



              Text Version Documents, for Directory Control v1.0+
              ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

                         Versions 1.0 , 1.01 & 1.02
                      Designed and Coded exclusively by
                              Christopher Trigg
                 Last Updated: 02-Feb-97 by Christopher Trigg

                         Versions 1.03
               Coded by the Directory Control Open Project Team
                 Last Updated: 01-Sep-00


            Note: All relevant operational help is built into the
            Directory Control and the Configuration executable, via
            Help buttons.




Contents ----------------------------------------------------------------{0}
~~~~~~~~
Use {#} to search for a Topic

{0}  Disclaimer ............................ Read this first

{1}  Terminology ........................... Terms used in DirCon & Documents

{2}  Requirements .......................... Needed to use Directory Control

{3}  Usage ................................. Quick idea of how to use DirCon

{4a} Beginners example of copying files

{4b} Example of copying files - more advanced

{5}  Hidden Features ....................... Non-apparent features

{6}  Directory Control Configuration ....... Using the configuration 'Engine'

{6a} Configuration | Start-Up Options

{6b} Configuration | DOS Safety levels

{6c} Configuration | Button Bank

{6d} Configuration | Drive Bank

{6e} Configuration | User File Types

{6f} Configuration | Screen Item Colors

{6g} Configuration | Default Viewer/Editor

{7}  Directory Control misc ................ The status windows

{8}  The author ............................ About the author and DirCon

{9}  People who helped ..................... The nice people :)






Disclaimer --------------------------------------------------------------{0}
~~~~~~~~~~
  THE INFORMATION  AND CODE PROVIDED IS PROVIDED AS IS  WITHOUT WARRANTY
  OF ANY KIND,  EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED,  INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO
  THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR
  PURPOSE. IN NO EVENT SHALL CHRISTOPHER TRIGG BE LIABLE FOR ANY DAMAGES
  WHATSOEVER INCLUDING DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, LOSS
  OF BUSINESS PROFITS OR SPECIAL DAMAGES,  EVEN IF CHRISTOPHER TRIGG HAS
  BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES.





Terminology -------------------------------------------------------------{1}
~~~~~~~~~~~
You can skip this section and come back to it when needed.

Button:      An MS Windows-like mouse activated gadget.
Check Box:   A toggle button that can be ticked, or unticked.
Dir Window:  The left-hand and right-hand directory listings.
Dragging:    A method to move a button, or tag multiple files: Hold down
             the left mouse button, then move the mouse till the required
             files are tagged, then release the mouse button.
Group Box:   A box (with subject heading) surrounding various buttons.
Item:        A File or a Directory.
Scroll Bar:  A long bar with a button that can be dragged to scroll the
             contents of a window.
             Sometimes called a 'buffer', 'proportional gadget',
             or 'slider bar'.
Source:      The path from which an operation is executed.
Target:      Destination path of an operation.
Text Box:    This is a box with text in it that you can change, usually noted
             by a different color background compared with informational
             text.
             Clicking in the Text Box will activate the cursor, so you can
             change the text  via normal alphabetical or numerical keys.
             The BackSpace key will delete.
User Button: A description of a Button that is being edited.





Requirements ------------------------------------------------------------{2}
~~~~~~~~~~~~
A minimum of:
1) DOS 3.3
2) EGA Video Card (or VGA).
3) Mouse.
4) Hard Disk Drive with atleast 2 Megabytes of free space.





