Contents

InfView Ver 1.10 (09/30/93)
(c) 1993 Dean Software Design
Unregistered Copy - Please register!

Overview
Loading InfView
Saved Configuration
Closing InfView

The Viewing Window
View a Single Line in Hex
Toggling Ascii/Hex View for the entire file
Minimizing and Maximizing the Viewer
Exposing Editing Characters
Replacing Non-Visible Characters

Opening a Different File
Opening Previously Viewed Files
Saving a File (or a portion of a file)
Searching a File
Repeat Search

Printing a File
Print Options
Selecting a Printer
Selecting a Communications Port
Executing a File
Identifying a File
Modifying the Identification List

How to stop InfView during a Long Read
Hex Translation Table
Revision History
Register This Program


InfView Overview

InfView is a general purpose Windows file Viewer that works with Windows 3.1, Windows for Workgroups, Windows NT and the OS/2 Windows environment.

InfView allows you to view files in their true "Ascii" format as well as in a Hex/Ascii format similar to Dos Debug.

Unlike other file viewers, InfView has NO practical file size limit; the only limit is set by Windows providing memory to InfView to read and hold the file.  InfView reads the entire file into its Window so that displaying, searching and scrolling are instantaneous.  The only time a file is re-read is when you switch viewing modes (hex / ascii).

InfView will do string searches in Ascii View or string, hex or offset searches in the Hex View.  There is a one step Repeat Search menu item and keystroke to ease repeated searches through files.

InfView has a utility that will attempt to identify files based on either internal identifiers or on the file's extension.  Currently 50 different file types can be identified.

There is a menu option to execute the file that is being viewed.  If the file being viewed is a Dos or Windows program or Library, InfView will load and run that file, otherwise InfView will attempt to identify the file and then will attempt to load the application that uses that file.  In other words, if you are viewing ABC.WRD the Execute command will load Word for Windows with ABC.WRD already loaded.

Though InfView was written for "Informer" - The Windows Personal Information Manager, it can be easily be used with Windows File Manager and other Windows utilities to ease file viewing operations.

InfView will become an invaluable tool, so please register it and pass it on to colleagues and friends.


Loading InfView

InfView can be loaded:
- As an Icon from a Program Manager group.
- From the RUN feature of Program Manager or other Windows Shell programs.
- From Windows File Manager or other File Management utilities.

If you have added InfView to a group within Program Manager (or other shells) you can load InfView by Clicking on the Icon.  This will cause InfView to load and to request a file selection from an "Open File" dialog.

If you use the RUN facility within Program Manager (or other shells) you can load InfView with no files in its buffer by simply typing "INFVIEW" and pressing ENTER.  This will cause InfView to load and to request a file selection from an "Open File" dialog.

Note: The "Open File" dialog loads with the directory path of the file that was most recently loaded.  This allows you to progressively view files within a directory without having to locate the Directory each time.

Optionally, you can enter a file name as a parameter to be passed to InfView, ie:  "INFVIEW  A.TXT" will load InfView with the file A.TXT loaded within its buffer and ready to view.

Your final option for loading InfView is to have it automatically load with a file that is selected by Windows File Manager or other File Management utilities.  Windows File Manager maintains a table of file extensions and programs in the WIN.INI file under the "Extensions" heading.  If you want InfView to load every time a file with the extension of "TXT" is selected by File Manager, you would add a line to WIN.INI - Extensions showing: "txt=INFVIEW.EXE ^.txt".  For more information see the section on File Manager in your Windows manuals.

Other File Management utilities have similar options to load file viewers - however you should consult the documentation in order to determine the steps required in order to have InfView load automatically.

The "Informer" File Manager for which InfView was written has an option in SETUP to specify the file viewer.


Saved Configuration

Each time you run InfView it automatically saves several options that will be used when you next invoke InfView.  They are:

Position: If you move or resize the InfView Window, the last position before you close InfView is stored.  When InfView is next invoked it will set itself to that last position.  This option allows you ensure that InfView loads to a particular area on your screen.

View Type: Whether the file you are viewing will be loaded initially in Ascii or Hex view type. (Menu option View - sub-menu options Ascii View or Hex View).

