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MORE TRICKS ON XTREE AND ZTREE ============================== |i. Use XTree as Installation monitor |ii. Quick access to the Windows95 context-/properties-menu |iii. Use XTreeGold 2.5 or 3.0 graphics viewers with ZTreeWin |iv. Basic instructions on usage of XTreeLink |v. XTreeGold workaround on how to use the most recent PKZIP |vi. Append the contents of a selection of files |vii. Creating shortcuts on your Win95 desktop with ZTreeWin |viii.Adding comments to your Filespec and Alt-Batch entries |ix. Easy opening of explorer windows with ZTreeWin |x. Handy entry of the selfsame target directory |xi. Using instant one-line CTRL-Batch entries |xii. XTree Gold and .LZH Files |xiii.Partial logging with XTreePro |xiv. XTreeGold and Long File Names i. Use XTree as Installation monitor ========================================================= --> applies to XTreeGold 3.0 and ZTreeWin with TFC plugin How to watch what files have been added, removed or updated through an installation process, using XTree: 1. Switch to the disk you want to watch, place the cursor to the root directory and, if not done already, log the whole disk by hitting "*" 2. The cursor still on the root directory, select Ctrl-F7 (Tag branch); all files of the current disk are now tagged. 3. Invoke the Print command by hitting "P" and select "C" (Catalog of tagged files). Then Hit "P" (Print to), the default entry should be LPT1, change this to "TEMPFILE" (or, if in ZTreeWin you can use a path-/filename of your choice, e.g. "G:\InstMon\Filelst1.txt") and hit enter again; a file with the appropriate (path- and) filename will be created now, containing all directory/file-information of the current disk. (In XTree you now have to move the created "TEMPFILE" from the XTreeGold directory to another one, e.g. "G:\InstMon\Before" ). 4. Leave XTree/ZTree and perform the installation of a new application. 5. After finishing the complete installation, and, recommended, running the recently installed application the first time and test some of its features, close the program and call XTree/ZTree again. 6. Now repeat steps 1 to 3. If you use ZTree, you can choose a different filename in the "Print to"-option now, for example "G:\InstMon\Filelst2.txt", if you use XTreeGold 3.0 it will be useful to move this second "TEMPFILE" to a directory like "G:\InstMon\After". 7. Now you are able to easily view the changes made by selecting the first file (e.g. "G:\InstMon\Before\TEMPFILE" (XTree) or "G:\InstMon\Filelst1.txt (ZTree)) and compare that file using "JFC" to the second one (e.g. "G:\InstMon\After\TEMPFILE" (XTree) or G:\InstMon\Filelst2.txt (ZTree)). That's it ! You can do a similar thing with your registry, by exporting the whole reg-tree before and after an installation; but that's off-topic here, if you want details, just mail me. ii. Quick access to the Windows95 context-/properties-menu ========================================================== --> applies to XTreeGold 2.5 or later and ZTreeWin 1.20 or later If you're using XTree/Ztree under Win95 that's some useful interactions between XTree/ZTree and the Windows Explorer : Fastest way to access the Win95 context-/properties-menu of the highlighted file: Hit Alt-Batch and enter " explorer /select,%1 " (and later store this in the history list with the insert-key) then, in the explorer-window, hit Shift-F10 (context menu) or Alt-Enter (properties, where you can switch between different tabs with Ctrl+Tab), to return to Ztree close the windows with Alt-F4. So you see, you don't need a mouse for this ! Extremely useful e.g. for a quick view of the last accessed date or version infos of exe or dll files. You could also use "explorer %3" instead as Alt-batch entry, here windows will not set the focus to the current file (if you just want to see how the icons