2.BAT, etc.

[Carl Distefano 70154.3452@xxxxxxxx]

Interesting message, Annie. Lots of useful tips.

1-> The dirl command fascinates me, but I use it once a year max.

A great reason to use DIRL more often is to get a listing of long
"filenames", implemented with an initial LB command at the top of
file. (Herb Tyson gets the credit for this idea. When I read it, in "XyWrite
Revealed", I pounced on it.) Entering the long name (e.g.,
"Letter dated 10/17/95 to Joe Blow suggesting a legal name change
and recommending qualified counsel") requires discipline at
first; with time, it becomes more or less habitual. A by-product
of using long filenames is that, in an environment where you
operate on files by typing out their names, you begin to
appreciate the virtues of the 8.3 convention. A fully qualified
d:\path\filename.ext gives you, in a few characters, a unique and
usable identifier for every file in the system
-- an advantage the Win95 tilde-truncation ploy recognizes in a
back- handed way but, IMHO, seriously compromises by assigning
names that are too cryptic. (MS's point, of course, is that the
average Joe Blow user is "protected" from his own ignorance by
never having to use the short names or even knowing they're
there. Long live the LCD.) Still, there's a place for
descriptive names, even in a char.-based system;
DIRL makes it happen.

2-> I hope someone else will take on a conversion of 2.BAT->xpl.

I did, several years ago. I call it GO, and I find it
indispensable, in both DOS and Xy. (Though I recall seeing 2.BAT
in PC Mag, my XPL version predates that piece, being an
adaptation of a batch file of my own concoction.) The current
version of GO (for Xy4|XyWin) is in
SmartSet. Below is an XPLeNCODEd replica of the original, GO.XPM
(in my nomenclature, .XPM denotes a III+ PM).

Note well: GO.XPM, as configured below, can only be used with a
RUN command. To enable the Help-based frame usage, you must have
a "shell" program that passes command line arguments to Help via
a memory- resident Save/Get, typically one in the "permanent" programming (100-
999) range. If you use, e.g., Save/Get 200, then you must change
the one instance of "{<}SX02,@upr({<}IS00{>})", immediately following LaBel
"b", to "{<}SX02,@upr({<}IS200{>})". I assume you have a shell
PM; if not, let me know.

XPLeNCODE v1.8 b-gin GO.XPM
[cr|lf]
{<}GLa{>}  GO.XPM -- C.L.Distefano 6/8/91 - rev. 9/1
/92[cr|lf]
{{Cgo}}[cr|lf]
[cr|lf]
{2}{<}GLa{>}Change current dri ve/directory with a single
command,[cr|lf]
  without typing{32} colon or backslash [;6/8/91 - rev.
9/1/92][cr|lf]
[cr|lf]
Synta x: run go.xpm,[d] [dir1] [dir2] [...] [dirn][cr|lf]
  {32}
  go [d] [dir1] [dir2] [...] [dirn]<@H>[cr|lf]
{<}LD-{>} [c r|lf]{<}LBa{>}{<}SV01,Z{>}{<}GLb{>} <--Set LAST
DRIVE letter{32} in [255+65+69]Sv01[255+65+70] (Default =
Z)[cr|lf]
    Tog gle into E-XP-anded View to set Save/Get[cr|lf]
[cr|lf]
{<}LBb{
>}{<}SX02,@upr({<}IS00{>}){>}{<}SV03,GO {>}{<}IF{<}IS03{>}{23
8}{<}IS02{>}==0{>}{<}SV04,{>}{<}XS02,03,05,06,04{>}{<}SX02,{<
}IS04{>}{>}{<}EI{>}{<}SV03,ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ{>}{<}XS
03,01,04,05,06{>}{<}SX01,{<}IS04{>}+{<}IS01{>}{>}{<}SV03, {>}
{<}SV04,{>}{<}SV05,\{>}{<}SX06,0{>}{<}SV07,:{>}{<}SV08,\{>}{<
}SU09,[DX_][BC_]cd {<}PV04{>}[XC_]{>}{<}SX10,{<}VA$EB{>}{>}{<
}SU11,[BC_]d eb={<}PV10{>}[XC_][BC_][DO_]{>}[BC_][DX_]d eb=0,
0[XC_]{<}IF{<}IS03{>}{238}{<}IS02{>}<0{>}{<}GLf{>}[cr|lf]
[cr|
lf]{<}EI{>}{<}SX02,{<}IS02{>}+{<}IS03{>}{>}{<}LBc{>}{<}SV12,{
>}{<}XS02,03,04,13,12{>}{<}IF{<}PV06{>}>0!@siz({<}IS04{>})>1!
{<}IS04{>}{238}{<}IS01{>}<0{>}{<}GLd{>}{<}EI{>}{<}SX05,{<}IS0
4{>}+{<}IS07{>}{>}[DX_][BC_]{<}PV05{>}[XC_][BC_][DO_]{<}IF@si
z({<}IS12{>})>0{>}{<}SX05,{<}IS05{>}+{<}IS08{>}{>}{<}EI{>}{<}
GLe{>}{<}LBd{>}{<}GT09{>}{<}IF{<}ER{>}{>}{<}SV09,{>}{<}EI{>}{
<}IF{<}IS08{>}{238}{<}IS05{>}==@siz({<}IS05{>})-1{>}{<}SX05,{
<}IS05{>}+{<}IS04{>}{>}{<}GLe{>}{<}EI{>}{<}SX05,{<}IS05{>}+{<
}IS08{>}+{<}IS04{>}{>}{<}LBe{>}{<}SX06,1{>}{<}IF@siz({<}IS12{
>})>0{>}{<}SX02,{<}IS12{>}{>}{<}GLc{>}{<}EI{>}{<}IF@siz({<}IS
09{>})>0{>}{<}GLg{>}{<}EI{>}[DX_][BC_]cd {<}P
V05{>}[XC_][BC_][DO_]{<}IF{<}ER{>}{>}{<}GLh{>}{<}EI{>}{<}GLg{
>}[cr|lf]
[cr|lf]
{<}LBf{>}{<}IF@siz({<}IS02{>})==1&{<}IS02{>}{
238}{<}IS01{>}>-1{>}[DX_][BC_]{<}PV02{>}:[XC_][BC_][DO_]{<}LB
g{>}{<}GT11{>}{<}PRDone{>}{<}EX{>}{<}EI{>}[DX_][BC_]cd {<}PV0
2{>}[XC_]{<}IF{<}ER{>}{>}[BC_]cd \{<}PV02{>}[XC_]{<}EI{>}[BC_
][DO_]{<}IF@not({<}ER{>}){>}{<}GLg{>}{<}EI{>}{<}LBh{>}{<}GT11
{>}{<}PRPath not found{>}{<}EX{>}[cr|lf]

-nd
XPLeNCODE

--------------
Carl Distefano
70154.3452@xxxxxxxx