File Notes

Quick Start

Procedures

Accessing notes from open/save dialogs

Compacting the data files

Creating a new note

Deleting notes

Editing a note

Exporting notes

Linking files to notes

Moving, copying or renaming files

Options

Searching the file notes

Viewing a file note

Miscellaneous

Customer Support

Using on a network

Un-installing


Creating a new note

To create and attach a new note to a file follow the procedure below.

1. Select the file you wish to attach a note to.

2. From the Notes menu in the File Manager menu bar select the 'File note' command.

3. You will be presented with a dialog in which you may enter the desired note information.  After doing so, click on OK and the new note will be attached to the specified file.  Alternatively, by clicking on the 'Link to' button in the dialog, an existing note may be attached to the file.

Notes may be created for multiple files by selecting all files in a directory to which you wish to attach notes to.  A creation dialog will be presented for each file selected from which you may create a new note as outlined above.

Related Topics

Linking files to notes

Viewing a file note


Editing a note

Existing notes may be edited by following the procedure below.

1. Select the file whose note you wish to edit.

2. From the Notes menu in the File Manager menu bar select the 'File note' command.

3. You will be presented with the view dialog.  To edit the note, click on the 'Edit' button.  A dialog from which you may edit the note information will then be presented.

4. After you have completed editing the note, click on OK.  You will be returned to the View dialog which will now reflect the updated information.  Click on OK to close the View dialog.

Related Topics

Creating a new note

Linking files to notes

Viewing a file note


Exporting notes

File Notes allows you to export notes to a text file.  Once exported, you may view or print out the text file using any word editor (e.g. Notepad, Write, etc.).

To export all notes select the 'Export' command from the Notes menu.  Enter a file name for the notes to be written to and click on OK.  All notes will be written out in text format to the specified file.

To export selected notes choose the 'Search' command from the Notes menu.  Perform a search to obtain a list of those notes you wish to export.  Click on the export button in the search dialog.  Enter a file for the notes to be written to and click on OK.  All notes found by the search will be written out to the specified file.

Related Topics

Searching the file notes


Linking files to notes

Rather than creating a new note for a file, an existing note may be attached to a file.  When multiple files are linked to a single note, any time the note is edited from any one of the files all files will reflect the changes.  Linking provides a simple way to assign a note to a group of files for reference.  To link a note, follow the procedure below.

1. Select the file you wish to link an existing note to.  You may link multiple files in one action by selecting all files you wish to link the note to.

2. Select the 'Link to' command from the Notes menu in File Manager's menu bar.

3. From the dialog which appears, select the note you wish to attach the file to.  Notes are identified by the file they are attached to.  In addition, you may view the author and subject of a note by clicking on a file listed in the listbox.

4. Click on OK.  The file or files selected will now be linked to the note.

Alternatively, you may link a file to a note from the note creation dialog.

Related Topics

Creating a new note


Updating dialog

If you move a file which has a note attached to, the next time you attempt to view the note you will, instead, be presented with the update dialog.  File Notes identifies what note goes with what file by using the file name.  When you move a file, the file name is changed.

To allow you to update the note to reflect the new file location, the update dialog is presented when File Notes finds a note which is not currently attached to a file but matches the file name.  From the dialog you may choose to update the location of the file, thus re-attaching the note, create a new note for the file or link the file to an existing note.

Related Topics

Creating a new note

Linking files to notes


Compacting the data files

Over the course of time, as notes are created and deleted or files deleted, unused entries in the File Notes data files will accumulate.  By choosing the 'Compact' command from the Notes menu the data files will be processed to remove all unused entries, thus reducing the files in size.

You may perform a compact whenever desired.  If you have been doing a lot of re-arranging of notes or files, it is recommended you perform a compact to clean things up.

By selecting the 'Auto compact on' option in the Options dialog, you may cause a compact to be performed whenever File Manager is started.  Whether or not you wish to use this option is entirely up to you.

Related Topics

Options


Searching the notes
Searching the file notes

By selecting the 'Search' command from the Notes menu, you may search the notes for author, subject or a key word.  Follow the procedure below.

1. Select 'Search' from the Notes menu.

2. In the dialog that appears, enter either an author, subject or key word or any combination of the fields.  Select whether you wish an OR search or an AND search.  OR searches will find all notes that contain any of the search fields filled (author, subject, keyword).  AND searches find only notes that match all the specified search fields.  Click on Search.

