XDIR presents the directory data in four alternative formats; examples of each are discussed below. a. Normal Display XDIR /n [/Mode] [/Other Options] This display is the same as the DOS DIR display, with 38 characters of the XDIR comment shown as well. Since many times, 38 characters is sufficient for a file comment, the whol may be displayed. If the file comment is longer, as is the case for the entry XDIR.EXE, then it is truncated. XDIR CMT 3609 3-07-88 2:11a Usage Record Beginning 7-15-87 XDCOUNT COM 12264 12-08-87 9:25p TSR: Monitors/records file openings XDIR EXE 54224 3-07-88 8:54a Latest version of XDIR: fixe XDUPDATE EXE 23952 2-25-88 8:18p Updates XDIR.CMT with usage data from b. Full Display XDIR /f [/Mode] [/Other Options] XDIR CMT Usage Record Beginning 7-15-87 XDCOUNT COM TSR: Monitors/records file openings XDIR EXE Latest version of XDIR: fixes all known bugs XDUPDATE EXE Updates XDIR.CMT with usage data from XDCOUNT data files c. Usage Display XDIR /u [/Mode] [/Other Options] This option causes XDIR to display its information in a slightly different format, as shown here: XDIR CMT 3609 3-07-88 12:11a a 144 3-07-88 XDCOUNT COM 12264 12-08-87 9:25p r 28 2-23-88 XDIR EXE 54224 3-07-88 8:54a a 245 2-23-88 XDUPDATE EXE 23952 2-25-88 8:18p a 7 The first four fields are the same as the standard DOS display. The next field shows the DOS attributes of each file. Letters a,h,n,r and s are used: [a]rchive - a file that has been modified since backup; [h]idden - a file that is intentionally hidden from the DOS DIR display; [n]ormal - any file not a,h,r, or s; [r]ead-only - a file that cannot be deleted by the DOS Delete command; and [s]ystem - a special DOS file. The number after the attribute field is the number of uses that have been recorded for the file. (The comment associated with XDIR.CMT always shows the date when recording started for this directory.) The date in the last field is the date the file was last used. The usage display is very helpful when it comes time to prune files you really don't need from your hard disk. You can PICK files to KILL or MOVE to a floppy disk, while looking at how often you use them and your comments. For instance: XDIR /su /kd c:\utils\*.exe will display all of the files with extension EXE, sorted by decreasing number of uses, so you can select files to be deleted. If you want to save these files to a floppy disk in drive B command would be: XDIR /su /mp c:\utils\*.exe B: d. Wide Display XDIR /w [/Mode] [/Other Options] This option causes the directory names to be displayed five to a row. No other information is displayed. The display is similar to the DOS DIR /w command. XDCOUNT COM XDIR CMT XDIR EXE XDIR SRT XDIRALL BAT XDUPDATE COM 3. Sort Switch XDIR [/SD] [/SE] [/SL] [/SN] [/SS] [/SU] [/S0] [/mode] [/Other Options] The XDIR directory display is usually sorted. The sort type is determined by adding one of the four sort commands anywhere in the command line. /SN is the default. /SA Directory is sorted by file attributes /SC Directory is sorted by XDIR comment, in alphabetical order 8 /SD Directory is sorted by Date and Time, presenting the newest file first. /SE Directory is sorted in increasing alphabetical order, first by Extension, then by File Name. /SL Directory is sorted by date of last use and then by File Name. /SN Directory is sorted in increasing alphabetical order by File Name and then by Extension. /SS Directory is sorted by file size, presenting the largest file first. /SU Directory is sorted by number of uses, with the most used file presented first. /S0 Directory is not sorted. The order is the same as presented by the DOS DIR command. 4. Quick Write Display Toggle XDIR /Q XDIR ordinarily sends output directly to video memory. This provides the quickest screen display and can be used on IBM machines and true compatibles. However, this quick write procedure has incompatibility problems with some clones and with some software. If you have any problems with the XDIR screen display, you can disable the quick write feature of XDIR with the /Q option. E. INSTALLATION 1. General Use of XDIR XDIR was designed using DOS 3.1 and tested with DOS 3.0-3.2. The program will work with DOS 2.x but the /m option will not function properly for moves between subdirectories on the same disk. XDIR should be available to you all the time. If you have a hard disk, make sure that XDIR is located in a directory in the current path. The easiest installation is as follows (assuming that the XDIR files are in Drive A:) C:\ A:XDIR /c A:*.* 9 Also make sure your autoexec.bat file contains a line with PATH=C:\; If you don't have a hard disk, best use of XDIR is obtained if you load it on to a ram disk and then PATH the ramdisk. 2. Installing File Use Monitoring This feature is implemented only for hard disks. Usage on floppies or RAM Disks is not recorded, and is simply ignored by the system. File use monitoring is implemented in two steps. The program XDCOUNT.COM is a resident module that goes into action whenever one of your programs is executed or a data file opened for use. XDCOUNT registers these events and writes the usage data to the file XDIR.DTA for later use. The program XDUPDATE.EXE should be called periodically to transfer this use data to the appropriate XDIR.CMT files. XDCOUNT has one command line option: XDCOUNT [Drive] [Drive] [Drive] [Drive] Up to four drive letters can be specified. If you don't specify a drive, XDCOUNT will ignore activity on that drive. Be sure to specify only HARD drives. If you do not specify any drive letters, drive C is assumed. The best way to install XDCOUNT and XDUPDATE is to place them in your Autoexec.bat file There is always some possibility of undesirable interactions among resident programs. No unsolvable problems have been found with XDCOUNT. It is best to put XDCOUNT into your Autoexec.bat file after all other programs, with the exception of SuperKey and