4Desy/2
4Desy/2
- For-Desy-Too -
version 1.10
a comfortable description-editor for 4OS2
written in january 1994 by Wolfram Koerner.
Internet: koerner@cip.informatik.uni-wuerzburg.de (prefered)
or: koerner@wok.incubus.sub.org
FIDO : Wolfram Koerner@2:2490/5100.8
snailmail: Wolfram Koerner
Friedenstrasse 5a
97072 Wuerzburg
GERMANY
*********************************************************************
*** dear english-speaking people, please don't blame me for my ***
*** mistakes while writing this english documentation, because my ***
*** native-language is GERMAN ***
*** If you detect bad mistakes, please drop me a note ***
*********************************************************************
Contents:
---------
* The Highlights
* What is 4OS2 and how about descriptions?
* Whats the job of 4Desy/2 ?
* The commandline-parameters
* The Screen of 4Desy/2
* The keys of 4Desy/2
* "OK, how much ?" - CARDWARE
* DISCLAMER
* Copyrights and Trademarks
* A final hint
* Credits
The Highlights
--------------
* Up to 512 Entries per directory
* HPFS-long File/Directorynames supported
* descriptions up to 200 characters
* Internal clipboard for copying of descriptions
* Search for Filenames and/or descriptions, containing
a certain searchtext
* interactive changing of directories and drives
* diffenrent viewers depending on the current files
extension can be invoked by F3 key
* F4 edits current file, F9 invokes a command shell
* free custom color setup possible
* setup can either be done by commandline switches or
by an 4DESY2.INI file in directory of 4DESY2.EXE
* autosave-function
* works with different number of rows
- 25 to 102 rows if running in PM-window
- 25 to 60 rows if running in fullscreen-textmode
(the number of rows must be specified by the MODE 80,yyy
OS/2-command before running 4Desy/2)
* Many common Editor-Keys work while editing
What is 4OS2 and how about descriptions ?
-----------------------------------------
4OS2 is a replacement for the poor native OS/2 command
processor CMD.EXE. 4OS2 replaces this one completely and
adds countless improvements. E.g. you only enter the first
few letters of a filename and then hit the TAB-key and 4OS2
completes the filename watching the available files in the
current directory. The latest version of 4OS2 I know is
2.00 and as it is shareware -so should be available in every
OS/2-specialized BBS and, of course via ftp on cdrom.com.
Among the various improvements are the filedescriptions.
With the command DESCRIBE you can give every file beside its
name a description while running 4OS2.
The descriptions of all files in a directiory are kept in
this directory inside the hidden file "DESCRIPT.ION". If
you now copy, delete or move this described file inside 4OS2
the dicriptions are copied, deleted or moved, too. If you
move all your files to a floppydisk, the files will show
their description on that media, too.
The descriptions are shown when invoking a normal DIR
command on FAT-formated drives. If you have a HPFS-drive
then you normally dont see the descriptions. You have to
tell 4OS2 to show the HPFS-directory in the old FAT-format.
This is done whit the switch /z so type: "DIR /z <enter>" on
HPFS-drives and you'll see your descriptions, too.
And it *is* a difference, if your 1-year-old floppy-disk in
your diskbox look liker this:
[c:\]dir a:
Volume in drive A is unlabeled
Directory of a:\*.*
bdesk234.arj 145109 14.07.92 23.41
descript.ion 392 16.10.92 16.24
resmast1.zip 47964 14.03.92 5.20
sabdu120.arj 51041 14.07.92 23.43
sprbar11.arj 46583 29.07.92 12.22
tngeb200.arj 261453 16.07.92 23.48
wed13b.arj 214750 31.03.92 15.00
winfr171.exe 256389 9.05.92 14.49
winq200a.arj 252653 25.07.92 13.29
1.438.892 bytes in 10 file(s) 1.440.768 bytes allocated
16.896 bytes free
or if your disk looks like this:
[c:\]dir a:
Volume in drive A is unlabeled
Directory of a:\*.*
bdesk234.arj 145109 14.07.92 23.41 BigDesk (virtual screens) Win3.1
descript.ion 392 16.10.92 16.24
resmast1.zip 47964 14.03.92 5.20 Resource-Master 1.00 f. WIN
sabdu120.arj 51041 14.07.92 23.43 Disk copy/format f. WIN
sprbar11.arj 46583 29.07.92 12.22 Superbar f.WIN (Hot-Icons f.Apps)
tngeb200.arj 261453 16.07.92 23.48 TechNoir Birthdayplaner (good!)
wed13b.arj 214750 31.03.92 15.00 Programmers-Editor (ANSI) f. WIN
winfr171.exe 256389 9.05.92 14.49 Win-Fractale 1.71
winq200a.arj 252653 25.07.92 13.29 Windows-Offline-QWK-Reader
1.438.892 bytes in 10 file(s) 1.440.768 bytes allocated
16.896 bytes free
Whats the job of 4Desy/2 ?