Editing Characters: Whether editing characters will be shown in an expanded way, including Tabs,CR, etc..(Menu option View - sub-menu options Do Not Expose or Expose).

Replace Non-Visible Characters: Whether non-visible characters will be replaced in the viewer with '~' (Menu option View - sub-menu option Replace Non-Visible).

Print Margins: The Margins you last set-up for printing from InfView. (Menu option Print)

Print Line Numbers: Whether or not your printed output has line numbers. (Menu option Print).

Print Page Numbers: Whether or not your printed output has page numbers. (Menu option Print).

Previously Viewed Files: InfView remembers the last 3 files that were viewed.  They are listed under the Files menu option and can be retrieved by selecting them directly from the menu.

All of these options are saved in the INFORMER.INI file in your windows directory under the heading of [InfView].  InfView will automatically create the file if it does not exist and will insert the [InfView] heading and the options automatically.


Closing InfView

You can close InfView by selecting the "Close" option from the System Menu or you can double click your mouse on the System Menu indicator at the top left corner of the InfView Window.

When you execute a file using the "Execute" menu option, InfView automatically shuts down after the file is loaded.


The Viewing Window

When InfView is first loaded it will appear as a Window on your screen.  This window has several areas to which you have access:
The Menus
The Status Line
The File Viewer

The Menus

File - This option is used to Open New Files, Save Viewer contents to a file and to Close InfView.

Search - This option is used to invoke character or word searches within the Viewer area and then to repeat a subsequent search.

View - Used to toggle the Viewer contents between ASCII and HEX views.

Print - This option allows for printing of the Viewer contents.

Execute - Will attempt to execute the File being Viewed.

Identify - WIll attempt to identify the type of File being Viewed.

Help - Access the InfView On-Line Help and the InfView Informational Windows.

Minimize and Maximize Buttons - Used to Minimize or Maximize the InfView Window. See the section on Minimizing and Maximizing the Viewer

The Status Line

The Status line appears directly below the Menu options and provides accurate information to aid you in using other InfView utility functions.

In ASCII View the Status line contains:
-The currently selected line number.
-The Offset from the beginning of the file of the first character in the currently selected line.
-The file size in characters.

In HEX View the Status line contains:
-The currently selected line number.
- The file size in characters and Hex bytes.

Note- Currently selected line number indicates the line number in the Viewer, not necessarily the line number of the file you are viewing.

The File Viewer

The File Viewer portion of the Window contains the contents of the file you are viewing in ASCII or HEX.  The size of the Window will determine how much of the file (lines or columns) is actually shown at any given time.

Additional Topics:
View a Single Line in Hex
View the entire file in Hex
Minimizing and Maximizing the Viewer
Exposing Edit Characters
Replacing Non-Visible Characters


View a Single Line in Hex

Rather than view an entire file in Hex, you have the ability to view any line from your Ascii View in Hex, regardless of the actual length of the line.  This tool is invaluable for determining whether there are any hidden or non-visible characters imbedded in your text.

To view a line in Hex, Double click your mouse on the particular line.

A Window will appear: InfView Hex Line Dump followed by the number of characters on the line you selected.

The window will contain lines of Hex values.  Each Hex value represents 1 character (byte) on the line and is seperated by a space from the next one.  Each line has 16 bytes translated on it.

When you are done viewing the line in Hex, click on the Ok button to return to the viewing window.


Toggle Ascii/Hex View

In order to toggle InfView between the Ascii view of a file and the Hex view of a file, select the View menu option and then the appropriate Sub-Menu option.

InfView will completely re-read the current file when you toggle between Ascii and Hex views. Reading a file for Hex view will take considerably longer than reading a file for Ascii view.


Minimizing and Maximizing the Viewer

Minimizing InfView will reduce the viewing Window to an ICON at the bottom of your screen that indicates: Viewing: name.ext.  Double click your mouse on the ICON (or select it and press <Enter>) to restore it to its original size.

Maximizing InfView will enlarge the current viewing window to use the entire screen.  You should maximize when you are viewing files with more than 80 characters on a line. To restore the viewing window to its original size, click on the button in the upper right corner of the window (looks like 2 arrows on top of one another).

