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LOOK2 Documentation
LOOK2 v1.0 ∞ An OS/2 File Viewing Utility ∞
Copyright (c) 1992 Southwest Software (tm)
8511 Selway Drive, Austin, TX 78736 CompuServe 76330,3577
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> SHAREWARE SOFTWARE <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
This program is copyrighted software. You may and are encouraged to
copy and share it with others as long as it is copied in its entirety
unmodified and no charge is made for it. If you find LOOK2 useful in
your OS/2 environment, please send a $20 registration fee along with
a filled-out registration form to the address below. In return, you
will receive a lifetime registration number that is valid for this
and any future versions of LOOK2. Registered users will receive
notifications by mail when new versions of LOOK2 are available to be
downloaded.
Although LOOK2 was written with great care and attention (I wrote it
originally for my own use), it like any other computer program may
contain bugs. That being the case, I must, reluctantly, make the
following disclaimer.
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% DISCLAIMER %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
THE USER OF THE PROGRAM BY USING IT AGREES NOT TO HOLD SOUTHWEST
SOFTWARE NOR ITS OWNERS NOR ITS EMPLOYEES LIABLE FOR ANY DAMAGE
THAT MAY HAVE BEEN CAUSED BY EITHER THE PROPER OR IMPROPER
FUNCTIONING OR BY THE USE OR MISUSE OF THE LOOK2 SYSTEM.
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% END OF DISCLAIMER %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
That being said, if you decide to become a registered user of LOOK2,
PLEASE let me know of any bugs you encounter in LOOK2. I may be
contacted in CompuServe or Fidonet or by mail at the addresses
below. If there is a feature that you would like to see changed or
added, please don't hesitate to let me know. I cannot promise I will
be able to implement your ideas, but I will do my best.
Gary Bourque
Southwest Software
8511 Selway Drive
Austin, TX 78736
CompuServe 76300,3577
Fidonet 1:382/87
TABLE OF CONTENTS
0. HOW TO REGISTER FOR LOOK2 - - - - - - - - - - - - 1
1. INTRODUCTION - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 2
What is LOOK2? - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 2
LOOK2 Philosophy - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 2
2. RUNNING LOOK2 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 3
Invoking LOOK2 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 3
Filespec Variations - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 3
Directing LOOK2 with the Keyboard and Mouse - - - - 3
Setting LOOK2 Options - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 4
The LOOK2FLAGS Environment Variable - - - - - - - 4
LOOK2 Options - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 4
3. THE DIRECTORY SCREEN - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 6
Directory Screen Option Commands - - - - - - - - - 6
Directory Screen Action Commands - - - - - - - - - 7
Directory Screen Usage Notes - - - - - - - - - - - 9
4. THE FILE SCREEN - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 9
File Screen Option Commands - - - - - - - - - - - 9
File Screen Action Commands - - - - - - - - - - - 10
File Screen Usage Notes - - - - - - - - - - - - - 11
5. OTHER LOOK2 NOTES - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 12
0. HOW TO REGISTER FOR LOOK2.
LOOK2 is shareware. As such, you are expected to, if you continue to use
it after an initial trial period, to register and pay for the continued
use of it. What is the length of the trial period? Well, that I leave
up to the discretion of the individual user. Those of us who have used
shareware pretty much know when we are done trialing a product and have
added it to our set of tools. When you reach that point with LOOK2,
please register. Its easy, you will be registered for life and you
will help all my hard work pay off. Here's what to do.
1. Fill out a copy of the enclosed order form. Please print
or type and be complete.
2. Mail the order form along with a check or money order
for the total number of copies ordered plus tax, if any.
3. In as short a time as possible, you will receive a letter
containing the registration numbers for each name registered
along with instructions on how to invoke LOOK2's registration
process.
4. Start up LOOK2 for registration and enter your name and number
to it. Now you are registered.
5. As a registered user you will be notified by mail of any new
versions of LOOK2 and how to download them from a local or
national bulletin board.
Corporate multi-user accounts are available, please call for prices.
- 1 -
1. INTRODUCTION.
What is LOOK2?
LOOK2 is a text-based OS/2 directory and file viewing and manipulation
program. I decided to write LOOK2 because there were no, I felt,
adequate file/directory tools for OS/2 at that time. LOOK2 provides
some of the same features of other popular file viewers and adds some
of its own that none of the others provide.
