Directory eXtended v2.0 11 January 1989 Hello! DX version 2.0 is finally here. This version incorporates many new features that I think you'll enjoy -- it represents almost 8 months of modifications. Much of DX has been rewritten so it is faster and smaller. Smaller? Well, yes, if you take into account all the new features added, the program has not gotten proportionally larger. All known bugs are fixed. This version also lays the ground-work for a new set of utilities modelled around DX that I expect to have out sometime in 1989. The new package, Directory eXtension Utilities, will include both command and full-screen oriented versions, an optional resident kernel, and an install utility. There will be support for multi- drive/directory matching (wildcards in the drive and path portions) and many other features. It will be available commercially only but you'll have an attractive upgrade offer. ECONO-SOFT now has a new address and an 800 phone number: ECONO-SOFT CompuServe [73267,1664] P.O. Box 181030 GEnie [ROB.BLAINE] Austin, TX 78718-1030 800-367-7590, 512-832-1675 Registration: $25; $35 with printed manual. Upgrades: $10; $20 with printed manual. Postage: Free in the US; $3 on international orders. Texas residents: Please add 8% sales tax. MasterCard and Visa accepted; include expiration date. The embedded control number is gone. FILES ON THIS DISK: ===== == ==== ==== READ.ME => This file. DX.EXE => DX v2.0. DX.DOC => Documentation. DX.CED => Sample PCED synonym file for use with DX. DX_QUICK.REF => A Quick Reference (Appendix A from the manual). DX_HEAP.EXE => Program to adjust DX's internal heap size. Directory eXtended v2.0 11 January 1989 PRINTED or FORMATTED MANUAL: ======= == ========= ====== The new manual, as supplied on disk is just simple, unformatted text. It assumes a generic printer of 66 lines/page and nothing more. A printed manual is now available at an additional cost of $10. In addition, pre-formatted manuals are available for the Apple Laserwriter, the Epson FX-80/100, and the Epson FX-85/185 printers. The Apple Laserwriter manual will probably print fine on any PostScript printer. The word-processing source for printing on any printer is also available -- providing that you have access to Borland's Sprint. Any additional manual on disk costs $5 (to cover postage and handling only). CHANGES SINCE DX v1.6: ===================== - The color switches (/FColor, /BColor, and /DColor) require the use of keywords now -- the numeric format will no longer work. (DX still gets its default color configuration from the screen's colors at the cursor position where DX is started from.) - File attribute selection has changed. /Archive, /Normal, /Directory, /Hidden, /Readonly, and /System have all been replaced with /ATtr -- please see DX.DOC for details; /Full still works as before. This was done to provide a more uniform approach to attribute handling since there are now three switches that take attributes. - The /DAte and /TIme switches have been replaced with /SINce and /BEfore -- these work very much like Digital Equipment Corporation's VMS Operating System and provide much more flexibility in specifying dates and times. - DX now writes directly to the video buffer. A /VIDeo switch is provided as follows: /VIDeo:Direct => Direct writes with no snow checking. /VIDeo:DIRECTSnow => Direct writes with snow checking (default). /VIDeo:BIOS => Output through the system BIOS. - DX makes one undocumented DOS function call that is known to cause a problem under Toshiba DOS 3.2. If you have that version of Toshiba DOS (3.3 is fine!) or experience a hang when DX is first started, add /NONSTD to your AUTOEXEC.BAT's SET command. (The /ABsolute switch is superceeded by this switch.) - 2 - Directory eXtended v2.0 11 January 1989 NEW FEATURE SUMMARY: === ======= ======= There are three categories of questions asked during special processing controlled by /Verify, /OVerwrite, and /ROnly -- please see the appropriate sections of the manual. Among other things, you can specify that a file be overwritten if it is newer/older/larger/smaller than the previous version; you can specify that the file MUST overwrite a previous file; and you can tell DX to never touch, ask first, or ignore read-only files. When being asked a question, you can now shell to DOS before answering or view the directory of the source and target; you can also view (using /LIst) the contents of the target file in addition to the source. New switches include: /GOBak => revert to a .BAK version of a file. /APpend => append to existing files. /FDate => set a file's modification date/time. /TDate => set the target of a move/copy's date/time. /TAttr => set the attributes on the target. /MSP => multi-pass special processing. /ARCDT => correct an archive/library's date/time to that of the most recent member. /VIew => call the /LIst processor for matching files. DX now fully supports network configurations. You can specify what action to take when a network conflict is detected: /NETaccess:Criterr => Produce critical error message (default). /NETaccess:Wait => Wait for conflict to resolve. /NETaccess:Fail => Automatically "Fail" the operation and go on. DX now adapts itself to EGA/VGA 8x8 modes (43/50 lines) and Hercules 132-column modes -- if these modes are in effect when DX is called. Target pattern replacement now includes a "/" character to delete - 3 - Directory eXtended v2.0 11 January 1989 characters from the source pattern -- see DX.DOC for details. If /FSize is used with copy/move, you may omit the drive and it will use the same drive as the target of copy/move. A program is supplied to adjust the amount of memory available -- see the section on Memory Utilization in DX.DOC for information on running DX_HEAP. Happy New Year! Enjoy! Rob Blaine / ECONO-SOFT - 4 -