re: File management

[OkAnnie@xxxxxxxx]

I'm puzzled. I expected a flurry of advice to Mike Gawdun on
using xyW features to browse copious files wholesale. Is it
*possible* that xyWin doesn't implement the wildcard [* or ?]
call command/function EN combination?
In xyDos 3 or 4, Mike could tear through those 150-300 files a
day if--to state the obvious--he dl'd to one subdir and issued
...
   BC ed c:\dl_new\*.* XC
... The first file would open; successive
   BC func EN XC calls would cycle through all of
c:\dl_new\*.*. Nary a dialog box to click, no wear and tear on
Mike's weary mouse hand. EN is at default xd_cua.kb4
; I believe it's mapped to the default .kb3 too.
But if you can't wildcard ed/EN in win3--well, the notion of a
text processor in a gui still bemuses me. ...

xyWrite's my one and only file manager because I think it's
terrific for the purpose. I wonder to what extent complaints
result from not mapping relevant xyW commands and external dos
commands to keys or at least routinely "do"ing dos commands from
the CMline. I do xcopy, do xdel, etc. wildcard commands a lot. If
I want to see a file before I zap it I open the file, then use my
@F->CMline> key, which works fine during
a wildcard ed/EN sequence:
   BC ernv @F->CMline key> XC
It's a little bit of insurance. If second thoughts occur, saving
puts the file back on disk (with a binary displayed, I make a
point to second-think pre-XC). ...

Like 4dos, the dos I use has indispensable commands that were
absent from MS and PC DOS when I used them, back when. I do
rendir manually, but do move, e.g., is mapped to a key that I use
with my CMline> key. I remember my joy at
finding that xyWrite would let me ren files to other subdirs. I
was so accustomed to doing that with unix that I kept forgetting
that it chokes dos; when I did it the first time in xyWrite it
was just another lapse--then what had happened dawned on me. ...

Most commands I have mapped to keys expect to find or accept a string on the
CMline, insert the command, delimiters if any, and XC. Several
are xyWrite file management commands--e.g., crossfile search, find, copy, and tree.
Assigning them to keys may seem excessive, but their being there
is a reminder to use them. (I even have ed, edp, and new mapped.)
Crucial to me, however, are my abort/dir (reverse chron,
extensions, and alphabetical configurations) keys. My store key
too executes, then lists the current subdir. A blank screen
spooks me and I must go out of my way to get one. ...
Everybody knows--right?--that issuing a BC ed XC to a blank
screen reopens the last file opened. ...

My principal navigation keys are drive names/XC and cd/XC. To
chdir, I point to .. or a subdir name in the listing with the
cursor and hit my cd key; after it XCs, it lists the new subdir.
Or if the subdir I want to get to isn't listed, I use my tree
key, or if the subdir happens to be listed in another window,
with the cursor on the . hit my cd key. ... The dirl command
fascinates me, but I use it once a year max. Perhaps if I mapped
it I'd use it, but I seem either to know what's in a file or need
to see more than the first lines. ...

If I were going to file manage with a gui I'd use the Ensemble 2
file mgr. I find win3 FileMgr vital for navigation and launching
apps by clicking on data file names, but I file manage only with
xyWrite, hand in hand with dos. My fave navigation batch file is
2.BAT. Lets you change drives and directories without using a
colon or backslashes on <8 logical drives and no subdir with a
single-char name xpl.

Usage (to chdir, e.g., to c:\x4\filters):
   C\>2 c x4 filters

@echo off
:::  2.BAT, by Winston Lee, Montreal
FOR %%h IN (a A b B c C d D e E f F g G) DO IF (%1) == (%%h) %%h:
FOR %%h IN (a A b B c C d D e E f F g G) DO IF (%1) == (%%h)
SHIFT
FOR %%f IN (\ %1 %2 %3 %4 %5 %6 %7 %8 %9) DO CD %%f

Actually the name I use for 2.BAT is --.BAT. I also have a lazy typist's
-.BAT that's invoked at the end of many batch files I use after a
xyWrite dos command.  --A

@echo off
:::  -.BAT exit

========================== annie fisher  NYC