Copyright: ® 1992 Maze Computer Communicat., Inc.


Table of Contents
File Viewer Help Index

File Viewer is a must-have utility for all Windows 3.1 power users, programmers and most casual users. It lets you browse file contents as text, either ASCII (as in listings or .INI files), hexadecimal dump for binary files or raw text with no respect for line ends and other control characters to easily identify printable data in binary files. Many aspects of formatting and display are configurable to your liking and needs. Among other features are:

•	Stay on top of others for easy acces

•	Drag and drop files for viewing

•	Installation as Windows File Manager menu item

•	Registration in Windows registration database for easy file display and print

•	DDE support

To learn how to use Help, choose Using Help from the Help menu or press F1.

Menu Commands

How to's, usage notes

Keyboard shortcuts

Command line options

Installation as File Manager extension

Controlling from other Windows applications

License and Registration	Important: read this before using the program

This program is distributed as shareware - please read license information before you decide to keep and use this program.


Menu Commands
File Viewer Menu Commands

This is the list of File View menu bar selections. Click on the menu name below to get detailed information.

File Menu 	open, print, exit

Display Menu 	select display format and options, bring up format dialog box

Find Menu 	repeat last find, bring up find dialog box

Mark Menu 	set or reset tag mark, clear all tags

Help Menu 	invoke help topic, display program version and copyright notice


File Menu Commands

Open...	Ctrl+F12

Open a new file for display.

This option displays the standard Windows Open File dialog box. The File Type option usually contains two choices. One for "Any File (*.*)" and one for the kind of file that was specified on the command line when File View was started, if it contained any wild characters. So if you started File View using command line:

Fview  c:\win\*.ini

the default file type will be "Default (*.INI)" and the directory will be preset to "C:\WIN". If you later change directory while selecting the file to open, it will not be reset back to "C:\WIN".
This behavior makes it easy to create customized icons in Program Manager that display only the most often used type of file. For example in your development group you may want to create an icon for "FV*.LST" to automatically narrow down the selection list to only the listing files. See also Command Line Options.

Only one file is open at a time in File View and opening a file forgets any file that was open previously. All formatting options stay as they were before the file was opened.

Print...	Ctrl+Sh+F12

Displays the print dialog box. The print is formatted according to the current display format selection and page setup options. There is a choice of printing the entire file or selected range of pages. If some text is selected the Selected Text option on the print dialog box will be enabled and preselected.

Page Setup...

Displays the page setup dialog box. You can specifiy page margins and a set of options for page headings. The margins are measured in inches or centimeters depending on international settings in Windows. Margins do not account for the device specific non-printable area around the physical page  the text will be offset from the edge of the printable area.

If any of the heading check boxes is checked - a heading will be printed on every page. If all check boxes are cleared, the printed text will start at the top of the page.

Print Setup...

Displays the standard printer selection and setup dialog box. If a printer other than default is selected, it will be used for all prints until changed again or File View is closed. Printer choice is not saved and default printer is used whenever a specific selection is not made.

Print Page	Ctrl+P

Prints one page from the current file formatted using the current display format.

This option is very handy for a quick print of the currently viewed data for further reference. To customize the output use Display option to choose display formatting, including font and line length if appropriate, and the select File-PrintPage.

Ignore DDE

If this option is checked, File View will not respond to other programs requests to open a new file. Programs that will issue such requests include Windows File Manager, FviewDLL File Manager Extension and Print Manager. See Interface from other Windows applicationsfor more details on this topic.

This option is by default checked if you start File View and unchecked if FviewDLL or File Manager start Fview. See also Command line options.

Exit

Exits File Viewer.


Display Menu
Display Menu Commands

Text	Ctrl+T

Hex	Ctrl+H

Raw Text	Ctrl+R

Selects one of the three main formats.

Text Format is mostly appropriate for actual ASCII or ANSI text files. New lines are respected and you have the choice to change other options like expanding tabs, wrapping lines or translating ASCII/ANSI characters.

