OVERVIEW Easy Software's Commentator allows you to associate text comments with any file and to search for text in your comments. When Commentator finds the text you have searched for it also finds the associated file. You can then launch any application with that file name on the command line. Commentator is suitable for any application which accepts a workfile on the command line such as Word Processors, CAD, Desktop Publishers, Midi Editors Etc. SETTING UP YOUR APPLICATIONS When you first start Commentator, click the "Setup Applications" button. The setup window has the following fields:- Application Name This is the name that will be shown on the application launch button. Eg. Autocad, MS Publisher, Cubasis Etc. Application Executable This is the full path and filename of the application to launch. There is a browse button. File Filter This is the filter to use with the application. For example:- *.MID for Midi applications, *.PUB for Desktop publishing. You can have multiple filters by separating them with a semi-colon. For Example, a word processor might have the filter:- *.txt;*.bat;*.ini Working Directory This is the directory which Commentator will make current when it launches your application. This defaults to the application's directory. You can select "Work File Directory" in which case Commentator will make the directory of the work file you choose current. If you want another directory to be current, choose "Custom" and type in the directory name. DOS Applications If your application is DOS you can choose to have Commentator call direct to the application name or to create a PIF file either for full screen or a DOS box. The PIF files which Commentator creates have default values for everything except the full screen/DOS box options. If your application requires a PIF with non default values then set the DOS option to "Call Direct" and use your PIF name in the Application Executable field. Additional Parameter If you need to call your application with command line switches other than the filename to edit, you can enter them here and Commentator will append them to the command line after the chosen work file. First Directory to Search This is the directory in which Commentator will start when this application is selected. Set it to the directory which contains your current work files for the application. There is a browse button to select with. Launch App Maximized By default, Commentator will launch your application in a normal window. Check this option to launch maximized. ( Some applications override this option) Minimize on Use Most editing applications use the full screen so you can normally leave this unchecked and Commentator will be ready for use when you close the application. If the application is not full screen you can check this and Commentator will minimize after launching the application. Unload on Use If the application requires all available memory, check this option and Commentator will unload after launching it. (This option may not work with some 32 bit applications) Save Modify Exit When you have filled all the fields, click the Save button. You can set up more applications now or you can click the Exit button to return to the main screen. To edit the settings for an application, click the Modify button, select the application and edit the fields. You can delete an application by clicking the Delete button which appears to the right of the application name after selecting "Modify". Password If you administer several PCs you may not wish users to alter your setup. You can password protect the setup and purge buttons by clicking the password button. When you return to the main window, you will notice that the launch button has turned red and contains the name of the last application you setup and that the directory/file boxes are set to the directory you chose as the first directory to search. If you have setup more than one application you can switch between them by clicking the Change Application Button. COMMENTING YOUR FILES There are two comment entry fields. One for directory comments and one for file comments. They accepts a maximum of 176 characters. Type in the comment you wish to associate with the highlighted file or directory and click the Save Comment button or press F2 ( All main buttons have function key alternatives if you prefer not to reach for the mouse) Your comment will now appear in the comment box whenever this file is highlighted. You can edit your comments at any time and re-save them with F2. You can paste text from the clipboard into comment fields by pressing Shift+Ins and you can cut or copy text from the comment fields by selecting the text and right clicking for the Edit Menu. SEARCHING YOUR COMMENTS To search your comments, enter search text in the search field immediately below the Comment boxes and press return, F4 or click the Search button. If no match is found, Commentator will beep. If a match is found but it is not associated with the file you want, press return again without changing the search text and Commentator will find the next match. When you have found the file you want, click the red launch button to start the application with the selected file. There are options to search the highlighted directory or all directories. The All directories option is sensible if you have a limited number of commented files which are scattered throughout several directories. However, indexing the comments for a directory can take time. (Indexing a directory with 1000 comments on a pentium 120 takes 4-5 seconds) If you know which directory the file you are looking for is in you can speed the search by pre-selecting that directory and using the "This Directory" search option. If you have many commented directories You can search the directory comments by clicking the Directories only button. COMMENT STORAGE The comments you save are not attached in any way to the files to which they relate. They are stored in files named COMMENT.DAT There is one COMMENT.DAT file in each directory which contains commented files. You should backup these files along with the files to which they relate. If you erase COMMENT.DAT you have lost your comments ! The Multi User version also creates two small files, COMMENT.LOC and COMMENT.UPD in each commented directory. These files are only required while workstations are using Commentator. A list of the directories with COMMENT.DAT files is stored in COMMENT.DRS in the Commentator directory. COMMENT.DRS is plain ASCII so you can view it with any text editor. COMMENT.DRS is used when you search with the "All Directories" option so do not delete it. When you delete files for which you have saved comments, the comments themselves are not deleted. Commentator will remove comments for files which no longer exist when you click the Purge Deleted Comments button. If you have a large number of comments, purging can take a considerable time. There is no need to diligently purge whenever you delete a file but as the number of redundant comments grows, so the indexing and search routines will slow down. Occasional purging will rectify this as well as free up disk space. LIMITATIONS There is no limitation on the total number of comments. The number of comments which can be indexed for one directory is limited by memory. Commentator has been tested to 1000 commented files per directory under Windows 3.1 and 95. NETWORK INSTALLATIONS The recommended configuration for network use is a separate copy of Commentator Multi User on the local drive of each work station which will be using it. This produces the minimum network traffic and allows each work station to have it's own application setup file. You can install a single copy of Commentator on the server for use by all work stations but this is not recommended. If you do this, all workstations will share the same setup and default screen colors. If the server is also used as a work station, there is a further complication in the fact that any application on the server will have to be set up twice as the server will reference it by its local drive letter and all other workstations will reference it by the network drive letter. If you purchase the Multi User version of Commentator, Your license allows you to install copies on any number of work stations on a single LAN. You only need multiple licenses to use it on multiple local area networks. If you purchase the single user version of Commentator, your licence is for a single CPU. There are no locking facilities in the single user. If you run two copies of the single user on a local area network, you will get all sorts of problems. The evaluation (Shareware) version is Multi User. PROBLEMS Searching all directories no longer finds comments in a directory. If, when searching all directories, Commentator cannot find one of the directories in COMMENT.DRS, it assumes that the directory has been erased and removes its entry from COMMENT.DRS. If the reason for not finding that directory was that it was on a removable drive or was on a network drive which was temporarily disconnected you will get this problem the next time the drive is connected. To rectify it, just log to that directory and re-save any one of your comments. EVALUATION LICENSE If this is an evaluation copy, you are licensed to use it for thirty days only. If you wish to continue using Commentator beyond the evaluation period, you must purchase a registered copy. If you continue to use the evaluation copy beyond the evaluation period, it will remind you of this obligation. At no time, however, will it cease to function or erase any of your comment data. Full copies of Commentator cost:- $40 Single User $150 Multi User Site Licenses are also available. A site licence consists of a single copy of the software together with a licence to duplicate and use that software on multiple machines. Copies made under a site licenses are for in-house use by the licensee and may not be resold. To calculate a site licence price, multiply the price for a single copy by the number of copies required and apply the following discounts: 2 40% 3-7 60% 10-16 70% 25-56 80% 75-133 85% 200-500 90% 1000+ 95% Note: If you install a copy of Commentator on a workstation with access to directories on a network drive which have already been commented, the all directories search will not work until you have saved a comment in each directory from the workstation.