Usage -------------------------------------------------------------------{3}
~~~~~
Directory Control is primarily mouse based. Clicking, or dragging over files
with the left mouse button will tag them.
The screen is split into two main windows, called the Dir Windows.
The highlighted window is your source window (source directory), the other
being the target window (destination directory).
Clicking on the unhighlighted (target) Dir Window will make that side the
source window.
Double-clicking on a directory will allow you to go into that directory
(equiv. to 'cd <dir>').
Clicking on the 'Parent' button will go back out of a directory
(equiv. to 'cd..').





Beginners Example of Copying Files -------------------------------------{4a}
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
To make this explanation easier to follow, assume the left Dir Window is
the source path, and the right Dir Window is the target path.

Select the target directory you wish to copy to, by:
Clicking the left mouse button on the right Dir Window,
1) typing in the full path name in the right directory Text Box, or
2) double-clicking on appropriate directories to get to the correct path.

Select the left Dir Window with the left mouse button. Set the source
directory by the same method as in steps 1) and 2).
Tag the source items you wish to copy (they can be directories or files) by
clicking on the file name itself (you will notice the color of the file
name will invert, indicating a tagged item).

Click on the 'Copy' button to start the Copy operation.

* Directory Control will alert you if you're about to copy over a file that
  already exists, allowing you to abort the operation, or skip that file.




Example of Copying Files - advanced ------------------------------------{4b}
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Skip this section if you're just learning to use Directory Control.

Select the target directory you wish to copy to, by:
1) typing in the full path name in the directory text box, or
2) double-clicking on appropriate directories to get to the correct path.

Select the other Dir Window. Set the source directory by the same method,
as in steps 1) and 2).
Tag the source items you wish to copy (they can be directories or files), by:
1) clicking on the file name(s), and/or
2) dragging the mouse pointer over a group of files, and/or:
3) clicking on the 'Match' button to quickly tag matching items, such as:
   *.exe. You can click on the 'Match' button as many times as you wish,
   ie. you may wish to copy all *.EXE, *.COM and *.BAT files, or:
4) clicking on the 'All' button to tag all items.

Click on the 'Copy' button to start the Copy operation.


Directory Control will automatically manage directories, and any sub files
or sub directories.
Directory Control is installed with all the safety features turned on, but
for commercial and speed reasons, these options may be turned off in
Configuration | DOS Operations.


* Directory Control is geared-up to handle complex operations with ease:
  If you wish to copy all files except your *.BAK files:
  Select all your *.BAK files with the 'Match' button, then toggle
  all tagged files with untagged files, by clicking on the 'Toggle'
  button. Click the 'Copy' button.




Hidden Features ---------------------------------------------------------{5}
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
1) Quick Parent: If you're in the left-hand Dir Window, clicking anywhere on
   the extreme left edge of the Dir Window will result in a Parent command
   being applied.
   If you're in the right-hand Dir Window, clicking anywhere on the extreme
   right edge of the Dir Window will result in the Parent command being
   applied to the right-hand Dir Window.

   Note:  the easiest method is to sweep the mouse in the
          appropriate direction, and click once at the edge of the screen.
          Since the pointer will not go past the edge of the screen, this
          will always execute the Parent command.

2) The Home, End, PgUp, PgDn, CursorUp and CursorDown keys will perform
   the appropriate function on the source window.
   The Space, Tab, CursorLeft and CursorRight keys will swap source and
   target Dir Windows.
   Alt-X will exit the program.
   Esc will close most windows.
   Other keys are attached to various buttons, such as 'C' for 'Copy'
   and 'Q' for 'Quit'. These can be changed via Configuration | Edit Buttons.

3) Double Clicking on a file:
   Assuming you haven't changed anything in Configuration | File Types,
   double clicking on a *.EXE or *.COM will run the executable.
   Double clicking on a *.ZIP, *.ARJ, *.LZH, or *.LHA will view the contents
   of the compressed file.
   Note: Directory Control assumes you have PKUNZIP and other utilities
         in a pathed directory, otherwise you'll have to edit the paths in
         Configuration | File Types.
   Any other file, by default, is simply viewed as a text file.
   Any double-clicked filename or extension can be configured to run any
   external program  via Configuration | File Types.

4) File-Tag Window-Swap (or Quick-Dir-Swap):
   This function is similar to the previous function. If you click
   on a *.ZIP, *.ARJ, *.LZH, or *.LHA file, then quickly click on the target
   Dir Window (the opposite Dir Window), Directory Control will
   attempt to unpack the file into the target Dir Window.
   Any Quick-Dir-Swap filename or extension can be configured to run any
   external program  via Configuration | File Types, with the