3. In the listbox, the file names of all files with notes attached that match the search criteria will be displayed.  You may either view the note attached to a found file or run the file using the 'View Note' and 'Run File' buttons.

Once you have a conducted a search, you may either initiate a new search and have the new notes found appended to those already found or, by clicking on the 'Clear' button, you may clear out the notes previously found and start anew.  You may also export all the notes found by the search to a text file by clicking on the 'Export' button.

It is possible to list all notes in the system by blanking out all search criteria and performing an AND search.  All notes currently in the system will be listed.

Specifying Search Criteria

When entering a search field by ending the text with an asterisk (*) any search text that matches up to the asterisk will be considered a match.  For example, entering 'JOH*' as the author any note whose author name begins with 'JOH' will be considered a match.  If no asterisk is specified only text which is an exact match for the search criteria is considered a match.

When specifying a key word, multiple key words may actually be specified.  Simply separate the words by blanks and any note containing any of those words will be matched.  For example, entering 'business john win*' in the key word search field will match any note that contains the words business, john or any words that start with win.  For key word searches the author and subject as well as the comment field are searched.

Keyword searches check only alpha-numeric characters.  For example, specifying !!! as a keyword would not yield any matches even if !!! was present in one or more notes.  All searches are case-insensitive.

Two ways of interpreting the search criteria entered are available.  By selecting an OR search, any note that matches any one of the specified search criteria is considered a match.  For example, specifying 'Joe Cool' in the author field and 'Ice and its uses' in the subject field and performing an OR search, any note that has 'Joe Cool' as its author or 'Ice and its uses' as its subject would be displayed in the listbox.  If instead in the above example, an AND search was performed, only those notes which had 'Joe Cool' as its author and 'Ice and its uses' as its subject would be considered a match.


Customer Support

Customer support is available to all owners of File Notes for as long as you own the program.

Support may be obtained by calling (719) 260-0433 during normal business hours.  Please leave a message should we be unable to answer the call immediately.  We promise to get back to you that same day if at all possible.  You may also fax us at (719) 599-7991.

You can write us at:

Sloop Software

Customer Support

6457 Mesedge Lane

Colorado Springs, CO 80919

Or by sending email to CompuServe (id 72540,144) or American Online (id Sloop Soft) or Internet (id 72540.144@compuserve.com).  We check CompuServe on a daily basis allowing for a prompt response to any inquiries.

Please include as many details as possible concerning any problem you may be experiencing to allow us to correct it as quickly as possible.  Useful information includes what version of Folders you are running, what display mode (EGA, VGA, 16 colors, etc.)  you are running in, what mode of Windows (enhanced, standard) you are running in, how much RAM your system has and the exact sequence of events leading up to the problem.


Deleting notes

To delete a note follow the procedure below.

1. Select the file which has the note you wish to delete attached to it.

2. Select the 'File note' command from the Notes menu.

3. Click on the 'Delete' button.  The note will then be deleted.

Note that deleting a note will not affect any files which are linked to that note.  Only the selected file will no longer have a note attached to it.

Related Topics

Compacting the data files


Moving, copying or renaming files

Should you move or copy a file with a note attached, the link between the file and its associated note must be re-established.  To do so, select the file and then select the 'File note' command from the notes menu.  If the Update dialog appears, follows its instructions.  Otherwise, if the Create/Edit dialog appears click on the 'Link to' button.  From the file list select the old name of the file and click on OK.  This will re-link the file to its note.

The above holds true too if you rename a file, though, in this case you will always be presented with the Create/Edit dialog.  Simply click on the 'Link to' button and select the old name of the file to re-attach the note.

Related Topics

Updating dialog


Viewing a file note

To view a file note simply select the file whose note you wish to view and select the 'File note' command from the Notes menu (or hit F2).

If a note is attached to the file it will be displayed.  You may then close the dialog by clicking on OK or edit or delete the note by clicking on the appropriate button.  Using the << and >> buttons you may page through all notes in the system.  If the view dialog was brought up from the search dialog, the << and >> buttons will page only through those notes found by the search.

If no note is currently attached to the selected file, the Create/Edit dialog will be brought up and you may enter a new note for that file.

Related Topics

Creating a new note

Deleting notes

Editing a note


Quick Start

To start assigning notes, follow the procedure below:

1. Select a file that you wish to assign a note to by clicking on it within one of File Manager's file list boxes so that it is highlited.

