DOCUMENTATION FOR TALKING DIRECTORY Version 1.0 Copyright 1993 by Access Success Talking Directory is a speech friendly file, directory, and program manager for IBM compatible personal computers. It combines many utilities in a single, integrated environment designed for convenient and powerful operation. Features include the following: "Point and shoot" alternative to DIR command. Specify any directory that can be supplied to the DIR command of DOS. You will have file by file access to the directory, allowing you to perform an action on a file by pointing to it with the cursor, rather than memorizing its name and typing it at a DOS prompt. Common DOS file commands. Perform common DOS operations on a file including copy, delete, and rename. The move command, introduced in DOS 6, is also supported. Other file commands. Perform other operations on files including displaying the size of a file or the date and time it was last updated. View an ASCII or WordPerfect file with the built-in document reader that has convenient searching and continuous read capabilities. Archive a file using the .ZIP compression format. Create a description of a file, up to one screen in size to help you identify or search for the file at a later time. Multiple file processing. Perform operations on multiple files after tagging them. Multiple file processing is possible with the archive, copy, delete, move, unarchive, and other commands. Directory commands. Perform operations on subdirectories as well as files. You can change to, create, rename, and delete a directory--even if it contains files. Flexible directory navigation. Navigate flexibly among the entries in the current directory specification. You can go to the next or previous entry and beginning or end entry. You can jump forward or backward by any number of entries. You can also jump to an entry by providing its name, partial name, or a wildcard specification. Yet another way to go to an entry is by searching for one or more key words or phrases contained in its content or description. This is a powerful way of overcoming the limited descriptive ability of DOS file names. Disk operations. Determine the size in bytes of the current directory and the amount of free space remaining on the disk. Check or set the volume label of a disk. Format a disk as high, low, or the default density of that drive. Only floppy disks can be formatted--there is no risk of formatting the hard disk! User defined commands. Create up to a dozen user defined commands that you might otherwise run from the DOS prompt. For example, one command might load your word processor, another a text editor, another a telecommunications program, database program, etc. Even programs that take up a large amount of memory can be run because TD swaps itself out of memory before running them. You can also go to a DOS prompt at any time. You will find even more features in Talking Directory, but the preceding should convince you of its depth and flexibility. Talking Directory is feature competitive with most directory managers on the market. Unlike these competitors, however, every feature of Talking Directory has been implemented in a manner that is friendly to users of verbal screen output. Using the default settings of any screen reader program, a blind user can operate the program as efficiently as his or her sighted counterpart who uses the visual display. This 1.0 version of TD is being offerred at an introductory price of $25. Later versions will contain additional documentation based on users' questions. That documentation will probably be provided in other formats besides this text file. If you read through this file at least once, however, and then try out the program and online help, you will likely learn most features without difficulty. The trial version of Talking Directory is identical to the registered version except for reminder messages about registering that occur after ten sessions with the software. CONTENTS Installation Configuration Directory Mode Comparison with CTS and SDIR Operating Conventions Learning TD Multiple File Processing Archive Support Indexing the Current Directory Going to a Directory Going to a File within a Directory Remembering where You Are Viewing a Text or WordPerfect File User Defined Commands File Descriptions Protecting Files Stamping the Date and Time of a File Setting the System Clock Memorizing and Reviving a Value Registration Information Help Screens INSTALLATION TD has an automatic installation procedure that places files in appropriate directories and modifies your AUTOEXEC.BAT file so that you can run TD from any DOS prompt. If you received TD on a floppy disk, then log onto that drive and run the batch file INSTAll.BAT. For example, you might enter the following two commands at the DOS prompt: b: install In this case, be aware that TD might take half a minute to load because of its size and the slow access time of floppy drives. The load time will be much less once installed on your hard drive. If you obtained TD in a .ZIP file, then unarchive it either onto a floppy disk or into a temporary directory on your hard disk, e.g., C:\TEMP. You might do this with the following two commands at the DOS prompt: pkunzip td10.zip install This procedure may also be used to update the installation of TD. You can again use the batch file INSTALL.BAT or execute the command it contains: td /install The installation procedure will