Hex Format is a standard hexadecimal dump display. Usually you will want to have Wrap option turned on in this mode to format as much dump as will fill in the program window and still see both the hex and text part of the data. Most nonprintable characters will be displayed as dots appearing in the center of a character cell, but some will display as black blocks or empty squares depending on the current font. Generally only fixed pitch fonts (like Courier) make sense for this type of display.

Raw Text Format is useful for generally non-displayable (binary) data that contains some text parts that you would like to look at. This is usually the case with program data files, executable modules and word processor documents. Data is displayed in text mode with no regard for new line character and translation of non-printable characters to dots.

You can also choose formatting mode from the Display Options dialog box, see below.

Wrap	Ctrl+W

This is a quick shortcut to tha Wrap option that also appears on the Display Option dialog box.

Options...	Ctrl+O

Displays a dialog box for complete set of formatting options. See Formatting Options for complete discussion of the topic.

Copy	Ctrl+C	(or Ctrl+Ins)

Copies the currently selected text to the Clipboard. There is a limit of about 32700 bytes of text that can be copied to clipboard from FView. If the selection is bigger than that, the remaining text will not be copied. See selecting text on how to select text.

Always on Top

This option allows you to display the File View window or icon on top of all other windows or icons on your desktop. This is very useful when you have File Manager window maximized and drag files from File Manager to drop them on File View for display. See also How to's, usage notes.


Find Menu
Find Menu Commands

Text...	Shift+F3

Hex...   	Ctrl+F3

Displays a Find dialog box. You specify the data you want to find, search options and choose Find or Mark All button to execute.

In hex search you can enter only digits 0-9,A-F,a-f and space. Space is only an editing character and is not a part of the search data.

Search starts at the line following the selected text . The line containing the found data is then highlighted and displayed on the screen. Pressing Find Next (F3) restarts the search process. If the data is not found between the selected text and the end of the file, File View beeps and displays the last line of the file.

The find operation selects only the found text even though the entire line is highlighted on the screen. Pressing F3 finds the next occurrence of the search text even if it is in the same line. In this case the same line stays highlighted. If there are many occurrences of the search text in the current line and you want to skip to the next line, click the highlighted line. This selects the entire line and search resumes at the following line. See How to's, usage notes for more tips on searching.

Choosing Mark All button directs File View to find all occurrences of the data and tag (menu selection bar colors) all lines containing the found data. You can then skip from tag to tag using Mark Next (F2) command.

Note: Search is performed in the file data not in the formatted output. If a line is truncated during formatting it may still be marked as found. See How to's, usage notes on how to display long lines. File ofsets are not part of the file. Perform hex search to find hex data, text search will not find hex data in dump display.

Next	F3

Repeats the last search text or hex command starting at the selected text .


Mark Menu
Mark Menu Commands

Toggle	Ctrl+F2

Toggles the tag for the selected text.

Next	F2

Looks for the next tagged line starting at the line following the selected text.

Unmark All	Ctrl+Shift+F2

Displays a dialog box containing complete set of formatting options.


Help Menu
Help Menu Commands

Contents	Ctrl+F1

Displays the list of topics in this file.

Keyboard	F1

Jumps directly to help topic describing keyboard shortcuts.

Help on Help

Displays the tutorial on using Windows Help.

About

Displays the program version and copyright information.


How to's
How to's, usage notes

Quickly look at several files in File Manager

Using mouse (drag and drop)
Using keyboard (File View menu)

Make File View the default program for .LST (or other) files
Associate File View with file type LST
Register File View in Windows registration database

Keep File View from disappearing when other application becomes active
Check the Display-Always on Top option

Mark a line for later reference
Tag the line by double clicking with mouse, use F2 to locate it later

Select text for print or Clipboard copy
Click left mouse button to select.
Click Shift+left button to extend selection

Print selected portion of the file
Select text, File-Print-Selected Text

Find all occurrences of a string
Use Find-MarkAll to tag all lines, locate them by pressing F2
(useful for finding errors in compiler listings)

Continue search at line other than top of the screen
Click on the line after which to start search, press F3

