README.TXT - Full Documentation of MaxDIR. FASTREAD.TXT - Quick Read Documentation of MaxDIR. HISTORY.TXT - History of Revisions to MaxDIR. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- MaxDIR [History] Freeware ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- --- HISTORY of MaxDIR --- * = Changes made, but version number not changed. What's New for MaxDIR v2.30: (August 2009) 1) Revamped all command switches. Working on making it similar to DOS's DIR commands. 2) Added file attribute display in 1/2 column mode. 3) Made numerous small changes to MaxDIR and its Config. Renamed CFG.EXE to MCFG.EXE to not interfere with other config commands. 4) Added option (-) to turn off default switches and others set in mcfg.exe. Began reverse order coding, not finished yet. 5) MaxDIR Config: Updated arrow keys in Extensions. Prompt to save changes only if changes made. Updated help windows. Other small changes, etc.. What's New for MaxDIR v2.29: (January 2005) 1) Added ability to set default number of columns in MaxDIR Config. 2) Added background color checking. MaxDIR now displays data using your current custom background color. DOS can only have 8 background colors. If you are using Windows, then MaxDIR will use the nearest DOS compatible color selected by Windows.. 3) Backward compatibility with custom configurations upwards from v2.26. 4) Removed cursor code from MaxDIR for better compatibility. What's New for MaxDIR v2.28: (October 2003) 1) Fixed problem for Win9x based boot disks. After booting from the boot disk, MaxDIR would show wrong 'Total Clusters', causing it to display incorrect disk size and percentage full. Using /X option, it would also show incorrect total clusters and clusters used. This problem did not occur on any other OS's, and it did not occur on fully booted Win9x OS's. 2) Added error checking code for illegal cluster values received from OS. See #1 above. 3) Added error checking to MaxDIR Config. Began coding for backward compatibility with old config files when New options are added. What's New for MaxDIR v2.27: (quick fix for 2.26, ~ January 2003) 1) Fixed 'Divide Error' on last line of /x (extra drive info) option. Somehow missed a silly typo when testing 2.26.. 2) Added pause for /? (command list) on 25 line screens. 3) Modified (Show available Drives) to show drives A / B if the current or checked drive is A / B. What's New for MaxDIR v2.26: (December 2002) 1) Completely re-wrote the entire screen display system to allow for more display options and to allow for standard device output. (stdio) 2) Added ability to re-direct output to files/printers/ etc., when using the no color (/c) option or the ANSI option (/j). ex: di /c > file.txt. 3) Added code to print colors using ANSI codes. 4) Added the /j option (Show colors in ANSI format). 5) Added ability to customize colors for 'Available Drives', File Sizes, and Volume Label. 6) Updated MaxDIR Config (CFG.EXE) to let you customize: 'Available Drives' color; File Size color; Volume Label color; Command Switch for Use ANSI/ No Color/ Standard Color. 7) Made numerous changes to MaxDIR Config (CFG.EXE) to make it more user friendly. Updated all help screens. Each window has its own help. 8) Optimized MaxDIR Memory for 128K model. Upped max files to 2400. 9) Added ability to show space used up to 4GB. Previous limit was 2GB. 10) Added ability to show files in 1, 2, 4, or 6 columns. In 1 and 2 column view, it will show filedates and times. 11) Added code to sort files by filedate/time. 12) Add the /t option (Sort by Date/Time) 13) Added ability to customize colors for 'File Dates' and 'File Times'. What's New for MaxDIR v2.25: (BETA Testing - Dropped April 2001) 1) Fixed bug: Memory leak when reading more than 1,800 filenames. My calculation for memory usage was off by about 4K. Reduced max files from 2,300 to 1,800 to prevent problems. 2) Completed Custom Config program. Completed modifications to MaxDIR to make it interface with .CFG files. 3) Removed .INI file support that was used for v2.24. All custom configs are now done for the user via the CFG.EXE program. What's New for MaxDIR v2.24: (May 2000) 1) Added code for user customizable command switches. Putting command switches in a file called MAXDIR.INI will cause MaxDIR to use them automatically each time it is executed. MAXDIR.INI must reside in the same DIR as DI.EXE (or Whatever you renamed it). Custom Colors are not finished yet, and are ignored in the .INI file. The INI file is optional. Please review the INI file for rules in its use and for a taste of What will be in the next release (v2.26). 