Directory Statistics Help Contents

Where did all your disk space go?

Neither Windows File Manager nor DOS is particularly adept at analyzing disk space utilization - they go only one level deep at a time.  Directory Statistics, however, analyzes an entire directory tree with one command, and presents the results in one place.  (Windows 95 Explorer does better than File Manager, but still lacks a sorted directory tree.)

Commands and Features

Statistics Summary

Directory Tree

Installation

Registration


Commands and Features

How to Get Statistics

DirStats works on local drives, network file servers, CD-ROM drives, and floppy drives - and anything else that uses a DOS directory structure.

1.	Enter a directory to scan, or pick one from the Browse box.  Scan an entire drive (C:\), a CD ROM (D:\) or a network drive (F:\).

2.	Choose to include subdirectories and/or hidden files.  Normally you want both.

3.	Choose Get Statistics.

4.	Wait for "Done!" in the status bar.

The process may take anywhere from a few seconds to a few minutes, depending on a number of factors - speed of your computer, network traffic, and how many files and directories there are under the tree.  A large network drive on a slow machine can run into half an hour.

How to Save and Print Statistics

The Save As command on the Statistics menu writes a more detailed version of the current statistics to a text file.  You can then print the text file from Notepad or a word processor.

1.	Get Statistics for the drive or directory you want.

2.	Select the Tree tab.  (Save As is disabled until you do.)  Expand the directory tree to the level of detail you want to see.

3.	Select Statistics-Save As.  In the Save As dialog, you can specify a path and file name.

Index Tabs

Item	Description

Summary	Start here:  enter a directory to scan, choose Get Statistics, and see the totals.

Tree	Displays a directory tree with statistics for each branch, ordered by size.  The sort process may take some time, depending on your computer and the number of directories to sort.  This tab is disabled if 1) you have not done a Get Statistics yet; 2) Include Subdirectories is not checked; or 3) there are no subdirectories under this directory.

Statistics Menu

Item	Description

Save As	Writes the currently displayed statistics to a text file.  You must click the Tree tab to enable this command.  See How to Save and Print Statistics, above.

Units	Allows you to specify Bytes, Kbytes, or Mbytes for display.  This choice affects everything:  both index tabs, the Disk Statistics display, and the Save As file.

Disk Statistics	Displays total size and free space on any disk your system recognizes.

Exit	Shuts down Directory Statistics.

Startup Command

You can start Directory Statistics so it immediately gets statistics, simply by giving a directory name as an argument.  For example, this command starts Directory Statistics and does a Get Statistics on the C:\WINDOWS directory:

DIRSTATS.EXE C:\WINDOWS

Slightly Technical Information

The output from the DIR command in MSDOS has several, shall we say, peculiarities, which DirStats does not share.  By default, DIR counts subdirectories as files, and it counts the current directory and its parent (known as . and ..) as directories.  In addition, DIR does not count hidden files, but DirStats does.

In the sample directory tree shown, the DIR /S command on the WINDOWS directory reports "Total files listed: 326 files."  On the same directory DirStats reports 320 files and 2 subdirectories, with both Include boxes checked.  (In case  you are curious, DIR/S counted . and .. 3 times each, plus SYSTEM and TEMP, minus the two hidden files.)


Statistics Summary

This index tab is where you enter the directory name, initiate the scan, and view the summary statistics for the directory.

Item	Description

Directory	Enter the directory name at the top of the tree.  Enter C:\ or F:\, for example, to get statistics on an entire drive.

Browse	Allows you to browse for a drive and directory.

Get Statistics	Scans files and counts statistics.

Include Subdirectories	Choose this to scan the entire tree under this directory - the entire point of DirStats.  Clear this box to scan this directory only (fast but not very interesting).

Include Hidden Files	Choose this to include hidden files in statistics.  On most systems, the largest hidden file is the Windows swap file, anywhere from 1 or 2 megabytes to 20 or more megabytes.

Clear to ignore hidden files in statistics.

As of	Time that the scan completed.

Bytes/Kbytes/Mbytes	This is it!  Total size of all files found under the directory.  To change units, choose Units from the Statistics menu.

Subdirectories	Number of subdirectories found.  The current directory and its parent ("." and ".." in DOS) are not included in the total.

Files	Number of files found.  Unlike DOS, DirStats does not count directories in this total.

Status Bar	During scanning, indicates the directory currently being scanned.  "Done!" means statistics gathering was completed.  "Incomplete statistics!" means statistics gathering was aborted by pressing the Escape key, so the statistics displayed are not complete.


Directory Tree

This index tab displays a directory tree with statistics for each branch, ordered by size.

Item	Description

Tree display	Shows the directory tree scanned, in a format similar to the left side of Windows File Manager.

Click on + to expand the tree and show subdirectories.  Click on - to collapse it again.

Details	Statistics for the highlighted directory.  If the highlighted directory is collapsed (that is, it has a + sign) the statistics represent the directory and all branches under it.  If the highlighted directory is expanded (that is, it has a - sign or no sign) the statistics represent that directory only.

Expand All	Displays all branches of the tree.

Collapse All	After Expand All, the button changes to Collapse All.  It collapses the tree down to one level.

Font	Allows you to choose a font for the tree display.  The font does not affect anything else.

Status bar	Shows the full path to the highlighted directory.


Installation

1.	In an empty directory, expand the compressed file.  (FIlename may vary depending on the version you obtained.)

2.	Copy support files (*.DLL, *.VBX, *.LIC) to your Windows SYSTEM directory.

3.	Copy DIRSTATS.* to a directory of your choice.

4.	Add an item in Program Manager to run DIRSTATS.EXE.  In Windows 95, add DIRSTATS.EXE to the Start menu.

Files Included With Directory Stastics

DIRSTATS.EXE	DirStats program

DIRSTATS.HLP	Online Help file

VBRUN300.DLL	Visual Basic run-time library (version 3.0)

VSVBX.LIC	License file for VSVBX

DFINFO2.VBX	Visual Basic custom control for disk info

VSVBX.VBX	Visual Basic custom control for index tabs et al

MSOUTLIN.VBX	Visual Basic custom control for directory tree

THREED.VBX	Visual Basic custom control for 3D controls

CMDIALOG.VBX	Visual Basic custom control for Windows common dialogs

The support files (*.DLL, *.LIC, and *.VBX) must reside in the Windows SYSTEM directory.  The .EXE and .HLP file may be in any directory you want, but they must be in the same directory.

WIN.INI:  DirStats creates a [DirectoryStatistics] section in the WIN.INI, where the font information and units selection are stored.


Registration

Directory Statistics is a shareware product.  You may evaluate it for 30 days free of charge.  After that, if you find it useful and want to continue using it, you should register and pay the (extremely reasonable) fee.  I will send you a registered copy via e-mail, and keep you informed of upgrades.  The unregistered version is fully functional; the only difference is the initial "Welcome to Directory Statistics" message.  Registering will save you ten seconds a day.

The registration fee is $10 for personal use or $50 for commercial use.  You know which you are.

Send check (recommended) or cash to:

Mark D. Gardner

P.O. Box 550112

Atlanta, GA  30355 USA

I welcome comments and suggestions, positive or negative, by mail or e-mail.

Internet:  danville@mindspring.com

23 October 1995


byte

The basic unit of data on a PC.  One character takes one byte of space.


Kbyte or KB or kilobyte

1 KB = 1024 bytes


Mbyte or MB or megabyte

1 MB = 1024 KB = 1,048,576 bytes