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3]CLImate: Review
Help for CLI Haters
By MORTON KEVELSON
1]-------------------

3]     (EDITOR'S NOTE: This review originally appeared in the June 1987
3]issue of AHOY! It was submitted to JUMPDISK not by its true author, but by
3]an individual who presented it as his own work. When we at JUMPDISK
3]discovered the true authorship of the work, we contacted Mr. Kevelson,
3]explained the situation and struck a quick and friendly deal for reprint
3]rights. Thanks to Mr. Kevelson and to AHOY! editors for retroactive
3]permission to reprint. This correction is being made for all copies of this
3]issue distributed on and after Dec. 7, 1987.)

1]CLImate
Progressive Peripherals & Software, Inc.,
464 Kalamath St., Denver CO
Phone: (303) 825-4144.
Retail price: $39.85
Requirements: 512K, AmigaDOS 1.2

     Anyone who has ever flung a floppy will recognize the need for file
maintenance. By file maintenance we refer to the organization of disk-based
data and program files.
     Specifically, all users of disk-based microcomputers will have a need
to copy, rename, move, examine, print out, ponder, and otherwise reorganize
contents of their disk libraries. Amiga users are not exceptions to this
rule. In fact, the disk-based nature of the Amiga's operating system makes
proper maintenance of disk files essential for avoiding loss of performance
and the user's sanity.
     The Amiga, by virtue of Intuition and its icon-driven Workbench,
provides an ideal environment for management of the disk library. All the
necessary tools are readily available at the point of a mouse and the click
of a button. However, this only works for files which have an accompanying
icons, and many files don't have icons.
     Unfortunately, this lack of icon images is not a rare occurrence in the
Amiga environment -- there is much "serious" software that disdains the use
of these convenient symbols. The Amiga's alternate operating environment is
the  Command Line Interface, or CLI. Although the CLI is very powerful, many
users cringe at the thought of working with it, for despite its power it is
almost totally lacking in user amenities for entering and correcting
commands. This can place a considerable burden on the user, particularly
when dealing with the complex multilevel hierarchy of files names which can
be generated by the AmigaDOS directory structure.
     With this background in mind we recognize the need for a utility such as
CLImate. CLImate combines the ease and convenience of  Workbench with the
direct power of the CLI. All the essential tools for efficient file
maintenance are placed at your fingertips. In fact, I found CLImate such a
pleasure to use that on my first evening with it I took care of some needed
file manipulation I had already put off for too many days.
     CLImate may be accessed directly from the CLI or by clicking on its
imaginative icons. It runs on a screen of its own and it may be readily
brought to foreground or background via the front to back gadgets or with
the Amiga-M-N key stroke sequence. It does use up 100 kilobytes of RAM, which
means you will not be likely to keep it in the machine when you don't need
it.
     CLImate supports the Amiga's internal disk drive, up to three external
drives, the RAM disk, and up to two hard drives. When CLImate is started up
it will automatically determine your system's resources and display a
"button" for each device on a central part of its screen. The main screen is
partitioned so the left side is always the source and the right side is
always the destination. To select a drive, click on the Source or
Destination gadget, followed by a click on the appropriate device button.
The display screen is well done; the buttons actually appear to recede when
pressed.
     Once selected, the directory is automatically read into the appropriate
window. Files in the root directory show up in black and subdirectories in
white. As the pointer is moved over the list, the files are highlighted.
Selection is done with the left mouse button while subdirectories are opened
with the right mouse button.
     All primary disk maintenance functions are visible on the main screen
in batch mode. To copy files, highlight them in the source window, select
the destination device and directory, and click on the copy button. 
     The move button will copy the files and delete them from the source.
All operations are supplemented by additional prompt screens which are
equipped with string gadgets for all user-entered data. Movement through the
directories is facilitated by the scroll gadgets. The horizontal arrows are
useful for copying or exchanging the directory listings between the source
and destination windows. This last feature comes in handy for moving files
among different directories on the same disk.
     The unused space remaining on the disk is shown by the Disk string
gadgets right above the directory displays. The File string gadget above the
center column shows the size of the file which is currently under the
cursor. This information, which is continuingly updated, is quite useful.
The only useful information missing from the main display is the disk or
volume name and the dates of the files. Some means of changing the disk name
would have also come in handy.
     Text files may be sent to the printer or displayed on the screen. The
Print button brings up a secondary screen with a complete set of printer
controls. In addition to the usual settings for margins, page length, and
lines per inch, the printer screen offers several documentary functions. The
printout can be set to include the filename, time, and date on each page.
Pages and lines may also be numbered.
     The on-screen display can be set for ASCII or hexadecimal. Hex display
consists of 16 columns of byte values to the left with all printable ASCII
characters on the right. The extreme left hand column carries a four-digit
hex number corresponding to the byte count of the first byte on each line.
The screen display scrolls rapidly in only the forward direction. A pause
button lets you halt the scrolling, but your reflexes will have to be very
good to catch what you want. The screen can be stopped at the right place if
you anticipate it and practice it. There is no provision for sending the hex
display to the printer, nor is there any provision for editing the contents
of files.
     CLImate also provides some graphics support. The Showpic button cam be
used to display IFF files. This feature is a definite plus for setting up
slide show disks and other such applications.
     Without a doubt, the arrival of CLImate will improve the emotional
state of CLI haters everywhere. The program provides a functional solution
to a stock problem in an elegant setting. CLImate is not copy-protected. The
program files may be easily transferred to any disk that suits your fancy.

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