source: trunk/README@ 1194

Last change on this file since 1194 was 1149, checked in by John Small, 17 years ago

v3.13 README and HISTORY: minor reordering

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1 ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿
2 ³ F(ile) M(anager)/2 is free software from Mark Kimes ³
3 ÃÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄŽ
4 ³ READ.ME file -- read before installing ³
5 ³ See end of document for contact info ³
6 ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ
7
8FM/2 3.13: Many of the changes in this release are related to
9the toolbars. A new feature is that the current toolbar, along
10with the current Target directory, are now saved and restored
11with states. Toolbar code and documentation has been improved, new
12toolbar button bitmaps have been added and bugs have been fixed.
13
14The installation of FM/2 will not replace existing user
15customization files like the toolbar files. So, if this is not
16your first installation of FM/2, some of these improvements will
17not be available because of the old, pre v3.13 toolbar files. It
18is therefore recommended that you run the following:
19
20 CFGMGR /INSTALL /DEFAULTS /TOOLBARSONLY /UNATTENDED
21
22CFGMGR is a REXX program located in the FM/2 installation directory.
23If run as given above it will copy your existing toolbar files into
24a "User_config_backup" subdirectory and then install FM/2 default
25toolbar files. If you have done some customizations of FM/2 toolbars
26you can use a text editor and/or file comparison utility like GFC
27to "merge" your changes, now found in the backup subdirectory,
28with the default files now found in the FM/2 directory. If you want
29more control over the operation of CFGMGR, then leave off the
30/UNATTENDED parameter. Without the /UNATTENDED parameter CFGMGR
31will ask your permission before replacing each file.
32
33The delete = move to trash can is off by default (turn it on on the
34General settings notebook page). FM/2 now checks for adequate disk
35space to avoid data loss.
36
37We also fixed some additional bugs and provide some performance
38enhancements. If you have had trouble with "broken pipe" errors
39copying to a netdrives samba drive let me know if it now works
40better. I have built in some retries for this error but can't test
41it since I don't see the problem. Also please report back to us anytime
42you see the Debug error report to author box with as much detail about
43what you were doing as possible. Thanks
44
45FM/2 3.12 Fixes a bug introduced in 3.11 (trap when viewing
46multiple files from an archive at the same time). It also adds
47Open Default, Open Settings and via an accel key ctrl + l Open
48Multimedia (using FM2play.exe) to the archive viewer. FM/2 now
49uses the system TMP/TEMP directory for it temporary files and
50cleans up after a crash on the next restart. FM/2 creates a
51subdirectory of the pattern $FM2*.*. The settings notebook can
52now be closed using esc, F3 or enter; the last 2 save any
53changes that have been made. You can now select which environment
54variables to show when using show the environment in the drive
55tree. Just add or remove from the list on the "Tree" page of
56the notebook. It defaults initially to the current list. You can
57now save/append either a full pathname or just a filename or a
58list of either to the clipboard. We have changed the wording
59in the menus to make this easier to find. We fixed a few other
60minor issues see the history for more details.
61
62FM/2 3.11 adds the option of having delete move the objects
63to the Xworkplace trashcan. Undelete will open the trashcan
64so you can restore deleted files. The only short coming is you
65will need to rescan in order to see the restored file.
66We also added a reserved state which allows you to return
67FM/2 to the state it was in on start up (the shut down state).
68We have improved the filtering of file names that contain
69multiple periods and fixed FM/2's failure to always follow
70the details settings from the setup notebook. The primary
71task achieved for this release was the addition of fortify
72support which allowed us to fix a handful of memory usage
73related bugs. We fixed a few other minor issues see the
74history for more details.
75
76Fm/2 3.10 adds the ability to set the command line length
77to correspond to the command shell you are using. We have
78moved some menu items to submenus to reduce menu clutter
79while adding "unhide" to reveal previously hidden items and
80adding a settings notebook submenu to allow selection of the
81page you wish to visit. We have updated the look of several
82dialogs and containers including adding the ability to remember
83size location and presentation parameters. We have reworked
84the save state on close so it will save the different states
85of multiple directory containers and in greater detail. This
86state can also be restored at anytime during a session by
87selecting it from the "States" drop down. We have provided better
88progress indicators to update the progress of long operations.
89We now provide both the SYM & MAP files in a separate warpin
90package. This will allow interested individuals the tools needed
91to assist with analysing any problem that may occur. This
92package is not needed to run FM/2. As always this update
93provides some performance enhancements and defect fixes.