Continue search at the next line
Click on the selected line

See more data on the screen
Use Display-Options-Font to choose smaller font

Display entire length of very long lines
Use Wrap option
Use Display-Options-Fixed Line Length option with very long line

See where do the lines actually end
Use Display-Options-Show Background option

Stop a File View instance from opening other files
Check Ignore DDE item on File menu
Register without DDE support

Format print page
Use Display-Options to change font, line and wrap options
Use File-Page Setup to select margins and page heading options

Start File View with those same formatting options every time
Press Save on the Display-Options dialog box
Use command line options in the File Manager icon
Use command line options in the registration database

Integrate File View into other applications
Use DDE commands to control File View

Start File View without opening a file
Use -D switch on the command line but enter no file name
Check "Run Minimized" box in Program Manager properties for the icon


Browsing in File Manager
Browsing files in Windows File Manager

Using keyboard

Install File View as File Manager extension. This adds a new menu item FView! to the File Manager menu. Select a file in the File Manager window, press Alt+E (menu drops down) then e (File View starts). Adjust position and size of File View window, change format, if desired. Press Esc to minimize File View. Select another file in File Manager. Press Alt-E, File View pops up with the new file open. Press Esc to minimize it again...

Using mouse

Start File View either from Program manager icon or from File Manager menu, if installed. Adjust window and formatting as required. Check Display-Always on Top option. Minimize File View if it obstructs the desktop, bring File Manager to view. Drag a file from File Manager and drop on the File View icon or window. File view opens the new file restoring the window if it was minimized.


Associating File View with file type
Associating File View with documents

Associate a file type with file view

Choose File-Associate option from File Manager. Type the file extensio in the Extension box, type FVIEW.EXE in the Associate With box. Press OK button. This kind of association will start a new instance of File View every time you press Enter when selecting this type of file or choose File-Open from File Manager menu. This association does not let you drag and drop a file of this type on Print Manager to print it.

Register in Windows Registration Database

Run Notepad and open file FVIEW.REG, which comes with this program. Change the LST option near the top of the file to the requested file extension, save. Run registration editor File-Run REGEDIT from File Manager or Program Manager. Choose File-Merge option and select file FVIEW.REG. Close REGEDIT. This kind of registration uses DDE to communicate with File View. The same instance of File View will open all requested files unless File-Ignore DDE option is specifically turned off. Files of type registered in this manner can be dragged and dropped on Print Manager for printing.


Keeping File View on Top
Keeping File View window in sight

To keep File View from disappearing when other applications become active check Display-Always on Top option in File View. This will make sure that when you switch to another program File View window will not disappear. You may need to adjust the size of File View window if it obstructs other windows that you are using. File View icon will now also stay on top of other windows, so you may decide to minimize File View (Esc key).


Tagging lines with mouse

To mark a line for later reference position the mouse pointer over that line and double click the left mouse button. The line reverses colors after the first click then changes colors again after the second click. The second color is always identical to the color of a highlighted menu item in your Windows.

To find a marked line press F2. If File View displays the last line and beeps, press Home to go to the top of the file and press F2 again. Each F2 will locate the next marked line.


Current Selection
Changing selected text

The first line on the screen is the default current line for search and locate operations. If any text is selected, the current line is the first line following the selected text. To start search after a specific line, click that line once with the left mouse button. To clear any text selections, click the right mouse button.


Finding All Occurrences
Tagging all occurrences of a string

It is often useful to tag all occurrences of a string in the entire file. For example all error messages in a compiler listing file. To do this identify the string to find, select Find-Text option and type in the text. Choose other find options as desired. Press Mark All button. File View finds all occurrences of the text and tags all of them.

Note that the tag is actually assigned to the found text, not to the line. If you change formatting options, the tag will move with the first character of the tagged text.


Formatting Font
Changing font for display and print

Choose Display-Options option, press Font button. Select the desired font. It is generally better to choose fixed pitch font for data display. If you are using Hex format, non-fixed font will make your display unreadable. The best choice is usually Courier 10pt or Courier New 10pt or 9pt. Courier New 9pt is usually a good choice for Page Print. Fonts below 6 points are usually unreadable.


