Temp-Bin
by Chris Bell

'Temp-Bin' provides a quick and convenient means for saving your working
files without having to open any filer directories. It also provides a safer
means of discarding unwanted files than deletion.

The 'Temp' and 'Bin' icons sit on the icon bar next to your disc-drives. You
can drop files, directories and applications on them directly. Their states
indicate whether or not they have anything in them.

The Temp and Bin directories can be opened by clicking on the icons with
Shift or Adjust but, to save confusion, only one of them can be open at a
time. They always open, or reopen, in the same screen positions, making them
easy to recover should they get hidden under a window.

You can manipulate any of the files that have been stored in these
directories in all the usual ways (eg. move, copy, delete, access, etc).


The Temp directory - Saving, Copying and Moving files
-----------------------------------------------------
Just drag a file, directory or application from any directory and drop it on
the Temp icon to copy or save it. Or press Shift at the same time in order to
move it out of its original directory.

You may also save files in Temp from the Save boxes of applications in the
same manner, and can copy or move files to Temp from the Bin directory.


The Bin - Discarding files
--------------------------
Drop a file on the Bin icon to discard, or bin it. Binned files appear to be
deleted but can be retrieved later if you change your mind.

You may also bin files from the Temp directory in the same manner.


Sub-directories
---------------
There is no danger of overwriting previously saved or binned files with more
recent ones. Instead, old files in Temp are moved to the safety of the Bin
and old ones in the Bin are moved into a sub-directory inside it.

As further similarly-named files are saved or binned, older ones are moved
progressively down a series of further Bin sub-directories. These are named
~BIN1, ~BIN2, etc. and can be opened and manipulated as usual:

      ~TEMP  >  ~BIN0  >  ~BIN1  >  ~BIN2  >  ~BIN3  >  etc.

The most recently saved or binned version of a file will always be found in
Temp (~TEMP) or in the top level of the Bin (~BIN0), these being the
directories which are opened when you click on the icons.


The difference between Temp and Bin
-----------------------------------
The differences between dropping a file on Temp and dropping it on Bin are as
follows:

Temp copies the file - the original is not deleted unless Shift is pressed at
the same time. This is exactly the same as dropping a file into a Filer
directory window.

Bin moves the file and date-stamps it, and the original is always deleted.

Files in both Temp and Bin are moved down exactly the same sub-directory
structure and can be retieved from it in exactly the same way.


Eventual deletion of files
--------------------------
The oldest version of a file is only finally deleted when no further
sub-directories are available, and you can choose to be warned whenever this
is about to happen. Thus using Temp-Bin for all your discards should prevent
you from ever losing a valuable file by accident again!

If a Bin sub-directory is full, Temp-Bin will overcome this by moving 2/3 of
its contents into the next sub-directory, having first made more room by
deleting the contents of the deepest one. You will be warned before this
happens if you have chosen this option.

You will always be warned if a save to the Temp directory fails because it is
already full. 


Automatic cleaning-out of the Bin
---------------------------------
To prevent your hard-disc from slowly filling up with binned files, you can
choose to have it cleaned-out every so often. The default is to remove files
that have been binned for more than 14 days, but you can alter this if you
like.


Icon bar menu
-------------
This is opened by clicking on either icon with Menu. 'Info', 'Help...' and
'Quit' perform their usual functions, the other entries being as follows:

'Open Temp' and 'Open Bin'
These open the Temp and Bin directories at the top level in exactly the same
manner as clicking on the icons with Select or Adjust.

'Count'
This reports the number of files in Temp and the Bin and their total size.

'Bin' leads to the following sub-menu:

   'Clean'
   The Bin is normally cleaned once every 24 hours, but clicking on this
   option will clean it immediately. You will be asked for confirmation
   first.

   'Shift'
   Clicking on this option will move every sub-directory down one level,
   leaving ~BIN0 empty - this will make it easier to identify recently
   binned files. You will asked to confirm this option since the
   contents of the deepest sub-directory will be lost.

   'Empty'
   This allows you to empty the Bin and all its sub-directories,
   retaining just the files in the Temp directory. As this action is
   irreversible, the Bin will be opened for you to see what will be lost
   and you will be asked to confirm your wishes.

   'Choices'
   You can change the following 3 options. Once selected, they become
   effective immediately and will be remembered by Temp-Bin for use next
   time:

      'No. of sub-dirs.'
      There are 5 Bin sub-directories by default, numbered consecutively
      from ~BIN1 to ~BIN5. However you can choose to have more or less
      than this up to a maximum of 10 by altering the number shown in this
      entry. (If you reduce the number, you will be asked for
      confirmation before the unwanted ones are deleted.)

      'Auto clean'
      The Bin will be cleaned-out once a day if you enter a number greater
      than 0 (up to a maximum of 365). Files which were binned more than
      that number of days ago will then be removed, and you will be warned
      beforehand if the next option has also been selected. You can
      toggle this feature on and off by clicking on 'Auto clean', or you
      can inhibit it altogether by entering '0' - in both these cases your
      Bin will then slowly get fuller as you continue to use Temp-Bin.

      'Warn of deletions'
      Select this option if you want to be warned whenever an old binned
      file is about to be permanently deleted. This can happen when the
      'Auto clean' option is active. It can also happen when saving or
      binning a file would result in the deletion of an old file from the
      deepest sub-directory (ie. when you have binned so many files with
      the same name that every sub-directory is in use and the oldest file
      needs to be deleted to make room for the new one).


Notes
-----
1. A few applications (eg Voyager Email) do not support data transfer to the
icon bar and offer no warning when a save of this type fails.  Therefore it
would be wise to check that all of your applications will save to Temp before
relying on it.

2. Files are re-datestamped as they are binned so that Temp-Bin can tell how
long they have been there.

3. If selected, auto clean-out occurs immediately, and then at 24 hour
intervals thereafter.

4. Temp-Bin updates its icons every 5 seconds in case you manipulate files in
the Temp and Bin directories directly.

5. <Temp$Dir> is the system variable which points to your Temp directory and
may be used as the pathname for automatic saves from other applications.
However older files with the same name will NOT be moved into the Bin if you
use it in this manner.

6. A simple solution to the problem of Bin sub-directories becoming full
would be for Temp-Bin to use archives, as these have no restrictions on how
many files they can contain. However this hasn't been implemented as it would
require an archiver (eg. SparkFS) to always be present and loaded. 

Copyright  RISC User 1999