94
95FM/2 3.09 adds "mailto:" so you can configure the ability to
96double click an email address in the new viewer and have it
97open a new email using that address. The viewer page in the
98settings notebook was split into 2 pages to facilitate the
99change. Additionally, We fixed some defects and enhanced
100performance in some areas such as commandline quoting.
101
102FM/2 3.08 has had changes to its file filtering logic.
103It now searches for the last extension if a mask like *.zip
104is used. This change was made to over come the problem with
105associations failing on files with multiple ".". You can
106also seach for a complete string within the file names by
107using the pattern *stuff* (stuff can't contain an * or ?).
108If "stuff" contains an * or ? the old method of searching
109(character by character)is used.Large (>4GiB) file support
110has been added.
111
112FM/2 3.07 had changes made to its ini file structure.
113These changes mean that the ini file is not backward
114compatible. Please backup you FM3.INI file before installing
115so you can revert to an earlier version without losing some
116of your customizations. Please note you need to leave a copy
117of the fm3.ini file in the install directory in order to keep your
118customizations in 3.07. The temp file fm3.!!! will not update
119the new ini as it is only used when fm2 is running.
120
121File Manager/2 (FM/2) starting with version 3.6 is being
122built with OpenWatcom. Changing compilers can introduce
123unexpected problem so you may want to backup your current
124install, or at minimum have a working copy of the FM/2
125version 3.5.9 warpin available for reinstall if problems arise.
126To backup your current install simple zip up your install
127directory with its subdirectories or copy them to a different
128location.To restore simply copy the old FM/2 back to the
129its original location. Remember you can't use the new FM/2
130to do this since if it is running some files will be locked
131and won't be replaced. If you didn't backup and need to go
132back just install the 3.5.9 warpin package over the new
133install. It will warn you that the install is newer but just
134tell it to install anyway. The warpin install process is
135designed to save all your customizations. Don't delete the
136new install if you don't have a backup since this will result
137in the loss of any custom changes you have made. If you need
138to delete it to get the reinstall to work. Backup up the new
139install and then copy the *.bmp, *.tls, *.dat, *.cmd & *.ini
140files back to the install directory after the reinstall.
141Don't copy the *.str files as they are version specific.
142If you have problems be sure to report it (See Support
143at the end of this file).
144
145File Manager/2 (FM/2) is a free OS/2(Warp)/eCS Presentation
146Manager 32-bit file/directory/archive maintenance utility
147(a sort of super-Drives object, something midway between the
148Drives objects and a more traditional file manager) with plenty
149of bells, whistles and utilities, drag and drop, context menus,
150toolbars, bubble help and accelerator keys. If you know how
151to use OS/2, you already know how to use most of FM/2. You
152can easily glean the rest from the extensive online help,
153including tutorials.
154
155This document explains how to install FM/2, including
156upgrading from previous versions. It explains command line
157syntaxes (parameters in a program object) and how to get the
158program(s) running. The online help tells you how to
159actually use FM/2. I'll try to keep this brief.
160
161This program is free software; you can redistribute it
162and/or modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public
163License as published by the Free Software Foundation; either
164version 2 of the License, or (at your option) any later
165version.
166
167This program is distributed in the hope that it will be
168useful, but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied
169warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR
170PURPOSE. See the GNU General Public License for more
171details.
172
173You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public
174License along with this program; if not, write to the Free
175Software Foundation, Inc., 59 Temple Place, Suite 330,
176Boston, MA 02111-1307 USA
177
178
179FM/2 3.x installation instructions:
180==================================
181
182Pre-requisite:
183 WarpIN 0.9.20 or higher must be installed.
184
185Install (or re-install) from a FM/2 ZIP file distribution
186---------------------------------------------------------
187
1881. Unpack the FM2*.ZIP archive in a private directory (for
189example, C:\TMP). (UNZIP.EXE works nicely to unpack the
190file.) Two WPI files, FM2.WPI and FM2UTILS.WPI will be
191unzipped.
192
1932. Follow the instructions for installing from WPI file(s)
194below.
195
196
197Install (or re-install) from a FM/2 WPI file distribution
198---------------------------------------------------------
199
2001. Open the WPS folder containing the WPI file(s).
201
2022. Double click on FM2.WPI. Since WarpIN associates itself
203with WPI files this will start WarpIN with FM2.WPI as the
204parameter.
205
2063, You may then install FM/2 to a directory of your choice
207and, if FM2UTILS.WPI is present, install FM/2 Utilities to
208a directory of your choice.
