Do Not Edit This File. IDCshell (tm) Help Facility, (C) 1987-89 Infinity Design Concepts, Inc. ð Index Section 1 ............................................ Copy file(s) Section 2 ............................................ Build ZIPfile Section 3 ............................................ View file Section 4 ............................................ Rename file(s) Section 5 ............................................ Erase file(s) Section 6 ............................................ File attributes Section 7 ............................................ Tag file(s) Section 8 ............................................ Move file(s) Section 9 ............................................ Directory tree Section 10............................................ Print file(s) Section 11............................................ Misc. commands and Function keys ð Copying Files Section 1 The "C" command will cause IDCshell to copy file(s) to another drive or directory. If any files are tagged, then you will be asked if you want to copy the highlighted file OR tagged files. After you select either option, IDCshell will display a visual directory tree for you to select the destination directory. You may also select another drive and directory at this point as well or you may CREATE a new directory if need be. This is one of IDCshell's most powerful features! If any of the files already exist on the destination, you will be asked whether or not you wish to overwrite the file. ð Build ZIPfile Section 2 Page 1 The F2 KEY is used to SELECT THE TARGET ZIPFILE for archiving operations. If the highlighted file has a .ZIP extension and the F2 key is pressed, then this file will be the target of all archiving operations. If the highlighted file does NOT have a .ZIP extension, IDCshell will not allow selecting the file, but you will be asked for the target ZIP filename, when necessary. Z or A - Archive command (build zipfile). This command will first display the two main options that are available, namely, zipping from the tagged list of files -OR- by searching subdirectories recursively. The TAGGED LIST is the list of files that have been tagged on any drive in any subdirectory. The RECURSIVE SEARCH is performed beginning with a subdirectory name and file mask that you supply (EX: F:\newasm\*.bat). Note that this method automatically stores the pathnames in the zipfile. Page 2 After one of the above methods is selected, IDCshell will gather all selected files and display them broken down by subdirectories and allow editing the list. You may delete individual files or complete subdirectories from the list. Once the list is correct, several more options will be displayed that will control the archiving function. Once all options and filenames have been selected, the archiving process is begun. Each file in the list is displayed, analyzed, compressed and stored in the zipfile, along with its date,time,size, file attribute and optionally, its pathname. ð View File Section 3 The currently highlighted file is read, formatted and displayed on the screen. The Pg Up, Pg Down, Home, End and arrow keys allow you to move easily through the file. F key toggles the filter so that the output files from some word processors can be displayed correctly. M key toggles the display mode from HEX dump to ASCII view. S key causes IDCshell to ask for a string to search for. If the string is located in the document, it is highlighted. N SEARCH NEXT function (after having used the S command) NOTE: REL,COM,OBJ,HEX,DTA,OVR,OVL,DBF,EXE,BIN,LIB and SYS files are automatically displayed in HEX mode. ð Erase File(s) Section 4 This option allows you to delete file(s) from the current directory. If no files are tagged then the currently highlighted file is deleted. If the file has been assigned a Read Only attribute, then you are informed of this status before the deletion is performed and asked whether or not to proceed. If there are tagged files, then the delete routine asks you if you want to delete the highlighted file or the tagged files. As before, if any of the tagged files are marked as Read Only, you will be asked before the deletion is processed. ð Rename File(s) Section 5 The rename option allows you to rename one or more files in the current directory. The first prompt asks for a new name, assuming that you wish to rename the currently highlighted file. If you respond with "*", then the rename routine proceeds by asking you for a wildcard mask for files that you wish to rename. You would enter something like *.PRG. After entering this, you are asked for a new name mask and you would enter something like *.CMD. The sequence in the above example would result in all files with the .PRG extension being renamed to .CMD files. ð Set File Attributes Section 6 Page 1 Each file on your disk has one or more file attributes. These attributes are as follows. Read Only (R) - the file cannot be deleted under normal