--------------------------
The 4OS2-command DESCRIBE is not very comfortable. Every
file is treated on its own and once you press enter you cant
edit the previous described files again an correct mistakes.
You even can't use once entered stuff again, if you have to
enter some very similar descriptions.
So now you need 4DEsy/2 - the comfortable
description-editor! Though 4Desy/2 does not need 4OS2 for
execution, the pretty descriptions do not make much sence,
while sleeping inside the DESCRIPT.ION-File, because CMD.EXE
will NOT show the descriptions.
The commandline-parameters
--------------------------
The order of the switches is *NOT* important !
The switches are checked caseINsensitive.
By default 4Desy/2 will edit the current-derictory where you
typed the run-command for 4Desy/2. But you can tell 4Desy/2
to edit another directory's description:
4DESY2.EXE [drive:][path\path\path...]
For example your current directory is somewhere on harddisk
C: and you run:
4DESY2.EXE a:
Then you will edit the current directory of diskette in
drive A:
Some other examples:
4DESY2.EXE a:\
4DESY2.EXE a:\subdir
4DESY2.EXE \os2\install
4DESY2.EXE subdir\subdir2
Further commandline-switches:
switch function
------------------------------------------------------------------
/? "HELP !!!"
Before the actual begining of the program a
short summary of the possible commandline
switches is displayed. After waiting for a
keypress the program is executed normally
Example:
4DESY2.EXE /?
/H same as /?
/A "AUTOSAVE"-Mode
when this switch is given, 4Desy/2 saves the
descriptions whithout further questions when either
- Exiting (ESC or Alt-X)
- Changing a Directory (ENTER on <DIR>)
- Changing the current Drive (Alt-D)
When changes where made, they are saved !
When 4Desy/2 is running you can toggle the
state of the Autosave-mode with Alt-A.
(see description of Top-Line)
(see key Alt-A)
/Caxxx "COLOR setup"
the little 'a' behind the switch specifies the
screen element which color follows. 'a' can be
one of the following letters:
T : top row
B : bottom row
F : normal file row
D : normal directory row
E : current edit-row
H : help window
C : current directory inside help window
W : warnings and errors in the bottomline
The three 'xxx' stand for a color code from 0
to 127. In this number background- and
foreground color are specified. The little
help program "4COLORS.EXE" that comes within
the 4DESY2 archive shows the result colors from
every code.
Example:
4DESY2.EXE /CT12
starts 4Desy/2 with a headline in the color
light-red on black.
/E "EDITOR-Mode" instead of POS1-Mode
switches 4Desy/2 after start into the
Editor-Mode. In Editor-Mode the program
behaves like a normal editor. This means when
changing the row, the cursorposition is kept
where possible. Even when just jumping over a
few empty descriptions, 4Desy/2 remembers the
old position of the cursor and restores it in
the next line with enough text.
Contrary to the Editor-Mode is the POS1-Mode.
This is the default-mode for 4Desy/2 and means
that whenever you change the row, 4Desy/2 jumps
to Position number one in the targetrow.
Which mode you prefer belongs to your own taste
but remember the key Alt-E. When inside the
program you can toggle between Editor and
POS1-Mode by pressing Alt-E over and over...
Example:
4DESY2.EXE /e
/F3aaaaa "default F3-Viewer command"
By default "LIST" ist the command invoked when
F3 is pressed on a file. If you want to
specify another view-program, tell it 4Desy/2
with this switch. You can put
extension-dependent viewers inside 4DESY2.INI
so that you can even view ZIP-archives or BMP
or GIF-files or you can view WAV or MID-files.
See section over 4DESY2.INI-file. the /F3
switch only refers to the default-viewer.
Example:
4DESY2.EXE /F3c:\mytools\myview.exe
4DESY2.EXE /F3listos2
/F4aaaaa "F4-Editor command"
By default "E" the OS/2-Editor is invoked when
F4 is pressed on a file. If you prefer another
editor specify it here.
Example:
4DESY2.EXE /F4c:\apps\qedit\q.exe
4DESY2.EXE /F4epm.exe
/K "KEEP in mind last subdirectory"
with this switch active, 4Desy/2 will remember
the name of the last subdirectory, when
changing to a parentdiretory (ENTER on "..").
