On this page you will find enhancements, features and fixes on programs written by Jamal Mazrui.
File Dir:
Text Pal:
February 21, 2007
Copyright 2006 - 2007 by Jamal Mazrui
Contents
Installation
Introduction
Edit Commands
Find Commands
Go to Commands
Navigate Commands
Query Commands
Tag Commands
Transfer Commands
Miscellaneous Commands
Hot Key Summary
Development Notes
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Installation
The installation program for FileDir is called dirsetup.exe. When executed, it prompts for a program folder, the default being
C:\Program Files\FileDir
The installer also creates a program group for FileDir on the Windows start menu, containing choices to launch FileDir, read Documentation, and uninstall. Additional choices either set or clear an association between FileDir and folders or the .zip extension when opened by other programs. This setting also causes FileDir to opan a view of a zip archive after downloading it with Internet Explorer and choosing the Open button from the "Download Complete" dialog.
The FileDir installer creates a desktop shortcut with a hot key, enabling the program to be conveniently launched by pressing Alt+Control+F. If this hot key happens to conflict with an existing one, navigate to the FileDir item on the desktop, press Alt+Enter for properties, and then change the hot key to something else (or leave it blank).
The FileDir setup program checks whether the required .NET Framework 2.0 is already installed, and if not, lets you conveniently do so. After installing FileDir, the setup program presents a list of two checkboxes that are on by default. The first checkbox offers an an optional set of JAWS scripts to fine tune the FileDir speech interface in a few ways that could not be accomplished otherwise. Mainly, these scripts suppress the often unnecessary verbalization of keystroke names, such as "Shift S," leaving just the command name if appropriate, such as "Size." If the scripts were installed and you would later prefer default JAWS behavior instead, however, you can do this by pressing Insert+0 when FileDir is active, and then down arrowing to the following line:
;SwitchToConfiguration("default")
Delete the initial semicolon character (;), which uncomments the code, and then press Control+S to save and recompile the scripts. Press Alt+F4 to exit JAWS script manager.
If you prefer not to install the JAWS scripts in the first place, e.g., because you are a Window-Eyes or HAL user, press Spacebar to uncheck that option of the setup program. The second checkbox in the list, available via DownArrow, offers FileDir documentation in the default web browser (usually Internet Explorer).
FileDir may be safely installed over previous versions. The About option from the Help menu, or Alt+F1 key, indicates the current version number and release date. The Change History option, Shift+F1, summarizes fixes and improvements over time.
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Introduction
FileDir is a file and directory manager developed in the C# language, which requires the .NET Framework 2.0 to run -- a free Microsoft download from
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=0856eacb-4362-4b0d-8edd-aab15c5e04f5&displaylang=en
FileDir is designed to be a powerful, efficient, and convenient alternative to Windows Explorer or My Computer for managing files and folders on a Windows-based computer. Almost every command can be done through a mnemonic keystroke, as well as a menu or mouse operation. These commands begin with those available in Windows Explorer. FileDir then adds several beneficial features above this base command set. Finally, a set of optional JAWS scripts provide further fine tuning of the speech interface.
Since the number of possible FileDir commands is large, involving nearly every letter and several punctuation keys, some organizing concepts, explained below, help the learning curve.
The standard environment of FileDir is a view of items in a particular folder of the computer's file system. The title of the window says "FileDir" followed by the path and name of the folder being viewed. Below the title bar is a list of items contained in the folder, one item per line, folder items first, then file items after. The date and time of the current item, its size, the sort order, and filter specification (if any) are displayed on the status line. This may be reviewed with Alt+Z or a screen reader-specific command such as Insert+PageDown in JAWS. Note that the size of a folder item will be -1 until a Size or Yield query causes it to be calculated (by recursively summing the sizes of all contained files and subfolders). On the status line, the size is expressed in an abbreviated manner using K for kilobytes, M for megabytes, or G for gigabytes.
At any time, a single file or folder item has keyboard focus, which may be called the current item -- the location of the PC cursor in Jaws terminology. At any time, zero or more items may be tagged, that is, marked in a way that makes them available for further action by commands that can act on multiple items at once. Note that the focused or current item may not be tagged: focus and tagged state are independent. To remind you that a command may affect multiple, tagged files, the word "tagged" is included as part of its menu name. Conversely, command names without this word apply regardless of tagged state, e.g., to the focused item only, or independent of focus and tagged state.
FileDir implements the list of items as a standard Windows ListBox control. This means, for example, that the up and down arrow keys navigate through the list, and the Home and End keys move focus to the top and bottom of the list, respectively.
Navigation by initial character is another ListBox behavior. Pressing the letter "b," for example, will move focus to the next file or folder item with a name starting with that letter. Pressing multiple letters quickly, however, does not move to the next item starting with that sequence.
Since initial letter navigation works the same whether lower or upper case letters are used, the upper case or shifted versions are used by FileDir to add features through hot keys. For example, the Shift+C hot key lets you copy files to another folder without using the more involved "copy and paste" method of Windows Explorer (though similar functionality is also supported by FileDir). Since you can type a lower case "c" to jump to a file that starts with either the lower or upper case form of that letter, FileDir's use of Shift+C means an extra capability without loss of functionality.
This command needs more information to complete the copy operation, so it prompts for a target folder. It remembers the previous input, if any, which can be accepted by simply pressing Enter. To provide another value instead, type it, replacing other text, and press Enter to activate the default, OK button. You can also pick a folder from a standard tree control by activating the Browse button.
If no items are tagged, the command assumes you want to process the current, focused item. With one ore more tagged items, the command performs a batch operation. If you want to verify what files are tagged before copying, use the Shift+L hot key to list tagged items. Use Shift+Space instead to say either the tagged items, or the current item if there are no tags.
A > symbol following an item indicates that it is tagged (putting this symbol after rather than before preserves initial letter navigation in the ListBox. The > symbol is also the key (Shift+Period) to tag an item and automatically move to the next one in the list. The < symbol untags and also moves ahead, thereby allowing you to efficiently go through a directory list and selectively tag items. This tagging approach has benefits over selection in Windows Explorer, e.g., tags are not lost by an accidental key press that moves focus.
FileDir uses a "Multiple Document Interface" (MDI), so any number of directory views may be opened, cycled among with Control+Tab, or closed with Control+F4. It is also a "single instance" application, so the desktop shortcut key, Alt+Control+F, activates the same program when FileDir is found in memory, rather than opening a new copy.
Some commands differ in whether they open a new window ore re-use the existing one. Commands with "Go to" in the name re-use the existing window, whereas "Open" commands start a new one.
Extra speech is provided through the APIs of JAWS or Window-Eyes. These are intended to be comprehensible chunks of targeted information. For example, pressing Shift+Y gives the "yield" or count and combined size of tagged folder and file items in the current directory view. Speech of this nature can be efficient for screen reader users as opposed to, say, a message box that generates additional screen reader speech describing the dialog, and then has to be dismissed with another key, triggering more screen reader speech.
Typically, a key combination using Alt or Control rather than Shift performs another variation of the command. For example, Shift+L lists all tagged items, Control+L lists all items regardless of tagged state, and Alt+L lists all files, but not folders.
FileDir commands often include verbal confirmation during execution, e.g., announcing the name of each file before a copy attempt and the message "Done!" after batch processing is complete.
