SGI Developer Toolbox 6.1

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Text File | 1994-08-01 | 32KB | 859 lines

ffffssssnnnn((((1111)))) UUUUNNNNIIIIXXXX SSSSyyyysssstttteeeemmmm VVVV ffffssssnnnn((((1111)))) NNNNAAAAMMMMEEEE fsn - file system navigator SSSSYYYYNNNNOOOOPPPPSSSSIIIISSSS ffffssssnnnn [ directory ] [-landscape <landscapeName>] [xOptions] DDDDEEEESSSSCCCCRRRRIIIIPPPPTTTTIIIIOOOONNNN _f_s_n (pronounced fusion) is a file system navigator in cyberspace. It lays out the directories in a hierarchy with each directory represented by a pedestal. The height of the pedestal is proportional to the size of the files in the directory. The directories are connected by wires, on which it is possible to travel. On top of each directory are boxes representing individual files. The height of the box represents the size of the file, while the color represents the age. Fsn is intended as an investigation in information landscape navigation. Although the file system was chosen as a system to navigate through, similar paradigms could be applied to other trees and graphs, such as call graphs. Keep in mind that fsn is a prototype and an experiment. It is neither a full featured product nor a replacement for a filesystem manager such as Workspace. Fsn requires Z-buffering and RGB support. It is recommended that you have at least 16MB of memory, especially on an Indigo, where Z buffering uses a lot of memory. FAM (The File Activity Monitor) must be installed on the system as well. It can be obtained as part of the subsystem _e_o_e_2._s_w._e_n_v_m. IIIInnnnvvvvooooccccaaaattttiiiioooonnnn The parameter to fsn should be the top directory to be looked at. This directory can be "/", in which case the whole file system is scanned. Although the system works fine starting at "/", startup time is somewhat longer, and for a large file system, the animation is somewhat chunky. You may prefer to start at your home directory. Even if you start at "/", you can still prune it to a small size using the _P_r_u_n_e function. If no directory is specified, fsn starts in the current directory. When scanning a file system, fsn will not cross file system type boundaries. For example, it will not cross into an NFS file system. However, it will cross mount points of the same type of file system. The first time fsn is run it will scan the whole file system. Be patient, this can take a few minutes. After it has scanned the file system it will save a database in your Page 1 (printed 3/10/92) ffffssssnnnn((((1111)))) UUUUNNNNIIIIXXXX SSSSyyyysssstttteeeemmmm VVVV ffffssssnnnn((((1111)))) home directory so that subsequent startups can be done in seconds rather than minutes. On subsequent runs the database will be read, making fsn quickly available. In addition to remembering the file system layout, fsn also remembers additional information across invocations, including your position, which windows you had showing, and any marks you might have made. In addition to the name of the directory, fsn also takes an optional landscape specification, which describes the landscape on which the directory hierarchy is laid out. There are several landscapes available which can be chosen with the ----llllaaaannnnddddssssccccaaaappppeeee argument. The default landscape is _g_r_a_s_s, with a daytime sky and grassland. Also available are _o_c_e_a_n, _d_e_s_e_r_t, and _s_p_a_c_e. (Ocean is rather psychadelic; I recommend it.) There is also a landscape called _i_n_d_i_g_o, with colors chosen to look good on an Indigo (and it is the default landscape for the Indigo). You can also set up your own landscape by manipulating the colors resources (see Resources later). GGGGeeeettttttttiiiinnnngggg HHHHeeeellllpppp You can get help at any time from the Help menu. _H_e_l_p _O_n _W_i_n_d_o_w will provide an overview of fsn, while _H_e_l_p _O_n _C_o_n_t_e_x_t will allow you to select an individual widget and get help on it. You can also get help on any widget by pressing FFFF1111 with the pointer over any widget. Most of the operation is reasonably self explanatory, and with the use of the help information you should be able to run it reasonably well at this point. However, as long as you've read this far, I would recommend reading the next two sections. SSSSeeeelllleeeeccccttttiiiinnnngggg DDDDiiiirrrreeeeccccttttoooorrrriiiieeeessss