ask you for three directories: the program, data, and temporary directories. If a current version is not already there, the executable file TD.EXE will be copied into the program directory, which by default is C:\TD. This directory will be created if it doesn't exist. If not already there, it will be added to the path statement in your AUTOEXEC.BAT file, after backing up the original to OLDAUTO.BAT. The data directory is where TD will look for its configuration file TD.CNF and description file TD.DBF during its operation. If not specified, it will look for these data files in the program directory. The temporary directory is where TD stores temporary files such as TD.TMP and others created and erased during its operation. If not specified, TD will store these in the program directory. If the installation completes successfully, you will be asked to reboot your computer to allow the settings to take effect. If an error occurred during installation, take note of the error message and try running the installation procedure again, making an appropriate correction. For example, if you specify a directory that cannot be created, an error will occur. Make sure you use DOS naming conventions in specifying a directory. Unless there is a good reason not to, you may wish to simply accept the default values by pressing Enter at each step of the installation. CONFIGURATION After installing TD and rebooting your computer, you can just type TD at the DOS prompt to load the program. If the configuration file TD.CNF is not found in the data directory, you will be prompted to create it. Study the help screen and example values. Do not worry, however, if it is not all clear to you. You can simply press enter to accept each default value and then reconfigure later by pressing O for options when in directory mode. Among other things, the options screen allows you to define what TD should do when you select the View or Write commands in directory mode. By default, the View command executes the built-in document reader on the current file, allowing you to conveniently read and search an ASCII or WordPerfect 5.1 file. If you prefer to use another document reader program (such as Q Read, Ralph, ReadIt, Squint, or View), you can specify this on the options screen. By default, the Write command is set to load WordPerfect with the current file, since the great majority of blind computer users opt for this word processor. If you prefer another word processor, however, simply enter it here. When you complete the last option prompt, the configuration file TD.CNF will be saved in your data directory. An empty database of file descriptions TD.DBF will also be created there. You will then be brought to directory mode, where most of your time is spent in TD. DIRECTORY MODE In directory mode, TD presents a set of file and subdirectory entries on which you can perform many operations. A file pointer is always looking at one of these entries at a time, which is referred to as the current file. Commands allow you to move the pointer among files and to perform operations on one or more of them. The entries are ordered such that subdirectories appear before regular files, since they are usually important to know about when first examining a directory. Upon entering directory mode, the name of the first file (or subdirectory) is displayed and spoken. A subdirectory is indicated by a backslash character following its name. For example, suppose you ran TD from the root directory of drive C and the beginning entry is the DOS subdirectory. Then the following will be displayed and spoken upon entering directory mode: DOS\ You can press N to go to the next file, causing it to be similarly displayed and spoken on the next line of the screen. The P command goes to the previous file. B goes to the beginning or first file and E goes to the End or last file. The end file of the current directory will be indicated by a vertical bar symbol following its name. For example, if JAMAL.LTR is the end file, then TD will present: JAMAL.LTR| Suppose you didn't quite make out the name of the current file when it was spoken. Press the Spacebar to repeat it. If you press it a second time, the name will be spelled. Pressed a third time spells the name using the phonetic alphabet--Alpha for A, Bravo for B, etc. An alternative to pressing N for the Next file is the Enter key. This is quicker because the word "Next" is displayed visually, but not spoken. Similarly, pressing the Tab key is an alternative to pressing P for previous. To help remember these keys, picture your right pinkie reaching to the right and down to go to the next file and your left pinkie reaching to the left and up to go to the previous one. A third alternative is using the Down and Up Arrow keys to go to the next and previous files, respectively. In this case, TD relies upon your screen reader program to read the current line containing the new file name. You may need to configure your screen reader with a "cursor delay" or "cursor pause" so that the correct line is read. If necessary, it is because TD is written in Clipper, a higher level programming language than other applications such as word processors, which are usually written in C. A clipper program is slower and larger than its C equivalent. However, on 286 machines and above, the performance is quite adequate and the convenient power of TD will almost certainly outweigh its limitations regarding