FILECTRL.COM


Michael J. Mefford July, 1991 (Utilities)

Purpose: A full-directory file-viewing and removal utility capable of
displaying WordPerfect, Microsoft Word, Q&A Write, and WordStar documents as
if they were in ASCII format. FILECTRL automatically supports normal 25-line,
43-line (EGA), 50-line (VGA) and UltraVision displays.

Format: FILECTRL [filespec] [options]

Remarks: Entered without any parameters, FILECTRL displays a filename list of
the current directory in its left window and the first part of the text of the
highlighted filename in its right window. The text is shown stripped of any
header and formatting codes. Any drive and/or directory can be specified with
filespec, and * and ? can be used to limit the file list. Pressing Esc exits
the utility.

The Tab key (a toggle) shifts between windows, as do the Left- and
Right-Arrow keys. The display in the active window is shown in high-intnsity
color, and scrolling within the active window uses the usual Up- and Down-
Arrows, PgUp and PgDn, Home and End keys. From the file list window pressing
a letter jumps the selection highlight to the first filename beginning with
that letter and so continues with subsequent keypresses.

F2 deletes a highlighted filename or empty subdirectory, and Ctrl-F2
deletes a group of marked filenames. Files can be marked with the + key and
unmarked with the -; the spacebar toggles the mark on and off. All deletions
are prompted for confirmation prior to execution.

Pressing F5 successively (1) widens the file list to show full DOS
directory information, (2) widens the text display to a full 80 columns, and
(3) returns to the original display. Shift-F5 reverses the display sequence.
Pressing Enter while a filename is highlighted toggles between the filelist
display and the 80-column text display. Pressing Enter while a subdirectory
(< >) or the parent (<..>) directory is highlighted loads the files from
hat directory. F3 permits entering a new filespec.

By default FILECTRL sorts filenames in ascending alphabetical order.
The F7, F8, F9, and F10 keys set the sort field to filename, extension, size,
and date, respectively. Pressing F6 toggles between ascending and descending
order.

FILECTRL also permits entering a number of options as command-line
switches. These are summarized below.

/M [+|-] + = Include only files modified since last
backup
- = Include only files NOT modified since
last backup
/H = Include Hidden files
/R = Include Read-only files
/P date = Only include files ON or Prior date
/A date = Only include files ON or After date
date format = mm/dd/yy
/W WordStar files; remove high bit
/N = Sort by Name
/E = Sort by Extension
/S = Sort by Size
/D = Sort by Date
/O = Sort by Original DOS DIR order
default = Sort by Name
/F Sort in descending order

For use with laptop computers it may be necessary to enter the DOS
MODE BW80 command before executing FILECTRL. Instructions on modifying
FILECTRL.COM with DEBUG to use alternative colors, to disable its border, and
to change its default sorting options are contained in a sidebar to the
original article.