Telegard File Manager 2.6 -- Page 1
Telegard File Manager 2.6 (Turbo C)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Copyright 1990, by Todd Bolitho
All rights reserved.
Promises
~~~~~~~~
I promise that this program will take up space on your disk or
hard drive. No, come to think of it, I don't even promise that!
Seriously, I am a HOBBYIST. I am NOT a professional programmer,
nor do I ever intend to become one. I do this because I love it,
not because I am a well trained professional. I use File Manag-
er, and it works fine on my system. On your system, it may
format your hard drive for all I know. It may utterly and total-
ly destroy your computer, cause a short circuit, and burn your
house down. I didn't create it for the purpose of doing harm to
anyone or anything, but I don't promise you anything. I don't
warrantee anything. I owe you nothing. I shall not be responsi-
ble for any damages, direct or consequential, resulting from File
Manager, or its use.
Raison D'Etre
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
File Manager was originally conceived as a simple program to
allow SysOps to take files on and offline in Telegard without
having to log on and manually change the file listing for each
file. Soon afterwards, Phil Katz came out with his new and
improved compression method, so a routine to adjust file size in
the listing was also added. These early versions were simple
commandline programs that ran through all the file bases on the
system correcting all the listings as it went, much like the AUTO
mode in this new version does now. These older versions were
slow, but they did the job. It became apparent that a DOS level
management system for TG *.DIR files was also needed. I decided
to write the utility using some of the concepts and ideas in my
early File Manager versions. While I kept some of the same
concepts, I did not try to maintain compatibility, so if you are
still using the old File Managers, you will need to redo your
batch calls to the new, and simpler, "FILEMAN AUTO" command.
Telegard File Manager 2.6 -- Page 2
Money
~~~~~
I want some. This program is "shareware". While I encourage you
to send the complete ZIP file to any and all of your friends to
try, you are given a 15 day trial period to evaluate File Manag-
er. If you have not "registered" your File Manager by then, your
free trial period is over. Registration is $25.
I have tried to make your registration as painless as possible by
providing a separate program to handle your registration for you.
REG.EXE
~~~~~~~
REG.EXE is a registration program designed to make your registra-
tion as simple and painless as possible. Simply turn on your
printer, and run the program. Alter the fields to reflect the
correct information, and press <CTRL-ENTER> or just hit <ENTER>
all the way through the last field. REG.EXE will print your
registration form, ALREADY FILLED OUT for you! If you do not
have a printer, run the program anyway, and write down all the
information presented on a piece of paper. Just mail that paper
along with a check, money order, or cashier's check for $25 to:
Todd Bolitho
1504 N. Vermont
Royal Oak, MI 48067
New Features
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
v2.6
Tagged operations are finally added! You can now manipulate
whole groups of tagged files very quickly.
v2.5
Small Changes - New documentation, new registration system,
multiple monotor support in "REG.EXE", File Manager no longer
dependent on "STATUS.DAT" encoded information.
Telegard File Manager 2.6 -- Page 3
TG Structure
~~~~~~~~~~~~
A little background information might be helpful in understand-
ing all the power and uses of File Manager. Telegard looks for
the files you have in your bases, on your hard drive or floppy,
according to the DL Path. Perhaps you have wondered how
Telegard keeps track of all those files. Telegard stores all
the information on these bases in separate files with a *.DIR
extension, one "DIR" file for each base. In other words, to
find out information about the SysOp Directory on your system,
Telegard must look in the file most likely named (by you)
"SYSOP" with a "DIR" extension - "SYSOP.DIR". It is these DIR
files that File Manager is most concerned with altering and
modifying, according to your wishes.
File Manager must also work with several other files used by
Telegard, but most of these are not important for you to under-
stand. The only exception might be "UPLOADS.DAT" which stores
the DL Paths and UL Paths for the various file bases. File
Manager has a very powerful feature that allows you to move
entire bases to other drives or directories. The significance
of UPLOADS.DAT and the file paths is explained elsewhere in
the help system under "Move Files" and other functions.