The Infview viewing window can be sized using the Size option on the system menu of InfView or you can use standard Windows drag techniques to change the size.


Exposing Edit Characters

Edit characters include Carriage Returns, Line Feeds, Tabs, Back space, Form Feed, etc.  This option will allow to see these editing characters in an expanded form rather than in their non-visible form. You can use this option to inspect text for extra Editing characters.

To invoke this option, select the View menu option followed by the Expose Editing Characters sub-menu option.  A Checkmark will appear next to this sub-menu option.

To turn this option off, select the View menu option followed by the Do Not Expose Editing Characters sub-menu option.  A Checkmark will appear next to this sub-menu option.

When this option is on, non-visible editing characters will be replace by:

Carriage Return - [CR]
Line Feed - [LF]
Back Space - [BS]
Tab - [TB]
Form Feed - [FF]
Vertical Tab - [VT]

The file is re-read and reformatted in the Viewing Window each time this option is turned on or off.

This option does not work in Hex View mode.


Replacing Non-Visible Characters

When you are inspecting a text file looking for non-visible characters or when you are inspecting a binary file looking for visible characters, it is difficult to sift through all the non-visible and garbage characters.  This option forces InfView to re-read the file and to replace all non-visible characters in the Viewing Window with a '~' character.

To invoke this option select the View menu option followed by the Replace Non-Visible Characters sub-menu option.  A Checkmark will appear next to this sub-menu option and InfView will proceed to re-read and reformat the file in the Viewing Window.

To turn this option off, follow the same steps.  The Checkmark will disappear from the menu.

This option does not work in Hex View mode.


Opening a Different File

When you want to view a different file, select the File menu option, then the Open File sub menu option.  You will be shown the standard Windows "Open File" Dialog.  Select a path and file from this dialog and then select the "Ok" button to cause that file to be loaded.

If you select the "Cancel" button from the "Open File" dialog, you will return to the File Viewer Windows with the old file still loaded.

Note: The "Open File" dialog loads with the directory path of the file that was most recently loaded.  This allows you to progressively view files within a directory without having to locate the Directory each time.

Additional Topics:
Opening Previously Viewed Files


Opening Previously Viewed Files

InfView remembers the last 3 files that were viewed.  The paths and names of these 3 files are stored in the INFORMER.INI file and are dynamically listed under the Files menu option.

Each time that a file is opened, both the Informer.Ini and the menu list are updated so that you can easily return to a previously viewed file without searching for it.

To open a previously viewed file select the Files menu option and then either double click your mouse on any of the previously viewed file names or press 1,2 or 3 on your keyboard to load the matching file.


Saving a File (or a portion of a file)

This option allows to you to save the current contents (or a portion thereof) of the File Viewer into a File of a different name.  You can save Hex views (or a portion thereof) as well.

To Save the Viewer contents, select the File menu option, then the Save Viewer Contents sub menu option.

The "Save" Dialog that will appear has the following options:

File Name - Enter the path and name of the file to which the Viewer contents will be saved.  If the file exists you will be asked to confirm the overwrite of the file prior to the Save operation being executed.

Heading - Enter an optional heading which will be written as the first line of the file.  This is useful in the case of saving Hex as a comment. (up to 60 characters).

Save From Line - Line 1 is automatically filled into this field. If you want the starting line number to be different, enter it here.

To Line - The line number of the last line in the File Viewer is filled in here.  If you want a different ending line number, enter it here.

Browse Button - Select this button to invoke a "File Save" selection dialog which will allow you to traverse the hard disk (or network) for a specific path and file name.


Searching a File

The searching capabilities of InfView allow you to search for Characters, Words, Series of Words, Hex Values or Offsets.  InfView allows for an initial Search request and then allows for additional repetitions of the same search.

What you can search for

In Ascii mode you can search for:

- Characters
- Words
- Groups of Words

In Hex mode you can search for:

- Characters
- Words
- Groups of Words
- Hex sequences
- Offsets (in hex)

Starting a Search

To start a search select the Search menu option, then the Search sub menu option.

A Search window will appear asking you to enter the text you wish to search for (up to 50 characters in length).  You may also specify that the search will be case sensitive by selecting the Case Sensitive button.

