(Tiny)ls 4.4 and 5.0 by Jörgen Grahn
====================================

Note #1:
========

	I've always called this program 'ls'.
	As there are tons of 'ls' programs available,
	I've chosen to call the distribution 'TinyLs'.

Note #2:
========

	I released an earlier version, TinyLs 4.1,
	on UseNet in 1992. That version had a couple
	of bugs that could cause crashes. In fact,
	parts of the code was rather crappy :-).

Introduction:
=============

	(Tiny)ls is a directory listing program.
	It has *not* the fancy features of programs
	such as NewList or different ports of and
	variations of the UN*X 'ls' command. It has
	only two distinct features:

	x It is small. Takes virtually no RAM or Disk
	  space. Good for floppy-only users.

	x Its output does not waste shell window space,
	  and gives a good overview by printing files
	  and directories in different colours.

	Both version 4.4 and 5.0 are enclosed in this
	distribution. 4.4 is 496 bytes long; thus it only
	occupies two (?) disk blocks on a FFS floppy.
	No file on floppy can occupy less space.
	5.0 occupies one more block. Yeah I know it's
	cheap counting blocks, but someone may need it.
	God knows I don't :-).

Requirements:
=============

	Any Amiga with OS 2.0 or higher.

Format:
=======

	LS [directory]

	If no directory name is given, ls will list the
	contents of the current directory.
	Wildcards don't work.

Template:
=========

	DIR

Features:
=========

	x Ls is a small program. It does not occupy
	  much disk space, and not much RAM when
	  running or resident.

	x Ls can be made resident.

	x Since file names are printed one at a time,
	  waiting for a listing from a slow floppy
	  is not as frustrating as waiting for C:Dir
	  to finish.

	x Ls prints names in a compact way; four filenames
	  on each row. It will take very large directories
	  to make filenames scroll away.

	x Ls 5.0 makes different kinds of files easily distinguishable
	  by highlighting them in different ways:

	  black text:	file
	  black italic: hardlink to file
	  blue text:	directory
	  blue italic:	hardlink to directory
	  white text:	softlink to file or directory

	  (Ls 4.4 only prints files in black and directories and
	  softlinks in blue.)

	x Ls understands CTRL-C.

	x Ls has a version string.

	x Ls gives error reports much like the C: commands.

Bugs and drawbacks:
===================

	x Ls doesn't understand wildcards, or anything else than
	  a single filename for that matter.

	x Ls doesn't always print a meaningful error message when
	  something went wrong. It usually does though.

	x Ls is a AmigaOS 2.0+ only utility. It uses
	  v36 dos.library command line parsing, error report...
	  I have a working 1.2+ version though,
	  but it is too messy to release ;-(

	x Ls has the same name as tons of more sophisticated
	  utilities ;-)

	x Don't supply an icon for ls. Ls won't run from Workbench.
	  Besides, doing so would be pointless, wouldn't it?

	x On a two-colour screen, softlinks that are printed in colour
	  #2, will not be visible. On the other hand, window titles
	  won't be visible either ;-).

	x Printing of file names is not the fastest possible. Normally
	  reading names from disk takes much more time, but listing ram
	  disks could be say 20% faster.

Conclusions:
============

	If you do a lot of shell work, you need to list
	directories often. Maybe one out of three commands
	is a listing command. If your shell does not have
	file name completion, they may be more. If your window
	is too small, listings often scroll away and have to be
	redone. (Tiny)ls's concise and clear output helps in
	this case.

	If you have a large system, you might want to use another
	utility instead. Personally, I always use (tiny)ls for
	normal listings and C:List for more advanced things.

History:
========
	See source.

Thanks to:
==========

	x Jeff Lavin, for his detailed comments on ls 4.1, and
	  for pointing out the embarrasing reentrancy mistake...

	x All you freeware programmers. You built my computer.

Plugs:
======

	x GMC 9.18		An excellent console-handler
				with filename completion!

	x NetHack 3.1.1		The most addictive game *ever*!

	x UpCat			A very nice program to keep
				a database of your floppy disks.

	x SnoopDOS 1.7		Invaluable!

	x SiliconMenus		Cool popup-menus!

	x Imploder 4.0		The best and safest executable
				packer available.

Distribution & disclaimer:
==========================

	I guess I can't demand money for this ;->,
	so ls is kind of freeware.  Feel free to do
	what you want with this executable and to change
	the source to fit your needs.  Please credit me
	for what I've done, and please don't credit me for
	what you've done (such as adding link viruses to ls ;-).
	And don't blame me for the results of using this
	distribution.

Address:
========

	Jörgen Grahn
	Wetterlinsg. 13e
	521 34 Falköping
	SWEDEN

	Not much email access after this (1993) summer,
	but if you want to, you can try any of the following,
	and I may or may not get the message.

	ex-grahn@student.cs.chalmers.se
	lundgren@fy.chalmers.se