File Manager - How To Set It Up
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Place REG.EXE, FILEMAN.EXE, and FILEMAN.HLP anywhere you like in
your system's PATH. As long as your main BBS directory, and
FILEMAN.HLP are somewhere in the path, File Manager will find
them, and can run from anywhere. If your main BBS directory is
not in your path, place File Manager, and it's associated files
in the main BBS directory. This is the directory with BBS.EXE
and STATUS.DAT. I strongly urge you to also install, in your
path, IFL.COM, which can be called by File Manager to view the
interiors of all known compression formats.
See also: ^Function Keys^ ^Special Keys^ ^Command Line Help^
Function Keys
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
<F1> Online Help
<F2> Smartload - Loads UPLOADS.DAT and DIR
<F3> Direct Load - Loads DIR only
<F4> Execute a single DIR
<F5> Execute all DIRs in system
<F6> Interior File List (IFL)
<F7> Dos Shell
<F8> Sort Method
<F9> Write DIR file to disk
<F10> Accept Listing Editor's current fields
See also: ^TG Structure^ ^Special Keys^
Telegard File Manager 2.6 -- Page 4
Special Keys <T> = Tag Functions
~~~~~~~~~~~~
<Spacebar> Tag Selected File Listing
<Tab> Invert All Tags
<Alt - T> Tag All File Listings in DIR
<Alt - C> Clear All Tags In DIR
<Alt - D> Delete Listings/Files With Prompt On Each <T>
<Ctrl- D> Delete Listings Only Without Prompts <T>
<Shft- D> Mass Delete Tagged Listings And Files <T>
<Alt - M> Move Listings/Files (Registered Versions Only) <T>
<Alt - I> Insert New Listing (Registered Versions Only)
<Alt - F> Filespec Upload (Registered Versions Only)
<Alt - R> Registration Info (Registered Versions Only)
<Alt - U> User Choose
<Alt - X> Fast Exit
See also: ^TG Structure^ ^Function Keys^
Smartload
~~~~~~~~~
The Smartload function can be called by selecting the "File"
menu, moving the cursor to "Smartload" and pressing <ENTER>, or
by simply pressing F2. Smartload places UPLOADS.DAT into
memory, and then offers the user a choice of file bases to
operate on. Smartload is the method you should use to put
your files into memory 99% of the time, which is why it is
first in the menu choices. Smartload allows File Manager to
know where files are actually kept, because UPLOADS.DAT is in
memory and supplies the DL Paths needed to find the actual
files listed in each DIR file.
When DIR files are Smartloaded, all of File Manager's features
are fully functional. The ONLY disadvantage is that UPLOADS.DAT
takes up space in memory, so if your system has limited memory,
and if you are working on extremely large DIR files (over 1000
listings), you may wish to opt to Direct Load instead.
See also: ^Direct Load^ ^Move Files^ ^TG Structure^
Direct Load
~~~~~~~~~~~
Also called by pressing F3, Direct Loading offers the raw DIR
filenames as choices for loading. Direct Loading is only used
when working under severely constrained memory requirements.
In cases where File Manager functions require a DL Path to
operate, these functions have been disabled or modified to
discard the DIR file in memory, and Smartload the base instead.
See also: ^Smartload^ ^Move Files^ ^TG Structure^
Telegard File Manager 2.6 -- Page 5
Move Files
~~~~~~~~~~
The Move Files command Smartloads a DIR file and allows the user
to alter the DL Path. File Manager knows where the current DL
Path is by looking where this information is stored by Tele-
gard: UPLOADS.DAT. This is the reason for File Manager MUST
Smartload a DIR if you have not already done so, whenever this
function is called. Once the Smartload is done, File Manager
will ask you for a NEW DL PATH. When the new path has been
entered, this function will move all listings in the DIR file to
the new location you have specified.
If the physical path does not exist, it will first parse the
path given, creating all necessary directories, and then
complete it's task. It will REWRITE your UPLOADS.DAT with the
new DL Path so that Telegard will know where to find all the
files you just moved!
WARNING: The UL PATH will also be reset to the same as the
newly entered DL Path. If you wish to have files uploaded to a
separate directory, you MUST reset the path in Telegard. Again,
the UL Path is automatically written to be exactly the same as
the DL Path whenever this function is called.