execution speed and size. COMPARISON WITH CTS AND SDIR Since a number of users of TD may be familiar with CTS, the Contact Tracking System (also Copyright by Access Success) or SDIR, the Speech Directory (Copyright by Scott Stanton and Carla Campbell), the following comparisons provide some orientation to TD. The command structure in TD for moving among files is similar to that in CTS for moving among records. Beginning, End, Jump, Next, Previous, List, View, Write, Yield, Zoom, and Quit are analogous. Other TD commands resemble those in a speech friendly file manager called SDIR, which inspired this more powerful one. Copy, Delete, Rename, Size, Time, and eXecute work similarly. OPERATING CONVENTIONS F1 provides context sensitive help at major points in the program: the directory and view modes, option and description screens. Escape will abort almost any operation. If at the command menu, it will exit TD no matter how many levels have been Zoomed to (unlike the Quit command which returns to the previous level). As a precaution against exiting TD accidentally, however, confirmation is requested. To quit TD immediately without confirmation, press Alt-Q or Alt-Escape. If this does not work, try Alt-C to cancel the program. In this unlikely event, no harm is done, but Access Success would like to be notified of the circumstance. In general, reports of successes and problems with TD are appreciated since this feedback aids future development. Be assured, however, that the product has been extensively tested and debugged before market release. In fact, Access Success is confident enough in its reliable performance that it will provide the registered version at a $10 discount to a trial user who discovers a true bug--a feature that fails to perform as described with acknowledged limitations. Here are some other operating conventions. When you invoke a command, it is echoed to the screen, usually (but not always) through BIOS--the Basic Input/Output Service of the computer which screen readers capture. For example, the B command will display the word Beginning on the next line through BIOS, thereby giving it visual and verbal presentation. After moving the file pointer to the beginning file or subdirectory, that entry will be similarly presented to indicate what is now the current file. Many commands prompt you for further input before they can be executed. A prompt ending with a question mark requires a single character response, whereas one ending in a colon requires a variable length response--one or more characters followed by Enter. For example, press D in directory mode to delete the current file. If JAMAL.LTR is the current file, then you will be prompted Delete file JAMAL.LTR (Y/N)? N Notice the question mark after the prompt, indicating that a single character response is required. The value in the input field is the default value that would be selected if you pressed Enter. In this case, the default is N so that you will not accidentally delete a file by pressing Enter. You must consciously press Y for Yes. An example of a variable length prompt is provided by the C command as follows: Copy to directory: Notice the colon indicating that any number of characters may be typed on that line, followed by Enter. If you entered B: at the prompt, then the file JAMAL.LTR would be copied to the B: directory (on your floppy disk). Generally, the last value of a variable length input is remembered. In our example, this means that next time we invoke the Copy command, B: will be the default value. We could select it again by pressing Enter. If we want to enter another directory name, we could press F6 to erase the current value and then enter the new one. F6 is not necessary at the beginning of a new entry, however, because TD will blank out the default value as soon as you type any printable characters in the field. Suppose you want to edit the default value rather than type a whole new value. You can prevent the automatic blanking of the field by beginning with a cursor key, such as Right Arrow to go to the next character or Control-Right Arrow to go to the next word. You could also press End to go to the End of the field or Home if you want to start editing at the beginning. The Delete, Backspace, and Insert keys work in the standard manner for editing text. Press F1 when editing a field for a help screen listing the available cursororing and editing commands. If you invoke a nontrivial directory command, then a status message followed by an exclamation point will indicate the result. For example, after copying or deleting a file, TD will say either Done! or Error! indicating the success or failure of the command. Status messages are intentionally as few syllables as possible to convey useful information without unnecessary verbiage. LEARNING TD A good way to learn Talking Directory commands is to try the letters A through Z out within a temporary directory on your hard disk. Try navigating among files, renaming or deleting them, and copying or moving them to a floppy disk. Press F1 or H for a help screen that summarizes and groups commands. Press Alt-F1 or Alt-H for a command menu. Pressing Down Arrow will display the next menu option and Up Arrow will display the previous. To help remember the letter or other character that triggers a command, it is indicated at the beginning of the command description. For example, one menu option reads as follows: N = go to the