Formatting Lines
Changing line display format

To display a file that contains very long lines choose Display-Wrap option. This will cause lines to wrap to the width of your window. Every time you change window size the text will wrap to the new width. If you want to wrap lines to a specific line length, choose Display-Options and check the Fixed Line Length box. Also adjust the Line Length to the desired value. This is very useful when you are browsing a file with fixed-length records and no carriage returns.

Normally File View does not format very long lines to preserve display buffer space. When you scroll right long lines are truncated at certain point and appropriate message displays. Use the above procedures (use very big number for Line Length) to force File View to format entire lines. Lines take only as much space as required, even with very big Line Length.


Displaying Blanks
Displaying window background

By default the entire area of File View window is in the default window colors. In Control Panel terminology these are Window Text and Window Background colors. This means that a space character at the end of the line cannot be seen. To actually be able to tell if a line ends with blanks choose Display-Options option and check Display Background box. This will paint the entire background of File View window in the Application Workspace color. If the window color did not change, run Control Panel, choose Colors and change Application Workspace color to one different from Window Background color.


Ignoring DDE
Ignoring DDE requests

DDE (Dynamic Data Exchange) is a way Windows applications talk to each other to exchange information and commands. File View is listening for DDE requests to open and display a file if the File-Ignore DDE option is not checked. This option is initially checked or unchecked depending on the way File View was started.

FviewDLL, the File View extension to Windows File Manager, uses DDE to tell File View to open another file. So does File Manager and Print Manager if File View was registered using REGEDIT.EXE program. This means that the same instance of File View will open new files. If you need to keep a file open and want another instance of File View to open a new file, check the Ignore DDE option.


Saving Format Options
Saving format information

Select Display-Options option. Choose format from Text/Hex/Raw Text. Select Formatting Options for the chosen format. Note that there is a separate set of Formatting Options for each format, you may wish to adjust options for all formats before saving. If desired press the Font button, choose font and press OK to get back to the Formatting dialog box. Press Save, your selections are saved in WIN.INI. The next time you start File View options will be retrieved from WIN.INI. Note that command line switches override WIN.INI options.


Integrating File View Into Applications
Integrating File View into other applications

Start File View using WinExec, ShellExecute or other means. Usually it is a good idea to initially minimize it. Initiate DDE conversation on SYSTEM topic. Send commands required to perform your task using DDE Execute facility available in your application. Send [Exit] command to tell File View to stop running. See DDE Commands for info on supported DDE commands.


Start File View without opening a file

Add -D switch on the command line but enter no file name, check "Run Minimized" box in Program Manager properties for the icon, if required. This is useful if there is the need to start File View and freeze it for later use (from File Manager or any other application).


Selecting Lines with Mouse
Selecting text with mouse

To select a line of text click it once with the left mouse button. To select a range of lines click the left mouse button then move mouse pointer up or down to extend the selection. Release mouse button when all desired lines are selected. To extend selection scroll to the other end of the desired range of lines, press and hold Shift key and click left mouse button. This technique work particularly well if you need to select a large area that does not fit on one screen. Just select the first or last line, scroll, press Shift and click the other end of selection.


Printing selected text

Select desired range of lines. From File menu choose Print, option Selection is enabled and preselected. Press Print.


Copy to Clipboard

Select desired range of lines. Press Ctrl+C. Note for those who got really used to Ctrl+Ins: It works as well!


Formatting Options

There are three display formats:

•	Text Format, for generally readable ASCII/ANSI text files

•	Hex Dump Format, for binary files

•	Raw Text Format, for binary files that contain some text information

You choose format from the Format list box. Each format has a set of Format Options associated with it:

•	Wrap Text, controls wrapping text to the width of File View window. Check this option to see the entire contents of long lines and to force Hex Dump lines to fit into the window.

•	Show Background, controls display of the window background in different color to allow easy identification of trailing spaces and line lengths.

•	Expand Tabs, really effective only in Text Format - expand tabs to spaces.