Just some of LOOK2's features are:
o Directory history.
o Mouse support.
o 25, 43 or 50 video lines modes.
o Multiple sort key directory sorting capability with automatic sorting.
o File viewing in hexadecimal mode.
o Toggling between hex and text mode maintaining file position.
o Direct go to line or offset capability.
o Text editor invocation.
o .EXE, .COM or .CMD synchronous or asynchronous program execution.
o Ability to mark and copy, move or delete groups of files and
subdirectories at once.
o Deletion of empty or non-empty directories.
LOOK2 Philosophy
One of the main features I wanted to include in LOOK2 was the
ability to "travel" around among files, directories and drives and
still be able to easily get back where I started. With this in mind,
I built in a directory history feature that, when enabled, remembers
each directory you have viewed. Pressing the ESCAPE key from a
directory screen takes you back to the directory you were in before
the current one, if one exists.
That being the case, ESCAPE will never cause LOOK2 to terminate.
ESCAPE is the backout key in LOOK2. If you're like me, you find it
annoying when ESCAPE is used prominently to move around in a program
and also causes the program to terminate, because you often exit the
program unintentionally. So, F10 is the only keystroke that will
cause LOOK2 to terminate.
- 2 -
2. RUNNING LOOK2.
Invoking LOOK2
LOOK2 is invoked from an OS/2 command prompt by typing
LOOK2 [options] [drive:][path][file]
Filespec Variations
If the drive/path/file (filespec) data is the name of a file, the
file will be displayed for viewing. If it is a directory, the
directory will displayed. If it contains valid wildcards, any files
matching the wildcard will be queued for display and the first
matching file will be displayed. If no filespec is entered, the
current directory will be displayed.
If the file or directory cannot be found, LOOK2 displays a message and
terminates. If the wildcard had no matches, LOOK2 displays a message and
then goes to the directory screen either of the current directory or the
directory included in the wildcard spec. Please note that the wildcard
portion of the filespec is for files, not paths. So, while the following
spec is valid...
LOOK2 F:\LOOK2\L*.?
This next one is invalid...
LOOK2 F:\LO**\LOOK2.EXE
Directing LOOK2 with the Keyboard or the Mouse
LOOK2 may be controlled either by a variety of keystrokes or mouse
actions. To enter a command either press the upper-case letter of a
command listed in the top row of a directory or file screen or click
it with the left mouse button.
To change an option setting either press ALT and the letter of the
option (video mode is V) or click the option (right of 'Ops:' on the
top row) with the left mouse button. When an option is enabled, it
will be uppercase; when disabled, lowercase. Note, that while
directory column count is one of the options that can be clicked
with the mouse, the corresponding keyboard command does not require
the ALT key to be pressed. Just press 1 through 5 to change the
column count.
ESCAPE is the backout key in LOOK2. The right mouse button is
equivalent to ESCAPE.
In file viewing mode, the mouse my be used on the right scroll bar to
scroll through the file.
In text mode the cursor may be placed on a text item by clicking the
left mouse button. This is useful when using Microsoft QuickHelp as
a monitor under OS/2 since QuickHelp searches for the subject at the
cursor location when alt-Q is pressed.
- 3 -
Setting LOOK2 Options
Any number of LOOK2 options may be include before the filespec. A LOOK2
option has the following format.
/[o][data]
Where o is an option letter or number and data is some required or
optional data for the option. If the option is of the on/off
variety, the '+' or '-' sign may be included to override settings in
the LOOK2FLAGS environment variable, where '+' is on and '-' is off.
If the '+' or '-' are omitted, '+' is the default. The options do
not have to be separated by spaces and may be upper or lower case.
Do not use a '-' in lieu of the '/'. For example to turn off any
sounds LOOK2 may produce enter:
LOOK2 /B-
Many LOOK2 options correspond to LOOK2 commands to the directory screen
or file screen or both.
The LOOK2FLAGS Environment Variable
Any option may be set the LOOK2FLAGS environment variable. When
placed there, they will effect any execution of LOOK2. Note that
command line options always override the evironment variable. The
LOOK2FLAGS environment variable may be set in CONFIG.SYS or in any
.CMD file you run to initialize command prompt sessions. Do not
placed filespecs to be viewed in LOOK2FLAGS, only options are
allowed. For example to turn off sound, place the following in
CONFIG.SYS or a .CMD file.