Additional Information: If the drive of the new path is the
same as the drive in the old path, File Manager is able to
simply rebuild the directory structure to each file, and thus
does not have to physically copy each file to it's new location,
then delete the old files. If the drive specifier in the new
path is different than the old one, File Manager will dutifully
copy and delete as described above. It is therefore wise to
always include the COMPLETE pathname, including the drive speci-
fier. It won't hurt anything not to do this, but it will slow
File Manager down as it copies and deletes every single file,
instead of just rebuilding the directory structures underneath
the listings.
See also: ^Smartload^ ^Direct Load^ ^TG Structure^
Write*.DIR
~~~~~~~~~~~
Selecting this function from the menu, or calling it with F9
will cause the DIR file in memory to be written to your drive.
It is necessary to call this function each time you are done
working on a DIR, and wish to save the work to disk.
See also: ^Function Keys^
Telegard File Manager 2.6 -- Page 6
Erase *.DIR
~~~~~~~~~~~
This function should be called with EXTREME CAUTION! It is used
to DELETE a DIR file. If you use this, and then attempt to view
the listings in the base serviced by the now deleted DIR file,
the base will contain NO LISTINGS. This function has limited
value, but is valuable when one wishes to erase old DIR files no
longer used.
DOS Shell
~~~~~~~~~
"Drops To DOS", keeping File Manager in memory. Also called
with F7, it is used when one wishes to operate on the DOS level,
without losing place in File Manager. Memory available to DOS
will be sharply reduced, as File Manager is still in place, and
taking up space in your machine's memory.
See also: ^Function Keys^
Modify
~~~~~~
Simply select "Modify" to enter File Manager's DIR file editing
system. If no DIR file is present in memory, File Manager will
Smartload the DIR of your choice before entering the editor.
Use the regular PgUp/PgDn, Home, End, and arrow keys to move the
Edit Bar to various listings in your DIR.
See also: ^Edit DIR^ ^Edit Listing^
<SPACEBAR> - Tagging Files
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Use the <spacebar> to tag or untag the selected file for later
manipulation in a group of files. "Move" and "Delete" functions
have the ability to use tags.
<ENTER> - The Listing Editor
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Place the Edit Bar on a listing, and press <ENTER>. Voila! You
are in the Listing Editor. Remember, this is an editor within
an editor. Here you may alter all aspects of the listing EXCEPT
it's "Status". Since "Status" is done automatically for you
when you "Execute" File Manager's "Services", you have no need
to do it manually.
<ALT-T>
~~~~~~~
Tag all the file listings in the currently loaded DIR.
<ALT-C>
~~~~~~~
Clear all tags in the currently loaded DIR.
Telegard File Manager 2.6 -- Page 7
<TAB>
~~~~~
Inverts tags. All tagged files become untagged, while untagged
files become tagged. A good tool for large DIRs!
<ALT-D>
~~~~~~~
Use this to <D>elete tagged or single listings from your DIR.
File Manager will ask you whether or not you would like to
delete EACH ACTUAL FILE as well.
<SHIFT-D>
~~~~~~~~~
Deletes all tagged listings AND THE ACTUAL FILES FROM THE DISK.
You get one chance to back out, then they're gone! Be careful.
<CTRL-D>
~~~~~~~~
Deletes tagged file listings only. NEVER erases physical files.
<ALT-F> (Registered Versions Only)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Use Filespec Upload to bring whole groups of files into your DIR
according to the wildcard specs you supply! If you wish, you
may also use this to upload single files by simply specifying
the exact filename to upload.
<ALT-I> (Registered Versions Only)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Insert Newfile - Selecting this function will insert a new entry
in your DIR that looks like this: "*NEWFILE.NEW". If you do not
edit this name with the Listing Editor, File Manager will remove
the entry before saving your DIR back to disk.
<ALT-M> (Registered Versions Only)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Use this function to move a single listing/file by simply call-
ing it. If you wish to move entire groups of files, tag them
first. This command will prompt you for the base to move to,
and then proceed to move both listing and physical file.
<ALT-A> (Registered Versions Only)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Add To End - Selecting this function will create a new entry at
the end of your DIR that looks like this: "*NEWFILE.NEW". If
you do not edit this name with the Listing Editor, File Manager
will remove the entry before saving your DIR back to disk.
