Help for Directory Climber (Version 1.5)

Copyright 1992, 1993 Henrik Vallgren.

This is shareware. Registration is required for use beyond a 14 day evaluation period.

General

What's new

Keyboard Commands

Menu Commands

Mouse Commands

How to ?

Registration

Vocabulary

Using this software, you can do serious damage to your data. Never permit a file to be overwritten or deleted if you are not sure that it is OK. This program has no abilities to recover lost data.


General

This is shareware. Please read the section about registration.

With windows version 3.1, the MS-DOS Executive shell is gone. While not the most intuitive interface, it provided means of quickly accessing files and directories.

This is my replacement. It has icons for easy recognition of files and it's keyboard commands allows the user to move quickly between files and directories.

There are four icons used in this program. Here's what they are used for:

This icon is used for directories.

This icon is used for DOS batch and command files.

This icon is used for .exe files. Normally DOS, but also windows programs without a icon of their own.

This icon is used for unknown file types. To make a file type known, just add it to the extension list in win.ini.

There are three drive buttons:

 A removable drive.

 A fixed drive.

 A networked drive. CD-ROM drives are currently displayed like this.


New features in this version.

Buttons for drive selection (actually, they are part of the menu)

Display information about files (size etc.)

Drag and drop files

Select files by wild card pattern

Setup:

Ability to display many directories at start-up

Ability to select an editor for activation by double clicking the right mouse button or by holding down the Shift-key and pressing Enter/Return. Default editor is notepad.

Ability to store co-ordinates of a directory and to retrieve them at start-up or at command

Font selection for icon titles

Selectable icon spacing

Switch to root directory by holding down the Ctrl-key and pressing Backspace

Tab-key to change between Directory Climber windows.


Drag & drop
Drag and drop.

If you have selected multiple files drag and drop will copy all, otherwise it will copy the file you select when pressing the mouse button.

If you drop the file(s) on a directory icon, the files will be copied into that directory.

If you drop a single file on a file icon, it's is assumed that you want to overwrite the file that was dropped upon. To copy it to a directory either drop it on the a directory icon, or on the title bar (which is considered the current directory).

When dropping multiple files, all file icons are considered as the current directory. You can also drop the files on a directory icon.

Drag and drop works fine with all applications apart from the File manager and the Print manager. The File manager simply doesn't accept dropped files. The Print manager does accept dropped files but it doesn't handle the printing of files. See for yourself: select two files in the File manager and drop them on the print manager. You will get an error message from the File manager, not from the Print manager.

Unfortunately, the process of issuing print commands involves reading from a database call the registry. This seems to be quite a bit of work so I haven't gotten into it yet.


Keyboard Commands

Arrow Keys

They work as expected.

Backspace

Climbs down one directory level.

Delete

Deletes current file (or marked files).

Enter

Opens the file or changes to a new directory.

Home/End

First/last file in the directory.

Insert

Lets you create a new file. Enter newfile.txt and notepad will come up offering to create it. You can also enter a program name.

PageUp/PageDown

Moves several rows up (or down).

Tab key

When several Directory Climber windows are running, it turns control over to another Directory Climber window.

Character

Searches for the next file starting with the character you entered.

Ctrl-key+ Letter

Change to drive <letter>.

Ctrl-key+Backspace

Offers to change directory to the root directory of the current drive.

Shift-key+Backspace

Works like backspace, but the new directory is displayed in a new window.

Holding down a shift key.

* Lets you mark/unmark several files (to unmark all files: just release the shift key and select a new file).

* Plus changing directory starts a new copy of Directory Climber. The copy will display the new directory.

* Plus Enter/Return while a file is selected makes use of the "Selected Editor" to edit the selected file. The "Selected Editor" can be changed using the Setup/Look menu.


Menu Commands

Menu Commands File

Menu Commands Directory

Menu Commands Setup


The filemenu commands
Menu Commands File

File

Copy

Copy current (or marked) files.

Delete

Delete current (or marked) files.

Rename

Rename current file.

Show Information

Show information about the current file (size etc.).

Mark All

Selects all files.

Mark Several

Selects files using a (wild card) pattern.

Associate

Associates a programs extension with a program that is used to edit that sort of files. For example: by default, windows is setup so that notepad will edit files ending with ".txt". You can see it for yourself by looking in the win.ini file in the windows directory. There is a line with the text "txt=notepad.exe ^.txt".

Run

Lets you create a new file. Enter newfile.txt and notepad will come up offering to create it. You can also enter a program name.

Prompt

Start up a DOS window.

Exit

Leave the program.


The directorymenu commands
Menu Commands Directory

Directory

Create

Create a new directory.

Rescan

When you have created a new file, it won't be displayed automatically. By checking the directory again, the file list will be complete.

Change to

Change to a new directory by entering it's path.

Change to root

Offers to change to the root directory of the current drive.

Adjust window size

Resize the window so that it displays all (if possible)

files at the same time.


The setupmenu commands
Menu Commands Setup

Setup

Look

Lets the user setup font, icon spacing and change the "Selected Editor".

Add to start list

Directory Climber keeps a list of what directories to display when the first instance is started. It will automatically start one instance for each directory in the "start list".

Use Add to start list to add more directories to the list.

Delete from start list

Removes the current directory from the start list.

Get window size

Directory Climber can assign a set of window co-ordinates to each directory. When a copy of Directory Climber is started it automatically tries to get the co-ordinates of that directory from the DIRCLIMB.INI file. But it doesn't change co-ordinates every time you change directory.