aaaannnndddd FFFFiiiilllleeeessss When moving the mouse over files and directories, they will highlight and their name show up in the upper left hand corner. Use the left mouse button to select the highlighted directory or file. When a directory is selected it, and the line leading to it, will brighten. When a file is selected a spotlight will shine on it. Selecting a directory or file will also zoom into it. If a file is selected and you wish to see the whole directory, just click on the directory pedestal. You can select a directory or file without zooming to it by using shift-left mouse. You can also select a directory by clicking on the line leading to it. However, if a directory is already selected, clicking on the line zooms to the parent of the directory. Page 2 (printed 3/10/92) ffffssssnnnn((((1111)))) UUUUNNNNIIIIXXXX SSSSyyyysssstttteeeemmmm VVVV ffffssssnnnn((((1111)))) In addition to just highlighting and zooming to a directory, selecting the directory checks the directory for changes, and starts up FAM monitoring on that directory. (Directories marked permanently monitored are always subject to FAM monitoring). Double clicking the left mouse button performs specific actions. Double clicking on a directory warps you into _W_a_r_p _m_o_d_e, which shows you only information on the selected directory. This will be discussed more later. Double clicking on a file will execute or launch it in a manner similar to Workspace, or it will put you in a viewer if it is a source file. (You can also use Alt-double click, which behaves similar to Workspace. For source files, Alt-double click will always launch an editor rather than using the viewer). When a file at the edge of a directory is selected, an arrow shows up next to it. Clicking on this arrow allows you to easily zoom to the first file on the next row or to the last file on the previous row. MMMMoooovvvviiiinnnngggg AAAArrrroooouuuunnnndddd Although you may find the left mouse button sufficient for most of you're navigation, you can also move around without selecting or zooming using the middle mouse button. Pressing the middle mouse gives you a cross hair. Moving the mouse from that point while holding the middle button gives you a velocity based on the direction in which the mouse is moved. Moving the mouse left and right moves you left and right. Moving it forward and backward moves you forward and backward. The farther you move the mouse from the cross hair, the faster you go. If you hold the shift button down while using the middle mouse, moving forward will also move you down, while moving backward will move you up. MMMMooooddddeeeessss The main interaction panel can be in several modes. In split screen, each interaction panel can be in a different mode. By default, the interaction panel comes up showing a complete landscape of the file system hierarchy. This is referred to as _l_a_n_d_s_c_a_p_e _m_o_d_e. By double clicking on a directory, you are _w_a_r_p_e_d into _w_a_r_p _m_o_d_e. Warp mode provides an alternate navigation paradigm. Only a single directory is shown in warp mode. All child directories are shown as buttons below the directory. Clicking the left mouse buttons on those immediately warps Page 3 (printed 3/10/92) ffffssssnnnn((((1111)))) UUUUNNNNIIIIXXXX SSSSyyyysssstttteeeemmmm VVVV ffffssssnnnn((((1111)))) you to those directories. Above the directory are up to three special directory buttons. The ".." button warps you to the parent directory. The "<-" and "->" buttons warp you to the entries before and after this directory in the parent directory. While warp mode currently shows no information that is not available outside of warp mode, the idea is that it could. For example we could separate files by types, or allow the user to layout the files within warp mode. You can exit warp mode by clicking outside the directory. By double clicking on a text file, you are placed in a viewer. The viewer also provides limited editing capabilities, although for a full editor you should press the _e_d_i_t button from within the viewer. If you do make changes, press _s_a_v_e to save them. When you are through editing, press _d_o_n_e. If you prefer to always use an editor, set the *useViewer resource to FALSE. TTTThhhheeee OOOOvvvveeeerrrrvvvviiiieeeewwww WWWWiiiinnnnddddoooowwww The Overview window shows an overview