209
210NOTE: If you double click on FM2UTILS.WPI instead of
211FM2.WPI, you will only be able to install the FM/2
212Utilities. It is recommended that, even if you only want to
213install FM/2 Utilities, that you do so using FM2.WPI.
214
215
216Moving FM/2 and/or FM/2 Utilities:
217----------------------------------
218
2191. Copy your existing installation directory to the new
220location.
221
2222. If you have added your own icons to any of the FM/2
223folders, then you should move them elsewhere temporarily.
224
2253. Follow the instructions for de-installing below.
226
2274. Re-install the package using the installation
228instructions above. This will update the WarpIN database and
229reset your icons to the new locations.
230
2315. Move the icons you saved in step #2, back into the FM/2
232folders if you wish.
233
234
235De-installing FM/2 and/or FM/2 Utilities:
236-----------------------------------------
237
2381. Run Warpin without parameters.
239
2402. Right click on a package you want to de-install and
241select "de-install all packages".
242
2433. Click on OK in the "De-install Packages" window that
244appears.
245
246
247
248=================
249First-time notes:
250=================
251
252Starting FM/2 -- how it works, customizing parameters:
253
254If you start File Manager/2 (filename FM3.EXE) with no
255parameters, it opens the Drive Tree window but no directory
256windows (unless the "Save state of dir windows" toggle is
257checked -- see online help).
258
259File Manager/2 optionally accepts names of directories in
260the parameters field of its program object; it'll open a
261directory window for each one. Hint: If you often do
262different specific things with FM/2, you might set up a WPS
263object customized to start up ideally for each activity. For
264example, if you wanted to maintain your BBS areas, you might
265have one object with parameters like: "D:\BBSDIR
266D:\BBSDIR\MAILIN D:\BBSDIR\MAILOUT", and if you also like to
267use FM/2 to set icons on files, you might have another
268object with parameters like: "E:\MYICONS D:\NEWFILES". The
269State quicklist can also be used for this within FM/2 itself
270-- see online help.
271
272You can exclude drives in the parameters by prefacing the
273drive letter with "/", and there can be more than one drive
274letter behind the "/" (i.e. "/BH" to exclude both drives B:
275and H:). Hint: Many people like to use /B to exclude
276"phantom" drive B: if they have a single-floppy system.
277Similarly, you can cause drives NOT to be prescanned by the
278Drive Tree by prefacing the drive letter with ";", drives
279NOT to load icons for objects by prefacing the drive letter
280with ",", drives NOT to load subjects for objects by
281prefacing the drive letter with "`" and drives NOT to load
282longnames for objects by prefacing the drive letter with
283"'". This can be handy if you have a very slow drive like a
284CD-ROM or Zip drive. FM/2 Lite recognizes these switches,
285too. See also the Drive Flags dialog in FM/2.
286
287If you place the plus sign "+" (alone, separated from
288anything else by spaces) in the parameters, FM/2 will log,
289to FM2.LOG, delete, rename, move and copy operations that
290are performed by drag-and-drop or with the menus. FM/2 Lite
291recognizes this switch, too.
292
293The parameter "-" (alone, separated from anything else by
294spaces) causes FM/2 to ignore, not load or save, the
295previous state of directory windows (see the "Save state of
296dir windows" toggle under Config Menu->Toggles in the online
297help) for that invocation.
298
299You can specify the name of an alternate INI file with
300"-<inifilename>" -- for example: "-C:\FM2\MYINI.INI".
301
302You can also specify the INI file location with the
303environment variable FM2INI -- for example:
304 SET FM2INI=C:\FM2\MYINI.INI.
305
306
307------------------------------
308How to get started using FM/2:
309-----------------------------
310Please read the following sections in the online help when
311you start FM/2 for the first time: "How to use FM/2's Help,"
312"Terminology" and "General Help," then "Hints." A peek at
313the labelled "Window Layouts" pictures would probably be a
314good idea, too. The rest you can browse as you get time/feel
315the need; for instance, if you want to know what a toggle
316does, read the help under Settings notebook for that page
317(each Settings notebook page has its own Help button).
318
319If you prefer hard copy help, print this file, run FM/2,
320press F1, click the "Print" button at the bottom (IBM View)
321or top (Newview)of the help window that appears and then print
322both the "Contents" and "All sections" (keep an eye on the printer,
323after page 100 of "All sections" as the Help Manager will
324begin printing its own help then -- you may want to abort
325printing at that point). Advanced and/or curious users may
326also want to print FM3TOOLS.DAT and ARCHIVER.BB2. Be sure
327you have plenty of paper and ink handy -- the package is
328well documented. You'll probably also want a three-ring
329binder and hole punch to get it bound, as staples aren't
330going through that puppy. You can, of course, print only the
331sections that are of particular interest to you.