When now the contents of the parentdirectory is
read from disk, the active row wil *NOT* be the
first total row, but the last subdiretory-row.
Try hitting enter on a ".."-dir and you will
see.
Without this switch always the first entry will
be activated when changing to a new directory.
(see also Key ALT-K)
/Lxxx "LENGTH of rows"
Behind the switch /L follows a number of
two or three digits. With this switch you can
tell 4Desy/2 the maximum length of a
descriptionline you want to have. In general
the maximum is set to 40 characters. These
40 characters just fit well into the directory
display. More characters will be word-wrapped
automatically by 4OS2 when displayed.
The default maximumlength is 40 chars.
If a description is longer than the maxchar
value you can only delete chars in this row,
not add chars.
The maximumlength must be from 19 to 200, so
for mathematics: 20 <= maxchar <= 200 ;-)
(see also key Alt-L)
Example:
4DESY2.EXE /L60
specifies a number of maximum
60 chars per description inside
4Desy/2.
/M "MONOCHROME"
with this switch 4Desy/2 does not use any
colors but black, white and grey. So I hope
Notebook-owners will see something. Please
report, if mono-mode works properly or not - for
I don't have a Notebook to test.
/O "OVERWRITE"-Mode
In normal case 4Desy/2 comes up inside Insert-
Mode. So if you prefer the Overwritemode tell
it to 4Desy/2
/Q "QUIET"-Mode
So if you really realized after ending 4Desy/2
for the third time that this is CARDWARE and you
really did send the postcard to me, you can
suppress the CARDWARE-reminder at the end of the
program with this switch.
BUT ONLY IF YOU ALREADY MAILED ME ;-)
Hint:
-----
If your favourite personal switches defer from the default
ones take a look at 4OS2's ALIAS-command. So perhaps define
in your 4START.CMD something like this:
alias 4des=c:\tools\4os2\4desy2.exe /e /o /l200 /q
So in future just enter:
4DES<enter>
and your favourite description-editor will come up with your
favourite setup...
Because ALIASes are kept in RAM, they are much more faster
than CMD-Files.
The screen of 4Desy/2
---------------------
旼4DESY/2훆1.10컴캑F1=Help쿐SC=Exit쳐컴AKI1퀰 27쿘 40쿐ntry 2 of 6쳐?컴커
?. <DIR> ?
?desy2.doc 10760 english documentation for 4Desy/2 ?
?desy2.dok 10760 deutsche Anleitung zu 4Desy/2 ?
?desy2.exe 85952 4Desy/2 -a comfortable DescriptionEditor ?
쿏ESCRIPT.ION 68 ?
쿴istory.txt 2581 A brief history of 4Desy/2 ?
? ?
? ?
? ?
? ?
? ?
? ?
? ?
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? ?
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? ?
쳐컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴캑
?desy2.doc ---A 27.01.94 18:36?
읕컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴켸
The first row
--------------
Behind |ESC=Exit| starts the status-information:
A means : Autosave is active.
Whenever you Exit 4Desy/2 or change the drive or
change the directory your work on descriptions
will be saved by the program automatically.
(see key Alt-A)
(see switch /A)
K means : "Keep in mind last subdirectory" is active.
To toggle this hit ALT-K
(see key ALT-K)
(see switch /K for commandline)
I means : Insert-mode
O instead of "I" means Overwrite-mode
(see key INS)
(see switch /O)
1 means POS1-Mode - when changing a row, the cursor
is always set to the first position of the line
E instead of "1" means "Editor-mode" where the
cursor-position is kept when changing rows
(see key Alt-E)
(see switch /E)
|C 27| means that the cursor is on the 27nd char of the
current description
(C stands for Column)
|L 40| means that the maximum-description length is set to
40 chars per description
(see switch /L)
|Entry 6 of 6| I think this should be obvious
-- at the end of the headline means that there are changes made
to the descriptions that have not yet been saved.
Save the current status of the descriptions by hitting
F2-key. If you just saved the description, the asterix
vanishes.
The last row
-------------
Under OS/2 filenames can have a length of maximum 256
letters. So they are to long for every normal sceenlayout.
So I decided to display only the first 12 chars of a filename
all over the screen an the CURRENTLY selected filename will
be displayed in the last line of the screen. This means the
first 60 chars of the filename are displayed. If somewhere I
have to cut of information of descriptions or filenames, you
will see a "" behind the information.
If your filenames is really still longer than 60 chars, you
will NOT see these remaining chars !
