Copyright: Folders Version 1.0® 1995 David E. Ellis


Folders Contents
Contents

Click on the following topics to display help about them

Set Folder Properties

Set File Properties

Drag and Drop Rules


Set Folder Properties

The set folder properties dialog lets you maintain information about each folder, terminate Folders, and register your registration number and name if you are an unregistered user.
The set folders properties dialog box is initiated by clicking on the folder or its title with the right mouse button. The figure below shows the set folder properties dialog box :

Caption

This is the name that appears as the folder title when you expand the folder by double clicking on it. You can type directly into this edit box. Any new title that you enter does not become effective until you click on the OK button.
The default folder name that is assigned when the folder is first created is the file name of the first, or only, file dropped onto the desktop to create the folder.

Icon From

Clicking on this button brings up the standard windows file selection dialog which allows you to select a file containing an Icon for the folder. By default no Icon From file is selected and Folders uses the default folder Icon. Once you have selected a file containing one or more Icons, if there is more than one Icon in the file you can scroll through the Icons to select the one that you want using the Previous and Next buttons. The Icon selected is displayed between the Previous and Next buttons.
The Icon and Icon File you select does not become effective until you click the OK button.

OK Button

Clicking on the OK button accepts any changes that you have made, closes the dialog box and updates the folder window.

Cancel Button

Clicking on the Cancel button cancels any changes you have made and closes the dialog box.

Help Button

Clicking on the help button displays this help.

Delete Button

Clicking on the delete button will cause Folders to delete the folder, and all files within it, from the desktop. Note that Folders does NOT actually delete any files from the disk, but simply removes them from the desktop. Folders will display a message box before deleting the folder to ask you to confirm the delete.

Kill Button

Clicking on the Kill button will cause Folders to end. Folders will display a message box first asking you to confirm the Kill request.
For registered users, Folders will save the current desktop setup so that the next time Folders is started it can be restored to the current state. Folders will also save the current environment if you close down windows (registered users only).
Non registered users cannot save the folders desktop setup between Folders sessions.

Lock Check Box

The Lock check box disables (locked) or enables (unlocked) dragging of the folder around the desktop. By default folders are created with the lock option set to disable so that they can be dragged around the desktop using the mouse. Click on the lock check box to toggle the lock status. The new status is NOT saved until you click on the OK button.
When a folder is locked (check box set) you cannot normally drag it around the desktop using the mouse.
You can override the lock function by holding down the Ctrl key when you click on the folder Icon or its' title to drag it. This will allow you to drag the folder to a new location without having to unlock the folder.

About/Register Button

For non registered users the About button appears as a Register button. For registered users it appears as the About button.

Register Button

Until you register your use of Folders this button appears as a Register button. Clicking on the register button will bring up the register dialog which allows you to enter your registration number and name. Once you have registered your use of Folders this button becomes the About button

About Button

Clicking on the about button brings up the registered users name on an About dialog box. Click on OK on the About box to end it.

Register Dialog

The register dialog allows you to register your user registration number and name to Folders. Untll you do this Folders will NOT save the desktop setup across Folders sessions. The register dialog box is shown below :

Registration Number

Enter your registration number in this box.

Name

Enter your name in this box. This is the name that will appear on the About box.

Register Button

Click the Register button to validate the registration number that you have entered. If the number is invalid or either the number or name are missing the register dialog will issue a message telling you what is wrong.
If the registration number is valid Folders will save the information, close the register dialog and change the register button on the Set Folder Properties dialog to an About button. Clicking the About button will show the information that you entered.

Cancel Button

Clicking on the Cancel button will close the register dialog. You remain unregistered. Folders will not save desktop information between Folders sessions until you register a valid registration number and name.