SET LOOK2FLAGS=/B-
LOOK2 Options
/1bf Sets border colors where b is the background color and
f is the foreground color.
Valid colors are:
Color Value Color Value
Black 0 Dark Gray 8
Blue 1 Light Blue 9
Green 2 Light Green A
Cyan 3 Light Cyan B
Red 4 Light Red C
Magenta 5 Light Magenta D
Brown 6 Light Yellow E
Light Gray 7 White F
Please note that colors from 8-F used for background
colors will cause the foreground to blink in a full-screen
session.
- 4 -
/2bf Sets text colors where b is the background color and
f is the foreground color.
/3bf Sets marked text colors where b is the background color and
f is the foreground color.
/B[+-] Turns beep mode on or off. Defaults are on and '+'.
Corresponding command is alt-B.
/C[+-] Turns on upper or lower case display of directory and hex
file screens. '+' is uppercase; '-' lowercase. Default
is on. Corresponding command is alt-C.
/Enfile~ops~...
Type and filespec of text editor program to be invoked
when the E command is executed and the operands to be
passed to it.
Where:
n - Text editor type, 1=full-screen, 2=windowed, 3=PM
file - Text editor filespec, may be name only or
drive/path/name. Include the file extension.
If name only must be in PATH=. Default is E.EXE
ops - Any operands (options) to be passed to the editor.
Must be separated by '~'.
/I[+-] Turns directory history tracking on or off. Default is on.
Corresponding command is alt-I.
/Dn Sets number of columns in the directory screen where n is
1 - 5. The fewer the number of columns the more information
LOOK2 can display. Corresponding commands are 1, 2, 3, 4, 5.
/Kkfesdta Directory menu sort keys where possible settings are any
combination and sequence of:
k - Kind (Sorts directories before files).
f - File name.
e - File extension.
s - File size.
d - File last write date.
t - File last write time.
a - File attributes.
All sorts are ascending except for by attributes.
Default is kfe.
/L[+-] Causes scroll down from bottom or scroll up from top to
"loop" back to the other end. When off, LOOK2 beeps when
a scroll passed top or bottom of list is attempted.
Default is off.
Corresponding command is alt-L.
/Pn Number of seconds LOOK2 displays a message before the message
is cleared. Zero (0) means the message will not be cleared
until a keyboard or mouse action occurs.
/S[+-] Sets text search case sensitivity. Default is off.
Corresponding command is alt-S.
- 5 -
/Tn Set the width of a tab character and a horizontal scroll.
Valid values are 0-8. Default is 8. The alt-T command
toggles text display tab expansion on and off.
/Vnn Set video display mode line count. Valid values are
25, 43, 50. Has no effect in an OS/2 window. Default
is setting of session when LOOK2 is started. Corresponding
command is alt-V.
/W[+-] Turn on or off long line wrapping in text file viewing mode.
Default is off. Corresponding command is alt-W.
/Zn Set default screen type of non-PM programs executed with
the X command. Valid settings are:
0 - Get definition from the program.
1 - Full-screen.
2 - Windowed.
4 - Whatever LOOK2 is currently running under.
Default is 0.
3. THE DIRECTORY SCREEN.
The LOOK2 directory screen presents a list of the entries in the
current directory plus all the drives on your computer. The first
entry will be highlighted. By using the direction keys or
single-clicking the mouse, you may highlight any entry. By pressing
ENTER or double-clicking the mouse on an entry, the entry will be
opened. That is, either the file will be displayed or the directory
or drive will be entered and displayed. Some directory screen
commands operate on the currently highlighted entry.
Directories are identified by a '' or '' prefix. '' indicates
the parent directory and will prefix only '..'. '' indicates a
subdirectory. Drives are identified by a ':' in the second
position and always appear last in the display.
Directory Screen Option Commands
The settings of the directory screen options are displayed on the
right side of the top line of the display next to the 'Ops:'
heading. Letter settings in uppercase indicate the option is on;
lowercase indicates the option is off. The settings 2, 4, or 5
in column 71 indicate video line mode 25, 43, or 50. The settings
1, 2, 3, 4, 5 in column 73 indicate the number of directory columns.
The setting may be toggled by single-clicking the option setting with
the left mouse button or by the following keyboard actions.
- 6 -
1 - 5 - Changes directory menu to the specified number of columns
The fewer the columns, the more information per entry is
displayed.