FileDir initially opens the Personal/My Documents folder when launched with no command line parameters. If a folder is passed as a parameter, however, that folder is opened instead. In subsequent sessions, FileDir remembers the last directory viewed, including its sort order and filter specification. It remembers other values from the previous session as well, including those for the Copy, Find in Files, FTP, Go To, Jump, Keywords, Move, Open, Unzip, and Zip commands.
The default sort order is reverse date/time, meaning that most recently modified items appear first. All folder items, however, appear before any file items. FileDir applies the current sort order and filter specification when creating a new directory view.
Since there are numerous FileDir commands beyond those in Windows Explorer, learning the software may seem daunting at first. Getting started is not hard, however, since FileDir works similarly to Windows Explorer. You can then learn additional commands according to your time and needs. Remember that you can review this documentation at any time by pressing F1. You can also get a summary list of commands by pressing Alt+Shift+H for a hot key summary. If you have trouble remembering the key or menu associated with a command, try the Alternate Menu command, Alt+F10, which lets you pick a command from a complete, alphabetized list.
FileDir commands can be subdivided into several categories, related to the following conceptual labels: edit, find, go to, navigate, query, select, transfer, and miscellaneous. You can edit file attributes, find items by textual match, go to different folders, navigate among items in a folder, tag files for further action, transfer them to various places, and do other, miscellaneous tasks. The sections below explain these categories.
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Edit Commands
Edit commands change the content, name, or other attribute of an item. Press Alt+Enter for the standard Properties dialog, like in Windows Explorer.
Press Control+W to load the current file into a word processor. Microsoft Word is the default, but a different one may be configured with the Options command, Alt+O. Press Control+T to open it in a text editor instead, the configurable default being TextPal, available at
http://www.EmpowermentZone.com/palsetup.exe
If another word processor or text editor is to be used, its full path may need to be specified if the executable is not located on the Windows search path. Such configuration options may also be manually edited, since they are stored in a standard .ini file, FileDir.ini, located in the FileDir program folder.
The Rename command, Shift+R or F2, lets you edit the name of the current file or folder item. Control+R lets you rename multiple items using the * and ? wildcard characters. A DOS command is used behind the scenes to accomplish this, so all items in the current directory are processed -- regardless of their tagged state within FileDir. You can use Control+Shift+R to rename tagged items based on "regular expressions" -- a powerful but complex syntax that is beyond the scope of this documentation.
Like the greater than symbol meaning tag, special symbols are associated with folder and file attributes. A backslash symbol after an item indicates that it is a folder rather than a file. A right parenthesis after a list item means that the Hidden attribute is set. As a memory aid, you may think of parenthesis hiding something from full view. The RightParen key, Shift+0, sets the Hidden attribute of the current or tagged items. The LeftParen key does the reverse, removing the Hidden attribute. Similarly, the right bracket symbol means that an item has the ReadOnly attribute set. You may think of a bracket protecting something from being modified. The LeftBracket key removes the ReadOnly attribute. Finally, the right brace symbol means the System attribute is set. You may think of a brace as a character used in programming systems. The LeftBrace key removes the System attribute.
Press Exclamation Point (! or Shift+5) to stamp the current or tagged items with a different modification date and time. FileDir prompts for numeric values for the year, month, day, hour, minute, and second, defaulting to those of the current file or folder item.
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Find Commands
Find commands search for an item by a string of characters in the name or body. Press Alt+Shift+F to find a file anywhere in the current folder or subfolders based on text it contains and/or a wild card pattern. For example, you could search for the term "strategic plan" in each file with a name matching the minutes*.doc specification (meaning a name that has minuttes at the beginning and .doc at the end). FileDir will present a list of files that match the wild card pattern. Use arrow key or initial letter navigation to focus on the item of interest. Pressing Enter will then go to the folder containing that item and place focus on it.
Press Control+J to jump to an item within the current folder, based on a sequence of characters (no wildcards) appearing somewhere within its name. The command also recognizes symbols associated with file attributes. Thus, you can jump to a ReadOnly file by entering a single ] character as the search string. A [ would find the next item without the ReadOnly attribute set. Using the Jump Again command, Alt+J, you can efficiently hop from one match to the next.
The Control+K command searches for a keyword inside the body of a file. The command supports multiple conditions. Use the vertical bar character (|) to separate words or phrases where any one of those terms can produce a match. Use the ampersand character (&) as a seperater where all terms must match. For example, entering "C#|Visual Basic" would match files containing either language, whereas "C#&Visual Basic" would require both to match. Press Alt+K to hop to the next matching file.
Press Control+F to filter files in the current folder to a restricted view of those matching a wild card pattern. You can separate multiple patterns with the vertical bar (|) character, meaning the pattern can match alternate conditions, e.g., "*.doc|*.rtf" for files in either Word or Rich Text Format. Press Control+Shift+F to remove any filter and make all items available in the view.
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Go to Commands
Go to commands change the FileDir view to another folder. Press Control+G for a dialog in which you can accept a previous path, enter a new one, or choose from a tree view control. Control+O works similarly except that a new window is opened rather than the existing one being reused. Press Control+Shift+O to open a folder from a list of those with special names designated by Windows, e.g., My Documents or Start Up.
Press Alt+Shift+O to open a drive in a new window. FileDir presents a list of all available drives, and then activates a view of the one chosen in the directory that Windows considers to be the current one on that drive. Press Alt plus a digit between 1 and 9 to quickly open the drive whose letter is in that numeric position of the alphabet. For example, Alt+1 opens Drive A, and Alt+3 opens Drive C.
There are a few pairs of Open and Go To commands. Open commands preserve the current directory view, including its tagged states, and activate a different directory view in another window. Go To commands reuse the current window, instead, for another directory view. In the following pairs of commands, the shifted version is a Go To command, requiring more conscious effort due to a more destructive nature, since it discards the current directory view. This difference is similar to how Shift+Delete is more destructive then Delete, since the shifted version does not permit recovery from the recycle bin. Enter opens a subfolder whereas Shift+Enter goes to it. Backspace opens the parent folder whereas Shift+Backspace goes to it. Backslash opens the root folder of the current drive whereas Shift+Backslash goes to it. As before, FileDir checks if a view of the target directory already exists, and if so, activates that window rather than creating another for the same directory.
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End of Document
Press backslash (\) to go to the root level of the current drive. Press comma (,) or Backspace to "come up" a level in the folder tree, going to the parent of the previous folder. Press the Period (.) or F5 key to refresh the current folder. This may be needed if items on disk were changed in a way that FileDir does not automatically track.
When the current item is a folder, pressing Enter goes to it. When it is a zip archive, FileDir presents a view of the contained items that is similar to a directory view.
The Quick Links feature efficiently opens favorite files, folders, or URLs. Press Shift+Q to add a quick link for the current item. A standard Windows shortcut (.lnk file) will be created in the Quick subfolder of the FileDir program folder. FileDir lets yu rename the shortcut before creating it.
Use the Quick URL command, Alt+Shift+Q, to create a quick link to an Internet resource. FileDir prompts for the name and URL, and then creates a standard .url file in the Quick folder. If Internet Explorer is open, FileDir attempts to get default values for the name and URL based on the title and address of the web page last opened. For this to work, the Address Bar setting should be checked on the View menu of Internet Explorer. Sometimes, FileDir cannot retrieve the values anyway, so you need to manually type or paste them into the edit boxes.