Other Help Topics

Click on a topic below for more information about using Folders :

Drag and Drop Rules


Drag and Drop Rules

Folders allows you to drag and drop files  :

•	From File Manager to the desktop

•	From File Manager to a folder

•	From File Manager to a file within a folder

•	From a Folder to the desktop

•	From a Folder to another Folder

•	From a file within a Folder onto another file, either within the same Folder, or within another Folder

•	From a file within a folder onto any other application that accepts dropped files from file manager

From File Manager to the desktop

Dragging one or more files from File Manager onto the desktop causes Folders to create a new folder containing the dragged file(s). The title of the new folder is the name of the first (or only) dragged file.

From File Manager to a folder

Dragging one or more files from File Manager onto an existing folder will add the dragged files to the end of the folder.

From File Manager to a file within a folder

•	If the target file within the folder is an executable file then Folders will start the target file program, passing it the name(s) of the dragged file(s) from File Manager.

•	If the target file within the folder is a data file, even if it has an associated application or you have set the Execute file name, then Folders will only accept a SINGLE draged file from File Manager, and that file must be an executable.
Folders will start the dragged executable file, passing it the name of the target file as a parameter.

•	If both files are data files then Folders will issue a message saying that one or the other file must be an executable.

•	If both files are executables, then Folders will start the target file with the dragged file as a parameter.

From a Folder to the desktop

Dragging a file from a folder onto the desktop causes Folders to create a new folder on the desktop containing the new file. The origional file entry is removed from the source folder. This is a Move operation.
If you hold down the Ctrl key when you first click on the file to be dragged, Folders does not remove the file from the source folder. This is a Copy operation.

From a Folder to Another Folder

The file is Moved from the source folder to the target folder. If you press the Ctrl key when you first click on the file to be dragged, then the operation becomes a Copy operation.

From a file within a folder to another File (same or different Folder)

•	If both files are data files, even if they have an application associated with them, Folders issues a message saying that one must be an executable.

•	If one file is a data file and the other an executable, Folders starts the executable passing the data file as a parameter.
This applies regardles of which file, the dragged file, or the target file, is the executable.

•	If both files are executables, Folders starts the target file application, with the dragged file as a parameter.

From a File within a folder to any application that accepts dropped files

In the same way that you can drag and drop files from file manager onto other applications that accept dropped files, you can drag a file from a folder onto an application, That application does not have to be in a folder.
For example, if you had notepad in a folder then you could start it by double clicking on it. You could then drag a data file from a folder onto the notepad application. Notepad would switch to the new file.
Wherever you can drag files from file Manager onto applications, you can drag files from Folders onto applications.


Set File Properties

The Set File Properties dialog lets you maintain information about each file within a folder. You can also use the dialog to remove (delete) a file from a folder. The set file properties dialog is started by clicking on a file within a folder with the right mouse button. The set file properties dialog box is shown in the figure below :

File Name

The top line of the dialog box shows the full path and file name that was used to create the file entry in the folder. This cannot be changed and appears only as a comment.

Caption

The Caption is a description of the file which appears along side the file Icon when the folder is expanded. You can type into this box directly to enter your own caption. By default the caption is the name of the file when the file entry was added to the folder.

Icon From Button

Clicking on the Icon from button allows you to change the file that the Icon is selected from. By default this is the file name itself if it is an executable file, or an associated file if the file extension is associated with an executable via file manager. You can use the Previous and Next buttons to scroll through the Icons in the selected Icon file to select the Icon you want. If there are no Icons, or only one Icon in the selected Icon file then these buttons are grayed out.

Execute

Clicking on this button allows you to select an alternative executable program to be run when you double click on the file to run it.

Directory

You can enter then name of the working directory to be used when this application is launched in the directory box. You can edit the path name directly into this box.

OK Button

Clicking on this button accepts any changes you have made to the file propeties.

Cancel Button

Clicking on this button cancels any changes you have made to the file properties.

Help Button

Clicking on the help button displays this help.

Delete Button

Clicking on the delete button will cause Folders to remove the file from the folder. Folders does NOT delete the file from your disk, only from the folder that the file is contained in. Folders will ask you to confirm the removal of the file before deleting it from the folder.

Other Help Topics

Click on a topic below for more information about using Folders :

Drag and Drop Rules