************************************************************************** - THE LEGENDARY >> SUBSOFTWARE << IN 90 !!! =========================================== - CONTACT US - BP: 36 - - 1380 REBECK - - BELGIUM - - DON'T SEND ANY DISKS - ************************************************************************** DIRECTORY MASTER 1.0b DOCUMENTATION FILE OR A QUICK AND DIRTY APPROXIMATION OF A MANUAL Directory Master is a shareware disk catalog program. Its features include: Menu and Mouse driven interface Multiple display modes Input and output filtering printer and file support Customizable Input output and display Quick record searches Duplicate records search Compare disk to database function ...and more ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- SOME TERMINOLOGY Record - a database file, directory, or disk. DISPLAYED RECORDS - all records that are either currently visible or may be made visible via the arrow or slider gadgets, or keyboard arrows. DISPLAY list - same as DISPLAYED RECORDS. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- MENU OPTIONS Directory Master 1.0b has the following menu structure: NOTE: The items in () are currently not implemented. PROJECT EDIT UTILITIES DISPLAY CONFIGURE About Add Disk Find Records Colors Directory Master Update Disk Records Disks Drive Shareware Append Database Duplicates Directories df0: New All Compare Files df1: Open No Extensions Resort Parent (Custom) All Custom ASCII Custom (Page Length) No Extensions Delete Numerical Utilities Custom Records (Open) Save Extensions (Save) Save As Custom (Save As) Print Type (Reset All) to printer (Change) to file (Define) Help (Combine Type Files) Quit (Assign Defaults) PROJECT MENU ABOUT Directory Master - some general comments on current version. Shareware - explains shareware policy. NEW - erases current database from memory. OPEN All - reads in all records from a selected database. No Extensions - reads in a subset of records from a selected database. The excluded records are all FILES which are in the same directory AND have the same name BUT different extensions. The first FILE is read; the others are excluded. For example, if a directory has the following files: arc arc.c arc.o then the only file (of these 3) read in to the database would be arc . The included file is the alphabetically first file in the list. This option allows machines without extended memory to access more disks without really losing that much information. For the Fish0 - Fish90 disks, this "saves" about 2000 files. For the Amicus1 - Amicus16 disks, this "saves" about 600 files. Custom - reads in a custom FILE subset of a selected database. See the description of the custom requester in the requesters section for more details. Also deletes disk and directory records that have none of the custom FILES. NOTE: In order to fix a bug in version 1.0a, I had to change the database storage format. This makes 1.0a databases incompatible with 1.0b databases. -- SORRY. SAVE - saves the current database in memory to the same database that was last accessed or to "DirMaster.dbf" if no database was previously used. WARNING: DirMaster does NOT currently check to make sure there is enough room on the disk before saving. SAVE AS - same as above except saves the current database to a specified file. PRINT to printer - prints the currently DISPLAYED RECORDS with the currently displayed fields to the printer. to file - same as above except to a specified file. WARNING: DirMaster does NOT currently check to make sure there is enough room on the disk before printing. HELP - a one screen online help function. QUIT - erases current database from memory and exits. EDIT MENU ADD DISK - reads the disk on the currently selected drive and adds it to the database. UPDATE DISK - first deletes the highlighted disk, then adds the new disk back into the database. APPEND DATABASE - adds an existing database file to the database in memory. All - see the description for the OPEN option No Extensions - see the description for the OPEN option. Custom - see the description for the OPEN option. DELETE - deletes records from the database in memory. Records - deletes the highlighted record. If the record is a Disk or a Directory, then all sub-records are also deleted. Extensions - deletes FILES in the same directory that have different extensions. See the OPEN section for more details. NOTE: This option acts on the entire database in memory. Custom - deletes a custom subset of FILES. See the description of the Custom requester. TYPE - NOT CURRENTLY IMPLEMENTED (Projected Version: 1.1) Change Define Combine Type Files Assign Defaults UTILITY MENU FIND Record - brings up a special window which is used to locate specified records. All of the located record's fields are showm in full. The records which may be FOUND are ONLY those records which are currently DISPLAYED. This window has the following functions: string gadget - stores the name of the record to be found. Wildcards are not allowed. OK - begins search on the name in the string gadget. CANCEL - returns to the main DirMaster display and to the same position as before FIND was invoked. Also clears the string gadget. QUIT - returns to the main DirMaster display, at the position of the last found record. FIRST - shows the first record in the DISPLAY list. Keyboard ALT-UP_ARROW does the same. NEXT - shows the next record in the DISPLAY list. Keyboard DOWN_ARROW does the same. PREVIOUS - shows the previous record in the DISPLAY list. Keyboard UP_ARROW does the same. LAST - shows the LAST record in the DISPLAY list. Keyboard ALT-DOWN_ARROW does the same. NOTE: Keyboard SHIFT-ARROW will move through the list by 23 records at a time (this is the "Page Length" option). Duplicates - DISPLAYS all duplicate records in the current DISPLAY list. You may specify which fields (NAME,SIZE,DATE) are to be used when searching for the duplicates. COMPARE - Compares ALL the records on a disk to ALL the records in the current database and outputs which records are NOT in the database. A record is output if any of the fields (NAME,SIZE,DATE) are different. The records are always output to the screen and may be output to a file and or the printer as well. Records which scroll off the screen may not be redisplayed. RESORT ASCII - Resorts the currently DISPLAYED RECORDS into alphabetical order. For example: Fish 1 Fish 10 Fish 11 Fish 2 Fish 20 Fish 21 Fish 3 Fish 4 NUMERICAL - resorts the currently DISPLAYED RECORDS into "numerical" order. For example: Fish 1 Fish 2 Fish 3 Fish 4 Fish 10 Fish 11 Fish 20 Fish 21 NOTES: 1. By default DISPLAYED DISKS and RECORDS are sorted numerically, and DISPLAYED DIRECTORIES and FILES are sorted alphabetically. 