Telegard File Manager 2.6 -- Page 8
<F6>
~~~~
This function key, when in either the DIR Editor, or the Listing
Editor, will call IFL.COM to show you what files are contained
in the listing selected. IT should be obvious that if the
listing is not a compressed format such as ZIP, ARC, ZOO, etc.,
IFL will not be able to show that any files are contained within
the listing. For instance, if your Edit Bar is on FILE.TXT,
there are no files compressed in text files, so IFL will not
show any (duhhhhhh). Also, if you have not Smartloaded your
DIR, the DL Path is not available to File Manager, so it would
not be able to call this function.
See also: ^Modify^ ^Edit Listing^
<PgDn/PgUp>
~~~~~~~~~~~
By pressing either of these keys, the Listing Editor will ad-
vance to the next listing in the base. All modifications done
thus far become part of the DIR in memory and will be saved when
you press <F9> to save your work.
<F6>
~~~~
This function key, when in either the DIR Editor, or the Listing
Editor, will call IFL.COM to show you what files are contained
in the listing selected. IT should be obvious that if the
listing is not a compressed format such as ZIP, ARC, ZOO, etc.,
IFL will not be able to show that any files are contained within
the listing. For instance, if your Edit Bar is on FILE.TXT,
there are no files compressed in text files, so IFL will not
show any (duhhhhhh). Also, if you have not Smartloaded your
DIR, the DL Path is not available to File Manager, so it would
not be able to call this function.
<ALT-U>
~~~~~~~
This command works ONLY when the cursor has been placed on the
User NUMBER entry in the form. Pressing <ALT-U> will provide a
list of all the users on your system, choosing one of these
users will place the user's name in the Uploader's Name & User #
entries of the form. You may of course edit them manually.
This is provided as a quick and helpful aid to the SysOp.
Verbose Descriptions
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Due to a limitation in Telegard itself, when creating a Verbose
Description, File Manager must immediately save the DIR file or
the Verbose entry could be lost forever.
Telegard File Manager 2.6 -- Page 9
<CTRL-ENTER> or <F10>
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
These functions place the alterations made to the current list-
ing into the DIR memory and return to the DIR Editor. The
alterations will be saved to disk with the DIR file if you
choose the <F9> function.
See also: ^Modify^ ^Edit DIR^
Execute
~~~~~~~
These functions will execute all the "Services" provided by File
Manager in it's automatic modes. You are allowed to choose
between executing a single DIR, or ALL DIRs in your system.
When Executing, File Manager displays each listing, file sizes
(in blocks), whether or not the listing is correct, the
ONLINE/OFFLINE "Status" of each listed file, and again, whether
or not that is correct. The far right column shows whether or
not File Manager has altered the listing on your behalf. File
Manager will only alter these listings if you have specifically
asked it to, by selecting the appropriate "Services".
See also: ^Single Execute^ ^All Execute^
Single DIR Execution
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This function executes File Manager's services on the DIR in
memory. It will NOT save the changes to disk, and will not
affect any DIR other than the one you are working on. If you
wish to save the DIR after execution, press <F9>.
See also: ^Execute^ ^All Execute^
All Execute
~~~~~~~~~~~
File Manager's Auto Mode. This will execute File Manager's
Services on all the DIRs in your system. Once started, it is
not possible to stop without rebooting. All changes are saved
to disk, memory is then cleared, and you may work on whatever
DIRs you wish.
See also: ^Execute^ ^Single Execute^
Services
~~~~~~~~
"Services" are "Executed" to make changes in a DIR. If you
choose not to execute these services, File Manager will not
provide these services to you! Check-mark each service by
moving the cursor bar onto it, and pressing <ENTER>.
Telegard File Manager 2.6 -- Page 10
Correct File Sizes
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
If this flag is check-marked, File Manager will find the actual
sizes of each file listed in a DIR, compute it's correct size
(in blocks), and then alters each listing to reflect that.
Fix "Request Only"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
If this flag is check-marked, File Manager will determine wheth-
er or not a physical file corresponding to each listing actually
exists. File Manager compares this to each listings'
ONLINE/OFFLINE status, and if the listing is incorrect, it
alters the listing to reflect the true condition. This is a
VERY handy feature. Using this feature, you may remove entire
GROUPS of files, run File Manager, and ALL the listings will be
corrected to show what files have been made "Offline"! Like-
wise, when you again place those files back onto your drive, you
may run File Manager to restore all the listings to "Online".