Press Control+Q to open the Quick folder at any time -- or the grave accent key (`) at the far left of the numeric row, which may be an easier key to press (U.S. keyboard). You can navigate the Quick folder like any other. Press Enter to execute a quick link. Press Alt+Enter to review or modify the settings of a .lnk file. a .url file is editable text in the standard .ini format.
Alt+R lists recent shortcuts, which may be files or folders for which Windows has created a shortcut in the Recent special folder. They are listed in reverse chronological order -- most recent first and a maximum of 100. Choose an item from this standard listbox to open it.
Nine commands on the Window menu let you quickly open or go to an existing view on a drive. Drives A through I are associated with the digits 1 through 9. For example, press Alt+1 to go to Drive A or Alt+3 to go to Drive C.
In general, FileDir checks if you are trying to open a folder that already has an open window. If so, it says "Returning and activates that window rather than creating a new one. Press F4 to pick one of the currently open windows from a standard ListBox. Alternatively, Control+Tab or Alt+RightArrow activates the next open window, and Control+Shift+Tab or Alt+LeftArrow activates the previous one. Press Shift+W or Alt+NumPad5 to hear the titles of all open windows.
As you type in the edit box for specifying a folder, it guesses the input desired based on existing paths -- similar to how Internet Explorer guesses URLS as you type. If the path you ultimately entered is not found on disk, the dialog prompts whether to create it. This makes it convenient to copy, move, or unzip files to a new folder with a single command.
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Navigate Commands
Navigate commands change the focus within a folder, based on a fixed increment or boundary. Press Home to navigate to the beginning or first item, or End for the end or last one. If the current folder contains subfolders, then the beginning item will be a folder since they always appear before files. Press Alt+B to go to the beginning file, skipping over folder items before it.
A group of shifted letter keys navigate similarly within the set of tagged items: Shift+B for Beginning tagged, Shift+E for End tagged, Shift+N for Next tagged, and Shift+P for Previous tagged (if any). These commands let you review or inspect the subset of tagged items. Shift+L also may be useful to list all tagged items.
Press Shift+I for Initial Change, which jumps to the next item that starts with a different letter. Similarly, press Shift+X for Extension Change, which jumps to the next file with a different extension. These commands are most useful when the sort order is by alpha/name or extension.
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Query Commands
Query commands announce aspects of the current environment via speech output. Press Shift+W (or Alt+NumPad5) to hear the titles of all FileDir windows currently open.
Press Apostrophe for the name of the current file or folder item, as well as its tagged state if set. Press Shift+Apostrophe for the name of the parent folder containing the current item. Press Control+Apostrophe for the path of the parent folder.
For example, if the current item is the file whose path is
C:\Temp\Calendar.doc
Pressing Apostrophe says
Calendar.doc
whereas Shift+Apostrophe says
Temp
and Control+Apostrophe says
C:\temp
Press Alt+P to confirm the complete path
C:\temp\Calendar.doc
Press Alt+Semicolon to query the current time and date. Press Alt+Apostrophe to hear text currently on the clipboard (You may think of this as quoting the clipboard). Press Question Mark (?) for the What command, which verbalizes the textual content of the current file item, or lists items contained in a folder item or zip archive. For technical reasons, the command reads a maximum of about 20K from a file.
Press Shift+S for the size of the current file or folder item. Press Shift+D for its date and time stamp. Press Shift+T for Type, which provides miscellaneous information, including the file type and ReadOnly, Hidden, or System attributes set (if any).
Press Control+L to list all items in the current folder, or Shift+L for those tagged. Press Alt+L to list files but not folders.
Press Y for the yield, or count and combined size, of items in the current folder. Press Shift+Y for those tagged or Alt+Y for files only. Press Control+Shift+Y for the total size and free space on the current drive. Press Alt+Shift+Y for operating system information, including the Windows version, physical memory, and virtual memory.
Press % (Shift+5) for the Percent Through command, which indicates the relative position of the current item in the list, e.g., "6 of 20 items, 30% through." If you are sequentially examining the files in a folder or ZIP archive, this gives you a sense of how much is done and what remains. Use the Filter Query command, Star (Shift+8), to quickly check the current sort order and filter specification.
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Tag Commands
Tag commands increase or decrease the subset of items that are marked for further action by actions that can operate on multiple items at once. Press Control+A to tag all file and folder items, or Control+Shift+A to clear all tags. Press Alt+Period (associated with the grater than symbol) to select all files but not folders. Press Alt+Comma to untag all items except the current one. Press Control+I to invert all tagged states, untagging items that were tagged and vice versa. Press Spacebar to toggle the tagged state of the current item. Press semicolon (;) to tag the current item regardless of its previous state, or ForwardSlash (/) to untag it.
To navigate and make tag decisions together, use the GreaterThan key (Shift+.) to tag and go to the next item, or the LessThan key (Shift+,) to untag instead. Alternatively, use arrow keypad commands similar to Windows Explorer. For example, press Shift+DownArrow for Tag and Next, or Shift+UpArrow for Tag and Previous. Press Shift+End for Tag to Bottom, or Shift+Home for Tag to Top. Shift+NumPad5 tags the current item.
Adding the Alt modifier key performs the same actions except for untagging rather than tagging. Thus, Alt+Shift+NumPad5 untags the current item, Alt+Shift+Home untags to the top of the list, Alt+Shift+End untags to the bottom, Alt+Shift+DownArrow untags en route to the next, and Alt+Shift+UpArrow untags en route to the previous.
Other arrow keypad actions duplicate home row commands for navigating among tagged items. Control+Home goes to the Beginning Tagged item, like Shift+B, and Control+End goes to the End one, like Shift+E. Control+DownArrow goes to the Next Tagged item, like Shift+N, and Control+UpArrow goes to the previous one, like Shift+P.
Press Control+S to save tags in the current directory view, and Control+Shift+S to restore them. This could be useful if you need to temporarily change which items are tagged.
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Transfer Commands
Transfer commands take action on a whole item, copying or moving it to another folder, the clipboard, printer, or recycle bin. Press Shift+C to copy, Shift+M to move, or the Delete key to delete. The Recycle Toggle, Alt+Shift+R, determines whether deleted files or folders are moved to the recycle bin. The initial setting is On, and then FileDir remembers the value between sessions. Regardless of the current setting, Shift+Delete deletes without recycling, whereas Control+Delete deletes and recycles. Use the Delete Recycle Now command, Control+D, or Delete Now Command, Control+Shift+D, to quickly delete a single file (but not folder) without a confirmation dialog. Note that the Delete, Copy, and Move commands execute noticeably faster when deleted or replaced items are not moved to the recycle bin.
Press Shift+Z to zip files into a compressed archive, or Shift+U to unzip them. The Control+Z command also zips, but then deletes originals after confirming the integrity of the zip target. Control+U unzips without preserving subfolders. It unzips all files to the chosen folder, but not subfolders below (folder paths, if any, are ignored). You can test whether a file can be unzipped successfully by pressing Alt+U. Press Alt+Shift+U to set a password to be used by FileDir when creating, extracting, or viewing zip archives. It may also be set in the Options dialog, Alt+O. For security, the password is saved between FileDir sessions in an encrypted form rather than as text with other settings in the FileDir.ini file.