next file, also Enter or Down Arrow Each menu option is written to be as descriptive as possible within a single line of text, thus allowing it to be conveniently read by a screen reader program, which normally reads the current line after Down Arrow or Up Arrow is pressed. The cursor is positioned at the beginning of the line on the trigger character for that command--thus allowing it to be reviewed by using a screen reader command to read the current character. MULTIPLE FILE PROCESSING The >, <, and = commands tag and untag files. When one or more files are tagged, selective processing is possible with the commands Archive, Copy, Delete, List, Move, Unarchive, Yield, Stamp, and Quote. Copy, Move, and Unarchive (when done from inside the .ZIP file) will check before overwriting a file with the same name and report whether it is older, newer, or current according to its date and time stamp. If a file with the same name is discovered in a batch Copy, Move, or Unarchive, you can select whether to be prompted to overwrite each time, replace all files with the same name, leave them all unchanged, or overwrite them only with ones that have been updated more recently. For example, TD might say the following: Newer CALENDAR.DOC found! Overwrite (Y/N) or Replace/Leave/Update rest? N Press N if you wish to prevent overwriting the file with an older one that has the same name. Press Y to overwrite it. Press R to stop asking in this batch process and replace all files with the same name, regardless of whether they are older, newer, or current. Press L to leave all files with the same name. Press U to replace files with the same name only with newer ones. When at any prompt that allows you to choose between the current, tagged or untagged files, the default is tagged. This means you can just press Enter to perform batch operations on tagged files. In the case of a batch delete, however, you will be asked for additional confirmation. For example, TD might say the following: Delete 6 tagged files (Y/N)? N ARCHIVE SUPPORT In this release of TD, only the .ZIP archive format is supported. At this time, it is the most popular archival format by a considerable margin. For the archive related commands to work, a copy of PKZIP.EXE and PKUNZIP.EXE (Copyright by Phil Katz) must be available in your DOS (or network) search path. The latest version of these shareware utilities can be downloaded from almost any bulletin board system as a self extracting file having a name that begins with PKZ followed by a version number and a .EXE extension. If you don't already have these utilities, they are worth getting and registering. You can place them in the TD program directory if you don't have a separate utilities directory. Td supports .ZIP files with the Archive command to add files to them, the Unarchive command to extract files from them, the Delete command to delete files inside them, the Zoom command to go into them like a subdirectory, and the quote command to automatically create a file description based on a descriptive file within them. INDEXING THE CURRENT DIRECTORY The Index command sorts TD's directory list stored in memory. It does not affect the physical order of files on disk. You can index by file name, extension, size, or time. A second prompt asks whether you want ascending or descending order. If you select descending, subdirectories will be listed after files, rather than the default sequence. A common use of the Index command is to determine the most recent file in a directory. You can press I for index, T for time, and then D for descending. The beginning file will then be the most recent one according to its date and time stamp. Press T to tell the time it was last updated or S to tell its size in bytes. Press N or Enter to go to the next most recent file. The selections you make in the Index, Format, and Keyword commands will be remembered within a TD session and even from one session to the next. GOING TO A DIRECTORY The Go command will allow you to create a directory if the one specified does not exist. The Delete and Rename commands work on directories as well as regular files. If no files are found from a wildcard specification, a prompt will ask whether to search other directories. If yes, TD will search all available drives, starting with the current. This kind of search can also be initiated from the DOS prompt. For example, to search for a file called JOB.ZIP, enter the following command: td job.zi* or any other specification that includes at least one wild card. TD is quite sophisticated in guessing which directory you want to go to. The default value will be the previous directory you were in or the last directory you copied, moved, or unarchived to. A convenient way to go to the current *.