   'Quick Dir Swap' Check Box ticked.

5) Dir-Tag Window-Swap:
   An easy way to look into a sub-directory without changing the source
   path, is to apply the above method (4) on a directory.
   This will log the subdirectory in the other Dir Window.

6) Clicking the right mouse button on the Button Bank or the Drive Bank,
   will rotate that bank to an alternate set of buttons.

7) Clicking the right mouse button on the lower half of the Dir Window
   will cause the Dir Window to start scrolling down, similarly clicking
   on the upper half will cause the Dir Window to start scrolling up.

8) The '^' character can be used as an end-of-line marker in the DOS
   Command text box. Any number of lines can be executed this way,
   although there is a character limit of approx. 250.

9) Any file-pattern matching requests, such as the 'Match' command can
   handle multiple patterns by using the '|' character.
   (i.e. '*.ZIP | C*.EXE')

10) File-pattern matching has been altered slightly to handle Windows 95
    long file names. Any number of '*' characters maybe used. A '*' will
    match all characters up to a dot ('.') or the end of the file
    name. The '?' character will match only one character as normal.

11) When executing a DOS operation, if the CD [S]ource and CD [T]arget
    buttons are both unticked, Directory Control will change into the
    directory specified in the Command Line Text Box.

    ie. If your Command Line is "C:\GAMES\MAHJONG\MJVGA30", Directory
    Control will change into "C:\GAMES\MAHJONG" before starting the
    operation.

12) Directory Control handles copying, deleting and the renaming of
    non-DOS filenames, such as filenames with spaces or control characters
    in them.




Directory Control Configuration -----------------------------------------{6}
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
You can enter the configuration by clicking on the 'CONFIG' button from
within Directory Control, or in DOS by typing 'DIRCONF' (Enter).



Configuration | Start-Up Options ---------------------------------------{6a}
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
All of the cosmetics (except colors) and misc operational options are in
this window.
The 'Load Default' Button will re-set all the options for this window to
their default settings.

Configuration | System StartUp | General (Top Left)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
1) 'Left Dir Window', and 'Right Dir Window' refer to the path Directory
   Control logs on starting up.

2) 'Start in Current Directory', when ticked, and Directory Control is
   executed, will log the current directory in the startup Dir
   Window.

3) 'Start on Left Dir Window', when ticked, will make the left Dir Window
   the source (highlighted) window upon starting up, if unticked,
   the right Dir Window.

4) 'Directory Text Box at Top', when ticked, will make the Text Box that
   contains the current path to be above the Dir Window, if unticked the
   Text Box will be below the Dir Window.

5) 'Expanded Statistics at Top', when ticked, will add statistics
   of the source Dir Window to the title bar.
   (Total Files, Total Bytes, Marked Files, Marked Bytes, and Free space).

6) '3D Text Box Style', when ticked, adds another inside bevelled box to the
   Text Box, amplifying the 3D effect.

7) 'Scroll Bar on Right', when ticked, will make the right Dir Window Scroll
   Bar appear on the right of the Dir Window, if unticked, the left.

8) '3D Scroll Bar Style', when ticked, adds another inside bevelled box to
   the Scroll Bar, amplifying the 3D effect.

9) 'PgUp/Dn in Scroll Bar', when ticked, the area between the bottom (or top)
   arrow and the Scroll Button, will make the Scroll Button move down
   (or up) one page, if clicked on by the mouse.
   If unticked, when the area described above is clicked on, the Scroll
   Button will move directly to the Mouse Pointer position.

10) 'Change Window on Scroll Bar Press', when ticked. If the Scroll Bar
    is pressed, will highlight that window.
    If unticked, will allow you to scroll the Dir Window without changing
    focus.

Configuration | System StartUp | General Options (Top Right)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
1) 'Double Click Limit' refers to the maximum number of milliseconds to wait
   for a double click (1000 = 1 second).

2) 'File-Tag Window-Swap' refers to the maximum number of milli seconds to
   wait for this operation, it's wise to set it to 100-200 milli seconds
   higher than your double click time.

3) 'Windows 95 Long File Names', when ticked, will use Windows 95's
   ability to handle file names up to 250 characters, with upper or
   lower case letters.

4) 'Expanded File Names', when ticked, will make the File Extension expand
   to the correct column, if the prefix is less than 8 characters.
   If unticked, will leave the file names in there natural form.

5) 'Lower Case File Names', when ticked, all File Names within the Dir
   Window will be lower case.
   When unticked, the File Names within the Dir Window will be upper case.
   This will not apply to Windows 95 long file names that have upper and
   lower case letters in them.

6) 'Sticky Attribute Button', when ticked, will not allow the attribute
   buttons to be reset when changing directory.

7) 'Tag Item when Swapping Dir Window', when ticked, clicking on the
   unhighlighted Dir Window will activate that window, and mark the
   file under the mouse pointer. If unticked, clicking on the