•	Fixed Line Length, forces formatted line length to a fixed value independently of the dimensions of the Fview Window. The length of the formatted line is defined by Line Length option. Normally File View uses line length of about three widths of the screen. This preserves display buffer space with files that do not have proper line ends (like *.EXE files). Note that this is the maximum length that will be formatted. A line takes only as much buffer space as is actually needed for it. Also when viewing data files with fixed record size setting Line Length to the record length and checking Fixed Line Length box gives you true record-by-record display. Use this option to adjust the line width if Print Page option does not print lines long enough.

•	Translate to ANSI, translates displayed string from ASCII to ANSI. This is useful when viewing text file using international characters from the ANSI character set.

Line Length is used in conjunction with Fixed Line Length format option, see above.

Tab Length is the length of tab skip and is used in conjunction with Expand Tabs format option.


Command Line Options

File View command line has the following form:

FVIEW [file spec] [switches]

The order does not matter, switches can be before and after the file name. Each element (switch or file spec) must be separated from the rest by at least one blank.

The file spec can be a unique file name optionally with path - the file gets opened immediately, or a wildcard file specification. In the latter case the Open dialog box is displayed with files matching the file spec preselected. Also the wildcard file specification is added to the File Type list box in the open dialog and made the default specification every time you select File-Open option. This is useful when you work with certain type of files and need to change open file. You may want to define a "*.INI" icon in Program Manager to easily access any INI file in your Windows directory:

FVIEW /T /X C:\WIN\*.INI

There are two kinds of switches: selection switches and on-off switches. Selection switches are not case sensitive and their presence turns the option on. On-off switches are case sensitive: uppercase letter turns the option on and lowercase letter turns the option off. These are mostly used to override format options.

Selection switches:

/X	maximize File View window; default: normal size window

/N	minimize  File View window; default: normal size window; note that for the FView window to stay minimized you must also use /D switch and use no file name on the command line

/M	make FView window topmost (always displayed above other, normal, windows)

/D	DDE server mode; default: ignore DDE requests

/T	start in Text Format

/H	start in Hex Dump format

/R	start in Raw Text format

On-off switches, default is the current contents of WIN.INI:

/w	wrap lines

/b	show background

/e	expand tabs

/l	fixed line length

/a	translate to ANSI

Note that format switches override format options for the format in which File View starts, other formats are not affected. Also if you do not save options, WIN.INI settings are not modified. See also Formatting Options.


Keyboard Shortcuts

The following key combinations are recognized by File View:

Scrolling

↑ and ↓	up and down one line at a time

PgUp and PgDn	up and down one screen at a time

Home	top of the file

End	bottom of the file

← and →	left and right one character at a time

Ctrl+← and Ctrl+→	left and right one-third of a screen at a time

Ctrl+Home	left margin

Ctrl+End	right margin

Format

Ctrl+T	text format

Ctrl+H	hex dump format

Ctrl+R	raw text format

Ctrl+W	toggle wrap lines

Ctrl+O	Options dialog box

Search

Shift+F3	text find

Ctrl+F3	hex find

F3	repeat last search

Marks (tags)

Ctrl+F2	toggle current line tag

F2	find next tag

Ctrl+Shift+F2	clear all tags

File

Ctrl+F12	open file

Ctrl+Shift+F12	print dialog

Ctrl+P	immediate print page

Help

Ctrl+F1	help contents

F1	keyboard help

Other

Esc	minimize File View window

Alt+F4	close File View window and exit

Ctrl+C	copy selected text to Clipboard

Ctrl+Ins	copy selected text to Clipboard


Mouse Operations

The following mouse operations are recognized by File View in addition to standard Windows operations on menus, scroll bars and dialogs:

Single Click (left)	selects the line pointed to by the mouse pointer

Click and Drag (left)	selects multiple lines

Shift + Click (left)	extends the current selection

Double Click (left)	tags the line pointed to by the mouse pointer

Single Click (right)	clears the selection (but not tags)


File Manager Extension
File Manager Extension Installation

File View can be installed as Windows File Manager extension. When this is done File Manager adds File View FView! menu item to its menu bar. The drop down menu contains two options:

Start FView	this option starts File View if no instance is running or no instance responds to DDE requests.