Sidekick . Your Autoexec file might look like this: . .. .. C:\XDCOUNT C:\XDUPDATE . .. .. . .. .. SIDEKICK 3. Use of XDUPDATE to Clear Usage Data Occasionally, it is useful to CLEAR the usage data in a directory, or group of directories to zero. You can do this for a single directory by making it the Current Directory and then executing XDUPDATE /C ChangeDir C:\memos XDUPDATE /C 10 If you wish to clear a directory and all of its Subdirectories, use XDUPDATE /S. For example, to clear all of the usage data on your hard disk: ChangeDir C:\ XDUPDATE /S 4. Conversion from Previous Versions of XDIR If you have a version of XDIR earlier than Version 2.02, you will need to convert your XDIR.CMT files to a new format. The program XDCNVRT.EXE is provided for this purpose. To use XDCNVRT, the following steps are required: a. Set the current drive and path to the directory containing XDCNVRT. Typically this would involve: >CD A:\ >A: b. Execute XDCNVRT, specifying the drive to be worked on. XDCNVRT will automatically convert all XDIR.CMT files on that drive. You must carry out this step on all disks that have XDIR.CMT files. For example: XDCNVRT C: 5. Customizing XDIR Features The actions to be taken by XDIR are all specified from the command line. Several default options have been set under the assumption that they are the ones you will use most often. As a result, the following are equivalent commands: XDIR XDIR /d /n /sn *.* If you find that you prefer other command line default entries, you can set them using the DOS Environment SET feature. SET is a DOS command that you can execute from the > prompt. For example, if you normally prefer to see the display sorted by extension, and do not want the Quick write feature, these can be made defaults as follows: SET XDIR=/se /q 11 You can remove any options that you have SET with the following DOS command: SET XDIR= When you are sure of the defaults that you want, it's convenient to put your SET command into your AUTOEXEC.BAT file. F. FILES SUPPLIED The files supplied with XDIR are: XDC BAT Equivalent to XDIR /c -- Copies files XDE BAT Equivalent to XDIR /e -- Edit file comments XDM BAT Equivalent to XDIR /m -- Move files between directories XDIR CMT Usage Record Beginning 4-25-88 XDIR DOC To print enter: TYPE XDIR.DOC > prn XDIR EXE Latest version of XDIR: fixes all known bugs. XDCNVRT EXE Convert older XDIR.CMT files to the The three batch files are provided for your convenience. It's easier to use them than typing XDIR /xx. You are free to rename these files if you wish. If you use an extended DOS editor like DOSEDIT or CED, you will find it most convenient to replace these batch files with synonym commands. G. XDIR VERSION HISTORY Ver. 1.0 01/25/87 First release, withdrawn immediately because F10 function key did not work at all. Ver. 1.01 01/26/87 Corrected F10 problem but 'D' entered in a comment field caused action identical to F10 Ver.1.02 01/27/87 Fixed the F10 problem correctly. Ver. 1.03 01/29/87 Fixed problem with Copy to current directory. Now can call: XDIR /c C:\xxx.yyy Previously required XDIR /c C:\xxx.yyy C: Fixed a problem with recognizing directory names. Previously XDIR interpreted C:\XXX as equivalent to C:XXX.* This is incorrect when XXX is a directory name. Fixed a problem with deleting Comment entries. Now Del, BSP or fill with blanks works OK. Add listing of file names moved, same as DOS copy. Extend allowable number of files in a directory to 256. Extend allowable number of files moved to 128. Speed up XDIR by using Quiksort routine. 12 Ver. 1.04 02/22/87 General Cleanup: Reduced size and improved speed. Removed undocumented restriction of previous versions, which could not copy or move a file larger than 38K. Added Sorted directory display with Name, Ext, Date and Size options. Ver. 2.01 12/01/87 Added Pick feature. Added Alt-Del feature to edit option. Modified access to XDIR.CMT to permit XDIR /d use on networks. Reduced overall size with Turbo Optimizer (Reg. Turbo Power Software). Automatically go to PICK mode if no filespec is provided with /m or /c Add the /k mode to delete files Add the /w mode to provide wide display, 5 files per line Add usage count for files, both executable and data Add an Unsorted directory option: /S0 Fix problem with screen color changes. Previously left yellow text on black background. Change to leave colors unchanged. Ver. 2.02 3/15/88 This Version of XDIR has been substantially rewritten. It is the first version to use Turbo Pascal 4.0 and incorporates a number of new features. Comment field increased to 65 characters from 38. Scroll up and down through directory display. Number of directory elements increased to 1024. Number of files that can be copied or moved in one command is 1024 Directory now shows file attributes. Sort on comment field is included. Average comment file size is decreased. XDCNVRT.EXE is provided to change from earlier versions. Memory requirements have been decreased. Operation is noticeably faster. Compatibility with Keyboard enhancers has been improved. Comments can be attached to directories. Quick writing can be toggled off for improved compatability. XDIR defaults can be altered using the DOS SET command. 13 SOFTWARE REGISTRATION FORM AND ORDER Check all that apply: Amount: [ ] Standard registration $10.00 [ ] Full registration (includes file use features) $20.00 TOTAL ENCLOSED: $______ If you already have a copy of XDIR, where were they obtained? [ ]CompuServe [ ]Friend [ ]Employer [ ]BBS [ ]ShareWare Distributor Payment is by check[ ] or money order[ ] (Sorry - no COD or charges) NAME ___________________________________________ COMPANY ___________________________________________ ADDRESS ___________________________________________ CITY ___________________________________________ STATE __________________________ZIP _____________ Send your registration form and payment to: XD Systems 1014 Shipman Lane McLean, VA 22101 14