Verbose Packing
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Through a complex series of procedures, File Manager is able to
reduce the amount of disk space used by VERBOSE.DAT. Check-mark
this flag to select this service. This maintains your
VERBOSE.DAT in top condition each time you run it.
Sort Type
~~~~~~~~~
Selected through the menu, or by pressing F8, this is used to
pick the type of sorting you would like performed each time you
Execute the Services in File Manager. If you select "None", the
check-mark will disappear from this item.
Backwards Sorting
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Duhhhhhh, what could this be?
Telegard File Manager 2.6 -- Page 11
Delete OLD *.DIRs
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
When File Manager saves your DIR files back to disk, it does not
overwrite the old DIR file. Rather, it RENAMES the old DIR file
to *.OLD, and then writes the new DIR file. This is a built-in
protection provided in case you decide you have made an error
while working on your directories. IF such an error were to
occur, you could drop to dos, go into your GFILES directory,
delete the *.DIR file you just wrote, and RENAME the *.OLD file
to a DIR extension.
Since many people are willing to risk the errors in favor of
having more available disk space, a function has been provided
to AUTOMATICALLY DELETE *.OLD files each time File Manager
writes a DIR. Theoretically, one could still drop to dos, and
use Norton or another disk utility to unerase the *.OLD file,
and still save the day, but not when File Manager has executed
ALL the DIRs. It's a judgment call. File Manager defaults to
preserving the *.OLD files. Use it with caution.
Kill "Offline"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
If you are not in the habit of keeping files "Offline" on your
system, you may wish to select this service. Check-marking this
flag will cause File Manager to AUTOMATICALLY DELETE listings
that do not have physical files on the drive to correspond with
each listing. This is handy for "Spring Cleaning" your hard
drive. If the listing is marked as "Offline", File Manager will
not delete it the listing until it first checks to see if the
physical file is on the drive. If the file exists, File Manager
will NOT delete the file.
Report To File
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
When File Manager is run in AUTO mode, you may opt to get an
ASCII text file report. The report will appear in the same
directory as FILEMAN.EXE and will be named FILEMAN.RPT.
See also ^Report To Printer^
Report To Printer
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
When File Manager is run in AUTO mode, you may opt to get a
printed report. MAKE SURE your printer is ON before running
File Manager!
See also: ^Report To File^
Telegard File Manager 2.6 -- Page 12
Write Data File
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
After you figure out which "Services" you would like performed
for you, select this option to write a data file to your disk
containing all this information. The file is named FILEMAN.DAT,
and will be referred to each time File Manager runs, thus
allowing you to customize the services performed for you on a
daily basis.
See also: ^Command Line Help^
No Help Needed!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Aw, c'mon... you can figure this out if you really try!
Commandline Arguments
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
File Manager accepts the following commandline arguments:
FILEMAN AUTO
~~~~~~~~~~~~
File Manager loads each DIR and Executes according to the Serv-
ices you have specified in FILEMAN.DAT. IF FILEMAN.DAT is not
present on the drive, File Manager executes according to it's
built-in defaults.
Commandline Screen
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The following commandline arguments are used to set File
Manager's Screen characteristics. You must "Write Data File"
FILEMAN.DAT to preserve these settings for future use.
FILEMAN 25
~~~~~~~~~~
Sets normal 25 Line mode (default).
FILEMAN 43
~~~~~~~~~~
Sets EGA 43 Line mode.
FILEMAN 50
~~~~~~~~~~
Sets VGA 50 Line mode.
FILEMAN BIOS
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sets BIOS Screen Writing mode.
Telegard File Manager 2.6 -- Page 13
FILEMAN MONO
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sets File Manager to MonoChrome (black-and-white) mode.
FILEMAN COLOR
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sets File Manager to Color mode (default).
FILEMAN SNOW
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sets CGA Direct Screen Write mode with snow checking.
FILEMAN CGA/EGACARD
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Adjusts the screen size to allow for systems uiltizing CGA
monitors with EGA cards.
FILEMAN NORM
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Used to reset File Manager's screen characteristics to the
original 25 line, color direct screen write mode. If you have
not saved a FILEMAN.DAT file, you will never need this command.
You may achieve the same goal by simply deleting FILEMAN.DAT.