FILE-DIRECTOR

Version 2.00 For IBM-PC and compatables.  Requires DOS 2.0 or later.

 This program is a memory resident module that intercepts all file open calls to
DOS, and attempts to open the file using the current directory on the default
drive, then using the drives, directories, and subdirectories specified in the
File-Director (FD) command.

COMMAND FORMAT

  FD [[d:]path[[;[d:]path]...]]

 You may specify a list of drives and path names, seperated by semicolons (note
that the path names must be specified and will not default to the current
directory).  Then when you attempt to open a file that is not found in the
current directory that was implied, File-Director searches the named directories
in the order you entered them.  The current directory is not changed.

 If the optional parameters are omitted, the current path(s) are displayed.  If
a single semicolon is entered as the paramater, the search path is set to null
(as if File-Director did not exist), and only the current directory is searched
for the file.

 Note that this format is identical to that used by the DOS 'PATH' command.

EXAMPLE:

   FD C:\;C:\DATA;A:\

 This tells File-Director to search for your file in the current directory, then
in the root directory on drive C, then the DATA subdirectory on drive C, then
finally on drive A.

 INSTALLATION:

 Simply copy FD.COM to your DOS backup diskette, or your hard disk.  If you want
to use a specific path most of the time, you can put the FD command in your
AUTOEXEC.BAT file.  File-Director is not copy protected, so you may put it on
each DOS diskette you have.

NOTES:

1) File-Director will not detect invalid paths.  They will be detected at file
   open time and will not be searched. No error messages are generated by
   File-Director.

2) File-Director will only search for files where the drive and path are
   implicit.  (i.e.  if you specify a file as "c:\data\names.dat" File-Director
   will not be able to look for it anywhere but in C:\DATA.  For the program to
   find this file, it should be specified simply as "NAMES.DAT", and the
   "C:\DATA" should be in File-Director's search path.

LIMITATIONS:

 A file newly created by your program will usually end up in the current
directory.  File-Director cannot know where the file should be put.  If you are
reading your input from the directory "C:\DATA", the output file should be
specified as "C:\DATA\filename.ext" if you want the output file in the same
directory as the input file.  If the specific path is omitted on a file create,
the file will be created in the current directory.

 For full support under File-Director the file to be searched for must be opened
using the file handle format in DOS 2.X.  The older applications that used File
Control Blocks cannot completly use a file path.  Fortunatly, most of the newer
programs (including BASIC interpreter) use the File Handles, and support paths.
BASIC also searches along File-Director's paths for programs when you do a
"LOAD" command.

 File-Director will support File Control Blocks, but there are some differences.
If a file is only read and not written to, it is completely supported. If a
file is opened as a random access file (like BASIC compiler does) File-Director
supports that access mode also. However, if a file is opened for APPEND, and
it is not in the current directory, the file will be found along the filepath,
opened, but the updates will be written to the default drive in the current
directory. This is unfortunate, but unavoidable due to the structure of DOS.
If you open files for APPEND, be sure that they are in the current directory
or the drive is explicitly specified.

 The best advice is to try every program you intend to use File-Director with
if the program uses FCB's, or you are not sure. Use a back up copy of your data
for this test.

Comments:

 Use caution when reading and writing files with File-Director.  It will always
find and open the FIRST file along its paths that matches the input filename.
It will not detect DUPLICATE file names.  There should never be duplications of
file names along File-Director's paths, as the second file will never be found
unless its path is explicitly specified when it is opened.


If you have comments, or I can answer a question for you, please write.

    Bob Murphy
    PO BOX 23260
    Richfield, MN 55423