   unhighlighted dir window will just activate that window.

8) 'European Date', when ticked, will format all Dates to DD-MM-YY,
   if unticked MM-DD-YY.

9) 'Beep on Errors', when ticked, if an error of any kind occurs - Directory
   Control will sound a beep to alert you of trouble.

10) 'Double Mouse Speed', when ticked, will double the mouse sensitivity,
    to increase the speed of the mouse pointer.

11) 'Expert Button Panel', when ticked, will make room for Dir Window
    independent Buttons next to the 'Attribute' buttons.

Configuration | Start-Up | Swapping/Drop To DOS Options
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
1) 'Swap to XMS', when active, and executing another program. Directory
   Control will swap itself into XMS memory. This is extremely fast,
   But if a program is executed that walks over XMS memory without
   checking it (old or badly programmed), Directory Control will not
   return after the program is finished, and you'll most likely be dumped
   into DOS.
   Note: If Directory Control does not return, your system should be
   perfectly safe.

2) 'Swap To Disk', when active, is the safest method of swapping,
   but is not as fast as XMS.

3) 'Detect Environment', when active will first check to see if XMS is
   available, if not see if EMS is available, if not swap to Disk.



Configuration | DOS Safety Levels --------------------------------------{6b}
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
These options will be set to their defaults
via Configuration | StartUp | Load Default

Configuration | DOS Options | Delete Options
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
1) 'Ask before performing Delete operation'
   Will prompt you with a dialogue box before any files are deleted.

2) 'Ask to confirm each file'
   Will prompt you with a dialogue box before each file is deleted.

3) 'Ignore Protected files'
   Will deleted protected files without asking

4) 'Ask if Directory has files'
   Will prompt you if any files exist within a sub directory

5) 'Force confirmation for each file'
   This is for maximum safety, making the user confirm each file before
   its deleted.

Configuration | DOS Options | Copy Options
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
1) 'Ask before Overwriting an Existing file'
   Will prompt you before a file is overwritten.

2) 'Ask before Overwriting an Protected file'
   Will prompt you if a protected file is about to be overwritten.

3) 'Ask before Overwriting an Newer file'
   Will prompt you if a file with a newer date is about to be overwritten.



Configuration | Button Bank --------------------------------------------{6c}
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
When you enter this window, the first thing to do is click on the Button
you wish to Edit.
The 'Load Default' Button will re-set all the options for this window to
their default settings.

Configuration | Button Configuration | Button Attributes (Middle)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
1) The 'Current Command' is a list of Commands that the User Button can
   perform.
   The marked entry is the current Command, you can change this by clicking
   on another command.

2) 'Custom Text' this is a Text Box containing the button text, enabling
   you to label the button.

3) 'Foreground' click on any of the colors to change the Text color of the
   button.

4) 'BackGround' click on any of the colors to change the background color
   of the button.

5) 'Quick Key' (short cut). This is the active key connected to the Button,
   when pressed, the button will be activated.

6) 'Case Sensitive Quick Key' when ticked, makes the active key case
   sensitive.


Configuration | Button Configuration | DOS Options (Bottom)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This group of options is only visible when the Command is set to
'* DOS COMMAND'

1) The Text Box, shows the DOS command that will be executed when the User
   Button is clicked.
   Tokens within the Text Box allow Directory Control to insert information
   into those points.

2) 'Token List' Button, this brings up the list of tokens and their basic
   meaning:
          @A"<message>" - Will bring up a window asking for user input,
                          this text will then be inserted where the token is.
          @E            - Will insert the default Text Editor, setup in
                          Config | Default Viewer/Editor
          @I            - All source tagged items.
          @P            - The source tagged items prefix
          @S            - The source path
          @T            - the target path
          @V            - Will insert the default Text Viewer, setup in
                          Config | Default Viewer/Editor
          @U"<message>" - A User message, used as a warning, the token is
                          removed.
          @1            - Will insert a user defined string, setup in
                          Config | Default Viewer/Editor

3) 'CD Source', when ticked, will change into the source directory before
   executing the DOS command.

4) 'CD Target', when ticked, will change to the target directory before
   executing the DOS command.

5) 'Re-log Source', when ticked, will log the source directory after the
   operation is complete.

6) 'Re-log Target', when ticked, will log the target directory after the
   operation is complete.

7) 'Files Only', when ticked, will not use tagged directories.

8) 'Last Clicked Only', when ticked, will only use the Item last clicked.