But actually: what sence does a 200-char-long-filename make ?
Behind the filename there are the attributes of the File
displayed in the order:
R - "readonly"
H - "hidden"
S - "system"
A - "archive"
If an attribute is not set, a dash "-" is displayed instead.
Right behind the attributes the filedate and the filetime is
shown in the form: DD.MM.YY and HH:MM
Sometimes this last row is used for displaying warnings or
here is some input entered by you. E.g. when you want to
search for text with the Alt-S key ...
The keys of 4Desy/2
-------------------
If you once have started 4Desy/2 with the desired parameters,
you will tell 4Desy/2 what action to do with the following
keys:
Key function
------------------------------------------------------------------
F1 Displays a help-screen with a summary of working-keys.
Even your current working-path is displayed here !
F2 saves the DESCRIPT.ION-file to the current directory.
After leaving the programm you will see your
descriptions on every DIR-command run by 4OS2 (on
HPFS-Disks run DIR /Z)
F3 The current file is to be viewd.
When in 4Desy2.INI a special viewer is defined for the
extension of the current file, this viewer is invoked.
Otherwise the viewerr specified by the switch /F3aaaa
will be invoked. If no other viewer is specified by
/F3-switch, 4OS2-command LIST will be started.
F4 The current file will be edited.
If with the switch /F3 no other editor is specified,
the OS/2-editor E.EXE will be started with this file.
F9 will shell to an OS/2 commandinterpreter.
4Desy/2 will start the one specified in the CONFIG.SYS
file with the environment variable COMSPEC.
Type EXIT<enter> to return to 4Desy/2.
ESCape Ends the program
If you have not saved the latest changes (See the
asterix in the uppper-right corner) a warning message
is displayed:
旼컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴커
쿥ARNING:Descriptionfile not saved.Save before exit?(Yes/No/Cancel)?
읕컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴켸
"Y" : Save and exit after successful saving
"N" : Direct exit, no saving
"C" : No Saving and no exit ! Just stay in program
Alt-X same as ESCape
Alt-A toggles Autosave on and off
when toggled to "ON" an "A" is displayed in the first
line of the screen. For further information on the
Autosave-mode see description of commandline-switch /A
Alt-E Toggles between Editor- and POS1-Mode
(Further information see switch /e)
Ins Toggles Insert- and Overwrite-mode
<--- The Backspace-key deletes the char left of the cursor
Del The Delete-Key deletes the char right of the cursor
Ctrl+ Ctrl-Del deletes from cursor to end of the line
Del
Cursor The cursor- and the Page-key just work in the same way
& Page as in every editor. But remind these other functions:
-Up/Dn
Ctrl- Moves the Edit-Bar to the next EMPTY description
CrsrUp for quickly editing some missing descriptions
Ctrl- Moves the Edit-Bar to the previous EMPTY description
CrsrDn for quickly editing some missing descriptions
Ctrl+ Move the cursor between the beginnings of words left and
<- / -> right.
Pos1 Move cursor to beginning/end of current row
Ende
Ctrl+ Move to first entry visible on the screen
Pos1
Ctrl+ Move cursor to last entry visible on the screen
Ende
Ctrl+ Moves cursor to first total entry of the current dir
PgUp
Ctrl+ Moves cursor to last total entry of the current dir
PgUp
Enter This key has two functions
1.)
When the current entry is a directory-entry, then the
program tries to change to this directory. If the
last status of the edited description is not yet
saved, a security-questions wants to know if yout want
to save or not.
If you want to know what the current directory is,
just hit F1. The Help-window displays your working
drive- and directory
2.)
the second function of Enter is when the current entry
is a file-entry. Then 4Desy/2 changes to the next
line and sets the cursor to the first position
Alt-D changes the Drive
The program asks you for the letter of the drive you
want to jump to. If you want to move to FLoppy A:
just hit the "a"-key once and wait until 4Desy/2 has
read in the directory-contents. 4Desy/2 always
changes to the root-directory of the selected drive.
ALT-R Re-read the contents of the current directory.
If yout think that the files in the current directory
have changed for some reason (may be by another
OS/2-task) you can tell 4Desy/2 to take a new look at
that direcory. The descriptions will have to be saved
before. (otherwise a warning will be displayed)
ALT-K toggle "Keep in mind last subdir".
for detailed description see description of
commandline-switch /K
When "keep"-mode is active, a "K" is displayed in the
statusline an top of screen,
Alt-C Copies the complete contents of the current
description to the 4Desy/2-clipboard.
Alt-U Cuts the current description to the clipboard
Alt-P Overwrites the current description with the contents
of the clipboard. The editbar is moved to the next entry.