In the one column display the information displayed is:
Filename Extension Size Date Time Attributes
One column of information above is removed for each one column
increase in the display. Corresponding command line
option /D.
alt-B - Toggle beep on or off. Corresponding command line option /B.
alt-C - Toggle case of directory and hex screen display.
Corresponding command line option /C.
alt-I - Toggle directory history on or off. When on, user will be
able to return to previously visited directories by pressing
ESCAPE or the right mouse button. Corresponding command line
option /I.
alt-L - Toggle directory scroll looping on or off. When on, scrolls up
from top or down from bottom will "loop" to the other end.
Corresponding command line option /L.
alt-V - Toggles video mode from 25 line to 43 line to 50 line.
Corresponding command line option /V.
Directory Screen Action Commands
For commands in upper and lower case, the upper case letter is the command
hot key.
HOME, END, UP, DOWN, LEFT, RIGHT, PAGE-UP, PAGE-DOWN
- Move light bar to highlight an entry name.
ENTER - Go to a new drive or directory or open a file for viewing.
INSERT - Marks the current entry for group copy, move or delete.
Parent directories and drives cannot be marked. When
a entry is marked, a flashing check mark will appear
between the filename and its extension.
DELETE - Unmarks the current entry.
alt-INSERT - Marks all entries.
alt-DELETE - Unmarks all entries.
Copy - Prompts the user for a location (directory or file)
and copies the current entry or the marked entries to
the location the user specifies.
Delete - Prompts the user for verification and deletes
current entry or the marked entries.
- 7 -
Edit - Invokes the editor specified in the /E option (or
E.EXE if /E not entered) to edit the current entry.
Directories and drives cannot be edited.
eXec - Prompts for arguments to the program and whether or
not the program should be executed asynchronously then
the executes the current entry if it has a .EXE, .COM
or .CMD extension. If the program is executed
synchronously, the program must terminate before the user
will return to LOOK2. If executed asynchronously, the
program executes totally separately and continues
to execute even after LOOK2 terminates.
mKdir - Prompts for a new directory name and creates it.
sPec - Prompts for a new filespec (directory, file or wildcard)
and displays it.
Move - Prompts the user for a location (directory or file)
and moves the current entry or the marked entries to
the location the user specifies.
Rename - Prompts the user for a new name and renames the
current entry to that name.
Sort - Prompts the user for sort keys and sorts the current
directory display accordingly. Multiple sort keys are
allowed. Drive letters are not included in the sort.
Sort keys can be any combination of:
k - Kind (Sorts directories before files).
f - File name.
e - File extension.
s - File size.
d - File last write date.
t - File last write time.
a - File attributes.
All sorts are ascending except for by attributes.
Corresponding command line option /S.
The default is kfe. Once sort keys are entered, they
are active for any new directory LOOK2 displays until
they are changed or cleared. If you request a sort but
enter no keys (i.e just press enter), the current sort
keys are cleared and no sorting is performed until
new sort keys are entered.
ESCAPE - Go to previous directory in history.
F1 - Display help screens.
F10 - Terminate LOOK2.
- 8 -
Directory Mouse Actions
Left click commands to execute.
Left click options to toggle.
Left click a directory entry to highlight it.
Left double-click a directory entry to open a file or enter a
directory or drive.
Right click is the same as ESCAPE.
Directory Screen Usage Notes
If a subdirectory is the object of a copy command is a subdirectory,
then the target name entered will be an existing or new directory.
Only the Copy, Move and Delete commands can be operated upon marked
entries. Other commands can be executed upon the current entry while
entries are marked. But, be aware. Some commands force a re-read of
the directory which clears all marks.
Group copies to a file do NOT concatenate, so there is no reason to
do this.
Moves across drives are not allowed. Use the Copy, then the Delete
commands.
If a file has the read-only attribute set, LOOK2 will notify the user
upon a delete request, but will carry out the deletion if the user
desires.
If you try to delete a non-empty directory, LOOK2 will warn you that you
are about to do so. You may then abort or proceed with the deletion.
Pressing ESCAPE or clicking the right mouse button will clear a dialog
box and abort the corresponding function.
Pressing ESCAPE or clicking the right mouse button will cause LOOK2 to
go to the previously displayed directory.