circumstances System (S) - your MSDOS files are system files Hidden (H) - these files can be executed, but do not show up when you request DOS to show the directory via DIR. Archive (A) - not to be confused with .ARC files. This attribute is used primarily for backing up harddisks. IDCshell shows these attributes next to each file in the directory by displaying the letters in parenthesis, as shown above. You can change these attributes easily. If there are no tagged files, then IDCshell assumes that you wish to set the file attribute of the currently highlighted file. If there are tagged files, then you are asked if you wish to change the attributes on the highlighted file or on tagged files. Page 2 A dialog box is displayed on the screen showing each of the possible file attributes. Beneath each of the attributes is displayed either "YES" or "NO", indicating that the attribute will be either turned on "YES" or turned off "NO". The left and right arrow keys will move the highlight bar to the selections in the box. The SPACE bar toggles the attributes between the "YES" and "NO" states. The ENTER key will cause the file(s) attributes to be set. The ESC key will abort the operation. ð Tag File(s) Section 7 The space bar or the "T" key will tag the currently highlighted file. The number of tagged bytes and tagged files are shown above the main menu help window. F10 will untag all files that have been tagged for inclusion into zipfiles Each time that you tag files in a sub-directory, they are stored for inclusion into an zipfile. This key untags those stored files. F6 will tag all files in the current directory. F7 will invert all tags, that is all files that are tagged will become untagged and all untagged files will become tagged. W will allow you to enter a wildcard filemask such as *.ASM, which will tag all files with the .ASM extension. Tagged files are used in COPYING, DELETING, MOVING, ARCHIVING, PRINTING and setting FILE ATTRIBUTES. ð Move File(s) Section 8 The move command will move either the highlighted or tagged file(s) to another directory. If there are no tagged files, then IDCshell assumes that you wish to move the highlighted file to another directory. If there are tagged files, then IDCshell will ask whether you wish to move the highlighted or tagged files. This command differs from copy in two ways. 1) you cannot MOVE a file from one disk to another 2) the file will no longer exist in the source directory after the move ð Directory Tree Section 9 Page 1 This command will scan the complete disk searching for sub-directories. The directories are sorted and sub-sorted and displayed in a visual tree. There are several commands available at this point, such as creating new directories, removing existing directories or scanning a new drive. The disk is scanned for directory entries when you use the "D" command from the main menu. This information is stored so that with subsequent use of the "D" command, the disk need not be rescanned. Should you shell to DOS, however, and modify the directory by copying or deleting files, then you will need to use the "L"og disk command from either the tree or the main menu, for IDCshell to reflect the changes. It normally takes about 3 seconds to scan a 20MB drive. This speed is achieved by reading the FAT tables directly rather than relying on the relatively slow services offered by DOS. Page 2 ALT-letter will take you immediately to the subdirectory whose name begins with "letter". ALT-I would highlight the next directory name that began with the letter "I" on the tree, ALT-I again would highlight the one after that, etc. When no more matching directory names are located, IDCshell will emit a beep. ð Print File(s) Section 10 Page 1 The print routine will print the highlighted or tagged files. You have several options here. The first option that comes to the screen is the printer string option. This allows you to select a character font for printing the file. There are four optional fonts. They are, 0 Send no printer string (use printers default) 1 Set printer to 10 cpi (pica) 2 Set printer to 12 cpi (elite) 3 Set printer to 17 cpi (compressed) These printer strings come with IDCshell configured for an EPSON printer. They can be changed to anything that you like with ARCCFG.EXE. Each string has a maximum length of 9 bytes. The ESC key aborts the print operation completely. Page 2 The second option tells IDCshell how to format the document. There are three options. Each option is toggled between YES and NO with the SPACE bar. The ESC key aborts the print operation completely and the ENTER key accepts the currently displayed options. Format - YES - This option tells IDCshell that you want the document formatted during printing. The formatting includes page numbers, page breaks and expanded tabs. NO - This option tells IDCshell not to perform any formatting at all during print. This is for use on files that have already been formatted with