About...	this option displays the File View File Manager extension About box.

Installation:

•	Copy File View files

FVIEW.EXE
FVIEW.HLP
FVIEWDLL.DLL

to a directory included in your PATH=.

•	Start Windows Notepad: either click Notepad icon in your Program Manager window or enter File-Run option in program manager or File Manager then type NOTEPAD and press OK.

•	Open file WINFILE.INI in your Windows directory. It looks somewhat like this:

[Settings]
MinOnRun=1
Replace=0
LowerCase=1
StatusBar=1
Save Settings=0

•	Add the following paragraph at the end of file

[AddOns]
File Viewer=FviewDLL.DLL

•	Save the file and close Notepad.

•	Close File Manager if it was started.

•	Start File Manager, enjoy easy access to File View.


DDE Interface
Controlling from Other Windows Applications

File View uses DDE to accept requests from other Windows applications. Most often the originator of DDE requests will be:

FViewDLL File Manager Extension: if File View is installed as File Manager extension, selecting FView! menu sends DDE requests to File View.

File Manager: if you register File View as default processor for selected file types, File Manager changes file icon from "general file" icon to "document" icon. Double clicking such file directs File Manager to start appropriate application (Fview in this case) to open the file.

Print Manager: if you register File View using REGEDIT.EXE Print Manager will know how to request from File View that an associated file be formatted for printing. Dragging and dropping such file on Print Manager window (or icon) results in activating of File View with the request to print the dropped file.

You can also request from File View that a file be opened or printed. Here is the protocol (this is the default protocol used by Windows for registered applications):

1.	Try to open DDE session with server "File Viewer" on topic "System".

2.	If the session was open skip this item, otherwise start File View using the following command line:

FVIEW.EXE /D [other options]

Note that there is no file name in the command line. You could include file name in the command line and that would be the end of the conversation. The /D switch tells File View to listen to DDE requests.

3.	Try to open DDE session with server "File Viewer" on topic "System". If it did not work - you have a problem.

4.	Send the following DDE request to the open DDE channel:

[Open "file name"][Print][Exit]

[Open "file name"]	open file "file name"

[Print]	print the currently open file

[Exit]	exit this instance of File View

4.	Close the DDE channel.

See DDE Commands for more information on supported DDE commands.


DDE Commands
Supported DDE Commands

The following commands are recognized by File View when sent using DDE Execute interface. Any number of commands may be specified in a single Execute request. File View is not case sensitive  commands may be in any case.

[Open "file name"]	Opens file file name and formats display in the current format.

[Print]	Prints the entire current file using current format options.

[Exit]	Closes File View window and ends processing.

[DDE]	Toggles "Ignore DDE" switch. The effect is always to turn it off - it must have been on to receive this message. Using this switch detaches this copy of File View from the controlling application. Useful when there is the need to open several instances of File View.

[Display format]	Selects current format type. Format can be:
Text	as in Display-Text menu
Hex	as in Display-Hex menu
Raw	as in Display-Raw Text menu
Wrap	as in Display-Wrap

[Window option]	Changes program window setting:
Minimize	minimizes File View window to icon
Maximize	maximizes File View window
Restore	restores File View window to normal size
OnTop	toggles "Display On Top" switch


FVIEW.REG File
Registration: FVIEW.REG File

In the unfortunate case when you loose your FVIEW.REG file, here is the proper contents of the distribution version of the file. Maximize this window to avoid wrapping. Every line begins with "HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT" text. The first three lines describe extensions to be registered. You can add more lines in the same format or remove some of the lines. Make sure they do not conflict with already existing definitions. "List_File" is the name of class of files processed by File View. Once you register this class, you can associate any number of extensions with it using File Manager File-Associate option. "Binary_File" is the name of another class also associated with File View but this time display and print is always forced to hex mode. See DDE Commands for information on other DDE commands you may want to use in registration of your classes.