Some commands work with a copy of a zipped item that is unarchived to a temporary folder as needed. This lets you use the What command, Question Mark, to identify the content of a file without unzipping the archive that contains it. The Run command, Entor, and Send to Word Processor or Text Editor commands, Control+W or Control+T, also work in this way.
The Copy or Move Tagged commands, Shift+C or Shift+M, prompt whether to overwrite existing folders and files. You are informed whether the date of a target with the same name is older, newer, or current and whether its size is smaller, larger, or equal. You can choose to keep all targets with the same names, replace them, or replace them only with updated source items.
Similar to Windows Explorer, you can use Control+C and Control+V to copy items from one folder to another. Control+C copies the full paths of tagged files or folders to the clipboard, one per line (as plain text that may be reviewed with the Quote Clipboard command, Alt+Apostrophe). Control+V copies paths listed on the clipboard into the current folder. Control+Shift+V moves the originals rather than copying them (equivalent to Control+X followed by Control+V in Windows Explorer). To put a list of file names on the clipboard without preceding paths, press Control+Shift+C.
Control+M starts a mail message with its body being the textual content of the current item. For example, pressing Control+M when a Microsoft Word document is the current item will extract its text for the message body and use its name (without extension) as the default subject. Control+Shift+M starts a message with the current or tagged items as attached files. Control+P sends current or tagged items to the default printer.
Press Shift+O to output tagged files in plain text format. The original, source files will not be affected. The target, converted files will have the same names but a .txt extension. Conversions to text are available for the following formats: .doc, .htm, .pdf, .ppt, .rtf, and .xls. Some conversions require Windows 2000 or above.
The same conversion mechanism may be used to place text on the Windows clipboard instead of creating new files. Press Shift+A to append the textual body of currently tagged files to the clipboard. They will be separated by a sequence of characters indicating a divider between sections of a composite document: a line of 10 dashes followed by a form feed (hard page break). A termination sequence says "End of Document." This command is useful for combining multiple, related files, e.g., downloaded web pages, into a single document. You can use the Clear Clipboard command, Alt+Shift+', to clear the clipboard before appending to it.
Alt+P queries the full path of the current item, whereas Alt+Shift+P copies it to the clipboard, e.g.,
C:\Documents and Settings\Owner\My Documents\My Music\MySong.mp3
This may be useful so that the string is available by pressing Control+V to paste it into the open file dialog of another application. In addition, Control+C copies the full path of tagged items to the clipboard, whereas Control+Shift+C copies their names only -- no preceding directories. Control+Shift+P copies the full paths of all items below a subfolder item in the directory hierarchy. For example, if the My Documents directory is being viewed, and focus is on the My Music subfolder item, pressing Control+Shift+P would copy the paths of all files and subfolders under My Music. The Export Clipboard command, Alt+Shift+E, prompts for a file name and saves clipboard text to it.
Press Control+N to create a new folder. Press Control+Shift+N to make a new copy of the current file or folder item. It will have the same name except for a unique numeric suffix after the root, e.g., plan_01.doc would be a copy of plan.doc, and plan_02.doc would be the next copy. Such a file is sometimes useful when you want to preserve the original unaltered and then make changes to a copy in the same folder.
FileDir includes the capability to "put" or upload files to a directory on an FTP server, and to "get" or download from there. For private directories, a user name and password may be set either in the specific dialogs for these commands or in the general Options dialog, Alt+O. For security, the password is saved between FileDir sessions in an encrypted form rather than as text with other settings in the FileDir.ini file.
Use the FTP Put command, Shift+F, to upload files. FileDir prompts for an FTP directory. If the value entered does not contain the :// sequence of characters, FileDir adds an FTP:// prefix and a / suffix for more convenient typing. For example, a value of
smart.net
would become
ftp://smart.net/
If you include the :// sequence of a protocol, however, FileDir accepts the value verbatim -- without making changes. The URL is remembered as the default value for the next FTP command.
The opposite command is Get FTP, Shift+G, which downloads files from a remote directory. FileDir presents a multiple selection list box with all file names it found in that directory. The files selected will be downloaded to the current directory view. Any existing files with the same names are replaced and sent to the recycle bin according to the Recycle setting, Alt+Shift+R (on by default).
The Web Download command, Alt+Shift+W, lets you download files from a public web site. FileDir prompts for a URL and inserts the http://prefix if no protocol is specified. After running an external utility to extract links from the web page, FileDir presents them in a multiple selection ListBox for downloading to the current directory. If the URL of a link does not end in a valid file name, FileDir creates a file name for the target on disk based on other characters in the URL.
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Miscellaneous Commands
Miscellaneous commands do not fit neatly into previous categories. Use the Options command, Alt+O, to configure FileDir options such as the word processor invoked with Control+W or the text editor invoked with Control+T.
The main interface of FileDir is a ListBox containing items that are either folders or files, with folders listed first. The default order is by most recent date and time, so that a file most recently modified will appear before others and be convenient to locate. Subsequent sort order can be controlled by pressing Alt+A for alphabetic/name order, Alt+S for size order, Alt+D for date/time order, or Alt+T for type/extension order. Add the Shift key to reverse the order, e.g., Alt+Shift+S puts the largest file first. To get its precise size, press Shift+S.
Press Alt+Shift+B to burn tagged files to a CD. An external utility is invoked (as with TextPal) that lets you pick a drive and check estimates of space before and after on the CD.
The Context Menu command, Shift+F10, lets you choose an action to perform on the current file based on those available for its type/extension (in the Windows registry). Also included is the OpenWith action, by which a default program may be associated with files of this type. The Send To Menu, Control+F10, lets you choose among SendTo shortcuts (installed by various applications) to perform on the current or tagged files.
Press Control+Slash to go to a command prompt in a console mode window. Its current directory will be the same as in FileDir. You can enter DOS-style commands there.
Use the Elevate Version command, F11, to download and install the latest version of FileDir. You are prompted for confirmation. The installer is downloaded to the folder for temporary Internet files so it will be deleted automatically when Windows reclaims space in that folder. The current FileDir version is then unloaded so that the installer can replace any files that were in use. You can reload the updated version in the usual manner after installation, e.g., by pressing Alt+Control+F.
Since FileDir is a program designed to be generally available while running others, it offers a few, simple utilities not directly related to file management. The Evaluate command, Control+E, prompts for a mathematical expression, and then copies the result to the clipboard. Standard arithmetic operators may be used, as well as methods of the C# programming language. For example, the expression
3 * 4
produces 12
and
Math.Pow(3, 4)
produces 81.