formfeeds etc. Page 3 Strip High bit - YES - This option tells IDCshell to strip the high bit off of each character that is printed. This is to allow WordStar (c) type documents to be printed correctly, since WordStar and other word processors use the high bit of some characters to denote paragraph alignment etc. NO - Do not strip the high bit from each character. Strip Control Characters - YES - This option tells IDCshell to remove all control characters from the document before printing. The exceptions to this are carriage returns, linefeeds and tabs. NO - Do not remove control characters. ð Miscellaneous Commands Section 11 Page 1 ALT-letter key will locate any file in the subdirectory having "letter" as the first character of the filename. This same ALT-letter combination works in the directory tree as well. MOUSE: The left mouse button is always available and simulates the ENTER key. The right mouse button is always available and simulates the ESC key. ENTERING/EDITING TEXT: CONTROL-R Will recall the last text that was entered CONTROL-Y Will delete the current line BACKSPACE Deletes the character left of the cursor ESC Abort the text entry Page 2 ALT-F1 - this command will allow you to change the filename mask for displaying files in the current directory ALT-F2 - this command allows executing the currently highlighted program ALT-F3 - displays machine statistics, amount of ram, type of machine BIOS information, COM ports, LPT ports and much more ALT-F4 - on EGA/VGA machines, this key causes the video card to be toggled between 25 and 43/50 line modes. Page 3 N - command. This command will invoke NARC.EXE. NARC is located in your path via the environment variable NARCPATH. This variable is set up in your AUTOEXEC.BAT file as SET NARCPATH=drive:\path\NARC.EXE. For a complete description of how to set this up, see IDCshell.DOC. An optional way of invoking NARC is to locate NARC.EXE in the current directory. If the environment variable is not found, the current directory is automatically searched for NARC.EXE. If the currently highlighted file is a .ZIP/.ARC or .ARK file, then this filename is passed to NARC. NARC is then run and opens the passed file for operations. This is one of shells' best features! L - command. This command allows logging a new drive and displaying the directory. Page 4 S - command. This command will prompt you for a drive letter, after which the disk space statistics will be displayed in a dialogue box. If the drive letter that you enter is not valid or just plain not ready (drive door open) then an error box will appear telling you so. + and - keys. The minus key will always move you back one directory toward the root. The plus key will move you to the highlighted directory (away from the root), if the highlighted name is a directory name. Page 5 W - command. This command will prompt for a wildcard mask that can be used to tag several files at one time. You may enter a mask such as *.BAK. This will cause all files with the extension of .BAK to be tagged. Page 6 F1 - function key. This key will bring up the help system. F2 - function key. This command will select the target zipfile (if the highlighted file has a .ZIP extension) F3 - function key. This command will display a file on the screen much the same as the DOS Type command does. This feature is added primarily for viewing files with ANSI escape sequences in them, consequently this function lacks page up/dn etc. The ESC key aborts the view, space or ENTER pauses the view. Page 7 F4 - function key. This command will send a copy of the current directory to the printer in the same format as shown on the screen. F5 - function key. This command will allow running DOS commands. You also have to option of running command.com again. Type EXIT to return to IDCshell when finished in DOS. F6 - function key. This key will cause all files in the current directory to be tagged. Page 8 F7 - function key. This key will cause all file tags to be inverted, e.g. tagged files become untagged and untagged files become tagged. F8 - function key. This command will allow changing the way filenames are sorted and displayed in the directory window of the main screen. You have the option of sorting the names by; DOS order, Filename + Extension, Extension , Date or Size Page 9 F9 - function key. This command will run your editor. The environment variable IDCED must be set up before this command will work. The syntax is SET IDCED=drive:\path\editor name (INCLUDE extension). The file that is currently highlighted will be passed as an argument to the editor. This means that the file you are pointing will be edited when you press the F9 key. Note: ALT-F9 will run the editor without passing a filename. F10 - function key. This key will clear all files that have been tagged for archiving. When you tag files in any directory, IDCshell remembers those filenames and will display them when the ZIP function is selected for archiving.