List Files documentation


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 Version 2.6                                                                                                        April 1997 

©1994-97 Alessandro Levi Montalcini        Technical support, permissions, suggestions:
C.so Re Umberto 10                                     mailto:alm@kagi.com
10121 Torino                                              mailto:alm@torino.alpcom.it
Italy

Online shareware registration:                    Software download and information:
http://order.kagi.com/?67                         http://persoweb.francenet.fr/~alm
                                                                   ftp://ftp.alpcom.it/software/mac/LMontalcini
                                                                                                                                            

¥ Shareware: $10
×  This program is distributed as shareware and costs $10. If you use it, please save a copy of the Register utility with the button below and launch it. Enter your name, your email address (if available), and the number of licenses you wish to purchase. Save, copy or print the data from the Register application and send it to Kagi along with your payment. Kagi will process your registration and forward your payment to me. If youÕre on the Internet, an online registration site is also available at the above URL.
×  If you donÕt want to pay through Kagi, you can send your payment in cash directly to my Italian address. Please provide your name, your address, your email, and the name and version of the software youÕre registering.
×  You may want to get a copy of the complete ALM Share and ALM Free packages, which contain most of my shareware and freeware programs and can be registered at a very low price. The packages are available as two large compressed archives and can be downloaded from my web and ftp sites.
×  Please register: your support is the only way for me to keep working on cool shareware programs.

¥ Kagi registrations
×  Payments sent via email and through the online registration site are processed within 3 to 4 days. You will receive an email acknowledgement when your registration is done. Payments sent via fax take up to 10 days. You will also be notified by email if you provide a correct internet email address. Payments sent via postal mail take time to reach Kagi and then up to 10 days for processing. Again, if you include a correct email address, you will hear from Kagi when the form is processed.
×  If you pay with a credit card or First Virtual, you can email or fax the data to Kagi. Their email address is <sales@kagi.com> and their fax number is +1-510-652-6589. You can either copy the data from Register and paste it into the body of an email message, or you can save the data to a file and attach the file to an email message. There is no need to compress the data file, itÕs already pretty small. If you have a fax modem, just print the data to the Kagi fax number.
×  You can also pay with a wide variety of cash from different countries, or with a check drawn in US Dollars. Kagi cannot accept checks in other currencies. In both cases you should print the data using the Register application and send it to the address shown on the form, which is:

      Kagi
      1442-A Walnut Street #392-67
      Berkeley, California 94709-1405
      U.S.A.

×  If you have a purchasing department, you can enter all the data into the Register program and then select Invoice as your payment method. Print three copies of the form and send it to your accounts payable people. You may want to highlight the line that reminds them to include a copy of the form with their payment.
×  Kagi cannot invoice your company. If you need an invoice, you must act on my behalf and generate the invoice and handle all the paperwork on your end.
×  Please do not fax or email payment forms that indicate cash, check or invoice as the payment method. As far as we know, there is still no technology to transfer physical objects via fax or email and without the payment, the form cannot be processed.

¥ Introduction
×  List Files is a handy utility that creates a text catalog of anything you drop on it. You can format the text in many ways and set up file filters to look for specific files. You may create different worksets that can be recalled either from a menu or by holding down some keys when you drop things on List FilesÕ icon, so you can switch between cataloging your floppies and searching for big text files in a flash. List Files can save your catalogs automatically to different destination folders, so you donÕt have to save them manually for every disk or cartridge you want to list. It can also search entire folders very quickly to find a specific file inside one of your catalogs, and calculate checksums and CRC32 values for all of your files.
×  List Files lets you edit your file lists, even though it can only display 32K of text in its windows (this is a limitation of TextEdit, the part of the Mac OS that handles text). The size of the lists, however, is only limited by the memory you assign to the application in the FinderÕs ÒGet InfoÓ window. YouÕll probably have to increase the standard 256K partition if you plan to catalog CD-ROMs or very large hard disks. Long lists can be saved to disk and viewed with a true text editor or with a word processor.
×  I worked very hard to make List Files as compatible as possible; it takes full advantage of System 7Õs new features, yet runs on any older system starting from System 4.2. It also handles system errors and low-memory situations gracefully, and has been tested on a very wide range of system configurations.
×  List Files adheres as closely as possible to AppleÕs human interface guidelines. I didnÕt stuff it with color pictures, weird sounds and fancy buttons so youÕll have a shorter download time and less wasted space on crowded disks. If you open List Files with ResEdit and take a look at its resources, youÕll notice that 50 out of its 84K are plain code and most of the rest is taken by this text.
×  List Files is a commercial-quality application at the price of a magazine. I donÕt like passwords, annoying messages and time limitations in my programs so I didnÕt use any of them to enforce the shareware fee. Also, IÕm asking very little because I feel that many small contributions are better than a few big ones; by keeping the price so low, I hope that many of you will take the time to fill the registration form and mail it with some spare change. If you feel this application is worth more than $10 or if you want to register more than one copy, I wonÕt complainÉ