Use the Calculate Units command, number sign (#) or Shift+3, to convert between different units of measure, e.g., between metric and other units of distance, volume, weight, or temperature. Pick the type of conversion from the list box and enter the input value in the edit box. The output value is spoken and copied to the clipboard (and may be reviewed with the Quote Clipboard command, Alt+Apostrophe). About 80 conversions are available as follows:
Acre to hectare
Atmosphere to psi
BTU/hour to watt
Celsius to Fahrenheit
Celsius to Kelvin
Centimeter to inch
Cubic ft to cubic m
Cubic m to cubic ft
Day to hour
Day to minute
Degrees to radians
Fahrenheit to Celsius
Fathom to meter
Foot to inch
Foot to meter
Ft/sec to meter/sec
Gallon (US dry) to liter
Gallon (US dry) to quart (US dry)
Gallon (US liquid) to liter
Gram to ounce (avoirdupois)
Gram to ounce (troy)
Hectare to acre
Horsepower (elec.) to watt
Horsepower (metric) to watt
Hour to day
Hour to minute
Inch to centimeter
Inch to foot
Kelvin to Celsius
Kg/sqcm to psi
Kilogram to pound
Kilogram to ton (UK)
Kilogram to ton (US)
Kilogram to ton (metric)
Kilometer to mile
Kilowatt to watt
Knot to mph
Kph to mph
Light-year to mile
Light-year to parsec
Liter to gallon (US dry)
Liter to gallon (US liquid)
Liter to pint (US dry)
Liter to pint (US liquid)
Meter to fathom
Meter to foot
Meter to yard
Meter/sec to ft/sec
Mile to kilometer
Mile to light-year
Minute to day
Minute to hour
Minute to second
Mph to knot
Mph to kph
Ounce (avoirdupois) to gram
Ounce (troy) to gram
Parsec to light-year
Pascal to psi
Pint to liter (US dry)
Pint to liter (US liquid)
Pound to kilogram
Psi to atmosphere
Psi to kg/sqcm
Psi to pascal
Quart (US dry) to gallon (US dry)
Radians to degrees
Second to minute
Square cm to square in
Square ft to square m
Square in to square cm
Square m to square ft
Ton (UK) to Kilogram
Ton (US) to Kilogram
Ton (metric) to Kilogram
Watt to BTU/hour
Watt to horsepower (elec.)
Watt to horsepower (metric)
Watt to kilowatt
Yard to meter
Conversions may be added, modified, or deleted by editing the Convert.txt file in the FileDir program folder. A new installation of FileDir will replace this file, however, so custom changes would need to be manually backed up and restored.
F12 related keys provide timer and alarm features (you may associate the number 12 with a clock). Press F12 to start a timer. FileDir prompts for the announcement interval and stop time. The announcement interval , measured in seconds, is how often FileDir will announce the amount of time elapsed since the start of the timer, e.g., a value of 60 means to announce at minute intervals. These verbal announcements occur regardless of what program is currently in the active window. Use a blank or 0 value to run the timer without automatic announcements. Press Alt+F12 at any time to check how much time has elapsed so far. If a timer is already running, the F12 key pauses it. If paused, F12 resumes. Press Shift+F12 to stop the timer and hear the total time it was running.
In the dialog that prompts for the announcement interval, another field is the stop time. A blank or 0 value means that the timer will run until manually stopped by pressing Shift+F12 or exiting FileDir. Instead, a stopping point may be specified as a date and time. The date and time components are each optional. If a date is used, it must include at least the month and day, separated by the forward slash character (/) -- or equivalent for non-U.S. formatting conventions. If a time is used, it must include at least the hour and minute, separated by a colon character (:) -- or non-U.S. equivalent. If both date and time components are used, type the date, a space, and then the time. Without a time, today's date is assumed. A time may use either the military, 24-hour convention, or the AM/PM suffix (otherwise AM is assumed if the hour is less than 13). Examples of valid date/time values are as follows:
2:00 PM
14:00
7/27 6:30
2007/7/27 6:30:15
When the stop time is reached, FileDir plays some chimes and ends the timer. Such an alarm may be used either with or without intervening announcements of time intervals. A timer runs independently of other FileDir operations, so you can continue working in FileDir while using this capability.
----------
Hot Key Summary
Alt+Control+F Launch FileDir from Windows desktop (default shortcut key)
Enter, Open Item, Open subfolder in new window, view zip archive, or launch file
Shift+Enter, Go To Item, Go to subfolder in same window, view zip archive, or launch file
Alt+Enter, Properties, Invoke Windows properties dialog for current item
Backspace, Open Parent Folder, Open parent folder in new window and jump to folder item that was previously open
Comma or Shift+Backspace, Go to Parent Folder, Go to parent folder in same window ("come up level")
Space, Toggle Tagged, Invert tagged state of current item
Shift+Space or JAWSKey+Shift+DownArrow, Say Selected, Say tagged items or current one if no tags
Shift+A, Append Tagged, Append textual content of current or tagged files to the clipboard
Control+A, Tag All, Tag all items
Control+Shift+A, Untag All, Untag all items
Alt+A, Alpha Order, Sort items in alphabetic/name order
Alt+Shift+A, Reverse Alpha Order, Sort items in reverse alphabetic/name order
Shift+B or Control+Home, Beginning Tagged, Go to beginning tagged item
Alt+B, Beginning File, Go to beginning file item, skipping over folder items
Alt+Shift+B, Burn Tagged to CD, Add current or tagged items to CD
Shift+C, Copy Tagged, Copy current or tagged items to another folder
Control+C, Copy Path Tagged, Copy path of current or tagged items to clipboard
Control+Shift+C, Copy Name Tagged, Copy name of current or tagged items to clipboard
Shift+D, Date, Say date and time of current item
Alt+D, Date Order, Sort items in date/time order
Alt+Shift+D, Reverse Date Order, Sort items in reverse date/time order
Control+D, Delete Recycle Now, Delete current file item and recycle without confirmation
Control+Shift+D, Delete Now, Delete current file item permanently without confirmation
Shift+E or Control+End, End Tagged, Go to end tagged item
Control+E, Evaluate, Evaluate mathematical expression and copy result to clipboard
Alt+Shift+E, Export Clipboard, Export clipboard text to file
Shift+F, FTP Put, Upload current or tagged files to FTP directory
Shift+G, Get FTP, Download files from FTP directory
Control+F, Set Filter, Set filter with wildcards to view a subset of items
Control+Shift+F, Clear Filter, View all items
Alt+Shift+F, File Find, Find file in current folder or subfolders based on match of textual content and name filter
Control+G, GoTo Folder, Go to another folder in same window
Shift+I, Initial Change, Go to next item with different initial letter
Control+I, Invert Tagged, Invert tagged and untagged state of items
Alt+Shift+H, Hot Key Summary, Display list of FileDir keys, command names, and descriptions
Control+J, Jump, Jump to item based on a string within its name
Alt+J, Jump Again, Repeat Jump command with same string
Control+K, Keywords, Jump to item based on a string within its content, optionally with multiple match conditions
Alt+K, Keywords Again, Repeat Keywords command with same string
Control+L, List, Say items in current folder
Shift+L, List Tagged, Say tagged items in current folder
Alt+L, List Files, Say file items (but not folder items) in current folder
Shift+M, Move Tagged, Move current or tagged items to another folder
Control+M, Mail Body, Mail textual content of current file as the body of an email message
Control+Shift+M, Mail Tagged, Mail current or tagged files as attachments to an email message
Shift+N or Control+DownArrow, Next Tagged, Go to next tagged item
Control+N, New Folder, Create new folder on disk
Control+Shift+N, New Item Copy, Create copy of current file or folder item with similar name and numeric suffix
Shift+O, Output Tagged, Output textual content of current or tagged files to files with same names but .txt extensions