* directory is with the period symbol. This may be useful if you've added, modified, or deleted files within the current directory by means of an external program, invoked with a number or with the shell command. The . command causes TD to re-examine the disk and read new information into its memory concerning the files in the current directory. The Go and Keyword search commands will continue searching other directories if the previous search specification is used. Directories previously searched are excluded. This lets you find matches in additional directories, beyond the first match in another directory. GOING TO A FILE WITHIN A DIRECTORY The Jump command allows you to jump ahead or backward in the directory list by entering a positive or negative number. Alternatively, you can enter a file name or wild card pattern. TD will jump to the first match, if any. You can also press > to jump to the first tagged file, < to jump to the first untagged file, or \ to jump to the first subdirectory. Pressing J for Jump again and then just Enter will cause TD to jump to the next file matching that pattern. The Keywords command allows you to go to a file by searching its content or description. Press K for Keywords and then enter the word, partial word, or phrase to match. If you want a match to occur even if the words do not appear consecutively in the file, then separate them with commas. For example, entering separate agency will search for that particular phrase, whereas entering separate, agency will search for files containing "separate" and "agency" anywhere within them. A second prompt asks whether you want to search descriptions, contents, both, or archives too. Searching file descriptions is relatively fasst but narrow in scope. Searching everything including .ZIP archives is relatively broad but slow. If you have described .ZIP archives using the command td /quote then you might effectively search descriptions only. Searches are always case insensitive. To search for the next matching file, simply press K for Keywords and then Enter to accept the same words as before. If no match is found in the current directory, you will be asked whether to search other directories. This process is a slow one, so it is best used as a last resort. (TD is written in Clipper not Assembler!) If you know which directory a file is likely to be in, it may be quicker to go to that directory first before doing the Keywords command. Still, the ability to search your entire hard disk for keywords may make a decisive difference on occasion. REMEMBERING WHERE YOU ARE If at any time you forget what directory you are in, then press the ? command. It will also tell you the current volume label and your relative position in the directory. VIEWING A FILE The View command loads an internal document reader that can read ASCII or WordPerfect 5.1 files. If you just want to identify the file, you can interrupt the initial conversion process by pressing V again, which will get you at least a couple screens worth of the file. Besides V or Escape, the last key pressed during the conversion process will become the first command of the document reader. For example, if you know you want to read continuously from the beginning, press G right after pressing the initial V to view the file. Once in the document reader, the commands Beginning, End, Next, Previous, and Jump move by screen within the file being read. View reads the current screen. Enter and Tab read the next and previous paragraph. The Go command reads continuously. Spacebar silences speech. Searching is possible with F for Forward search, R for Reverse search, and A for search Again. The ? command will identify the file being viewed and the relative position in it. Commands will interrupt a command being executed, thus allowing convenient browsing-- e.g., by paragraph. Other commands are summarized on the help screen, invoked with H or F1. A menu is also available with Alt-F1 or Alt-H. You can also use the view mode to maintain a file of notes and excerpts from what you are reading. Use the T command to type a note to a file. Use the U command to set the upper line and L command to set the lower line of a block of text to copy with the C command. In view command, user defined commands consider the note file to be the current file. Thus, for example, you can press W to load the note file into your word processor. USER DEFINED COMMANDS A dozen miscellaneous, user defined commands are possible, invoked with the digits 0 - 9 and the letters V and W. From the options screen, enter the name of the desired executable file, optionally followed by a space and the % sign to indicate that the current file name in the directory list should be passed as a parameter (the percent symbol serves a similar purpose in batch files). A path to the executable should precede its name if it is not located on the search path. Look at the Write command for an example. When in the options screen, Enter moves to the next field and Tab moves to the previous. (Picture the right pinkie pressing Enter by pointing to the right and down, and the left pinkie pressing Tab by pointing to the left and up.) Page-Up moves to the first field; Page-Down moves to the last. Press F6 (for "fix") to blank the current field. To save the current settings, press Enter on the last field, or from any field, press F10 or Control-W. You can invoke an option by pressing Alt-F10 when in its definition. This allows the options screen to serve as a menu. If you forget which number invokes a miscellaneous command you defined, then press O for options, press Enter until you reach the desired definition, and then press Alt-F10 to invoke it. FILE DESCRIPTIONS Files can have a description associated with them. It can be up to a screen (actually 22 lines) in length, with up to 60 characters per line. If a description exists, its first line will display (and be spoken) to the right of the current file name. Press the @ symbol to attach a description to a file. You will be brought into a little text editor with basic arrow key navigation and editing commands available. Press