2) Created Readme.Ini file and inserted instructions for using it. This file must be renamed to Maxdir.Ini in order to be default. User Choice. NOTE: No instructions for using the Ini file will be in the Readme.txt file! All intructions for the INI file will be in that file. *3) Added Extension to the color table: .MP3 (Lt. Blue) What'S New for MaxDIR v2.23: (BETA Testing - Not Publicly Released.) 1) Added code to show available HD and network drives at top of listing. (I kept it from looking for floppy drives A & B because it might activate the drive each time you execute DI.EXE.) 2) Added the /v option to disable show available drives. 3) Added code to show build and your system information in the /b option. 4) Began coding changes for user customizable color and command-switch configurations, via an .INI file. Will be in beta for v2.24 in a few weeks! This is such a big change, that the v2.24 may end up becoming MaxDIR v2.30. Is there a rule book for revision numbers??? :) *5) Added "Check C-Shore.com/maxdir for latest info." in the /? option. *6) Fixed Bug from beta1: Typing DI followed by a drive designation caused your Current Drive to be switched to that drive. ie: DI F: What'S New for MaxDIR v2.22: (December 1999) 1) Added Extensions to the color table: .PDF .RTF .ASC .HTM .SHT (White) 2) Added Extensions to the color table: .DBF .MDB .DB .LCK .XLS (Blue) 3) Added documentation to explain about NT drawbacks while in LFN (Long FileName) Directories. Not a problem, Just a nuisance. What'S New for MaxDIR v2.22beta: (BETA Testing - Not Publicly Released.) 1) Separated number of Files reported into number of Files and number of Directories. Added #DIR's to right edge of screen, same line as #Files. This added information also provided by the Win95/98 DIR command. 2) Added code to allow listing Hidden and System files. 3) Added the /a option (Show ALL files including Hidden and System.) 4) Rearranged current time/date (above Volume Label) to "Magna" Universal style. Example: Mmm DD, YYYY HH:MMa/p. IE: Jan 15, 2001 12:00a 5) Edited documentation, and renamed standard doc file from DI.TXT to README.TXT 6) Added Extensions to the color table: .IFF .IMG .PIC .PCT .PSP (Cyan) 7) Added Extensions to the color table: .S3M .IT .XM .STM (Lt. Blue) 8) Added Extensions to the color table: .INF (Lt. Red), .VXD (Brown) 9) Added Extension to the color table: .RAR (Red) What'S New for MaxDIR v2.21: (September 1999) 1) Added code to finalize reliability problems under WinNT. It now works perfectly as long as it is in the first PATH= directory. Copy it to the C:\WINNT or C:\WINDOWS directory, to be sure. DI.EXE or Whatever you want to call it. WinNT does not like additions to PATH=. Make sure you read the text file for MaxDIR. What'S New for MaxDIR v2.2: 1) Removed the /b option (Show Beta-Test Information.) 2) Added documentation to ease confusion when used on drives > 2GB under different OS's. 3) Added code to make MaxDIR work better on "DOS" drives under MacOS 7.5+. 4) Added code to fix reliability problems under Windows NT 4.0. What'S New for MaxDIR v2.1b: 1) Added the /i (Show Directory Bytes Consumed) to accurately show the bytes consumed for all DIR's in a DIR (SubDIR's also consume a cluster.) 2) Removed default to Show Directory Bytes Consumed to allow less confusion when comparing bytes used to bytes consumed for files. What'S New for MaxDIR v2.1a: 1) Beta Test. What'S New for MaxDIR v2.0a: 1) Major New version. 2) Replaced abbreviated date with complete Day-of-Week name above label. 3) Fixed bug; When viewing a directory on a drive other than the current drive, MaxDIR would show the directory, but the volume label would not be updated. (ie: di a: while currently in another drive.) 4) Added code to have MaxDIR show the current drive letter after the total drive capacity is displayed. 5) Fixed various minor typo's throughout the program. Made several aesthetic changes. 6) Added Extensions to the color table: .CMF (Blue), .LOG (White) What'S New for MaxDIR v1.6d: 1) Added code in the /x command to show the current drive's DOS Identifier Byte and it's meaning. 2) Rewrote the DI.DOC file to compensate for changes and additions in the "computer programming community" in an attempt to standardize wording and multiple-platform operation. 3) Replaced "Time" with current Day-of-Week above Volume Label display. What'S New for MaxDIR v1.6c: 1) Added "Path Deduction" ability so that you don't have to type in the full path to the location in which you want a directory listing. ie: DI GAMES instead of DI GAMES\*.* 2) Added code to make MaxDIR neatly show the complete pathname in the Path: slot, in All Uppercase. 