Alt-Y Deletes the current description WITHOUT storing it
to the clipboard. The editbar is moved to the next entry.
--- Use carefully !
Alt-S Searches for text.
You can enter a searchtext of maximum 40 chars.
A question follows:
旼컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴커
쿐xamine <F>ilenames, <D>escriptions or <B>oth ? ?
읕컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴켸
So what should be examined for the searchtext ?
F : Filenames - only the file/directorynames
D : Descriptions - only the descriptionstrings
B : Both - Filenames/directorynames AND descriptions
are examined for containing the previous searchtext
The search is done caseINsensitive !
The search starts at the first entry.
Alt-N moves to the next matching entry.
Alt-N see Alt-S
moves to the next matching search-entry
If no searchtext is specified, this key has no function
Alt-L Lets you enter an new maximum description length
from 19 to 200.
(see commandline-switch /L)
ALT-I Save current 4Desy/2-Setup to the file 4DESY2.INI in
the directory where 4Desy/2 was started from.
You can lateron edit this file with a simple
ASCII-editor.
The file 4DESY2.INI
-------------------
This file is generated by hitting ALT-I.
In this file the normal 4DEsy/2-commandline switches are stored.
One switch per line. Example:
------------------4DESY2.INI--------------------
/A
/CF27
/CD30
/CE95
/CT79
/CB48
/CW78
/CH116
/CC121
.arj^(unarj ^|more) & pause
.inf^view
-------------------------------------------------
In the first column there has to be a "/" or a "." so that
4Desy/2 recognizes the switch. In spite of /C and /F only the
first letter behind the "/" is important. So /A and /AutoSave and
/AnotherDrink will all cause the AutoSaveMode to be switched on.
Starts the line with a "." the definition for a special F3-viewer
for a special extension follows.
By this line:
.arj^(unarj ^|more) & pause
the following commandline will be executet by typing F3 on a file
named XYZ.ARJ
unarj XYZ.ARJ|more & pause
"OK, how much ?" - CARDWARE
----------------------------
So...4Desy/2 is NOT for free !!!
It will cost you a little time and a postcard-stamp !
So this is CARDWARE ! NO Sharewarefee, No Registration-Key and no
Cripple-Function !
BUT:
After I have spent quite a bit of my sparetime for coding this
thing I now want to know where it travels to on this planet.
So if you like it and continue using it, if you want to give any
comment or improvement-ideas or if you have discovered one ore
more BUGS : Mail me by postcard. (For bug-reports even e-mail is
accepted...)
If you desire another special-function and you think some other
people might need this function too - write me, also !
(adress see on top of document)
DISCLAIMER
-----------
THOUGH THIS PROGRAM WAS CODED WITH GREAT CARE AND HAD BEEN TESTED
BY SEVERAL PEOPLE BEFOR THE OFFICIAL RELEASE IT MAY BE POSSIBLE
THAT ONE ORE MORE BUGS SURVIVED. SO I CAN *NOT* GUARANTEE THAT MY
PROGRAM WORKS PROPERLY ON YOUR COMPUTER, TOO. MAYBE HARDWARE OR
DATA MAY BE CORRUPTED. SO IF YOU WANT TO BE 100 PERCENT SHURE -
JUST DO NOT START MY PROGRAM AND DELETE IT FROM YOUR DISKS.
SO NOTHING CAN HAPPEN...
Copyrights and Trademarks
-------------------------
4OS2 is (C) and trademark of Rex Conn and JP-Software Inc.
4DOS is (C) and trademark of Rex Conn and JP-Software Inc.
OS/2 is (C) and trademark of IBM Corporation
4Desy/2 is (C) 1994 by Wolfram Koerner
the program may be freely copied and distributed.
But only if ALL files (program & docs) are copied
without changes in the original-ZIP-archive.
Further conditions see: CARDWARE-Section.
A final hint:
-------------
There is a NortonCommander clone for OS/2 called "File Commander 2"
programmed by Brian Havard. This program copies the 4OS2
descriptions together with the files! The archive is normally
named something like: fc2###.zip. Watch out for it and register
if you continue using it.
Credits
-------
Even a programmer can not survive without the help of some other
human beings, here may be mentioned a few of them:
Beta-tester: Florian v. Walter (e.g. Editor-Mode /E)
Hans-Dieter Stich (e.g. Keep-SubDir-Mode /K)
Holger Gutschmidt (e.g. Attribute-display)
hot-water bottle: Doro (or my feet would be frozzzzen...)
Comments
