"PcConnect File Editor"
Documentation
I love to make speeches, but writing was never one of
my more likeable ways of getting a messages across. However
Gary assured me that this had to be done & here I go. The
file editor is a real cute piece of work. One that I am very
proud of for several reasons. The chief being, "It allows me
to edit my file {areas/dir's}.
If you have chosen to read this before running the
editor, you have done yourself a favor. I will now proceed
to take you through the setting up of your file areas. First
you should have a good idea of what file areas you want.
Below is a list of mine as an example.
╔════════════════════════════════[ File Areas ]════════════════════════════════╗
║╔══════════════════════════════════════╦═════════════════════════════════════╗║
║║ 1 - -=[ UPLOADS ]=- ║ 2 - PASCAL ║║
║║ 3 - BASIC ║ 4 - ASSEMBLY ║║
║║ 5 - "C" Language ║ 6 - TURBO PASCAL 4.0 ║║
║║ 7 - UTILITIES ║ 8 - DIAGNOSTICS ║║
║║ 9 - TEXT & INFO ║10 - COMMUNICATIONS ║║
║║11 - ***** PRIVATE ***** ║12 - APPLICATIONS ║║
║║13 - Omen Technology Software ║14 - New Dimension Software ║║
║║15 - EDITORS ║16 - MISC. ║║
║║17 - Per.Comp.Prog.Co Software ║ ║║
║╚══════════════════════════════════════╩═════════════════════════════════════╝║
If you do not have a FILEAREA.PCC created, then when
you run PCCFE you will be told that it does not exist, as if
you didn't know already. You can answer yes to create the
file or no to quit without creation. If you answer Y you will
next be asked for the name or description of you first file
area. Don't be confused, name or description being one and
the same. Some call it one, some the other. Just enter
what you want the user to see when they enter the file area
and do a list areas command. You must next tell PCCFE where
the DOS path to the file area is. (i.e. D:\UPLOADS) tells
PCCFE to create or find DIR.PCC in that dos directory. If
the dos directory doesn't exist, PCCFE will make the
directory and then create a DIR.PCC file in the area. The
DIR.PCC file contains no files at this time. Next you need
to enter the Upload and Access level for the area. My
suggestion would be to set the Access level to your NEWUSER
level and Upload level to SYSOP LEVEL. This is your means of
controlling system access to the file area. (e.g. if you
desire everyone to have full access when they first log on
then set all area accesses to NEWUSER level. Set your Upload
level to SYSOP LEVEL with the exception of your UPLOAD AREA
which you'll want at NEWUSER LEVEL. If you prefer to
checkout a newuser and award access per behavior etc... then
set the access level according to the access levels you
purpose to have for varing levels of system access.) If
you'll notice above, area 11 says PRIVATE. This is the area
that GARY and I use in exchanging PcConnect files so
naturally we want the access high enough [ SYSOP LEVEL ] to
exclude the casual user.
After you have entered all information for the first
area, the program proceeds to continue in normal fashion.
You may now from the main screen enter this new area and
begin the process of adding files if you wish or pressing F2
to continue adding other fileareas to the system. F2 causes
a menu to pop up and you may elect to ADD,DELETE,MODIFY any
file area you choose. A word about deleting a file area. I
found it very useful not to delete the DIR.PCC from the disk.
So if you decide to delete an area the DIR.PCC is still there
and you may add it back to the FILEAREA.PCC by selecting F2
and going through the motions outlined above.
Briefly on adding files to the DIR.PCC. If the
DIR.PCC file contains nothing then you are told so upon
entering the area. You are then asked if you wish to add
files at this time. If you say yes, AND you have files in
the dos directory, you will be shown all the directory files
from which you may move the bar around to select the file to
add. Once the selection is made you are prompted for a short
description of the file, and finially asked if you want to
add the file to the DIR.PCC. Yes does / No don't. So on and
so forth until you run out of files or get tired whichever
comes first. As you will notice, every file in the directory
is offered for selection except the DIR.PCC & DIR.BAK files.
As you continue to select files and add them to the DIR.PCC,
those you have added will no longer show up for selection.
If you accidently select say a doc file you unarched outside
of PCCFE to view and do not want this added to the DIR.PCC,
simply tap the enter key until asked if you wish to add it to
the DIR.PCC. Press "N" and continue as before.
Listed below are the help screens from within PCCFE,
they may help shed still further light on any questions you
may have. There are no hidden keys to know about other than
the "J" while working in the DIR.PCC and it is explained
below. All functions are labeled with the program and you
should have little trouble figuring out just what is what and
how things function. Simplicity was one thing that was
inportant in the work on the editor to make using it a joy
instead of the chore that some I've run across have been. IF
in the course of your BBSin' you see something you would like
to have added to the editor. Call, Write, or drop by anytime
and I will see that you get just what you want if within my
power to do so.
(409)598-3809 voice
(409)598-9057 data
(301)598-4331 data
HELP FOR MAIN SCREEN:
Use the arrow keys to move highlited bar/cursor over the file area.