4. THE FILE SCREEN.
The LOOK2 file screen presents a single file to be viewed. The
direction keys or mouse actions the scroll bar on the right may be
used to scroll through the file. The file may be displayed in either
text or hex mode. Lines may be wrapped if desired.
File Screen Option Commands
The settings of the files screen options are displayed on the right
side of the top line of the display next to the 'Ops:' heading.
Letter settings in uppercase indicate the option is on; lowercase
indicates the option is off. The setting 2, 4, or 5 in column 71
indicates video line mode 25, 43, or 50. The settings 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
in column 73 indicate directory column count.
- 9 -
A setting may be toggled by single-clicking the option setting with
the left mouse button or by the following keyboard actions.
alt-B - Toggle beep on or off. Corresponding command line option /B.
alt-C - Toggle case of directory and hex screen display.
Corresponding command line option /C.
alt-S - Toggle case sensitivity of text searches.
Corresponding command line option /S.
alt-T - Toggle expansion of tabs on or off. The tab width is
set by the /T option. It's default is 8.
alt-H - Toggle hex display on or off.
alt-W - Toggle line wrap on or off. Corresponding command line
option /W.
alt-V - Toggles video mode from 25 line to 43 line to 50 line.
Corresponding command line option /V.
File Screen Action Commands
For commands in upper and lower case, the upper case letter is the command
hot key.
HOME, END, UP, DOWN, LEFT, RIGHT, PAGE-UP, PAGE-DOWN
- Scroll through file.
alt-LEFT - Go to column one.
Goto - Prompts for a line number in text mode or a hex or
decimal offset in hex mode and goes to it.
sPec - Prompts for a new filespec (directory, file or wildcard)
and displays it.
Quit - Go to next file in wildcard match list if wildcard
was input. Goes to directory screen if at end of
end of wildcard list or no wildcard was input.
ESCAPE - Go to directory menu.
F1 - Display help screens.
F2 - Prompts for a string and then searches forward for it
starting at the current position. Use alt-S to turn
case sensitivity on or off.
F3 - Searches again for the last input string. Case sensitivity
may be toggled in between searches.
F10 - Terminate LOOK2.
- 10 -
File Mouse Actions
Left click commands to execute.
Left click options to toggle.
Double left click scroll bar arrows to go to the top or bottom of
the file.
Left click or left click and hold on arrows to scroll up or down a
line at a time.
Left click or left click and hold on scroll bar body above or below
elevator to scroll up or down a page at a time.
Left click on text to place cursor. This is useful when running
QuickHelp as a monitor since QuickHelp will do an automatic search on
the subject above the cursor when alt-Q is pressed.
Right click is the same as ESCAPE.
File Screen Usage Notes
Files with certain extensions will be brought up initially in hex mode.
The currently supported extensions are:
.EXE
.COM
.DLL
.OBJ
.LIB
.SYS (except CONFIG.SYS)
.DRV
.BIN
.FNT
.BMP
.GIF
When wrap mode is on, scroll actions still move by the text line. So,
if a line is wrapped once, scrolling passed it will cause the LOOK2 to
scroll two screen lines.
Toggling between text and hex modes will keep the current file
position. When you toggle from hex to text mode after scrolling in
hex mode LOOK2 must search for the current position from the top or
bottom of the file in order to determine the line number. So, there
may be a slight delay when viewing large files.
Searches done from hex mode will place the display in text mode.
Text marks set on file searches are cleared when a message is cleared.
Use the Goto command to move to a line number in text mode or a hex or
decimal offset in hex mode.
- 11 -
Pressing ESCAPE or clicking the right mouse button will clear a dialog
box and abort the corresponding function.
Pressing ESCAPE or clicking the right mouse button will cause LOOK2 to
go to the current directory display.
5. OTHER LOOK2 NOTES
LOOK2 uses a separate thread to clear messages displayed upon the
screen. The /P command sets the number of seconds LOOK2 displays a
message before clearing it. Valid setting are 0 through 9. Zero (0)
turns off timed message clearing. The default is 3 seconds.
If a message is displayed, any keystroke or mouse action will clear
it immediately. The action will then be carried out. The exception
is ESCAPE (and right mouse button). If these are input when a message
is displayed, the message is cleared, but the ESCAPE action is not
carried over to the parent screen. So, ESCAPE can be used to clear a
message at any time.
LOOK2 will support HPFS files and drives, but it will not support
files which have filenames longer than eight characters or extensions
longer than three characters.
- 12 -