3) Added Extension to the color table: .ASM (Lt Green). What'S New for MaxDIR v1.6b: 1) Fixed Bug; (FINALLY Tracked it down!). The 'Bytes Consumed' algorithm became confused after the 'Total # of clusters used' exceeded 32767. 2) Added a status indicator (LOADing, SORTING) which appears at the volume label while MaxDIR is sorting a large number of files on slower computers(it takes over 2 seconds to sort 1000 files on a 486sx33). 3) Added the ability to 'break' from the program at a pause by pressing ESCape or Ctrl-C/Ctrl-Break. Helpful when listing many files. 4) Switched to V-DMA for quicker operation. Still working on ANSI. 5) Finalized switchover to including directories in the 'Bytes Consumed' algorithm...Since each DIR entry also consumes a cluster. 6) Added the /o (Disable Video Direct MemAccess) option. This command will cause MaxDIR to use the BIOS, instead of V-DMA, to print to the screen. 7) Added Extensions to the color table: .PCX, .MOV, .AVI, .MPG (CYAN). What'S New for MaxDIR v1.6a: 1) Added the /c (No Color) option. 2) Added code to speed up response time when the /c option is triggered. 3) Added Extensions to the color table: .WRI, .SCR, .HLP (White). 4) Added Extensions to the color table: .DAT (Green), and .GRP (Brown). 5) Reduced Maximum files per-call from 2500 to 2300 to save memory and speed response time. 6) Added Code to double Maximum Drive Size from 2 Gigs to 4 Gigs (32-bit computing limitation for long integers). I am considering using 'integer overflows' to correctly recognize even larger drives. (This did not work... Woe is me.) 7) Began Preparations for ANSI (to allow usage on a dumb terminal or over a modem) and Direct VideoMemory Addressing (V-DMA) for faster operation. What'S New for MaxDIR v1.5g: 1) Added the .CFG extension to the color table (Red). 2) Changed color of .ZIP, .ARJ, .LHA, .ARC from Lt Magenta to Red. 3) Changed color of .MOD, .MID, .WAV, .VOC from Yellow to Lt Blue. 4) Added the /n (No Sorting) option. 5) Added the /s (Sort by FileSize) option. 6) Added the /p (No Pausing) option. 7) Added the /b (Show Beta-Test Information) option. 8) Changed the di /? command to not show beta-info without the /b option. 9) Added code to make MaxDIR check the first 2 directories to be sure they aren't "." and ".." before getting their names. 10) Added stronger sorting routines to allow deductive sorting. ie: When sorting by Size; if two files are the same Size, then auto-sort by Extension. If Size and Extension are both the same, then auto-sort by Filename...etc. What'S New for MaxDIR v1.5f: 1) Added Current Date and Time to MaxDIR (Shows above Volume Label). 2) Added Compile Date info in the DI /? to show when it was compiled. What'S New for MaxDIR v1.5e: 1) Added CD-ROM checking...the BIOS can get a little funny with one. *** MaxDIR v1.5b - v1.5d: Beta-Testing *** What'S New for MaxDIR v1.5a: 1) Added error checking code (So MaxDIR can get info about a drive even if there is no disk in it) so it can inform you of the problem. 2) Added code to display info about a disk if it is empty. ie: DOS's DIR command just says "File not found" without displaying any information about it's size or it's Bytes Free. MaxDIR now does. *** MaxDIR v1.2c - v1.4: Beta-Testing *** What'S New for MaxDIR v1.2b: 1) Added code to neatly display files lengths larger than seven characters. ie: 10.454M as opposed to 10454783, which moves all the files over one space past the limit, causing a messed-up display. 2) Fixed Bug; MaxDIR was confused by Directories with extensions, causing it to freak out, since I forgot to design a place for it to put the extra characters... :) 3) Added/Altered code to make better use of memory so that more files could be read and sorted without having to use 32-bit addressing. 4) Changed the file-limit from 1500 to 2500 files. 5) Added the /x (Extra Drive Info) option. What'S New for MaxDIR v1.2: 1) Fixed Major Bug; A memory leak caused by using strings past their pre-defined length-limits. A poor programming practice... What'S New for MaxDIR v1.1: 1) Added the /f (Sort by Filename) option. 2) Changed the sorting default to Sort by Extension, and removed the /e option from the menu. 3) Added the /l (Show Files Left-to-Right instead of Up/Down) option. 4) Added code to show files in ascending order down columns (Up/Down), and removed the /c option. 5) Changed from ANSI screen writing to Video BIOS addressing. What'S New for MaxDIR v1.0: (May 1995) 1) Added the /d (Show Directories Only) option. 2) Added the /u (Show Files in ALL Uppercase) option. 3) Added the /e (Sort Files by Extension) option.