Alt+O, Options, Configure FileDir options
Control+O, Open Folder, Open folder in new window
Control+Shift+O, Open Special Folder, Pick special folder (e.g., My Documents) to open in new window
Alt+Shift+O, Open Drive, Pick drive to open in new window
Shift+P or Control+UpArrow, Previous Tagged, Go to previous tagged item
Control+P, Print Tagged, Print current or tagged files
Control+Shift+P, Path List to Clipboard, Copy to clipboard file paths below current folder item
Alt+P, Path, Say full path of current item
Alt+Shift+P, Path to Clipboard, Copy to clipboard full path of current item
Shift+Q, Quick Shortcut, Create .lnk file for current item in Quick folder
Alt+Shift+Q, Quick URL, Create .url file for Internet resource in Quick folder
Control+Q or Accent, Quick Folder, Open folder of quick links
Shift+R or F2, Rename, Rename current item
Control+R, Rename with Wildcards, Rename all items in current folder with wildcards
Control+Shift+R, Rename with Regular Expression, Rename current or tagged items with regular expressions
Alt+R, Recent Shortcuts, Pick recent file or folder to open
Alt+Shift+R, Recycle Toggle, Toggle On/Off setting for whether deleted or replaced items are moved to the recycle bin
Shift+S, Size, Say size of current item
Alt+S, Size Order, Sort items in size order
Alt+Shift+S, Reverse Size Order, Sort items in reverse size order
Control+S, Save Tags, Save which items are tagged in current directory view
Control+Shift+S, Restore Tags, Apply previously saved tags
Shift+T, Type, Say type/extension of current item
Alt+T, Type Order, Sort items in type/extension order
Alt+Shift+T, Reverse Type Order, Sort items in reverse type/extension order
Control+T, Send to Text Editor, Send current file to text editor (default is TextPal)
Shift+U, Unzip Tagged, Unzip current or tagged files
Control+U, Unzip Tagged without Subfolders, Unzip current or tagged files without subfolder paths
Alt+U, Unzip Test, Check if current file item can be unzipped successfully
Alt+Shift+U, Unzip Password, Set password to be used when creating, extracting, or viewing zip archives
Control+V, Paste Copy, Copy items listed on clipboard to current folder
Control+Shift+V, Paste Move, Move items listed on clipboard to current folder
Shift+W or Alt+NumPad5, Windows Open, Say titles of open windows
Control+W, Send to Word Processor, Send current file item to word processor (default is Microsoft Word)
Shift+X, Extension Change, Go to next item with different extension
Control+Y, Yield, Say count and size of items in current folder
Shift+Y, Yield Tagged, Say count and size of tagged items in current folder
Alt+Y, Yield Files, Say count and size of file items (but not folder items) in current folder
Control+Shift+Y, Yield on Drive, Say total size and bytes free on current drive
Alt+Shift+Y, Yield in Operating System, Say Windows version, physical memory, and virtual memory
Shift+Z, Zip Tagged, Add current or tagged files to zip archive
Control+Z, Zip Tagged Then Delete, Add current or tagged files to zip archive, then delete originals
Alt+Z, Status, Say status line, containing date and time of current item, its size, the sort order, and filter specification (if any)
Delete, Delete Tagged, Delete current or tagged items and recycle according to setting
Shift+Delete, Delete Tagged without Recycle, Delete current or tagged items permanently
Control+Delete, Delete Recycle Tagged, Delete and recycle current or tagged items
Backspace, Parent Folder, Go to parent of current folder
Comma or Backspace, Come up Level, Go to parent folder in same window and jump to folder item that was previously open
Period or F5, Refresh Folder, Read current folder again from disk in same window
Backslash, Open Root Folder, Open root folder of current drive in new window (e.g., the C:\ folder)
Shift+Backslash, Go to Root Folder, Go to root folder of current drive in same window
Tag, Tag current item
Semicolon or Shift+NumPad5, Tag, Tag current item
Slash or Alt+Shift+NumPad5, Untag, Untag current item
Greater Than or Shift+DownArrow, Tag and Next, Tag current item and Go to next one
Less Than or Alt+Shift+DownArrow, Untag and Next, Untag current item and Go to next one
Alt+Period, Tag All Files, Tag file items and untag folder ones
Alt+Comma, Untag All But Current, Untag all but current item
Apostrophe, Say Item Name, Say name of current file or folder item
Shift+Apostrophe, Say Folder Name, Say name of folder containing current item
Control+Apostrophe, Say Folder, Say folder or archive being viewed
Control+Shift+Apostrophe, Folder to Clipboard, Copy folder or archive being viewed to clipboard
Alt+Apostrophe, Say Clipboard, Say clipboard text
Alt+Shift+Apostrophe, Clear Clipboard, Clear clipboard text
Alt+Semicolon, Say Current Time, Say current time and date
Question, What, Say textual content of current file item, or list contained items if current item is a folder or zip archive
Control+Slash, Command Prompt, Open command window in current folder
Exclamation Point, Stamp, Stamp date and time of current or tagged items
RightParen, Hide, Set Hidden attribute of current or tagged items
LeftParen, Show, Remove Hidden attribute of current or tagged items
RightBracket, ReadOnly, Set ReadOnly attribute of current or tagged items
LeftBracket, ReadWrite, Remove ReadOnly attribute of current or tagged items
RightBrace, System, Set System attribute of current or tagged items
LeftBrace, General, Remove System attribute of current or tagged items
Shift+3, Calculate Units, Convert between different units of measure and copy result to clipboard
Shift+5 or Alt+Delete, Percent Through, Say current position, item count, and percent through
Shift+8, Filter Query, Say current sort order and filter specification
Alt+1 ... Alt+9, Drive A ... I, Open new window on drive letter corresponding to digit
Control+Tab or Alt+RightArrow, Next Window, Activate next open window
Control+Shift+Tab or Alt+LeftArrow, Previous Window, Activate previous open window
F1, Documentation, Display FileDir documentation
Shift+F1, Change History, Display history of FileDir fixes and improvements
Alt+F1, About, Display FileDir version number and release date
F2 or Shift+R, Rename, Rename current item
F4, Current Windows, Pick window to open from list of current ones
Control+F4, Close Window, Close current window
F5 or Period, Refresh Folder, Read current folder again from disk in same window
Shift+F10, Context Menu, Pick action to perform on current or tagged items based on file extension/type
Control+F10, Send To Menu, Pick Send To shortcut and pass current or tagged items to it
Alt+F10, Alternate Menu, Pick command to execute from complete, alphabetized list
F11, Elevate Version, Download latest FileDir version and run installer (after confirming)
F12, Start Timer, Start, pause, or resume timer
Shift+F12, Stop Timer, Stop running or paused timer
Alt+F12, Say Timer, Say elapsed time since start of timer (not counting any paused periods)
----------
Development Notes
For the technically curious, I developed FileDir with the C# 2.0 programming language from
http://microsoft.com
The GetText utility is from
http://www.kryltech.com
with a license in the file GetText.txt, located in the FileDir program folder.
This folder contains the complete source code for FileDir in the file named FileDir.cs, as well as in the Layout by Code library lbc.cs.
The code is covered by the GNU General Public License in the file gpl.txt, also explained at
http://gnu.org/copyleft/gpl.html
I welcome feedback, which helps FileDir improve over time. When reporting a problem, the more specifics the better, including steps to reproduce it, if possible.
The latest version of FileDir is available at the same URL,
http://www.EmpowermentZone.com/dirsetup.exe
This may be downloaded and installed with the Elevate Version command, F11.
Jamal Mazrui
Released March 1, 2007
The What command, invoked with the question mark, now extracts and speaks
text of any size from the current file item -- it is not limited to 20K.