¥ Instructions
×  File menu:
  - New List: lets you select a disk, a folder or a file and build its catalog. The current scanning, formatting and saving options are used along with the chosen file filters. This is the same as dropping stuff on top of List FilesÕ icon under System 7.
  - Open Text: lets you open a text file and display it in a text window. Only the first 32K of text are shown if the file is larger than 32K.
  - Close: closes the frontmost window.
  - Save: saves the text of the frontmost window to disk.
  - Save AsÉ: same as Save, but you can save the text under a different name.
  - Quit: closes all windows after checking for unsaved text and quits.
×  Edit menu:
  - Cut, Copy, Paste, Clear and Select All behave as usual.
  - Undo works in all text windows.
×  Options menu:
  - Folder ScanningÉ: brings up a dialog where you can edit some scanning and listing options. ÒList dropped disks and folders in a single fileÓ is useful under System 7 if you want to drop many items together on List FilesÕ icon and have them all listed in the same window.
  - List FormattingÉ: lets you edit some text formatting options. ÒHeader for listed files/foldersÓ means that each file/folder dropped on List FilesÕ icon will have a small header showing the used and free space on the fileÕs disk, a full pathname to the file and the number and size of files and folders that matched the chosen filters. Full pathnames are useful if youÕre searching for specific files and donÕt want to see the whole hierarchy of folders listed (you may also want to disable the ÒShow FoldersÓ check box in the list filters dialog). Pathnames in reversed form can be sorted (with a sorting capable text editor) and make it easy to find duplicate files.
  - File SavingÉ: lets you change the destination folder for the auto-save option, the text file creator (i.e. the text editor or word processor youÕll use to open the catalogs) and other useful file naming and file saving preferences.
  - Prefix / SuffixÉ: lets you enter smart prefix and suffix strings to use for each file and folder listed.
  - Edit List FiltersÉ: lets you specify some conditions for the files to be shown in the list. You can force conditions on the file kind, size, visibility, type and creator. All filters can be saved in a workset together with the other options, so you can easily build different setups for each of your file scanning needs.
  - Clear List FiltersÉ: clears the current file filters; all files and folders will be included in the next list.
  - Skip Save Warnings: prevents List Files from asking if you want to save unsaved lists when their window is closed.
×  Worksets menu:
  - Save Current Setup ToÉ: saves the current setup (i.e. all of the settings you can change from the Options menu) to one of the user-defined worksets. You will be prompted for a new workset name before the setup is written to the workset.
  - Define Modifier KeysÉ: List Files checks the Command, Option and Control keys when you drop something on its icon and when you start a new list; every combination of these keys can be assigned to a specific workset. The ÒdefaultÓ assignment is only used when no keys are held down at launch time: you can choose a default workset or tell the application to keep using the setup it was using when the previous session ended.
  - Worksets (names defined by user): selecting a workset name from the menu will immediately change the current setup to the chosen workset. All the options, including destination folders and file filters, will be modified to match those saved into the workset.
×  Text menu:
  - Font: changes the text font in the frontmost window.
  - Size: changes the text size in the frontmost window.
  - Wrap: toggles text wrapping in the frontmost window.
  - Set Default: saves the text font, text size and wrap mode of the frontmost window as default settings to be used when new text windows are created.
×  Find menu:
  - FindÉ: finds a string in the frontmost window.
  - Find Again: repeats the search for a previously entered string.
  - Enter Selection: uses the text currently selected in the frontmost window as the search string.
  - Find in FolderÉ: searches all text files in a given folder (the folder to search is saved in the worksets).
  - Folder to SearchÉ: lets you change the folder to search without actually searching a string.
  - Display Selected File: quickly opens the text file whose pathname is selected in the front window.

¥ Technical notes
×  The Command, Option and/or Control keys should be held down until the ÒBuilding file listÓ dialog comes out (holding them down when you drop something on List FilesÕ icon and releasing them right away wonÕt work).
× The total size shown in headers and folder subtotals is a physical size (space used on disk), whereas the size shown for each file is a logical size (actual size of the file).
×  All total sizes (except the diskÕs used and free space in the header) are based on found files, not on the actual files on disk. If youÕre listing invisible files only with no nested folders scanning, the total size in a folder subtotal is the size of all and only the invisible files inside that folder, but not inside any nested folders.
×  The global CRC value doesnÕt check file and folder names or positions, but it does change if the files are scanned in a different order. This means that modifying file names or positions in a way that also changes their alphabetical sorting will generate a different global CRC value the next time you run List Files. On the other hand, individual CRC values calculated with the prefix/suffix escape sequences wonÕt change.

