Changes in 4FILES Version 3.12, relative to 3.10. ------------------------------------------------- In some early releases of V-3.10, the new feature for changing the number of screen rows was not documented. If you missed this, Ctrl-F7 will change the mode for you, and it controls either of two ways to make such changes. Please see 4F.DOC for details. V-3.12 Fixes: ============= -- Restoration of the original DOS screen failed if the TEMP directory was a subdirectory rather than a root directory. Fixed. -- An error in at least one type of AMI BIOS chip caused keystrokes for yes/no prompts to be lost before being acted on, putting the computer in an endless loop. One function on this BIOS trashes a register that should be unaffected; 4FILES now restores the register after the BIOS call. -- Instructions for Windows installation in 4F.DOC improved. V-3.11 Improvements =================== VIDEO: ====== -- Video mode selection with Ctrl-F7 has been improved. This includes detection of ANSI if it is active, enabling use of compatible behavior. -- The original text font can be restored if the controlling configuration menu switch is set to 'Y,' but this does not work on some systems. This is essential if you use a utility that sets non-standard height characters to get non-standard numbers of rows (e.g. 28 or 33), or if you have a font that you like better than the fonts supplied in your video BIOS. -- The original font table is stored to EMS, if available. -- A bug sometimes affecting cursor location at exit has been fixed. The meanings of the configuration menu switches controlling behavior at exit have been changed; you may to change some of the settings. DISK ACCESS: ============ -- For removable media drives running under DOS 4.0 or higher, 4FILES now prompts before writing DESCRIPT.ION or DEMARCAT.ION if the disk has been changed. -- Handling of CD-ROM drives has been improved. -- On write protected disks that are full and for which files are marked, it was impossible to clear the "size overflow" message. This has been fixed. Also, for write protected disks, file marks are now held in a temporary file in your TEMP directory. TEXT MODE: ========== -- Paste now takes into account the insert state rather than automatically inserting text. -- A Ctrl-U command has been added to undo an inadvertent paste or bad edit. -- A paste problem that caused lock-ups has been fixed. FILE MANAGEMENT MODE: ===================== -- When creating an archive file, the current filename (shown by pressing UpArrow) is now shown without an extension, eliminating some key strokes. -- A problem in the archive file name history with shorter filenames not fully overwriting previous longer names has been fixed. =========================================================================== CHANGES IN V-3.10 RELATIVE TO V-3.0x ------------------------------------ FROM WITHIN FILE MODE: ---------------------- a) "V" displays 'Volume Information,' including the free bytes available on the current drive and an editable VOLUME LABEL field. b) For Copy/Move/Zip operations, the target path input field is now active first, then the filename input field. c) During Copy/Move/Zip, the target drive is now checked for write protection before the operation is attempted. FROM WITHIN NOTE MODE: ---------------------- a) High ASCII symbols can now be generated with Alt-Keypad key combinations. b) The "whole note copied" message is now cleared by the next keystroke. ADDITIONS TO CONFIGURATION MENUS: --------------------------------- There were several additions, and there are more in Version 3.11. See 4F.DOC for V-3.11. OPERATIONAL IMPROVEMENTS: ------------------------- a) During operations from write protected disks, including CDROMs, the DEMARCAT.ION file (preserving file marks) and 0-4F-DOS.ERR error trapping files are now written to your TEMP directory. This avoids the two warning messages used previously. A Ctrl-L command has been added to show the error trapping file via your LIST utility. The error file can be deleted while exiting LIST. VIDEO MODE CHANGES ON-THE-FLY: ------------------------------ cycles through all available video modes, using either of two methods. See 4F.DOC for details. ======================================================================== 3.0 CHANGES RELATIVE TO VERSION 2U.x ------------------------------------ o Marked files may now be copied, moved, renamed, and archived (to ZIP, ARJ and LHA formats, with file descriptions included). o History lists have been added for these input fields: filename, target directory, directory change, and DOS command line. o Many new keystroke commands have been added (see below). o A special keyboard configuration for laptop computers may now be selected. o An internal routine has been added to brand shareware copies as registered. o The utility port has been added. o A DOS-order directory sort has been added to the 10 pre-existing sorts. o There are additional methods of marking files. TEMP Directory Recommended -------------------------- Note that for the marked file and archiving operations to work as fast as possible you should set up a tempory directory, named TEMP. In AUTOEXEC.BAT you can put a statement like: SET TEMP=d:\ where "d" is a RAMDISK or hard drive. A directory may be included in the specification if desired. A RAM disk is a perfect place for a TEMP directory. New Key Mappings ---------------- The keyboard may now be configured for a laptop computer via the configuration screen. The <[>, <]> and keys are substituted for , and respectively. Settings for this switch are 1=AT, 2=PC and 3=laptop, as shown on-screen. The "2" setting substitutes the key for . In File Mode only, now duplicates ^X (execute immediately). Changed & New Command Line Switches: ------------------------------------ /C(hrono) sort replaces /T(ime/date) sort. /R(everse) sort replaces /D(escending) sort. /U(nsorted) is a new switch, and gives the DOS sort order. The above changes were made to agree with useage in the new Re-sort Menu, which has (U)nsorted added to it. /L For use if 4F is called from a numeric-keypad intensive operation. Keypad state is restored on exit from 4FILES. This is a new switch, required by changes in NumLock (see below). /M Prevents marks in an old DEMARCAT.ION file from being ignored. New keystroke commands: ----------------------- ^C Copy all marked files. ^M Move " " " ^R Rename " " " Z Zip a single file with its file description. ^Z Zip all marked files with file descriptions. @^Y Delete file input or a file description from the cursor to the right. New file marking keys, in addition to the old F5, F6, ^F5 and ^F6: ------------------------------------------------------------------ Toggle marked/unmarked for the current file. <^SPACE> Swap (toggle) the marks on all files. <^/> and <^\> These duplicate <^F5> & <^F6> file marking. Other Keys ---------- Now has its normal, keypad-toggling function back. Toggles the display of file attributes and creation time. (This is what did in earlier versions.) ^D IN TEXT ENTRY MODES: Deletes the file descriptions for all marked files (giving a prompt first of course). In file mode this key deletes marked files. The prompts appear on different segments of the screen to help distinguish the pending actions of the two senses of this key. ^H IN FILE MODE: If 4DOS is active, shell to DOS and show the command history window. ^H IN TEXT ENTRY MODES: Destructive backspace. ^W Presents a DESCRIPT.ION Write Menu, with choices to (S)ave notes immediately or (A)bandon all unsaved note edits. Alternate exit means in Windows and OS/2 since the preferred <@ESC> and <^ESC> keys are appropriated by these systems. <^INS> These three keys cut and paste text as they do in Windows ... <$INS> ... and are in addition to the preferred use of the F9 ... <$DEL> ... and F10 keys. Laptop keyboard switch -- see detailed description above. --------------------------------------------------------- Directory List Sorting ---------------------- In the sorting menu, ascending or descending sorts are now selected with the UpArrow or DownArrow keys, rather than or . (U)nsorted has been added. -= end =-