2. Multifield sorting will probably be provided in Version 1.1. CONFIGURE MENU COLORS - NOT IMPLEMENTED (Projected version 1.1). DRIVE df0: - sets df0: as the default drive. df1: - sets df1: as the default drive. Custom - NOT IMPLEMENTED (projected version 1.1). PAGE LENGTH - NOT IMPLEMENTED (projected version 1.1). UTILITIES - NOT IMPLEMENTED (projected version 1.1). ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- GADGETS AND REQUESTERS MAIN SCREEN UP ARROW - scrolls the DISPLAY list up as long as the arrow is selected. Keyboard UP_ARROW does the same. DOWN ARROW - scrolls the DISPLAY list down as long as the arrow is selected. Keyboard DOWN_ARROW does the same. NOTE: Keyboard ALT-UP_ARROW moves to the beginning of the DISPLAY list and keyboard ALT-DOWN_ARROW move to the end of the DISPLAY list. SLIDER - moves the current DISPLAY position to anywhere within the DISPLAY list. The current DISPLAY limits are continually calculated and DISPLAYED as long as the slider gadget is selected. Clicking in the slider box above or below the "target" will move the DISPLAY list one screenful. NOTE: Keyboard SHIFT-ARROW does the same as clicking. CUSTOM REQUESTER This requester is used by the following options: Open - Custom Append - Custom Delete - Custom Display - Custom The custom requester allows you to specify a subset of the database to be used in the selected option. It has the follwing structure. -------- ------- ----------- ---------------------- --------- --------- |BEFORE| |AFTER| |INCLUDING| | | |INCLUDE| |EXCLUDE| -------- ------- ----------- ---------------------- --------- --------- -------- ------- ----------- ---------------------- --------- --------- |BEFORE| |AFTER| |INCLUDING| | | |INCLUDE| |EXCLUDE| -------- ------- ----------- ---------------------- --------- --------- -------- ------- ----------- ---------------------- --------- --------- |BEFORE| |AFTER| |INCLUDING| | | |INCLUDE| |EXCLUDE| -------- ------- ----------- ---------------------- --------- --------- -------- -------- | OK | |CANCEL| -------- -------- The 3 string gadgets (in the center) allow you to type in record names which are then parsed according to the custom options you have selected. The "*" and "?" wildcards are allowed for the two columns of options on the right and are parsed as follows: "*" = 0 or more occurrences of any character. "?" = 1 occurrence of any character. The "*" and "?" are treated as regular characters by the options on the left. BEFORE - Selects all records before the specified record. AFTER - selects all records after the specified record. INCLUDING - includes the specified record. INCLUDE - includes the specified records in the OPTION list. EXCLUDE - excludes the specified records in the OPTION list. NOTES: 1. When specifying more than one custom string, the order is important. The first EXCLUDE, if selected, excludes all records that do not match the specified record. The second and third excludes, if selected, will exclude records from the list selected by the first row of options. 2. The INCLUDE gadgets are cumulative (order should not matter). 3. The custom Display and Delete option work only on the current DISPLAY list. 4. BEFORE and AFTER are mutually exclusive. INCLUDING may be selected with either. 5. INCLUDE and EXCLUDE are mutually exclusive. WARNING: This does not corretly parse a combination like: *.c - INCLUDE BEFORE - g This SHOULD mean: include ALL *.c files AND ALL records before "g". It is currently interpeted as: include ALL records before "g". However, specifying BEFORE - g *.c - INCLUDE gives the expected results. DISPLAY FIELDS REQUESTER Double clicking on the right mouse button allows you to select which fields you want to DISPLAY. NAME is always displayed. You may select any combination of the other fields (SIZE, DATE, PATH). ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- MOUSE The following special mouse functions are implemented: 1. Double clicking the left mouse button on a disk or directory will DISPLAY all of the sub-records in that disk or directory. Double clicking on a file will bring up the FIND window. 2. Single clicking the left mouse button on a record will highlight that record. Some of the menu options use highlighted records. 3. Double clicking the right mouse button brings up the Display Fields requester. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- SOME APPROXIMATE STATISTICS TOTAL RECORDS MEMORY RECORDS 512K 5000 (for partial functionality. Full functionality = 4500) 1.5M 22000 2.5M 38000 SORT AND SEARCH TIMES RECORDS SORT TIME SEARCH TIME (worst case) 10000 30 sec 2 sec 38000 2min 30 sec 4 sec ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- SUGGESTIONS ?? CRITICISMS ?? I have received many excellent suggestions, bug reports, etc. Most of the known bugs have been fixed and many of the suggestions have been implemented or will be implemented. I appreciate these inputs as they help make Directory Master a better product. If you have any comments, suggestions, criticisms, etc., or would like to see other features implemented in DirMaster, please let me know. I am hoping to make version 1.1 the final version and be finished in December 87. So, if you have some inputs, please try to get them to me by the end of November. Thanks. Greg Peters 1032 Middy Drive WPAFB, OHIO 45433 BIX: gpeters -----------------------------------------------------------------------------