of all the directories in the file system. It can be shown or hidden with the Show menu. Your position is shown with an X. If split screen is enabled, both positions are shown with different colored X's. Clicking the left mouse button on a directory in the overview will select that directory and zoom you to it. If you are in warp mode, you will warp directly to it. Clicking the left mouse button elsewhere, will zoom you to that location (and will be ignored in warp mode). Shift left mouse will select the directory without zooming. It does not have any effect in warp mode Clicking the middle mouse button while in the overview will zoom you to that location (except in warp mode) without selecting the directory. You will notice that the cursor doesn't track the mouse, but lags behind it. This is deliberate. By moving at a constant rate, it provides smoother motion. TTTThhhheeee SSSSeeeessssssssiiiioooonnnn MMMMeeeennnnuuuu The Session menu provides operations that affect the whole application. Split Screen Page 4 (printed 3/10/92) ffffssssnnnn((((1111)))) UUUUNNNNIIIIXXXX SSSSyyyysssstttteeeemmmm VVVV ffffssssnnnn((((1111)))) Splits the screen in two. This is required for move operations. Rescan Rescans the whole file system. Normally, a directory is rescanned any time it is selected. Also, directories that are monitored are continually kept up to date. Fsn is still usable during a rescan, but it is somewhat slower and uses system resources. However, an occasional rescan is recommended just to keep things up to date. Save Database Saves the file system database. Normally it is saved every 15 minutes, and when the program is exited. However, if you make massive file system changes, you may want to resave your database immediately in case fsn gets killed. Not saving your database is not serious, however the changes may not be noticed the next time you restart until you select the changed directory (unless the directory is permanently monitored). Process Deletes Deletes previously selected from the File menu are processed. This is irreversible. Undo Deletes Deletes previously selected from the File menu are cancelled. Quit Saves the database and Quits. TTTThhhheeee SSSShhhhoooowwww MMMMeeeennnnuuuu The Show menu lets you show (or hide) various auxiliary windows. If a window is showing (hidden) when you exit fsn, it will still be showing (hidden) when you restart it. You can hide any of these windows by selecting "Hide" on the show menu and selecting the window from there. Overview Brings up the overview window, discussed above. Controls Shows the Control panel, discussed below. Legend Shows the legend at the bottom, listing file ages Preference panel A panel that allows you to play around with various Page 5 (printed 3/10/92) ffffssssnnnn((((1111)))) UUUUNNNNIIIIXXXX SSSSyyyysssstttteeeemmmm VVVV ffffssssnnnn((((1111)))) resources. This is intended mainly for testing, and not all the resources are even documented. Changing one resource may break others, so use at your own risk. Still it can be fun, especially changing the colors. The preference panel is discussed further under resources. TTTThhhheeee DDDDiiiissssppppllllaaaayyyy MMMMeeeennnnuuuu The display menu controls how files and directories are displayed. Changes made via this menu will be remembered on subsequent invocations of fsn. The display menu has two submenus: _H_e_i_g_h_t and _D_i_r_e_c_t_o_r_y _H_e_i_g_h_t. The _H_e_i_g_h_t submenu affects both files and directories as follows: None Do not display height. Note that all files are still displayed at a small minimum height. Linear The height is proportional to the size of the file or directory. Files still have a minimum height. Exaggerated The height is proportional to the square root of the file or directory size. This grows small files more than large ones, and tends to avoid directories with a lot of small files and one or two large ones. The _D_i_r_e_c_t_o_r_y _H_e_i_g_h_t submenu controls how the size of the directory is determined when calculating its height: Flat Draw directories flat. Files Only The size is based on the size of the files within the directory. Subdirectories do not affect the size. Including Children The size is based on the size of the files within the directory, plus the size of the files within all subdirectories (similar to du). TTTThhhheeee