When you have made your selections, click on the Ok button to start the search or click on the Close button to cancel the search.

Additional Topics:	Repeating a Search


Repeating a Search

Once an initial search has been made you can repeat the search to look for the Next occurance in the viewing window by clicking on the Search menu followed by clicking on the Repeat sub-menu, or you can press F3 on your keyboard.

Subsequent repetitions of the search will continue until no more occurances are found in the viewing window upon which time you will be presented with the message No more occurances found.

Note: This search facility will only look for a single occurance of the search characters on any given line.


Executing a File

Many times you will find yourself viewing a file and then wanting to execute it.  InfView provides a function that will execute many of the files that you will be viewing.

If the file you are viewing is an "EXE" "COM" "BAT" or "DLL" file, the "Execute" menu option will cause the file to be loaded and run.  This includes Dos executables and Dos Batch files.

For any other type of file, InfView will search the "Extensions" table in your WIN.INI file looking for an application that matches the extension of the file you are viewing.  If an entry is found InfView will load the application and will pass the name of the file you are viewing to the application to load.

Caution with Dos Batch Files:  Dos Batch files will execute, however unless they require user input, control will immediately be returned to Windows, in fact you will probably only see your screen flash as an indication that the batch file has run.  Any "Pause" or user input statements or program execution statements in the Batch file will continue and complete before returning control to Windows.

InfView automatically closes when it successfully "Executes" a file.


Identifying a File

InfView has the ability to identify a vast array of files based on either internal characteristics of the file or on the File Extension.  This ability is invaluable when you are unsure of the type of file you are viewing or what application created or used the file.

To invoke the identification algorythm, click on the Identify menu option.

If InfView is unable to identify the file, the following message will appear: Unable to Identify the file either through internal characteristics or the file extension. In this case, you may have to view the file in Hex in order to flush out any characters that may identify the file for you.

If the file is identifiable, a window will appear describing the type of file and whether the file was identified through internal characteristics or through the file extension.

In addition, InfView will report any Windows Associations that exist for this particular extension of file.  Associations are found in the WIN.INI file and are established using File Manager.

Additional Topics:
Modifying the Identification List


Modifying the Identification List

In order to allow for flexibility and future expansion, InfView maintains a table of File Extensions and File descriptions.  You are able to modify this list at any time and once the modification is made, InfView will recognize the changes and utilize them in any attempts at file identification.

The list is maintained in the: INFORMER.INI file located in your Windows directory.

The INFORMER.INI file is used by all programs in the Informer series including this one, however the section you will be modifying within INFORMER.INI is used exclusively by InfView.

Using an Editor (or the INFORMER Configuration Editor) open the INFORMER.INI file.  Search for [Extensions] within the file.  InfView installs with approximately 75 Extension/Descriptions which should all be listed after the [Extensions] header.  The format of each entry in this list is: Extenion=Description, ie: bat=DOS Batch File. You are not restricted in upper and lower case characters as a lookup for an extension is not case sensitive.

If you have 2 entries with the same extension but with different descriptions, InfView will only return the first entry.

Once you have modified the list, Save it!  InfView will immediately have access to the modifications.

Note: If you do not have an INFORMER.INI file or there is no [Extensions] section in your INFORMER.INI file you should reinstall InfView by running the SETUP.EXE file that is included on the diskette or in the INFVIEW.ZIP file you received.  If you do not have a SETUP.EXE file then your version of InfView may not be complete or current.  Contact us for a complete and current copy.


How to Stop InfView During a Long Read

When InfView is reading a large file, Windows must continually provide it with sufficient memory in order to put the entire file in memory and in the list box on your screen.

Depending on your system and on the amount of available memory and the size of your Windows swap file, you may find that InfView slows down reading large files (2 megabytes or so...) in Ascii View mode.  However, in Hex View mode, each 16 bytes of disk file requires 80bytes of "viewing space" due to the fact that the Offset, Hex code and Ascii code are all displayed on the screen.  In other words a 1.3meg file would require 6.5meg of Windows memory to load and view.

An indication of a slowdown due to Windows is the "Reading File : xx% complete" indicator that is at the top of the InfView window while the file is being read.  The percent complete will take several seconds to increment or may stop altogether while your disk shows activity.