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.inf = List_File

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.log = List_File

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.lst = List_File

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\List_File = List File

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\List_File\shell\open\command = FView.Exe -D

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\List_File\shell\open\ddeexec = [OPEN "%1"]

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\List_File\shell\open\ddeexec\application = File Viewer

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\List_File\shell\print\command = FView.Exe -D

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\List_File\shell\print\ddeexec = [OPEN "%1"][PRINT]

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\List_File\shell\print\ddeexec\application = File Viewer

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\List_File\shell\print\ddeexec\ifexec = [OPEN "%1"][PRINT][EXIT]

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Binary_File = Binary File

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Binary_File\shell\open\command = FView.Exe -D

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Binary_File\shell\open\ddeexec = [Display Hex][OPEN "%1"]

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Binary_File\shell\open\ddeexec\application = File Viewer

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Binary_File\shell\print\command = FView.Exe -D

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Binary_File\shell\print\ddeexec = [Display Hex][OPEN "%1"][PRINT]

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Binary_File\shell\print\ddeexec\application = File Viewer

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Binary_File\shell\print\ddeexec\ifexec = [Display Hex][OPEN "%1"][PRINT][EXIT]

This is the end of this file.


License and Registration
License and Registration Information

This section contains important license and registration information. Please read it carefully before using the program.

Disclaimer - Agreement

Definition Of Shareware

Release Notes

Future Plans


Disclaimer - Agreement

Users of File Viewer must accept this disclaimer of warranty:

"File Viewer is supplied as is. The author disclaims all warranties, expressed or implied, including, without limitation, the warranties of merchantability and of fitness for any purpose. The author assumes no liability for damages, direct or consequential, which may result from the use of File Viewer."

File Viewer is a "shareware program" and is provided at no charge to the user for evaluation. Feel free to share it with your friends, but please do not give it away altered or as part of another system. The essence of "user-supported" software is to provide personal computer users with quality software without high prices, and yet to provide incentive for programmers to continue to develop new products. If you find this program useful and find that you are using File Viewer and continue to use File Viewer after a reasonable trial period, you must make a registration payment of $9.95 to Maze Computer Communications. The $9.95 registration fee will license one copy for use on any one computer at any one time. You must treat this software just like a book. An example is that this software may be used by any number of people and may be freely moved from one computer location to another, so long as there is no possibility of it being used at one location while it's being used at another. Just as a book cannot be read by two different persons at the same time.

Commercial users of File Viewer must register and pay for their copies of File Viewer within 30 days of first use or their license is withdrawn. Site-License arrangements may be made by contacting Maze Computer Communications.

Anyone distributing File Viewer for any kind of remuneration must first contact Maze Computer Communications at the address below for authorization. This authorization will be automatically granted to distributors recognized by the (ASP) as adhering to its guidelines for shareware distributors, and such distributors may begin offering File Viewer immediately (However Maze Computer Communications must still be advised so that the distributor can be kept up-to-date with the latest version of File Viewer.).

You are encouraged to pass a copy of File Viewer along to your friends for evaluation. Please encourage them to register their copy if they find that they can use it.

This program does not have any printed documentation  all information on use and capabilities is included in the online help.

All registers user receive free technical support for 101 days from the date of registration. Also all registered users receive a free upgrade to the next version of this program when that version becomes available. To report bugs, receive help and bug fixes please send a CompuServe message via CompuServe Mail to:

Jurek Makowiecki

[70152,1501]

or, if you do not have access to CompuServe, write to the address below.

Make payment by check or money order to Maze Computer Communications and mail to:

Jerzy Makowiecki

Maze Computer Communications

269 Amethyst Way

Franklin Park, NJ 08823

USA

You can also register your copy of this program using CompuServe: type GO SWREG at any ! prompt and follow instructions.


Definition Of Shareware

Shareware distribution gives users a chance to try software before buying it. If you try a Shareware program and continue using it, you are expected to register. Individual programs differ on details -- some request registration while others require it, some specify a maximum trial period. With registration, you get anything from the simple right to continue using the software to an updated program with printed manual.