9) 'Full Path Names', when ticked, will add the full path name to the
   path name of any tagged item.

10) 'Recursive Dirs', when ticked, will add all sub-files and
    sub-directories to the list of tagged items.

11) 'Single Line', when ticked, will expand the @F token to all
    tagged items. If untagged, will execute the command as many times as
    there are items, replacing the @F token with each file name individually.
    Note: because DOS doesn't allow very long Command lines, the
          'Single Line' option should only be used when an application
          requires multiple tagged items in its syntax.

12) 'Wait For Key', when ticked, will ask you to press return after the
    operation is completed, this is useful for operations that just dump
    text to the screen, and exit

13) 'Don't Swap', if ticked, will execute without swapping to DOS.
    This stops Win95 from getting out-of-memory messages, tick when
	executing a Win95 application.

14) 'Debug Execution', when ticked, will turn echo on, so you can see each
    command being executed. After the operation is completed, the return
    code is shown followed by a request to continue.



Configuration | Drive Bank ---------------------------------------------{6d}
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
When you enter this window, the first thing to do is click on the Button
you wish to Edit.

1) 'Custom Text' this is a Text Box containing the button text, enabling
   you to label the drive button.

2) 'Button Path' is the path the source Dir Window will change to.

3) 'Detect Drives' will attempt to detect your current HDD setup.
   Note: This operation may not function accurately with certain hardware.



Configuration | User File Types ----------------------------------------{6e}
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Where double-click or Quick-Dir-Swap operations are defined.

Double clicking on any file, can perform any DOS
operation you define.

The 'Load Default' Button will re-set all User File Types.
The 'Delete' Button will Delete the selected User File Type.

Configuration | User File Types | Search Pattern
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This is where the search pattern is defined for a particular operation.
If '[DEFAULT]' is used as the search pattern, it is executed when no match
is found.

Configuration | User File Types | DOS Command Options
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
1) 'Quick Dir Swap' is the 'Tag-File Swap-Window' operation described in
   'Hidden Features'.

2) 'Don't Swap', when ticked, will not swap Directory Control out of memory,
   this is primarily used for Windows 95 applications.
   Warning: Don't tick this option when executing DOS programs, as only
   half of base memory will be free.

The other buttons are explained in Configuration | Edit User Buttons |
DOS Options (bottom)

Configuration | User File Types | User File Types
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Shows all File Types previously defined, the marked entry is the current
File Type.
'<CREATE NEW ENTRY IN LIST>' will create an empty entry for you to edit.



Configuration | Screen Item Colors -------------------------------------{6f}
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
You can define the colors for almost anything within Directory Control
The 'Load Default' Button will re-set all items to their original color.

Configuration | Colors | Screen Item
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This Group Box gives a description of what you're editing, and a Palette Box
to change the colors.

Configuration | Colors | Screen Item List
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This is a list of Screen Items you may alter at will. The marked entry is
the current Screen Item.

Configuration | Colors | Example
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This shows an example of the current screen item you are editing.



Configuration | Default Viewer/Editor ----------------------------------{6g}
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This screen gives you 3 global user definable Tokens to use.
Any string you enter into the text boxes, will be inserted into the
position where the token is found in any DOS Command line.





Directory Control Misc --------------------------------------------------{7}
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Just above or below the Dir Window (depending on the configuration),
are the following Status Windows, eg:

[37/167K Items]  [10/23K Tagged]  [56M Free    ]

1) There are 37 files and/or directories, totaling 167K.
2) There are 10 Tagged Items, totaling 23K
3) There is 56 megs available space free.

Warning: All totaling does NOT include subdirectories.





The Author --------------------------------------------------------------{8}
~~~~~~~~~~
Directory Control Versions 1.0 to 1.03 were exclusively Designed and
Coded by:  Christopher Trigg.

Started at the end of January 1996.
Written in Borland C, this program should work on all modern IBM
compatible's.

Christopher Trigg has stopped development Directory Control.



People Who Helped -------------------------------------------------------{9}
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Jamie Walker (constructive criticism extra-odineer)
Henk Junior  (beta testing, and general help)
John Walker  (cosmetic strategist)
Steve Keate  (beta tester)






============================================================================