332
333Additional documentation:
334------------------------
335 FM3.HLP: FM/2's online help file.
336
337Look in the FM/2 Docs subfolder of the File Manager/2 folder
338for easy access to all documentation.
339
340
341Bonus programs:
342==============
343
344You'll note the extra objects that the Install program
345creates in the FM/2 Tools subfolder of the File Manager/2
346folder. FM/2 is modular, so that you can get directly to
347some of its components without running the entire ball of
348wax. This may allow you to enhance the behavior of some of
349your other applications in the WPS tradition. You don't
350_have_ to keep these around, of course -- FM/2 itself
351contains all their functionality.
352
353ARCHIVE VIEWER/2: Intended for drag-and-drop operation (or
354WPS association) with WPS objects or other applications.
355Drag an archive onto it, drop it, get an archive listing
356box. FM/2's installation program sets up some associations
357between archive files and this program by file extension.
358AV/2 will try to display whatever you give it as
359sensibly as it can. Filename AV2.EXE.
360
361EA VIEWER: Drag a file system object onto it and it'll show
362you the object's extended attributes. Filename EAS.EXE.
363
364INI VIEWER: Drag an .INI file onto it and it'll show you its
365contents. Filename INI.EXE.
366
367BOOKSHELF VIEWER: Shows all .INF files in a listbox and lets
368you pick the one(s) you want to view. If you give any
369command line argument, the .HLP files on the HELP path will
370be shown instead (the Helpfile Viewer object calls
371VIEWINFS.EXE with "dummy" for an argument, for example).
372Filename VIEWINFS.EXE.
373
374PROCESS KILLER: Lets you kill off renegade processes. An
375English version of PSTAT.EXE must be on your PATH. Filename
376KILLPROC.EXE.
377
378UNDELETER: Lets you undelete files (via interface with
379UNDELETE.COM). Drag a file system object onto it and it'll
380let you undelete files for that drive. Filename UNDEL.EXE.
381
382VISUAL TREE: Opens a Drive Tree window (like the WPS Drives
383object with more horsepower). Filename VTREE.EXE.
384
385VISUAL DIRECTORY: Opens a Directory Container window; drag a
386file system object onto it and this will open its directory
387(like a WPS directory Folder with more horsepower). Filename
388VDIR.EXE.
389
390COLLECTOR: Opens a Collector window. Filename VCOLLECT.EXE.
391Two other objects, "See all files" and "Seek and scan" are
392created which call up the Collector and go directly to
393dialogs for the appropriate purpose.
394
395GLOBAL VIEWER: Opens a global view of a drive or drives.
396Filename GLOBAL.EXE.
397
398DATABAR: Opens a databar showing some system information.
399Filename DATABAR.EXE.
400
401DIRSIZE: Shows where drive usage is concentrated. Filename
402DIRSIZE.EXE.
403
404FM/2 LITE: A simplified interface for "dummies." Filename
405FM4.EXE.
406
407FM/2's install creates FM2.CMD, AV2.CMD, VDIR.CMD,
408VTREE.CMD, VCOLLECT.CMD, UNDEL.CMD, KILLPROC.CMD, INI.CMD,
409EAS.CMD, DIRSIZE.CMD, VIEWINFS.CMD and VIEWHELP.CMD files
410for you in a directory "utils" off the install directory.
411You should add this directory to your PATH= statement in
412CONFIG.SYS (type HELP PATH at a command line for more info).
413If you prefer, FM/2's INSTALL builds a SETENV.CMD in the
414FM/2 directory which you can call to set the PATH for FM/2
415in any given session without modifying CONFIG.SYS.
416
417
418Troubleshooting:
419===============
420
421FM/2 seems much slower than previous versions.
422The Find Buffer in FM/2 has been reworked to make it user
423settable in more place and significantly enlarge it. This
424significantly increases the loading speed for large directories
425However, most users will need to reset the buffer by going
426to the settings notebook scanning page and setting FindBuf.
427The new default for clean installs is 10240. We recommend you
428change to this setting (or higher) unless you have very limited
429hardware (less than 32 meg of memory original Pentium or earlier).
