ho@fergvax.unl.edu (Michael Ho) (07/25/89)
Here's Central Point's blurb on what's so neat about 5.5 :-) : What's New in PC Tools Deluxe PC Tools Deluxe Version 5.5 This overview provides an introduction to the new and improved features in PC Tools Deluxe Version 5.5. It is intended to make learning Version 5.5 easy for those users upgrading from Version 5.0 or 5.1. Each of the features is explained in detail in the documentation. If this is your first time using PC Tools Deluxe, we recommend that you read the Getting Started chapters of the manuals before using the product. Network Support To facilitate use within corporate or departmental environments, Version 5.5 now supports local-area networks. PC Tools programs can be loaded onto a Novell NetWare or IBM Token Ring network server, making these functions accessible from any station on the network. Two new installation options automate initial program loading and setup on a network server or station. All PC Tools programs can be run from a write-protected directory, minimizing the danger of virus infection and reducing server disk space requirements as you store only configuration information and your own data files in your directories. Right Mouse Button The right mouse button is now supported in all PC Tools applications. It works the same as the left mouse button for pulling down menus, choosing commands, using scroll bars, and selecting options in dialog boxes. Additional right mouse button functions for Desktop, PC Shell and PC Backup are explained later in this overview. PC Shell All of PC Shell's functions are available for use on networked drives, except the following: Directory Maintenance (Prune & Graft) Rename Volume Search Disk Directory Sort Undelete Disk Info Verify Disk Disk Map File Map View/Edit Disk To improve performance and security when running on a network server, PC Shell only displays directories for which the user has at least read privileges. In addition, its new Find/View/Launch features enhance the ability to access and manage files on networks with large and/or multiple servers. When hotkeying into PC Shell from the DOS command line, Shell will not save memory before loading its overlay file, thus making PC Shell come up faster than it can when hotkeyed into over another program. Application Installation In order to take advantage of PC Shell's "Launch" capabilities for Lotus 1-2-3 and dBase files, these programs must be added to the applications menu. After following the manual instructions for "Modify Applications List", add the appropriate file extensions for each application's entry in the "Associated Filename Extension(s)" field. (i.e. WK1 and WKS for Lotus and DBF for dBase.) The "Initial directory" and "Execute Path" fields should contain the subdirectory name that contain the program files. Right Mouse Button The right mouse button can be used to scroll in the Tree and File Lists and the viewers by holding down the button and moving the highlight bar to the window border. When used at the same time as the left mouse button, you can drag to select/unselect files. New Parameters New parameters have been included for exchanging mouse button functions for left-handed users (/LE), disabling screen snow suppression (/FF), and disabling quick load from the DOS prompt (/DQ). Status Line A Status Line, below the Tree List and File List windows, shows the number of files in the directory and how many bytes they comprise, the number of files selected and how many bytes they comprise, and the number of unallocated bytes on the disk. When you hold down the right mouse button and drag the highlight bar over files, you will see the Status Line change to show the highlighted file's name, size, date and time last modified, and attributes. Command Bar A Command Bar has been added above the Message Bar at the bottom of the screen. It contains commonly used commands for quick and easy access. The same commands also appear on the pull-down menus. The commands can be selected by pressing the highlighted letter or clicking on the command with the mouse. For example, press "C" to copy files or click on "Copy." Message Bar When highlighted short cut keys (in red on color monitors) appear on the Message Bar, the associated commands can be invoked by pressing the highlighted key or positioning the mouse cursor on any portion of the command or highlighted key and clicking the mouse. For example, at the main screen, to unselect all previously selected files, just press F4 or click anyplace on "F4 Unsel" with the mouse. The commands disappear when the Message Bar contains help messages. Zoom Zoom is a command on the Command Bar that expands the active File List window to fill the screen. You can also expand a Tree List window if it has been sized smaller or if you have two Tree List windows displayed. This command is especially useful if you are using the two list display option or if you have a directory with a large number of files. New and Modified Commands Some commands have been changed to improve functionality, clarity, and ease of use. Locate File With the Locate command, you can find groups of files, such as all of your word processor files or all of your database files, no matter where they are on your hard disk, and have them displayed in a window. Once the located files are displayed in the locate window, you can hotkey in and out of PC Shell and the