¥ Compatibility notes
×  PowerPC: List Files is a fat binary, containing both 680x0 and native PowerPC code.
×  System 7.6.1: List Files has been extensively tested with System 7.5 through 7.6.1.
×  System 7: You can use List Files as a drop box under System 7 or later. Just drop one or more disks, folders or files on its icon to have them listed or searched. List Files takes full advantage of Apple Events and the new file routines when used under System 7, and it can build lists in the background while you keep working with other applications.
×  System 6: List Files is fully compatible with System 6, although it canÕt be switched to the background there. YouÕll have to create file lists with the ÒNew ListÓ menu command since drag&drop is not available, but everything else works as expected.

¥ Version history
×  2.6 - Added an option to calculate the global checksum and CRC32 for all the scanned files, and suffixes for individual file checksums and CRC32Õs. Switched the payment method to Kagi. Recompiled with CodeWarrior 11.
×  2.5.4 - Added a suffix for file sizes; fixed some Òout of memoryÓ errors that could occur when scanning deeply nested folders; fixed a bug that could cause the ÒDonÕt SaveÓ button to be automatically pressed.
×  2.5.3 - Fixed a small bug in the ÒopenÓ and ÒsaveÓ dialogs.
×  2.5.2 - Added a useful set of default worksets to get started with. Added a new prefix/suffix control sequence to list an itemÕs name, which is useful when creating HTML references. Raised the 31 characters limit on prefixes and suffixes to 255 characters. Fixed a bug in the PowerPC code which caused crashes on some of the preferences dialogs.
×  2.5.1 - New option to skip the save dialogs when a list is closed.
×  2.5 - List Files can now scan disks and search text files in the background. The progress and configuration dialogs are movable. New option to show elapsed time. Fixed various interface and file-saving issues.
×  2.4.1 - Cleaned up some code and updated documentation.
×  2.4 - List Files can now read file versions in both short and long formats and display them as part of a file prefix or suffix. Using prefixes and suffixes should also be slightly faster. Full pathnames donÕt disable indenting any more.
×  2.3 - Added the Prefix/Suffix options for greater flexibility, as requested by Leroy Chen. The text windows now support the extended keyboardÕs scrolling keys.
×  2.2 - Fat version, includes both 68000 and native PowerPC code. Accepts "open file" commands from AppleScript for disk and folder scanning. Only lists invisible folders when scanning for invisible files. Saves this documentation as styled text.
×  2.1 - Added Find commands and fast folder search. Tracking files is now easier than ever!
×  2.0 - Faster, better, and a lot more useful. Tens of options added, lots of code rewritten.
×  1.1 - New auto-save option added (never released because 2.0 was on the way).
×  1.01 - Recompiled with SymantecÕs THINK C 6.0.
×  1.0 - First public release.

¥ Thanks toÉ
×  Valentina Pavia, who waited patiently until late at night;
×  Alberto Ricci, for his beta-testing and suggestions;
×  Fabrizio Oddone, for the text searching code and for his help;
×  Masatsugu Nagata, for his invaluable beta testing;
×  David Salzman, who had many of the ideas that gave birth to version 2.0;
×  Leroy Chen, who didnÕt stop using List Files 1.1 even though it only provided a Òpretty pathetic wayÓ to generate volume lists;
×  All those who registered for List Files and for my other shareware; they are now way too many to be listed, but this program wouldnÕt be here without them.

¥ Distribution
×  This software is ©1994-97 Alessandro Levi Montalcini. It can be freely distributed as long as it is not modified and thereÕs no charge for it, but it may not be included in any commercial package without my consent.
×  All online services and bulletin boards may make it available to their users at no charge other than the normal connection fees.
×  All non-profit user groups may distribute it at no charge.
×  All magazines may publish it on floppy disk or CD-ROM without asking me first, as long as I get a copy of the issue containing my software.
×  All CD-ROM shareware collections and CD-ROM magazines may include it without my prior consent, as long as I get either a copy of the CD-ROM or an offer to buy the CD-ROM at a discounted price.
×  All redistribution companies such as Pacific HiTech, AMUG, Celestin or Educorp may distribute it, as long as I get a copy of each media containing my software and a catalog of the companyÕs offerings (where applicable).
×  The latest versions of my stuff are on http://persoweb.francenet.fr/~alm or ftp://ftp.alpcom.it/software/mac/LMontalcini. The ALM Share and ALM Free packages, which contain most of my stuff and can be registered at a very low price, are also available there.

¥ Disclaimer
×  This software should never cause any damage, but youÕre using it at your own risk. As an independent software developer, I can make no warranties whatsoever on it.

¥ Have fun!
×  And donÕt forget to register your shareware, so that more cool inexpensive utilities can see the light in the future.