DDDDiiiirrrreeeeccccttttoooorrrryyyy MMMMeeeennnnuuuu The directory menu contains commands that apply to the selected directory. If no directory is selected, the directory menu is disabled. Monitor Turns on and off permanent FAM monitoring for the Page 6 (printed 3/10/92) ffffssssnnnn((((1111)))) UUUUNNNNIIIIXXXX SSSSyyyysssstttteeeemmmm VVVV ffffssssnnnn((((1111)))) selected directory. If this is turned off, the directory is monitored only while it is selected. Monitor Subtree Turns on permanent FAM monitoring for the selected directory and all its children. Don't try this on /. Stop Monitor Subtree Turns off permanent FAM monitoring for the selected directory and all its children. Rescan Subtree Similar to Rescan on the session menu, except only rescan for changes in this directory and all its children. Prune Removes all children of the directory from the database. Unpruning a directory can be slow. TTTThhhheeee FFFFiiiilllleeee MMMMeeeennnnuuuu The file menu contains commands that apply to the selected file. If no file is selected, the file menu is disabled. For convenience, the File menu also appears as a popup menu. WARNING: When using the popup menu, be aware that the file commands apply to the selected file, not to the file that is under the cursor and is highlighted. Open Equivalent to double clicking on the file, this edits, executes, or performs any other appropriate launch action on the file. Print Prints the file. It uses the same method that Workspace would use to print the file. Delete Marks the file for delete. The file changes to a wire frame. You must choose _P_r_o_c_e_s_s _D_e_l_e_t_e_s from the Session menu to actually delete the file. Selecting this item again will unmark the file for delete. Move file, Copy file, and Link file To use these items, you must be in split screen mode. In one screen you must select a directory (only), and in the other a file. The file will be moved (copied, linked) to the directory. TTTThhhheeee CCCCoooonnnnttttrrrroooollll PPPPaaaannnneeeellll The Control window has various controls that can be used to aid in navigation. If you do not wish to use the control Page 7 (printed 3/10/92) ffffssssnnnn((((1111)))) UUUUNNNNIIIIXXXX SSSSyyyysssstttteeeemmmm VVVV ffffssssnnnn((((1111)))) panel, you can hide it from the Show menu. reset Sets you back to an initial position above the file system. go back Returns you to the position before your previous move or zoom. Pressing _g_o _b_a_c_k repeatedly takes you back additional steps. birds eye Gives you a view from above the file system. In landscape mode it is high above; in warp mode it is from just above the directory. front view Takes you to the front of the view. In landscape mode it is identical to reset; in warp mode it takes you to the front of the directory. Tilt and Height Control your angle relative to the plane and how high you are above it. because they also affect where you are looking at, they can have unexpected side effects. Use at your own risk. MMMMaaaarrrrkkkkssss The Mark control allows you to mark a position and go back to it later. Not only is your position marked, but so are selected directories and files. To mark a position, press the mark button. When a dialog comes up, choose a name for the mark. If you have a file or directory name selected, the mark name will default to that, but you can change it to anything you want. To return to a mark, select the mark in the Marks menu and press _g_o _t_o. (You can also double click on the menu entry). You can delete a mark by selecting it in the menu and pressing _d_e_l_e_t_e. Marks will be remembered across invocations of fsn. SSSSppppaaaacccceeeebbbbaaaallllllll SSSSuuuuppppppppoooorrrrtttt If the spaceball is attached, it can be used to navigate. Push in the direction you want to go. If the _s_p_a_c_e_b_a_l_l_T_i_l_t resource is TRUE, it also controls the tilt angle, although that makes navigation more difficult. You must still select directories with the mouse. RRRREEEESSSSOOOOUUUURRRRCCCCEEEESSSS PPPPaaaaggggeeee 8888 ((((pppprrrriiiinnnntttteeeedddd 3333////11110000////99992222)))) ffffssssnnnn((((1111)))) UUUUNNNNIIIIXXXX SSSSyyyysssstttteeeemmmm VVVV ffffssssnnnn((((1111)))) Fsn has a lot of resources. Many of them are intended for tuning the behavior, and will eventually be eliminated. Changing them can be tricky, as