listed files will remain. If any files were selected, they will remain selected through the hotkey process. You can also launch a program from the Locate window the same way you can from a File List window. For example, if you have located all of your Microsoft Word files (*.DOC) and Microsoft Word is installed on your application list to run with associated files with the *.DOC extension, Ctrl-Enter (or double-clicking on the file with the mouse) will launch Word and load the selected, or highlighted, file in the Locate window. Find: With the Find command, you can search a group of files for a particular text string. Once a file has been found which contains the text string, you have several options. You can view the file and/or mark it and keep looking through the rest of your files. You can also optionally mark all files as selected that contain the text string without stopping at each file. You can also use the Locate and Find commands together to produce a list of files selected by both file type and content. See the section entitled An Example: Locating, Viewing, Launching Files in the PC Shell chapter of the manual for an example of using these new functions. Edit/View On the File menu, the Edit/View command has been separated. Edit has been renamed Hex Edit, but its functions remain the same. The View command is especially helpful. If a file is a Lotus 1-2-3, dBASE, or text file, View will display the file in its native mode. You can then use the keyboard or right mouse button to scroll the displayed file. In the case of Lotus 1-2-3 and dBASE files, you can also launch Lotus 1-2-3 or dBASE from their respective viewers. Disk Search The Search Disk command functions the same as before, but the user interface has changed to be compatible with the new File Find interface. Global Rename The Rename command has been enhanced so that you can change file names and/or extensions for all selected files. For example, if you have selected all your word processing documents and they have the extension .TXT, you can easily change all of the extensions to .DOC. Print Directory The List (print dir) command has been renamed Print Directory; however,its function remains the same. Directory Maintenance: Modify Attributes An option has been added to the Directory Maintenance menu: Modify Attributes. You can now specify the following four directory attributes: Hidden, System, Read Only, and Archive. File List Filter and File Select Filter On the Options Menu and on the Message Bar, two commands have been renamed for clarification. Dir List Argument is now File List Filter (F8) and File Select Argument is now File Select Filter (F9). Their functions remain the same. File Edit PC Shell's word processor has been renamed File Edit. Its functions remain the same; however, its commands now appear on the Message Bar and may be selected by pressing the Alt key along with the highlighted letter of the command or clicking on the Message Bar command with the mouse. Additional Features The drive selection dialog box that appears when you use the File Copy/Compare/Move and Disk Copy/Compare commands only requires that you press a drive letter or click on a drive letter to start the command. You will find a new color option in the Screen Colors dialog box: Window selected data. Selecting this option allows you to change the color of the selected files in windows or the color of the data in the database viewer. A shortcut key sequence for displaying two lists and reading the second drive has been added: Ctrl-Alt-Drive letter. This key sequence is equivalent to pressing Ins-F7-Ctrl-Drive letter. PC Secure and Compress All menus can be accessed with a single keystroke (you no longer need to use the Alt key). Compress and PC Secure also have commonly used commands on the Message Bar to choose by pressing a single function key or clicking on the command with the mouse. For example, press F4 or click on F4 Begin Compress to start Compress. In addition, PC Secure offers another level of security when you start the program with the /G parameter. When a file is encrypted using this parameter, the original file is destroyed according to DOD standards. Desktop When hotkeying into Desktop from the DOS command line, it will not save memory before loading its overlay file, thus making Desktop come up faster than it can when hotkeyed into over another program. New Parameters New parameters have been included for exchanging mouse button functions for left-handed users (/LE), loading the dayUs schedule at start up (/RA), and disabling quick load from the DOS prompt (/DQ). Time Display The current time is displayed on the lower left border of the active window. Right Mouse Button: The right mouse button provides an additional scrolling function available in Notepads, Outlines, Databases, and The Macro Editor. Holding down the button and moving the mouse pointer to a window border scrolls the displayed file. Short Cut Keys When highlighted short cut keys (in red on color monitors) appear on the Message Bar, the associated commands can be selected by pressing the function key or clicking on the Message Bar with the mouse. For example, pressing F5 or clicking on F5=SAVE in Notepads saves a file. Autodialer When Desktop is installed resident, you can activate the Autodialer to dial a phone number appearing on the screen by pressing the Ctrl-O hotkey. The phone number can be in any Desktop application, but is not limited to Desktop applications. The phone number can be in a word processor document, a spreadsheet, entered at the DOS prompt, etc. This feature does not change the operation of the Autodialer as it is currently documented in the Database chapter of the manual. As with all hotkeys, you can change the key combinations using Utilities in Desktop. Notepads and Outlines File Extensions You can change the default extension that Notepads and Outlines use. For example, the default extension for Notepads is .TXT; you can enter .