2. Go to the Notes menu you find in File Manager's menu bar and select the 'File note' command.

3. A dialog will appear in which you may enter an author, subject and a comment.  Fill in the various fields any way you desire.  Click on OK.

That's it!  You've just created and attached your first note.  To view the note, select the file you selected in step 1, if not already selected.  Then repeat step 2 above, but this time you will be presented with a dialog displaying the note information you entered in step 3.  You may use the edit or delete buttons in this dialog to either edit the note or to delete it.

You are now ready to go out and attach notes to any file you wish.  Simply repeat the above procedure for any file you desire

For more information on the other functions of File Notes, just browse through this help file.  It tells all.


Options

By selecting the 'Options' command from the Notes menu, several different settings for File Notes may be adjusted.  They are as follows.

1. 'Auto compact on' - By checking this option on, whenever File Manager is started a compact command will be executed to clear out the data files of any unused entries.  This is equivalent to executing a 'Compact' command from the Notes menu.

2. 'Notes button in common open/save as dialogs' - When this option is checked, whenever a common open or save as dialog is displayed from any application, a new button labeled 'Notes' is present.  By selecting a file and then clicking on the 'Notes' button you may view, edit or create a note for the selected file just as if you were accessing it from File Manager.  Note that this only works in the Windows common open and save as dialogs.

3. 'Automatically display note dialog on save as' - When this option is checked, clicking OK in a save as dialog will automatically bring up the notes dialog before the dialog is closed to allow for a note to be entered.  This eliminates the need to click on the 'Notes' button in the dialog when saving to a new file.

4. 'Display 'Note Present' box in status bar' - Turning off this option removes the additional box in the status bar at the bottom of File Manager added by File Notes.  While on, whenever a file with a note attached to it is selected, the fact a note is present is indicated in the status bar.  However, as File Notes must do a check for a note everytime a file is selected if you have a large number of notes this could impact performance.  In that case, you may wish to turn off this option.

When using this option with certain display drivers you may notice that the new status box does not appear in an appropriate location.  In that case, you may adjust the X location (horizontal position) and the height of the box by changing the settings in the X and Height edit boxes.  Clicking on the 'Default' button will set the X and Height fields to approximate values for the display.

5. 'Use Ctrl+F2 in place of F2 (for WFW)' - This option is provided for Windows for Workgroup users.  The WFW File Manager already uses the hotkey F2 for accessing the drive box in the toolbar.  Setting this option allows the drive box to be accessed using F2 and the 'File note' command to be accessed using Ctrl+F2.

6. 'Default author' - By entering an author name in the edit box, whenever a new note is created the author field will already be filled in with the default author eliminating the need to enter it.  You may still change the author normally to whatever you wish if you do not want the default author to be used.

Related Topics

Accessing notes from open/save as dialogs

Compacting the data files

Editing a note

Viewing a file note


Using on a network

Since all files required for File Notes reside in a single directory, this directory may be shared across the network for multiple use.  For each individual user to have the program available, the following lines must be present in each winfile.ini file:

[Addons]

File Notes=<path>\filenote.dll

where <path> is the full path of the location of filenote.dll.

If the shared directory is set to read-only, a restricted menu is displayed which allows notes only to be viewed, not created or edited.


Un-installing

To un-install File Notes, delete the File Notes directory created during the install.  It may be necessary to close File Manager to delete the filenote.dll file.  Next, delete the line in winfile.ini (which should be in the Windows directory) under the [Addons] section which reads:

File Note=<path>\filenote.dll

where <path> is the File Notes directory.

That's it.  File Notes has now been deleted completely from your system.


Accessing notes from open/save dialogs

When the appropriate option is selected in the options dialog, a new button labeled 'Notes' will be present in common open and save as dialogs.  Using this button, notes may be created, viewed and edited directly from the dialog box with no need to switch to File Manager.

To use this function, from the open or save as dialog fill in a file name in the file name box.  This may be done by either typing in a name or by selecting a file from the file listbox.  The full path of the file may be entered, if desired.  If selecting from the listbox, multiple files may be selected.  Now, clicking on the 'Notes' button will bring up the notes dialog from which a note may be viewed, created or edited just as if accessed from File Manager.  The dialog will be presented for every file listed in the file name edit box.

Note that this function is only available when the open or save as dialog is being presented through the use of Windows common dialog library.  Custom dialogs provided by applications are not supported.