You will probably not encounter this problem on systems with more than 4megs of memory and this problem will not happen on Windows NT or OS/2 systems.

Why does this happen?  Windows is trying to swap the contents of its memory to disk in order to provide InfView with the memory it requires.

What can I do? If you have to view an extremely large file, before running InfView on that file, shut down as many Windows applications as you can and unload any modules and Windows resident libraries.

How do I stop InfView?  If InfView gets bogged down during a read, there is really only one way to abort the process, do a CTRL-ALT-DEL and select the option to "Terminate a task that is not responding" - usually by pressing ENTER.  This will terminate InfView, free the Memory that InfView was requesting and then return you to Windows.


Printing a File

InfView can print files both in the Ascii and the Hex views.  You can print an entire file or just a portion and you can select limited formatting for your print job.

To print a file, select the Print menu option or press Alt P on your keyboard.

Additional Topics:
Print Options
Selecting a Printer
Selecting a Communications Port


Print Options

Before printing a file or a portion of the Viewing Window, you must select the various print options from the Print Request window.  They are:

Printer - see the section on Selecting a Printer

Printer Port - see the section on Selecting a Communications Port

Margins - The Left,Right,Top and Bottom margins can be modified so that your print page size can be adjusted.  Valid values are from 0-page size in inches and parts of inches.

Copies - Select the number of copies to print.

Print Lines - The values that are initially shown here are '1' and 'Number of Lines' in the text.  You may adjust these values to print only a portion of the file or Viewing Window.

Print Line Numbers - If you select this field your output will have line numbers printed at the start of each line.

Print Page Numbers - If you select this field your output will have page numbers at the top of each page.


Selecting a Printer

The Print Request window will show you the currently selected printer in the Printer field.  If you want to change to another available printer, click on the Select Printer button.

The Select Printer window will appear with a list of available printers as well as your current printer.  To select any of the available printers, Click your mouse on the selection, it will then appear in the Current Printer field.

Click on Ok button to save your change of printer, otherwise click on Cancel to exit without changing your printer.

It is recommended that you Set up a printer that has been made active.  This can be done using the Setup button on either the Print Request window or the Select Printer window.  The setup for each printer will be different, consult the printer manual or the Windows manual for more information.


Selecting a Communications Port

You can change the communications port to which you will be printing.  This facility can let you print to a printer hooked to any valid port.  In addition, this option provides a means for you to print to a file.

In the Print Request window there will be a list of available ports and a field showing the port to which you are currently assigned, for example:

- LPT1:
- LPT2:
- LPT3:
- COM1:
- COM2:
- EPT:
- FILE:
- LPT1.OS2

To change ports, select the port to which you want to direct your output then double click your mouse on that selection.

When selected, the new port will appear in the Printer Port field.

Note: InfView or Windows will not ensure that a printer is connected to the port until such time as a file is printed.


Hex Translation Table

The following table shows all Visible or Control Characters.  Each line shows Decimal value - Hex value - Character value:

00 - 00 - NUL	32 - 20 - SPC	64 - 40 - @	96 - 60 - '
01 - 01 - SOH	33 - 21 - !	65 - 41 - A	97 - 61 - a
02 - 02 - STX	34 - 22 - "	66 - 42 - B	98 - 62 - b
03 - 03 - ETX	35 - 23 - #	67 - 43 - C	99 - 63 - c
04 - 04 - EOT	36 - 24 - $	68 - 44 - D	100 - 64 - d
05 - 05 - ENQ	37 - 25 - %	69 - 45 - E	101 - 65 - e
06 - 06 - ACK	38 - 26 - '&'	70 - 46 - F	102 - 66 - f
07 - 07 - BEL	39 - 27 - '	71 - 47 - G	103 - 67 - g
08 - 08 - BS	40 - 28 - (	72 - 48 - H	104 - 68 - h
09 - 09 - TAB	41 - 29 - )	73 - 49 - I	105 - 69 - i
10 - 0A - LF	42 - 2A - *	74 - 4A - J	106 - 6A - j
11 - 0B - VT	43 - 2B - '+'	75 - 4B - K	107 - 6B - k
12 - 0C - FF	44 - 2C - ,	76 - 4C - L	108 - 6C - l
13 - 0D - CR	45 - 2D - -	77 - 4D - M	109 - 6D - m
14 - 0E - SO	46 - 2E - .	78 - 4E - N	110 - 6E - n
15 - 0F - SI	47 - 2F - /	79 - 4F - O	111 - 6F - o
16 - 10 - DLE	48 - 30 - 0	80 - 50 - P	112 - 70 - p
17 - 11 - DC1	49 - 31 - 1	81 - 51 - Q	113 - 71 - q
18 - 12 - DC2	50 - 32 - 2	82 - 52 - R	114 - 72 - r
19 - 13 - DC3	51 - 33 - 3	83 - 53 - S	115 - 73 - s
20 - 14 - DC4	52 - 34 - 4	84 - 54 - T	116 - 74 - t
21 - 15 - NAK	53 - 35 - 5	85 - 55 - U	117 - 75 - u
22 - 16 - SYN	54 - 36 - 6	86 - 56 - V	118 - 76 - v
23 - 17 - ETB	55 - 37 - 7	87 - 57 - W	119 - 77 - w
24 - 18 - CAN	56 - 38 - 8	88 - 58 - X	120 - 78 - x
25 - 19 - EM	57 - 39 - 9	89 - 59 - Y	121 - 79 - y
26 - 1A - SUB	58 - 3A - :	90 - 5A - Z	122 - 7A - z
27 - 1B - ESC	59 - 3B - ;	91 - 5B - [	123 - 7B - (
28 - 1C - FS	60 - 3C - <	92 - 5C -  	124 - 7C - |
29 - 1D - GS	61 - 3D - =	93 - 5D - ]	125 - 7D - )
30 - 1E - RS	62 - 3E - >	94 - 5E - ^	126 - 7E - ~
31 - 1F - US	63 - 3F - ?	95 - 5F - _	127 - 7F - _

Character codes 128-255 (80-FF) are non-visible characters.


Revision History

Version 1.00 - 08/15/93

Version 1.10 - 09/30/93
1. Correction to Hex routine to show final Hex characters of a file.
2. Print Request screen allows specific line range to be printed.
3. The following user options are saved in INFORMER.INI under INFVIEW heading: Hex or Ascii View, Show Editing Characters and Translate Non-Visible characters.
4. List of file extensions and descriptions were moved from HARDCODED to a dynamic list within the INFORMER.INI  under EXTENSIONS heading.
5. The last 3 files viewed are saved and displayed under the FILES menu option and can be loaded directly from the menu.
6. You can save a range of lines to another file in Ascii or Hex.
7. The REPEAT search menu option can be invoked using the F3 key.
8. Menu option was added to expose editing characters in the viewed file, this includes CR,LF,TAB, etc...
9. Menu option was added to translate all non-visible characters to  the ' ~ ' character for the viewed file.
10. The size and position of the InfView window is remembered between viewing sessions so that it will be brought back in the same spot when it is next invoked.
11. The File IDENTIFY menu identifies the type of file and also attempts to determine if the file has any Windows associations on record.
12. InfView HELP was vastly expanded.
13. The Status line shows the Line Number and Starting offset of the line that is currently highlighted (as opposed to the first line in the window).
14. All Print Request options are stored in INFORMER.INI under the PRINT heading and are recalled each time Print is invoked. (also shared with other applications).15. In Ascii view mode, double clicking on a line in the viewer will display the Hex translation of that particular line.
16. Hex Translation Table added to Online Help for reference


Register this Program

This version of InfView is Unregistered.  You may use this program without restriction, however we expect that if you like InfView that you will register the program with the authors.

To Register send a cheque or money order for $6.99 to:

Dean Software Design
P.O. Box 23311
Everett, WA 98203-0331

Your registration will entitle you to:

1. A registered copy of the latest version of InfView.
2. Fully operational <unregistered> versions of InfNet and InfSpy.
3. A fully operational <unregistered> copy of Informer - The Personal Information Manager for Windows.
4. Support.

Please specify the diskette media you prefer and allow 1-2 weeks for delivery.

Do you have any questions or comments? Send us an EMail on CompuServe address 75240,65.  We will promptly get back to you!