many other resources need to change as well. Feel free to play with any of the resources, but at your own risk. Only those resources considered to be of general interest are documented here. Resources documented here may be changed reasonably safely. With the exception of the _l_a_n_d_s_c_a_p_e resource, all resources can be changed from the preference panel. RRRReeeessssoooouuuurrrrcccceeeessss AAAAffffffffeeeeccccttttiiiinnnngggg CCCCoooolllloooorrrr landscape (default: grass or indigo) A meta-resource that controls the defaults other resources. Currently available are grass (a meadow during the day), ocean (an ocean at sunset), desert (a desert at sunrise), space (black background), and indigo (similar to grass, but with the colors tuned to look reasonably good in double buffered mode on an indigo). useGouraud A boolean variable that controls whether the sky and ground are drawn with Gouraud shading. It looks much better, but has a very small performance cost. groundColor The color of the ground if _u_s_e_G_o_u_r_a_u_d is FALSE. farGroundColor and nearGroundColor (default: vary by landscape) The color of the ground if _u_s_e_G_o_u_r_a_u_d is TRUE. skyColor The color of the sky if _u_s_e_G_o_u_r_a_u_d is FALSE. topSkyColor and bottomSkyColor The color of the sky if _u_s_e_G_o_u_r_a_u_d is TRUE. overviewBackgroundColor (default: same as groundColor) The background of the overview window. dirColor The color of an unselected directory. Selected directories are a brighter version of this. warpDirColor The color of directory buttons in warp mode. specialDirColor The color of the special directories (<-, .., and ->) in warp mode. Page 9 (printed 3/10/92) ffffssssnnnn((((1111)))) UUUUNNNNIIIIXXXX SSSSyyyysssstttteeeemmmm VVVV ffffssssnnnn((((1111)))) dirMonColor The color of the skirt surrounding permanently monitored directories. selLineColor The color of a line leading to a selected directory. unselLineColor The color of a line leading to an unselected directory. pruneColor The color of a line leading to a pruned directory. spotlightColor The color of the spotlight highlighting files. warpFlashColor If _f_l_a_s_h_O_n_W_a_r_p is TRUE, the color of the flash. fileColor0 through fileColor6 The colors representing the ages of files. The following resources are floating point values that determine how the base color is modified when drawing directories and files. colorSelectSaturationFactor and colorSelectValueFactor The saturation and value of the base color are multiplied by these factors if the directory and file are selected. colorUnselectSaturationFactor and colorUnselectValueFactor The saturation and value of the base color are multiplied by these factors if the directory and file are unselected. colorBackValueFactor colorTopValueFactor, colorSideValueFactor and The values of the base colors are multiplied by these factors to achieve the artificial lighting. colorShadowSaturationFactor and colorShadowValueFactor The saturation and value of the base color are multipled by these factors to achieve the color of the icon shadow. CCCCoooonnnnttttrrrroooollll RRRReeeessssoooouuuurrrrcccceeeessss These resources provide some useful control over the behavior of fsn. shrinkOnZoom (default: TRUE) If TRUE, zooming to a file shrinks the file to a small Page 10 (printed 3/10/92) ffffssssnnnn((((1111)))) UUUUNNNNIIIIXXXX SSSSyyyysssstttteeeemmmm VVVV ffffssssnnnn((((1111)))) height and leaves a pole of the original height. This makes it easy to see the files behind it. If FALSE, full sized blocks are always retained. beamOnMove (default: TRUE) If TRUE, a _b_e_a_m_i_n_g effect is used when moving, copying or linking files. This takes a little bit of time, and so can be turned off by setting this resource to FALSE. useViewer (default: TRUE) If TRUE, opening a file uses a built in quick viewer, rather than an editor. propagateMonitor (default: FALSE) If TRUE, new directories created in a permanently monitored directory are also permanently monitored. compressDatabase (default: TRUE) If TRUE, uses compress to save the on disk database. This is a little slower to start up and exit, but saves significant disk space. flashOnWarp (default: FALSE) If TRUE, generates a flash whenever warping. Somewhat ugly. spaceballTilt (default: FALSE) If TRUE, the spaceball controls the tilt angle as well as x, y, and