---------------------------------------------------------------------------- SECTOR? <Alone-F5> Enter new sector to view (ESC to abort) [0-xxxxxxxxxx]: _ Please note that the very first sector is actually SECTOR 0 ! The "Total Sectors:" display, at the lower left-hand corner of the screen, is the total 1-based sector quantity. Which is how normal people count. xxxxxxxxx = the maximum sector number that you can input, in decimal. To input the desired sector number in hexidecimal, end it with an "h". For example: 1111h<Enter> If you have an individual file loaded for editing, the allowable sectors are restricted to the sectors that belong to that file. (This is done via <Alone-F7> FileDir, and the file is known as the "Current File".) And the prompt would then be: Enter new file sector to view (ESC or ENTER alone to exit): _ If there are unsaved sector changes, the procedure is the same as <Alone-F10> Exit DE. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- DRIVE? <Alone-F6> To select a new drive, either user the right and left arrow keys to highlight the desired drive letter and press Enter. Or Double left mouse click over the desired drive to view. A right mouse click equals ESC (exit)! Please note, if you have a CD drive installed, its drive letter will not be shown. Their structure and access methods (programming wise) are entirely different from that of a magnetic disk. If the requested drive exceeds the limitations of this program, you would see one of the messages below, and the drive change would be aborted. +-|ESC|---------------------------------+ | Error: Sector size of requested | | drive exceeds 4096 bytes. | +---------------------------------------+ +-|ESC|---------------------------------+ | Error: Cluster size of requested | | drive exceeds 128 sectors. | +---------------------------------------+ If there are unsaved sector changes, the procedure is the same as <Alone-F10> Exit DE. NOTE: If you select a drive and the (floppy) drive bay is empty, the default DOS INT 24h handler will temporarily take control of the system and display: Not ready reading drive x <---- A or B or whatever. Abort, Retry, Fail? (DOS v3.2- = Abort, Retry, Ignore?) The only safe route then is to press "F", "I", or insert a disk and press "R". ABORT will crash the program, leaving you with no command line cursor and a useless active mouse cursor! Page 14 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- FILEDIR <Alone-F7> MENU The FileDir Menu is fairly powerful. The maximum number of files that can be read and displayed, in each directory, is 1191. This includes, and displays, 1.) Volume Labels, 2.) hidden files and directories, 3.) read only files and directories, 4.) system files, 5.) long filenames, and 6.) erased files (these begin with the E5h character). FYI. The first byte of a 32 byte directory entry being 00h (binary 0) indicates that there are no more files in that directory. NEVER do this yourself, or you may render any remaining files inaccessable! The "File: xxxx" display, at the lower left-hand corner of the screen, shows exactly which 32 byte directory entry that the highlighted file or <DIR> is, within the Root Directory sectors or the Sub-Directory cluster. The "LEGEND", at the right side of the FileDir Menu, is a simple help screen of allowable key presses. If using a mouse, a right or left click over any command, will execute that command. If the logged drive is empty of files, you would see this message: +-|ESC|---------------------------------+ | There are no files to display! | +---------------------------------------+ To access and load a <DIR>, either move the highlight bar to the desired directory filename and press Enter. Or use the mouse and double left or right click over the desired directory filename. The maximum number of sub-directory levels is 6. If an attempt is made to go any deeper, you would see this message: +-|ESC|---------------------------------+ | !!! SORRY !!! | | The maximum nested level in viewing | | sub-directories is 6. | +---------------------------------------+ To load and initialize a particular file for viewing/editing, either move the highlight bar to the desired file and press Enter. Or use the mouse and double left or right click over the desired file. The selected file then becomes the "Current File". To exit back to the FileDir Menu, press either <Shift-F10> Exit CF or <Alone-F10> Exit DE. a.) The maximum number of file clusters that can be read, from the FAT, is 16,383. This would be a minimum file size of 8,388,096 bytes (with 512 bytes per sector and 1 sector per cluster). As far as I know, this minimum could only be accomplished with a 32-bit FAT. If the number of file clusters DOES exceed 16,383 you would see this message: +-|ESC|---------------------------------+ | Sorry!! Could not load all of the file| | clusters. This program can only handle| | up to 16,383 file clusters. : +---------------------------------------+ You would still be able to continue, but would not be able to access the entire file. Page 15 FILEDIR <Alone-F7> MENU (cont.) If the file or <DIR> is an erased file or <DIR>, and its starting cluster has been re-allocated to a newer file, you would see this message: +-|ESC|---------------------------------+ | Sorry!! The starting cluster of this | | erased file or directory has already | | been re-allocated. | +---------------------------------------+ NOTE: You must use <U>nerase in order to access and view the clusters of an erased file! If not, and the first cluster is still free, it is the only cluster that can be viewed. The below are other messages that would be displayed if an error was detected while parsing the FAT (File Allocation Table, this is the disks internal chain of all of the files and directories on a disk): +-|ESC|---------------------------------+ | The starting cluster for this file or | | directory is marked as FREED | | by the operating system (DOS). | +---------------------------------------+ +-|ESC|---------------------------------+ | The starting cluster for this file or | | directory is out of the range of the | | cluster numbering scheme of this disk.| +---------------------------------------+ +-|ESC|---------------------------------+ | The starting cluster for this file or | | directory is marked as RESERVED | | by the operating system (DOS). | +---------------------------------------+ +-|ESC|---------------------------------+ | The starting cluster for this file or | | directory is marked as BAD | | by the operating system (DOS). | +---------------------------------------+ +-|ESC|---------------------------------+ | This file or directory is prematurely | | ended by pointing to a cluster number | | that is marked as FREED by DOS. | | | | | | Continue <Y/N> ? | +---------------------------------------+ Page 16 FILEDIR <Alone-F7> MENU (cont.) +-|ESC|---------------------------------+ | This file or directory is prematurely | | ended by pointing to a cluster number | | that is out of the range of the | | cluster numbering scheme of this disk.| | | | Continue <Y/N> ? | +---------------------------------------+ +-|ESC|---------------------------------+ | This file or directory is prematurely | | ended by pointing to a cluster number | | that is marked as RESERVED by DOS. | | | | | | Continue <Y/N> ? | +---------------------------------------+ +-|ESC|---------------------------------+ | This file or directory is prematurely | | ended by pointing to a cluster number | | that is marked as BAD by DOS. | | | | | | Continue &...
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