ReadMe file for FileAid version 1.06 (07-Mar-1992)
by Stuart McDonald

This application is a desktop program which eases
various file operations.

Its previous name was "FileUtils"; however there
exists a large number of programs with this name and
so the application name has been changed.

When run, FileAid installs the following icons on
the icon bar:

DustBin
ScreenSaver
FileUtils

Their purposes are as follows:

DustBin : drag any file(s) and/or directories here,
          individually or in groups.  They will be
          erased from the filing system.

          NB This DustBin works in a manner
             different from that of other bins: it
             does not store the deleted files; hence
             they cannot be retrieved after deletion
             except by the use of a sector editor.
             Also, no confirmation is requested upon
             dragging objects.  Therefore you should
             take great care when using this utility
             since it wipes files even if they are
             locked.

ScreenSaver : Click upon this icon with SELECT or
              ADJUST to enter the screensaver mode.
              This blanks the screen until the mouse
              is clicked or either ESC or the space
              bar are pressed.

              By default, Display is ticked on the
              ScreenSaver menu (accessed by pressing
              MENU on the ScreenSaver icon).  This
              causes a simple animation of dots to
              be run while the screen is blanked.
              If Display is unticked then the screen
              will remain blank when the icon is
              clicked.

              The animation, if running, will
              attempt to create two screen banks in
              mode 13.  Failing this it will try two
              mode 0 banks, and failing that will
              temporarily disable the animation.
              Hence screensaving from mode 12 will
              use monochrome animation; from mode 15
              will start a colour display, etc.

FileUtils : this has two purposes.  The first, Set
            Directory..., is available from the menu
            (click MENU on the FileUtils icon).
            In the Set Directory dialogue box (move
            over the menu option) there is a
            directory icon.  Drag this to a
            directory window in order to set the
            directory; the filename icon will be
            updated to reflect this.

            The second option, File actions...,
            leads to a submenu with three choices.
            Each can be chosen (ticked/unticked)
            independantly.

            Access... leads to an access dialogue
            box.  This contains six access
            attributes which can be assigned to any
            files.  Click SELECT or ADJUST on a box
            to toggle the "set" state.  All of these
            attributes affect files; the Locked and
            Private options affect directories.

            NB do not use the Private option on
               filing systems which do not support
               it; it will produce an error.  Econet
               supports it, but I know of no others.

            Set type... leads to a filetype dialogue
            box.  Enter an uppercase hexadecimal
            filetype number in the first icon, or
            a textual filetype name in the second
            icon (this is case insensitive) and the
            other icons will be updated to reflect
            this.  The sprite icon at the right
            shows the filetype icon.

            Date stamp can be ticked or unticked.

            When one or more files and/or
            directories are dragged to the FileUtils
            icon, they will be affected by the
            options chosen in the File actions...
            menu.  Any or all of these options can
            be applied on the files.  They are:

            Access... : If ticked, this will set
                        the access attributes of the
                        file, as selected in the
                        dialogue box.  All
                        attributes apply to files;
                        L and P apply to
                        directories.

            Set type... : If ticked, this will set
                          the type of the file.
                          Directories are unchanged.

            Date stamp : If ticked, this will date-
                         stamp the file.
                         Directories are unchanged.

Both DustBin and FileUtils provide recursive action
on the files: that is, directories which are dragged
to the icons will be processed themselves, and then
their contents will be processed.  If at least one
of these is itself a directory, the process will
continue to a maximum depth of around ten directory
levels.

Each of the icons has an icon bar menu (produced by
clicking MENU on the icon) which, along with any
options already mentioned, provides Info and Quit
options.  Info is self-explanatory; Quit is a little
unusual.  The three icons are provided by a single
program; hence quitting an icon doesn't release any
memory.  However, if the icon bar is filling up, or
if you don't need DustBin and don't want to use it
by mistake, being able to remove an icon can be
useful.  If all three icons are removed, or if
Quit is chosen from the Task Display window for this
application, the program will quit and release the
memory.

Known Bugs / Problems :

1) The Set Directory dialogue box's pathname icon
   can be wiped by pressing Ctrl-U.  This isn't
   really a bug, but can be annoying.

2) The animation from the screensaver is slow and
   not very impressive.  I'll correct this when
   I've got more experience with ARM code!

3) If a group of files is dragged to the icons,
   the hourglass doesn't work properly.  This
   is because, although the system takes a while
   to process them all, each one takes only a
   short time and so the hourglass vanishes very
   quickly.  This doesn't occur with a single
   directory which contains subdirectories.

4) ESC doesn't stop the file actions.  As long
   as you're careful in the first place, this
   doesn't matter; if you find yourself doing
   something by accident and you really don't
   want to go ahead, you can reset the machine.
   Not recommended since you'll be writing to
   the disc, so the answer is to be very careful
   and especially so with DustBin.

5) It takes a lot of memory!

If you have any comments/suggestions/tips/
improvements, please write to me at the
following address:

Stuart McDonald
"Maple House"
1, Bursledon Road
Hedge End
Southampton
SO3 4BP
ENGLAND

This program is PD; see the Legal file for
more information on that side of things.

A detailed history of the program can be
found at the beginning of the RunImage
listing.




  As they always say, if this scrolled by too quickly for
  you, load Edit and try again.  Or, I suppose, you could
  learn to read very, very quickly.