z coordinates. This can make navigation more difficult. monitorTimeout (default: 120) For directories that are not permanently monitored with FAM, monitoring is started whenever they are selected. After they are unselected, monitoring is ceased this many seconds after the unselection. If the directory is reselected before this timeout, it need not restart monitoring. locateHighlightThickness (default 3) The thickness in pixels of the locate highlight information. mouseSpeed (default 0.7) Controls the sensitivity of the mouse when navigating. Increasing this value will cause you to move faster for a given mouse displacement. The units are arbitrary. heightPower (default 0.5) In exaggerated mode, controls the power used for exaggeration. 0.5 uses the square root. 0.33 means the cube root. 1.0 is the same as linear. 0.0 makes Page 11 (printed 3/10/92) ffffssssnnnn((((1111)))) UUUUNNNNIIIIXXXX SSSSyyyysssstttteeeemmmm VVVV ffffssssnnnn((((1111)))) all files the same (large) size. maxFileHeight (default 4) Controls the height of the tallest file. Units are arbitrary. maxDirHeight (default 2) Controls the height of the tallest directory. Units are the same as for files. OOOOtttthhhheeeerrrr IIIInnnntttteeeerrrreeeessssttttiiiinnnngggg RRRReeeessssoooouuuurrrrcccceeeessss Changing the following resources can produce interesting effects, although it is not recommended that you permanently change them, as many other resources would need to change. shrinkagePower and shrinkageDistance In order to be able to see a larger context, objects in the distance are narrowed much more than perspective would normally do. These two resources control this narrowing. Objects at a distance of _s_h_r_i_n_k_a_g_e_D_i_s_t_a_n_c_e are narrowed by a factor of _s_h_r_i_n_k_a_g_e_P_o_w_e_r. For example if _s_h_r_i_n_k_a_g_e_P_o_w_e_r is 2.0, something twice as far is half as wide (in addition to the effects of normal perspective). To see what happens with a normal perspective, set _s_h_r_i_n_k_a_g_e_P_o_w_e_r to 1.0. TTTTOOOO DDDDOOOO ((((aaaa ppppoooolllliiiitttteeee wwwwoooorrrrdddd ffffoooorrrr BBBBUUUUGGGGSSSS)))) This is just a prototype. There are a lot of obvious features that should be there but aren't. This list is not ordered in any particular manner. There should be a way to select multiple files or directories. The shrinkage algorithm used to permit seeing the whole file system at once produces some strange effects. Although the current navigation paradigm works well for horizontal movement, it does not work well for vertical movement. There needs to be a way to have more than one top directory. The meanings of height and color should be more configurable. The age thresholds should and the number of colors be configurable. All files have a minimum height, even if they are zero size. That is inconsistent, but looks better and avoids Z- Buffering inaccuracies. Within warp mode, file size should be relative only to files Page 12 (printed 3/10/92) ffffssssnnnn((((1111)))) UUUUNNNNIIIIXXXX SSSSyyyysssstttteeeemmmm VVVV ffffssssnnnn((((1111)))) in that directory. Lack of Z buffering precision leads to some strange effects. Ideally the use of Z buffering should be eliminated, because of its hardware limitations and because of its excess use of memory on Indigo. Although the text field at the top can be used to indicate the first completion of a file, there is no way to find all completions. Only full path names can be typed in the text field, and they may not contain "." or "..". It is not all that easy to find a file in a large directory. It doesn't look all that good on an Indigo. It should be possible to split into more than two windows, or to detach the windows. If you try to monitor too much of the file system, or restart the program too many times, FAM can get confused. Logging out and in again may fix this problem. A query mechanism should be provided (e.g. find all files greater than 1MB and older than 6 months, highlight them (in the main and overview windows), and visit them in order.) Fsn is not particularly robust in the face of errors. The viewer does not notify you if you exit without saving changes. FFFFIIIILLLLEEEESSSS $HOME/.FSN*-The database of the file system. /usr/lib/X11/app-defaults/Fsn-Defaults for resource values. SSSSEEEEEEEE AAAALLLLSSSSOOOO WorkSpace(1G) Page 13 (printed 3/10/92)