Thus, you could press question mark to identify or read a large .doc or
.pdf file. Since a setting of no punctuation may be preferred for such
reading, the optional JAWS scripts now include a toggle to change speech
between all and no punctuation. Use the JAWSKey (Insert with the desktop
keyboard layout) combined with the grave accent key at the top left of the
main keypad (U.S. keyboard). The JAWS SayLine command, JAWSKey+UpArrow,
now spells the name of the current list item if pressed twice quickly in
succession.
Items in an archive view now appear with path information so you know what
directory structure would be created by the Unzip command, Shift+U. As
before, you can press Control+U instead to unzip all items into a single
folder -- without subfolders being created. Internally, a zip archive
uses the forward slash character (/) rather than backslash (\) to seperate
directory names.
If a shortcut in the FileDir program group is used to associate
directories generally with FileDir, the Recycle Bin option on the Windows
desktop will no longer work. This is because the Recycle Bin is a
"virtual folder" rather than a standard one. A new FileDir command has
therefore been introduced to launch the Recycle Bin. Press Control+B to
go there for recovering deleted items.
Use the new Play List command, Control+Shift+L, to create a .m3u file with
references of tagged items to play sequentially. Types may include .mp3,
.wav, or .cda (the extension of a track on a standard audio CD). FileDir
prompts for the name of the play list to create, defaulting to
PlayList.m3u in the current directory. Focus is then placed on that file
(if in the same directory), so you can simply press Enter to execute the
play list. Note that if you want to play tracks on an audio CD, however,
you need to save the play list in another directory that permits the
creation of new files.
Released May 8, 2007
Fixed the commands that change drives not remembering the last directory
viewed on the drive. Now the Open Drive command, Alt+Shift+O, and
specific drive commands, Alt 1 through Alt+9, open either the root
directory or last directory viewed. The Go to Folder and Open Folder
commands, Control+G and Control+O, behave similarly if a drive letter and
colon are entered without additional path information.
Reset the Text Out Delay setting to zero in the JAWS configuration file,
since a higher number suppresses the guessing of names when in the FileDir
dialog for specifying a directory. The trade off is that JAWS speech will
sometimes be repetitive when navigating a list of files or folders. A
user can raise the JAWS setting to balance these considerations according
to personal preference.
Made Control+C, Control+X, and Control+V work like Windows Explorer. File
and folder paths are placed on the clipboard, not as plain text, but in
the binary format that now facilitates file transfers between FileDir and
Explorer views. For a plain text list of paths instead, press Alt+C, or
Alt+Shift+C for names without the preceding parent folder.
Use the Zip List command, Control+Shift+Z, to create or update a zip
archive based on a list of files or folders in a text file. For example,
the file backup.lst would contain the full path of the target zip archive
as the first line of text. Subsequent lines would contain file or folder
names to be added to the archive. Paths are not needed before these names
if they are in the same directory as the archive.
As before, Control+F4 closes the current window. A new command,
Control+Shift+F4, closes all windows except the current one. This may be
useful if you have opened a lot of windows, making it challenging to
choose one of particular interest. The Windows Open command, Shift+W, now
says the number of windows open before listing their titles.
As before, Control+Slash opens a command prompt in the current directory.
Now Alt+Slash opens the directory in Windows Explorer. The optional JAWS
scripts support Control+Backslash and Alt+Backslash as synonyms for these
commands for consistency with the "Homer editor interface." This is part
of a JAWS scripting toolkit available as an executable installer at
http://www.EmpowermentZone.com/kitsetup.exe
or as a zip archive at
http://www.EmpowermentZone.com/kitsetup.zip
May 11, 2007
http://www.EmpowermentZone.com/dirsetup.exe
Fixed the Zip List command, Control+Shift+Z. In the Web Download command,
Alt+Shift+W, a different, more reliable technique is implemented for
getting the web address of a page open in Internet Explorer.
With the optional JAWS scripts, made Control+Equals a synonym of
Control+E for the Evaluate command (to be consistent with the Homer
interface). Added the Manual Options command, Alt+Shift+M, for adjusting
FileDir settings directly in a text editor.
Doubled the number of special folders available via the Open Special
Folder command, Control+Shift+O. You can now have greater control over
your computer by conveniently examining and managing the following 35
folders as needed:
Administrative Tools
Application Data
Common Administrative Tools
Common Application Data
Common Desktop
Common Documents
Common Favorites
Common Files
Common Programs
Common Start Menu
Common Startup
Common Templates
Cookies
Desktop
Favorites
Fonts
Internet Cache
Internet History
Local Application Data
My Documents
My Pictures
MyMusic
Network Neighborhood
Printer Neighborhood
Program Files
Programs
Recent
SendTo
Start Menu
Startup
system32
Temp
Templates
UserName
WINNT
Released June 12, 2007
Fixed the Yield on Drive command, Control+Shift+Y, reporting megabytes
instead of gigabytes. Fixed the Start Timer command, F12, announcing
elapsed time every 60 seconds when 0 was specified for the announcement
interval. Fixed edit boxes within dialogs not always selecting text when
receiving focus (such selection is efficient for typing a new entry that
automatically replaces the previous one).
Fixed pasting in FileDir causing a runtime error if no files were found on
the clipboard. Fixed files copied to the clipboard not being available
for pasting by other applications after FileDir is closed.
For consistency with the Homer interface (multiple JAWS script sets that
give a consistent command structure to various applications), assigned
Alt+Shift+C for configuring options of FileDir. This dialog is still
available with Alt+O as well.
Made clipboard-related commands more powerful and convenient. The revised
interface is described in the following exerpt from the documentation.
Like Windows Explorer, Control+C, Control+X, and Control+V copy, cut, and
paste file or folder items between the current directory and clipboard.
FileDir enhances these commands with a plain text format in addition to
the binary "drop list" that Windows Explorer uses to facilitate drag and
drop transfers with a mouse. Since the clipboard can actually hold
multiple formats at the same time, FileDir creates both a binary and a
text format when copying with Control+C or cutting with Control+X. The
text format is simply a list of file or folder paths, one per line. Thus,
paths on the clipboard are simultaneously available both to applications
like Windows Explorer that look for the binary format, and applications
like Notepad that look for plain text.
When pasting, Control+V recognizes the text format as well as the binary
one. Since the text format does not indicate whether files had been
copied or cut to the clipboard, this command copies, rather than moves,
the originals when only text format is found. With either format, you may
ensure that the originals are copied with Alt+V, or that they are moved
with Alt+Shift+V.
Use the Copy Append command, Alt+C, to add items to the clipboard in both
binary and text formats. This lets you build a list on the clipboard from
files in different directories. It also lets you build a list by pressing
Alt+C when focused on each item of interest, rather than first creating a
set of tagged items and then copying them as a batch.
To put a list of file names on the clipboard without preceding paths,
press Control+Shift+C. To hear what files are on the clipboard, use the
Quote Clipboard command, Alt+Apostrophe. Before saying each path, FileDir
says "Path drop list" if it finds this binary format. Otherwise, FileDir
only speaks text format -- other binary formats on the clipboard are not
interpreted.
Released June 26, 2007
Fixed a corrupt zip archive being created when its location was in a
subfolder of the current folder. Fixed Home, End, PageUp, and PageDown
not working with the JAWS cursor in the optional scripts.
Enhanced the wild card capability of filters. Previously, a * character
could be at the beginning or end of a pattern, or both, but not in the
middle (a limitation of the SQL parser built into the .NET Framework).