F6 to blank a line. Press F8 to enter today's date. Press F10 or Control-W to save the description, or Escape to abort the edit. If the description occupies more than one line, then a + symbol will appear to the right of the first line, indicating that additional information is present. Press the + symbol if you simply want to show the description rather than edit it. Stored with the description of a file is its full specification, including the volume label, drive, path, and name where it is stored. This allows you to describe files on floppy disks as well as the hard disk. Just remember to label the disk (such as with the F for format and then V for volume label commands). I this way, files with the same name on different floppies can have different descriptions so long as the volume labels are different. A related feature lets you automatically describe .ZIP files. If you enter td /quote at the DOS prompt, TD will search your entire hard disk for .ZIP files and create descriptions in the TD.DBF database by quoting FILE_ID.DIZ, README, or other descriptions inside the .ZIP files. This should be especially useful for operators of bulletin boards, who generally have many such files on their system. TD will not replace descriptions that already exist, so subsequent runs of this process should be quicker. Be prepared--it may take a while, but is much quicker than the manual alternative. You can also individually quote a description of a .ZIP file with the " command when it is the current file. Quoting of all tagged files in a directory is also possible. You can globally tag all files in the current directory with = and Enter. You can then quote all undescribed .ZIP files with " and Enter--since TD only looks at .ZIP files. PROTECTING FILES TD will show files marked with the DOS hidden and system attributes, as well as those without--normal ones. Files marked read-only or write-protected will be indicated by a right bracket symbol following the file name. For example, in the root directory of drive C, there is probably a file that would be displayed as COMMAND.COM] indicating that it is protected against modification or deletion. To protect a file, use the ] command. To unprotect it, use the [ command. STAMPING THE DATE AND TIME OF A FILE To set the date and time stamp of a file, use the ! symbol. You will be prompted for the date, followed by the time. The current values will serve as defaults. If you blank a field with the F6 key, then the current value according to the system clock will be used. If you do not change either the date or time, TD will not actually stamp the file, but issue the status message Kept! indicating that the same values have been kept. You can verify the stamp of a file with the T command, which presents the date and time using readily understood English, rather than cryptic computer-ese. For example Td might say Friday, December 24, 1993 at 7:01 AM The stamp command supports multiple file processing. Thus you could stamp all files in a directory with the same date and time by globally tagging them with the = command and then stamping with the ! command. SETTING THE SYSTEM CLOCK The Format command includes a suboption to set the system clock. You will be prompted for the date and time, similar to the ! command. It is important that this computer clock be set correctly, because TD relies on the date and time stamps of files when making comparisons as to which is older or newer in the Copy, Move, and Unarchive commands. MEMORIZING AND REVIVING A VALUE The F5 and Alt-F5 keys allow you to memorize and revive certain data. For example, suppose you encounter a directory name that you will want to go to later in a TD session. From directory mode, press F5 to memorize the directory name. Then, at a later time, press G for go and then Alt-F5 to revive the directory name. You might also use this feature if you change your mind about what number to choose for a user defined command. Suppose you had entered a complicated command in one field and wanted to move it to another. Press F5 to memorize it. Press F6 if you wish to blank the field it was in. Then cursor to the desired field and press Alt-F5 to revive the entry. REGISTRATION INFORMATION This 1.0 version of Talking Directory is being distributed as shareware. That means you can try it before you buy it. If you do not find a regular use for it, you are under no obligation to pay for it. If you find TD valuable to you, please send the registration form and fee to the author (if you have not done so already). I have invested over 500 hours in its development, trusting that appreciative users will show tangible support. It is deliberately priced so that it may be purchased by most interested individuals, not just businesses or government agencies. By registering, you will receive the latest version of the program and free technical support. The registration form is included on the next page, as well as separately in a file called REGISTER.TXT. Whether you decide to register or not, you are encouraged to give demonstration copies of the program to others. It can be used or given to anyone so long as no fee is charged and all program and documentation files are distributed together. As the author, I hope that many blind and sighted people benefit from TD. I believe it fills a niche as a powerful, verbally and visually friendly directory manager. As a consultant, let me also make you aware that