UpArrow moves up, DownArrow moves Down, LeftArrow steps backward through
areas and stops on 1, RightArrow steps forward through areas and wraps back
to one etc... Enter\Return selects highlited area and opens DIR.PCC in
selected directory. If the program fails to find DIR.PCC you are told about
it. Press space bar to reset the screen, exit with F10 and verify that the
directory exsists and DIR.PCC resides in the directory. If a retry produces
the same result, verify that the path shown in the error window is the correct
path. If not, then F2 will allow you to modify the FileArea->Path. It
should be noted that the installation program does not create your file
directories. That is a function of PcConnect or the File Editor.
F10 exits to DOS. Note: F10 is exclusive in exiting program segments.
All yes/no prompts are defaulted and indicated by a capital Y or N in the
prompt. e.g. [Y,n] yes is the default. Enter/Return selects the default.
The opening process of selecting a directory area may be bypassed by entering
the path to DIR.PCC. Since PC Connect does not require your file areas to be
within it's home directory, it is necessary for the entire path to be entered.
i.e. C:\FILES\UPLOADS However, certain ways of processing the command line
enable you to access certain directories differently. The drive letter and
colon i.e. "D:" is only needed if a drive other than the log drive is to be
accessed. If the directory containing DIR.PCC is a subdir. of the rootdir.
of the loggeddrive, then all you need enter is "\UPLOADS" e.g. PCCFE \UPLOADS .
If the directory containing DIR.PCC is a subdir. of PC Connect''s home directory
then all you need enter is "UPLOADS" e.g. PCCFE UPLOADS . The command line
entry should always be delimited with a space. e.g. "PCCFE d:\dir\dir...
Errors in the above formats will cause PCCFE not to find the DIR.PCC and the
program will continue to run allowing you to select the area from the main
screen.
Help screens are available in each program segment via the F1 key.
F2 selects the FILEAREA.PCC support menu. You may ADD/DELETE or MODIFY any
area you wish.
F4 selects the create a catalog feature. You will be prompted for a lock-out
level. This allows you to create a catalog of files from your non private
file areas. Private file areas are only private to those people who do not
have the file access level to enter the directory. The catalog contains
all the information about the files on your system. You may modify this
ascii file to suit your desires.
HELP FOR DIR.PCC SCREEN:
The F1 key you used to read this of course. Each assigned function key is');
labeled specific for a special task. Multi-Tasks are not assigned. i.e. Move');
is move and copy is copy etc...');
The F2 key enters the MOVE a file section. You may move any file contained in');
the Dir.pcc to any file section presently contained in you FileArea.pcc. You');
can not leave a copy of the record in the current Dir.pcc. More than one file');
may be moved by seperating each file number with a "," (i.e. 1,4,6,8<enter>).');
The F3 key enters the COPY a file section. You may do just that, copy a file');
from the current Dir.pcc to another FileArea Dir.pcc. Two copies of the file');
will now exist on the drive in seperate directories.');
The F4 key enters the ADD a file section. You may add/append a file to the');
current Dir.pcc. If the file is not presently in the subdirectory, then the');
you won''t see it in the pik-file list. No provision is made for manual entry');
of a file which doesn''t exsist in the directory.');
The F5 key will allow you to delete a file from the current Dir.pcc. You will');
be prompted to delete the file from the disk subdirectory. The default is YES.');
The F6 key will allow you to modify/change information about a file in the');
Dir.pcc. No change to the Disk file is made.');
The F7 key will sort the DIR.PCC by filename for the current FileArea.');
The F8 key will allow you to globally set the file cost of the files in the ');
current DIR.PCC only. ');
The F9 key causes a prompt in the lower right corner to ask you for the file');
name of the archive. You may add the .ext if you wish, but it''s not needed.');
Providing all is well, you will be shown the contents of the archive 15 files');
files per page, and a horiz menu of selections to choose from. All work is ');
done to an archive in it''s own directory. Nothing special is needed.');
HOME END PgUp PgDn and the arrow keys all work here to move through the ');
files.');
Another feature is the "J" key. Pressing this key prompts you');
for the file number you want to [jump] to. This file will will be shown');
in the middle of the page. Of course if you select one at the end or the');
top of the list then we''ll start from the top or bottom whichever comes');
Many other features are planned for PCCFE but as of this release date I');
just haven''t been able to take the time from other projects and devote it');
this one. If PcConnect does well, the next release will see many nice things');
that I as a Sysop, and others like to know about their files.');
Drue Kennon
P.S.
A short word about the archive viewing/extracting and so forth. It was
regrettable that Tom has given up on expanding his ARCxxx program but I
can understand his reasons. None the less, Phil Katz is still going with
PK(x)ARC and we will attempt to stay up with him on this. The editor is
written in Turbo Pas 4.0 which is fast but it is not as fast as it's "C"
counterparts in extracting files. Every slick trick I know went into
the fixing of what was once dearcsq.com to get these features to work.
Anyone who has fooled around with that file knows that crunch versions
5,6,7 would not uncrunch with the written coding scheme. I don't remember
the name but someone uploaded a file on Gary's board that he was to have
converted to 4.0.... He didn't figure it out either. Alas I was forced
to trace and debug the whole thing, rewriting it from TOM's arc520 source
in "C". No small task this turned out to be. I'll give you one hint
if anyone decides to try. In TP4 types are very inportant. More so than
in any other language.