*, or .XYZ, etc., and the next time you choose Notepads, the extension will be as you set it. Spellchecker The spelling checker highlights the misspelled word in the text of the document being checked. Edit Keys When using the keyboard to edit text in Notepads, Outlines or the Macro Editor, an additional key combination is available: Ctrl-left arrow moves the cursor one word to the left; Ctrl-right arrow moves the cursor one word to the right. Databases The database is now compatible with dBASE IV as well as dBASE III. ASCII Graphics Characters ASCII graphics characters are allowed in the database, Appointment Scheduler, Notepads and Outlines. To insert ASCII graphics characters, press the Alt key and the decimal equivalent of the ASCII character. Communications Ports Telecommunications and the Autodialer will now support communications ports COM3 and COM4. since these ports are not standard on machines other than a PS/2, they must be defined on the command line with a parameter: /C3 or /C4 = IRQ,Base port address (for example, /C3=4,3E8). Refer to your modem manual for the IRQ and Base port address. Switching the Active Window We have made it easier for you to switch active windows when you have more than two open application windows in Desktop. When Switch Active is chosen from the Window menu, or F9 is pressed, a dialog box appears showing all of the active windows, what application is associated with the window, and the name of the file loaded into the window. You can select a window to make active by pressing the highlighted number/letter or clicking on the entry you want. (You can still click in any window to make it the active one.) Algebraic Calculator Keys have been added to the Algebraic Calculator screen. You may now click on the "keys" on the screen with the mouse to perform calculations in addition to using the standard keyboard keys. Scientific Calculator A scientific calculator has been added that emulates many of the functions of the Hewlett-Packard 11-C. PC Backup PC Backup's menus and commands have been rearranged on the pull-down menus to include new features and to make PC Backup easier to use. All menus can be accessed with a single keystroke (you no longer need to use the Alt key). Frequently used commands appear on the Message Bar and can be activated by pressing a single function key or clicking on the command with the left or right mouse button. For example, to start the backup, press F5 or click on F5Start Backup on the Message Bar. The first time you run PC Backup, you will be guided through configuring the program for your computer and PC Backup will automatically save this configuration for you. Right Mouse The right mouse button can be used to scroll in the Tree and File Lists by holding down the button and moving the highlight bar to the window border. When used at the same time as the left mouse button, you can drag to select/unselect files or directories. New Features Copy II PC Deluxe Option Board support: If you have a Deluxe Option Board installed in your computer, it will automatically be used during a DMA backup when you are backing up to unformatted disks. You will see a 20-40% increase in the speed of your backup. Verification options: You can control when PC Backup verifies disks. You can verify always, verify only when formatting disks, or choose no verification. Formatting options: You can tell PC Backup to always format the backup disks or format only when it determines the need to do so. Reporting: You can print, or save to disk, information about your backup. PCBDIR printing option: You can print a report from the last disk of your DMA backup with PCBDIR. New Parameters New parameters have been included for enabling the use of the Deluxe Option Board (/DOB), if present, when formatting and writing disks; /NO for turning off simultaneous hard disk and floppy disk DMA on machines that are not capable of simultaneous DMA due to limitations in their circuitry; and /LE for exchanging the functions of the left and right mouse buttons for left-handed users..i.Parameters:PC Shell:/LE;.i.PC Shell:Parameters:/LE; The Manuals You'll find trouble shooting sections in the PC Backup and Utilities manuals. Also, in the Getting Started chapter of each manual, you'll see a complete listing of all the files shipped to you and the names of the files each program creates, so you can better manage the files on your disks. Bulletin Board System There is a script file, CPS_BBS.SCR, which can be used from Telecommunications in PC Tools Desktop. Once you have obtained a user name and password the first time you use the BBS, you can use this script file to automatically dial the BBS and log in. [Sorry 'bout the bandwidth, folks, but a lotta people seem to be interested in this...] --- ... Michael Ho, University of Nebraska <ho@fergvax.unl.edu>