I am available for development of other software applications, with or without speech output. REGISTRATION FORM FOR TALKING DIRECTORY VERSION 1.0 This form may be easily printed by entering the following command at the DOS prompt: COPY REGISTER.TXT LPT1: This assumes your printer is connected to the first parallel port (which most are). Enter your name, address, and phone number in the spaces below: Name: __________________________________________________ Address: __________________________________________________ __________________________________________________ __________________________________________________ __________________________________________________ Phone: __________________________________________________ I am enclosing a check or money order for $25 (twenty-five dollars and no cents), made out to Access Success. This price includes first class shipping to places within the U.S., Canada, and Mexico. Orders outside North America should use U.S. currency and add $5 for shipping and handling. I look forward to receiving the following benefits of registration: * The latest, complete release of Talking Directory, provided on either 5 1/4" or 3 1/2" double density DOS disks. * Free technical support (provided that reasonable efforts are made to learn from the on-line help and documentation). * Discounts on other products of Access Success. If you have questions about registration, call (617) 666-9856. You may write any comments or suggestions about TD on the back of this form. Send the form to Jamal Mazrui Access Success 745 Somerville Ave. Somerville MA 02143 (U.S.A.) HELP SCREENS The following pages contain the help screens that may be displayed with the F1 key throughout the system. They can serve as a review of the features and commands of Talking Directory. DIRECTORY MODE HELP SCREEN A/U = archive/Unarchive .ZIP file B/E/N/P = go to beginning/end/next/previous file (also Enter/Tab) C/D/M/R = copy/delete/move/rename file or directory F = format floppy disk, set volume label, or set system clock G/. = go to directory (with drive & wild cards)/load current directory H or F1/? = display help screen/volume label, directory name, and position Alt-H or F1 = Invoke directory menu, selecting with arrow keys & Enter I = index files by name, extension, size, or time J = Jump by number (positive/negative) or to file (wildcards or >/<) K = go to first or next file containing keywords L/Y = list/count yield of files, bytes occupied, and space free O = set configuration options or pick user defined command to execute Q = quit current zoom level, returning to previous S/T = display size/time and date of file V/W = view/write file (ASCII or WordPerfect format) X/0-9 = execute file/user defined command Z = zoom to subdirectory or inside .ZIP file >/< = tag/untag file, global if preceded by =" ?' @/"/+/- = attach/quote/show/remove description of file' ?" [/]/! = protect/unprotect/stamp date and time of file spacebar = repeat file, pressed again spells, yet again spells phonetically Control-F1 = Shell command or go to DOS prompt, also / F5/Alt-F5 = memorize/revive value Escape = abort current operation or quit Talking Directory FIELD MODE HELP SCREEN When editing a set of fields, the following keys can be used: Left/Right Arrow = go to previous/next character Control-Left/Right Arrow = go to previous/next word Home/End = go to beginning/end of current field Tab or Up Arrow = go to previous field Enter or Down Arrow = go to next field Page Up/Down = go to first/last field F1 = display this help screen F5/Alt-F5 = memorize/revive entry F6 = delete line F10 or Control-W = save editing Alt-F10 or Alt-W = save editing and execute user defined command Escape or Control-Q = abort editing Alt-Escape or Alt-Q = quit Talking Directory immediately Delete/Backspace = delete current/previous character Control-Backspace = delete current word Insert = toggle insert mode on/off (default is off) MEMO MODE HELP SCREEN When editing a file description or note, the following keys can be used: Left/Right Arrow = go to previous/next character Control-Left/Right Arrow = go to previous/next word Home/End = go to beginning/end of current line Up/Down Arrow = go to previous/next line F1 = display this help screen F6 = delete line F8 = input current date F10 or Control-W = save editing Escape or Control-Q = abort editing Alt-Escape or Alt-Q = quit Talking Directory immediately Delete/Backspace = delete current/previous character Control-Backspace = delete current word Insert = toggle insert mode on/off (default is on) VIEW MODE HELP SCREEN B/E/N/P = go to beginning/end/next/previous screen C/T = copy block/type note to file F/R/A = search forward/reverse/again H or F1/? = display help screen/file name and position Alt-H or F1 = invoke view menu, selecting with arrow keys & Enter G = go (read continuously) J = jump a positive or negative number of screens O = set configuration options Q or Escape = quit and return to directory mode U/L = set upper/lower lines of block to copy V = view current screen W/0 - 9 = Execute user defined command Down/Up Arrow = go to next/previous line Right/Left Arrow = go to next/previous character Control-Right/Left Arrow = go to next/previous word Enter/Tab = go to next/previous paragraph End/Home = go to end/beginning of line Spacebar = Silence speaking Control-F1 = Shell command or go to DOS prompt, also / Alt-Escape or Alt-Q = quit Talking Directory immediately