430
431If FM/2 won't run, the probable culprit is CONFIG.SYS. Your
432LIBPATH statement should contain a ".;" entry. If yours
433doesn't, add it. It's standard for an OS/2 installation, but
434some buggy install programs knock it out because they
435translate entries to their full pathname before rewriting
436(so ".;" gets translated to whatever the current directory
437is for the buggy install program). What this ".;" entry does
438is allow a program to find and use .DLL files in the
439program's current directory -- obviously something you want
440programs to be able to do, otherwise you'd have to put every
441application's .DLLs into directories already on the LIBPATH,
442or add the directories of all applications to the LIBPATH, a
443rather huge pain in the, uh, neck.
444
445If things in FM/2 are suddenly acting strange after an
446upgrade, first check the integrity of the install using
447using WarpIN. If it shows a problem rerun the install
448package. If that fails try installing to a new directory
449or backup your existing directory so you can save any changes
450you made to the template files then uninstall and reinstall.
451Once you have FM/2 working migrate the *.ini, *.dat, *.tls,
452*.bb2 and *.cmd from your old install/backup to recover your
453custom settings
454
455If the "FM/2 Online Help" object in the "FM/2 Docs"
456subfolder won't work properly, you've got a version of
457VIEW.EXE that won't directly display help (.HLP) files. Use
458SEEHELP.EXE from the FM/2 Utilities package to get around
459this problem (or upgrade your version of OS/2).
460
461Don't drag files over Netscape -- it will lock up if files
462(not WPS objects; there's a subtle difference) are dragged
463over it.
464
465If you get a popup dialog that needs to be reported to the
466maintainer, you can either take a screen shot or you can
467capture the information from STDERR with:
468
469 FM3 2>STDERR.LOG
470
471This technique works for all the FM/2, FM/2 Lite and all the
472standalone applets.
473
474If you are having trouble with Drag and Drop operations, try
475the + command line switch described above. The content of
476FM2.LOG may be helpful.
477
478
479Known problems/shortcomings:
480===========================
481
482- FM/2 does not properly report sizes of some files with
483long name resident on Win95/NT drives.
484
485- File List Container fails to fill after drive change
486SYS0039 error.
487
488- Tree switching on Focus/Directory Change appears to be
489slower than expected.
490
491- Access to LS120 and FAT32 drives may be slower than expected
492
493- Icon display in Directory Container does not always match
494WPS icons
495
496- Spurious WPS Objects Handles may be created during some
497operations
498
499- Trying to run Global.exe from the command line in 4OS2
500(perhaps other shells) results in the execution of 4OS2's "Global"
501command. Global.exe can be run by placing it in quotes or
502prefixing it with *. See 4OS2's documentation for more information.
503
504- As with any OS/2 program significant changes (such as our
505change to OpenWatcom) will result in the incompatibility of
506older (VAC) exes with new dlls and vice versa. Attempting to run
507OpenWatcom exes with a VAC dll loaded in memory or in your
508libpath ahead of the new version will result in a SYS3175 in
509popuplog.os2. The reverse gives a SYS2070. If you experience these
510problems search your libpath for fm3dll.dll and remove or rename
511it. Your libpath should have "." (without the quotes) as your
512first entry to minimize the likelihood of this problem. FM/2's
513installer does not add the FM/2 directory to the libpath.
514
515- See http://svn.netlabs.org/fm2/report/1 for a complete list of
516currently active bugs
517
518
519
520About FM/2:
521==========
522
523FM/2 was originally written by:
524
525 Mark Kimes
526 <hectorplasmic@worldnet.att.net>
527
528He has kindly allowed me to take over maintenance and
529support of FM/2 and to release the program under the GNU GPL
530license. I'm sure he would appreciate a Thank You note for
531his generosity.
532
533Support:
534=======
535
536There is a Yahoo group devoted to fm/2 at:
537
538 http://groups.yahoo.com/group/fm2user/
539
540You will find lots of friendly folks ready to help.
541
542FM/2 is moving to Netlabs (thanks Adrian).
543
544Check it out at
545
546 http://svn.netlabs.org/fm2
547
548Not everything is in place yet, but this is the place to
549enter defect tickets and enhancement requests (username netlabs,
550password guest; please include a valid email so we can contact you
551if we need more information). Eventually, the mailing list and the
552file archives will all move to the Netlabs server where you can
553find the source code.
554
555You can reach us directly at:
556
557 Steven H. Levine
558 steve53@earthlink.net
559
560 or
561
562 Gregg Young
563 ygk@qwest.net
564
565We also monitor the comp.os.os2.apps newsgroup and several
566others in the comp.os.os2.* hierarchy.
567
568Thanks and enjoy.
569
570$Id: README 1149 2008-09-01 22:27:45Z jbs $
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