ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ ÍÍÍÍÍ 4 - F I L E S ÍÍÍÍÍ ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ Information about 4FILES & 4FILES-PRO v-3.30 December 6, 1995 ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ ³ ³ A FILE MANAGER, FILE DESCRIPTION EDITOR & "COMMAND CENTER" ³ ³ ³ ³ for DOS, Windows, OS/2 & Desqview, ³ ³ ³ ³ with Special 4DOS- & NDOS-Aware Features, ³ ³ ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ << Reviewed and recommend in PC-Computing magazine, Sept. 1994. >> File Contents .... ============= 1) Description of 4FILES. 2) Description of 4FILES-PRO. ... Search for "2)" 3) Details on recent revisions. ... Search for "3)" 1) 4FILES -- A UNIQUE FILE MANAGER: ================================ Efficient, accurate file management requires ready access to information about any file, especially its purpose or contents. Unfortunately, eight or eleven character DOS file names are too short to meet this need, causing you to interrupt the flow of your work to do awkward research about various files. No more! 4FILES not only makes such research easy, but allows you to save the information in a permanent note for each file. If you use 4DOS or NDOS (excellent replacements for COMMAND.COM), each note automatically remains associated with its file whenever the file is copied, moved or renamed. 4FILES may be fully evaluated under COMMAND.COM, although notes then will not be transferred during these operations. The ability to create and edit file notes and to have your system automatically keep them with their files is the basis for a quantum leap in file management efficiency. This ability is only a basis however, and an exceptional interface is needed to realize its full potential. My goal has been to design 4FILES to put all of this potential at your finger tips, with a nice complement of features, and keystroke commands that are easy to learn and remember. You will be the judge of my success, and since 4FILES is shareware by an ASP member, the fully functional program is available free for your evaluation. If you like it, a registration fee of $30 is required (includes printed manual). Shareware copies are brandable as registered. There are several essential elements for an efficient file manager: 1) easy inspection of the contents of a file, 2) permanent recording of the information obtained, 3) clear presentation of this information along with the filename and vital statistics of the file, in a sorted directory listing, 4) good implementation of file management operations, including access to third party utilities, and 5) easy navigation both across drives & directories and within a directory. 4FILES has been designed from its inception with these things as priorities. In the PC-Computing review (9/94), 4FILES was recommended as a replacement for the commercially available file manager X-TREE. 2) 4FILES-PRO -- An Enhanced Version of 4FILES. ============================================ 4FILES-PRO provides additional support for text editors and other applications that have advanced capabilities. In addition to everything that 4FILES does, the PRO version can do two things. o When it calls the editor or application, it can provide a list of all marked files from which the editor or application will load the files. o For editors and applications that have macro languages with adequate features and the ability to call other programs, 4FILES-PRO can serve as the File-Mangager / File-Selector. Single or multiple files may be selected for loading, and multiple files can be selected from multiple directors in one operation. Macros with source code are provided for the TSE and Multi-Edit programmers' editors. 4FILES-PRO is an optional non-shareware upgrade available for only $5 to those who register 4FILES. 3) DETAILS OF RECENT REVISIONS TO 4FILES ===================================== v-3.30 adds new macros for setting up "utility ports" to call other programs. v-3.23 fixes a video bug that occurred when running under Desqview and Desqview/X and which caused lock-ups on some systems. v-3.22 improves the shelling and archiving functions. The method of generating beeps has been changed since the old method resulted in a long harsh beep on some laptop computers. Windows and OS/2 users now have key combinations for exiting to either the current or original directory, when working from the DOS or OS/2 command line interfaces. v-3.20 improves restoration of the original video mode and font when call other programs or terminating. Improvements have also been made to the disk system error handler, providing smoother operation and better messages for the user. A bug which sometimes limited input to the target path field (e.g. for file copying, etc.) to 12 characters has been fixed. v-3.15 through v-3.19 added several new features, made improvements to many existing operations, and fixed a few bugs. Significant updates to the manual were made in 3.19. Some of the significant changes: Operation on networks was improved. When a path fragment used to change directories fails, the user is now prompted to automatically rescan the disk to rebuild the database. A problem with infrequent but annoying loss of the brand on registered versions was fixed. A change was made to allow 4FILES to create a new directory of the form ..\..\subdir during copy and move operations, if the directory does not exist. -= 30 =-