Copyright laws apply to both Shareware and commercial software, and the copyright holder retains all rights, with a few specific exceptions as stated below. Shareware authors are accomplished programmers, just like commercial authors, and the programs are of comparable quality. (In both cases, there are good programs and bad ones!) The main difference is in the method of distribution. The author specifically grants the right to copy and distribute the software, either to all and sundry or to a specific group. For example, some authors require written permission before a commercial disk vendor may copy their Shareware.

Shareware is a distribution method, not a type of software. You should find software that suits your needs and pocketbook, whether it's commercial or Shareware. The Shareware system makes fitting your needs easier, because you can try before you buy. And because the overhead is low, prices are low also. Shareware has the ultimate money-back guarantee  if you don't use the product, you don't pay for it.


Release Notes

Notes for version 1.1c of File Viewer.

Corrected font selection. Now fonts are correctly selected on startup based on the last saved value.

Corrected "Error Status 102" for cases when file currently displayed by FView gets modified by another application. FView will now reread file information and continue.

Notes for version 1.1b of File Viewer.

Added options dialog box to File Manager extension. Now you can change the File Manager menu text used by File View and specify command line used by the extension to start FView.exe

Added two more command line switches to allow starting FView minimized and topmost.

Notes for version 1.1a of File Viewer.

This version concludes development for version 1.x of File View. All major items planned are already in place. Bug fixes and minor enhancements will still be added. The next serious incarnation will be version 2.0. Features will heavily depend on user's feedback.

We do not intend to add display of Windows or Windows apps formats. The originators of those files will always make a much better job of displaying them. There will be no WinWord, Paintbrush or Excel file display. What we do consider is low-level display of files in various formats. For example PCX headers, BIFF records or RIFF chunks. We also do consider display of ZIP directories and NTFS/HPFS file attributes.

The following has been changed or added in this version:

•	added multiple line select

•	added print for selected text

•	added copy to clipboard

•	updated help file

Notes for version 1.1 of File Viewer.

The following has been changed or added:

•	full print support including print setup and page setup

•	improved scrolling and formatting

•	extended set of DDE commands for easier integration

•	native Windows NT™ version now exists (WinNT is still in beta therefore File View for Windows NT also stays in beta status) and is available on WinNT forum on CompuServe

•	some minor errors have been corrected

Notes for version 1.0a of File Viewer.

The following errors have been corrected:

•	mouse pointer occasionally changed to an hourglass and did not change back

•	FVIEWDLL did not work with Windows For Workgroups

•	window background was forced to white instead of colour defined in Control Panel

•	find occasionally pointed one or more lines before the line that contained the found data

The following behaviour has been changed:

•	line highlighted by a left mouse button click or a find (find next) command was unmarked at the first scroll command. Now it will stay highlighted until it scrolls off the window
Note: Currently the line is unmarked also when Fview rereads the file to refill the display buffer (mouse pointer momentarily changes to an hourglass). This will be changed in a future version of the program.

•	"find next" command now does not scroll the window if the next occurrence of the search string is currently visible


Future Plans

The future plans for this program include the following items. These are plans, They may get changed: dropped if there is not enough interest − read registered users, or expanded according to user's feedback. We reserve the right to change plans at our discretion without giving any reason.

See Release Notes, for comments on file formats and bug fixes..

The Windows NT™ version is at this time source-level compatible with Windows 3.1 version but is compiled as native 32-bit WinNT application. Some #ifdef magic was necessary to make this happen. In future versions File View for Windows NT will support some NT specific features (long file names, NTFS gimmicks, Unicode etc.)

And here is the wish list as of version 1.1c:

•	Modeless search in large files with Cancel button to interrupt search

•	Line numbers and file offsets display

•	Jump to file offset or line number

•	Fine adjustment if starting address in hex mode

•	More elaborate search: skipping white space, search in display data, other

•	Toolbar and status bar

•	OLE server mode

•	Page and screen layout enhancements (freezing titles, column formats...)

•	Block select in addition to line select