Use "Get window size" to make the window take the shape that was saved in the DIRCLIMB.INI file.

Save window size

Use "Save window size" to save the shape of the window in the DIRCLIMB.INI file.


. Mouse commands
Mouse Commands

Left button

Selects a file. If you hold down a shift-key, you may select several files.

Left button double-click

Opens the file or runs the program or changes to a new directory.

Pressing the Enter/Return key works just the same.

Right button double-click

If the selected icon is a directory, this will start a new copy of this program, displaying the selected directory. If the selected icon is a file the "Selected Editor" will be used to edit it.

Pressing the shift key and a left double-click or holding down the shift-key and pressing the Enter/Return key works the same.


Registration

If you use this program for more than two weeks, you are required to register. When you register, you will receive a complete version Directory Climber.

Registration entitles you to two things:

Use of this program.

To have an influence on future updates. If you feel that there are features missing that should be a part of this program, please write me a description of

a) what the feature would do

b) how the user would command it

and I'll include it with the next version if I agree with you.

To register, send $30 along with a completed Registration form (select the text to see it, follow the upcoming instruction to print one).

If you want to pay with other currencies than US$, read the section about Currencies.

It might prove to be a good idea to have the letter insured in some way. I will not honour any claim of registration if I haven't received both the fee and the registration form. If you send the letter uninsured, you're the one taking the gamble.

My address is:

Henrik Vallgren

Skarpskyttevägen 8C

S-226 42 LUND

SWEDEN


Registration form

Instructions:

Select the "Print Topic" command to produce a papercopy of this form. Complete it and send it to me along with $30.

What disk size do you want ?	5¼ �	3½ �

Your name (please print):

_____________________________

Your address (please print):

_____________________________

_____________________________

_____________________________

_____________________________

I hereby promise to never distribute any copies of the registration file that I will receive.

_____________________________

(Your signature above this line please)


Paying with other currencies than US$:

First rule:

Never use coins for payment. I will not be able to exchange coins, so for this purpose, they are not considered money. You would also stand a greater risk of someone stealing the letter.

Second rule:

When calculating the registration fee in your preferred currency, you should use the exchange rate of the day you post the registration.

Don't bother to send me less than the equivalence $30.

Third rule:

When paying with other currencies than US$, GB£, DM please add $5 to cover my exchange costs. The Danish and the Swedish kronas are exceptions to this rule.

Failure to comply with these rules will result in that I return your registration, having deducted payment for return postage.


Vocabulary

Current Directory

The title bar of a Directory Climber window displays a piece of text like "Directory Climber C:\WINDOWS". If that is the case, C:\WINDOWS is the current directory.

Instance

Every window displayed on the screen is an instance of that application. If you have four Directory Climber windows on screen, then you have four instances of the application Directory Climber.


How to index
How to

Change directory/drive

Delete files

Install Directory Climber

Run/edit a program/file

Setup windows to be displayed at startup


Changing drive or directory
How to change directory/drive.

Change directory

Choose on of the following:

1) If the current icon is the directory you want to change to, press enter to change to it.

2) Double-click the left mouse button on the directory you want to change to.

3) Use the Backspace key to change to directory ".." (if it exists).

Holding down the shift key during any of these actions results in the new directory being displayed in a new window. As always, double-clicking the right mouse-button is equal to holding down the shift key and double-clicking the left mouse-button.

Change drive

Either use the drive icons in the menu or hold down the Ctrl-key and press a for drive a:, b for drive b: etc. You could also use the Directory/"change To" menu command and enter a:, b: etc.


Delete a file
How to delete file/directories.

If you have multiple files/directories selected, delete will try to delete all of them. Delete never works on directories that are not empty.

To issue the command, either use the file/delete menu command or the Delete key.


Installation
How to install Directory Climber.

Just copy the dirclimb.exe and the dirclimb.hlp files to the same directory. If you are installing the registered version you'll want the dirclimb.dat file to go into the same directory as well. Directory Climber automatically creates it's own dirclimb.ini file, so you don't have to worry about that.


Edit a file
How to run/edit a program/file.

If the current file is a program that you want to run, press enter or double click the left mouse button on it.

If it's a datafile that is associated with a program (it's icon is a program's icon) just press enter or double click the left mouse button on it.

Otherwise, you can use the selected editor (default is notepad) by holding down the shift-key and press enter or holding down the shift-key and double click the left mouse button on it. As always, double-clicking the right mouse-button is equal to holding down the shift key and double-clicking the left mouse-button.

An example: if the current file is a DOS .bat file, pressing enter will run the file, pressing shift+enter will edit the file.


Startup windows
How to setup windows to be displayed at startup.

This involves two steps that don't have anything to do with each other.

One step is to add the directories to the startup list. This is accomplished by changing to a directory and to issue the menu command Setup/"Add to start list". (You could also add it manually to the dirclimb.ini file, but first put a directory there using setup to see what it's supposed to look like.)

The other step is to save the co-ordinates that you'd like. Each directory can have a set of co-ordinates attached to it, and they are saved in the dirclimb.ini file. Whenever a Directory Climber instance is started, it looks for a set of co-ordinates for the directory it will display.

I usually do it this way: first I add all directories to the startup list, then I close all Directory Climber windows. I then start one Directory Climber window to display all directories in the start list, resize them and save their positions. Done !!!