This restriction has been programmed around, thus allowing a pattern such
as the following:
calendar*.doc
As before, multiple, alternate filters may be separated by a | character,
e.g.,
calendar*.doc|*bill*
As before, Shift+T says the type of the current item in the Windows
registry, as well as its attributes such as ReadOnly, Hidden, or System.
A new command, Control+Shift+T, shows all "extended properties" of a file
or folder item that are available to Windows Explorer. Depending on the
type, 32 possible properties may be examined as follows:
Name
Size
Type
Date Modified
Date Created
Date Accessed
Attributes
Status
Owner
Author
Title
Subject
Category
Pages
Comments
Copyright
Artist
Album Title
Year
Track Number
Genre
Duration
Bit Rate
Protected
Camera Model
Date Picture Taken
Dimensions
Episode Name
Program Description
Audio sample size
Audio sample rate
Channels
Released February 11, 2007
With the optional scripts, adopted the JAWS convention of Alt+Delete as a
key to say the cursor position. This duplicates the Address command,
Alt+A, which says the current line number, column number, and percent
through the document. Also improved the scripts so that Home and End
automatically read the character after navigation. Similarly,
Control+Home and Control+End automatically read the line.
Enhanced the Indent New Line command, Shift+Enter, so that the cursor does
not have to be at the end of the line when this key is pressed: it may be
anywhere on the line, and a new line will be created below with the same
indentation. Renamed Indent Alert mode to Indent Mode. Still toggled
with Alt+Shift+I, it now performs auto indentation as well as announcing
changes in indentation. Auto indentation is implemented by switching the
roles of the Enter and Shift+Enter keys. This feature was requested by
programmers.
Enhanced the Hard Line Breaks command, Control+Shift+H, so that it prompts
for the line length to use rather than using the current display length of
each line. The default line length is 60 characters. Reassigned the
Widest Line command to Control+Shift+Y in order to associate it as a
parallel command. Thus, you can confirm that the maximum line length has
been set as you intended by using Control+Shift+Y after Control+Shift+H.
Added the Trim Blanks command, Control+Shift+Enter, which removes leading
and trailing space or tab characters from either the current line or
selected lines. It also removes more than two consecutive blank lines.
Thus, you can eliminate extra space in a file by pressing Control+A to
Select All and then Control+Shift+Enter to Trim Blanks.
Released March 2, 2007
Fixed the Word Wrap toggle, Control+W, causing TextPal to regard a file as
having been modified (soft line breaks are not saved to disk). The Read
All, Read Ahead, and Read Prior commands, Alt+F8, Alt+Enter, and
Alt+Shift+Enter, now speak text of any size -- not limited to 20K. With
the optional JAWS scripts, Tab and Shift+Tab are alternatives to Control+I
and Control+Shift+I for changing indentation.
The Run with Tool and Run with Prompt commands have been reassigned to
Alt+F5 and Alt+Shift+F5. The new Compile command, Control+F5, combines
debugging steps more efficiently by compiling, saying output without a
model message box, and automatically jumping to the first error position,
if found in the output. The Pick Compiler command, Control+Shift+F5, lets
you conveniently configure the ToolCommand and ErrorPosition settings for
a particular compiler. TextPal offers settings for the following
programming languages: C#, JAWS Script, Perl, Power Basic, Python, Ruby,
and Visual Basic .NET.
TextPal assumes that the Windows search path includes the folder of a
command-line compiler to be run. In the case of Power Basic, a batch file
is needed (in the TextPal program folder), which refers to the default
location of PowerBasic for Windows version 8.0. Command line text may
start with the @ symbol so that a leading quote mark is not lost by .ini
file manipulation functions of Windows. The text may end with the 2>&1
sequence to redirect the standard error streadm to standard output.
Compiler settings are stored in the [Compilers] section of the TextPal.ini
file. Only the current compiler settings appear in the Settings dialog,
Alt+S. Other settings may be edited, however, using the Manual Settings
command, Alt+Shift+M. You can adjust command line parameters of
configured compilers, or add others. Installing a new version of TextPal
does not change existing compiler settings.
Sample "Hello world" programs in the above languages (used for developing
this feature) are available in the Sample subfolder of the TextPal program
folder. They are minimal code for displaying a string of text either in a
console window or message box. Control+F11 opens the Sample folder in
Windows Explorer.
Released March 6, 2007
The Path List command, Control+Shift+P, now prompts for the extensions of
files to be included in the generated list. Those found in the folder of
interest are presented alphabetically in an edit box. Erase any
extensions to omit before pressing Enter to generate the list.
As before, the Text Convert command, Control+T, converts a list of files
in various formats to text files with the same name except for a .txt
extension. A new command, Text Convert with JAWS, Control+JAWSKey+T, is
an alternative implementation via JAWS scripts and Microsoft Office (COM
automation). If installed, better conversion results are available for
.doc, .htm, .html, .ppt, .rtf, and .xls file types.
More programming support has been added. For JAWS scripting, hot keys
have been added by the TextPal scripts so that when focus is in an Open or
Save File dialog, you can press Control+I to insert the path of the
personal script folder, or Control+Shift+I to insert the path of the All
Users folder.
Output spoken by the Compile command, Control+F5, may now be abbreviated
by means of a regular expression that specifies text to remove. For
example, spoken output is streamlined by removing the contact information
for PowerBASIC Inc. that appears before specific error messages by its
compiler.
Another regular expression may be configured for navigating among routines
in source code. This setting is used by Control+DownArrow and
Control+UpArrow to go to the next or previous function, method, or class
definition. This capability is like that performed by F2/Shift+F2 in JAWS
Script Manager, navigating to the next/previous definition of a script or
function.
The Pick Compiler command, Control+Shift+F5, configures the
ToolCommand, AbbreviateOutput, ErrorPosition, and NavigatePart settings
for a particular compiler: C#, JAWS script, Perl, PowerBASIC, Python,
Ruby, or Visual Basic (.NET version). If you installed TextPal 3.4 and
wish to take advantage of these new compiler settings, then you need to
delete TextPal.ini, or at least its Compilers section, before upgrading
TextPal (since existing settings are not overwritten). The default
location of configuration settings is
C:\Program Files\TextPal\TextPal.ini
You can load this file into TextPal, itself, via the Manual Settings
command, Alt+Shift+M. Edit entries as desired, then save with Control+S.
Alternatively, delete the whole file with Alt+Shift+D. Upgrade TextPal
with the Elevate command, F11.
Released May 1, 2007
Fixed TextPal treating a document as having been modified after a search
and replace with no matches. Replaced the Word Wrap Toggle command with
Control+W to turn this setting on and Control+Shift+W to turn it off.
Control+Shift+J is the new key for joining (wrapping) lines with hard line
breaks.
Modified the Yield command, Alt+Y, to operate on selected text rather than
all text when a selection is in effect. Made TextPal say "characters"
instead of "bytes" when reporting the size of a file or selection.
Adjusted the optional JAWS scripts so that PageUp and PageDown read the
current line after navigating by screen.
These scripts now require at least JAWS 6.2. They use the latest Homer
script library, available with other components of HomerKit at
http://www.EmpowermentZone.com/kitsetup.exe
or
http://www.EmpowermentZone.com/kitsetup.zip
The files Homer6.jsh, Homer6.jss, and Homer6.jsd, previously used by
TextPal,