in the current directory look like, for example). For an even more simple way to open an explorer window in ZTreeWin, see |topic ix. below! iii. Use XTreeGold 2.5 or 3.0 graphics viewers with ZTreeWin ============================================================ --> applies to ZTreeWin How to view, for example, Autocad DWG and ICO files from ZTreeWin, using XTreeGold modules (for what follows, we assume that your ZTreeWin directory is C:\ZTW ): Using the XTreeGold 2.5 Autocad module : - Copy files EGAVGA.BGI and VGA.DRV from XTreeGold to C:\ZTW - Copy XTG_GDWG.XTP to C:\ZTW and rename to XTG_GDWG.EXE - Create a file in C:\ZTW called DWG.BAT, the contents of which is: @C:\ZTW\XTG_GDWG.EXE %1 C:\ZTW - Now, just highlight a .DWG file, and press 'O'pen Using the XTreeGold 3.0 Icon viewer module : - Copy files EGAVGA.BGI, XTG_VGA.DRV and XTG_GDRV.XTP from XTreeGold to C:\ZTW - Copy XTG_GICO.XTP to C:\ZTW and rename to XTG_GICO.EXE - Create a file in C:\ZTW called ICO.BAT, the contents of which is: @C:\ZTW\XTG_GICO.EXE %1 C:\ZTW\XTG_VIEW.TMP C:\ZTW\XTG_GDRV.XTP - Now, just highlight an .ICO file, and press 'O'pen Note: That technique does solely allow the use of all XTreeGold graphics viewers. This tip is originally published on the >ZTreeWin (Tips) Homepage and reprinted here with kind permission of Kim G. Henkel iv. Basic instructions on usage of XTreeLink ============================================ --> applies to XTreeGold 2.5 or later - Preparation ------------- Install file "XTLINK.COM" on both the remote and the local computer. Connect your local computer via serial or parallel interface to the remote one, using a null modem cable (see ^}xt_null.txt for serial port connection, or |below for a parallel port connection ) - Starting XTreeLink -------------------- On the remote computer - Enter "XTLINK S" (for serial port link, or "XTLINK P" for parallel port link) at the command line On the local computer - Enter "XTLINK S L" (for serial port link, or "XTLINK P L" for parallel port link) at the command line - Wait for connect message - Run XTreeGold; now you should be able to log the mapped remote drives with the 'L'og-command and perform all directory/file tasks the same way as on your local drives. - Ending XTreeLlink ------------------- On the local computer - Quit XTreeGold - Enter "XTLINK U" at the command line On the remote computer - Hit ESC-key - XTreeLink command-line options: --------------------------------- Syntax: XTLINK P/S [X] [L [drive map]] PORT CONNECTIONS (either S or P must be specified, but not both) P# Start XTlink with parallel port link (# is optional 1,2 or 3 for LPT1 .. LPT3) S# Start XTlink with serial port link (# is optional 1,2,3 or 4 for COM1 .. COM4) LOCAL DRIVER OPTIONS L Load local driver (Defines computer as local, running XTlink without this option defines computer as remote) M Display local drive map after loading XTLink U Unload local driver (removes the TSR from RAM) DRIVE MAP OPTIONS WHEN LOADING THE LOCAL DRIVER F Map only all fixed remote drives (default) R Map only all removable remote drives RF Map all remote drives (fixed and removable) /L=R Map local drive L to remote drive R (for example), or /L Map all remote drives starting with local drive L (for example) REMOTE SERVER OPTIONS A..D Alternate display colors T Alternate time format E Alternate EGA cursor Y Alternate date format K Linkometer displays KBytes per second
- XTreeLink parallel I/O cable pinout -------------------------------------
DB25 DB25 pin pin ----------------- 2 | 15 3 | 13 4 | 12 5 | 10 6 | 11 15 | 2 13 | 3 12 | 4 10 | 5 11 | 6 25 | 25 Second set of wires is complementary to the first one
pin 14 pin 25 _______________________ / \ / o o o o o o o o o o o o \ | o o o o o o o o o o o o o | \_________________________/ pin 1 pin 13
Note that this pinout tallies with a standard parallel Lap Link/Interlink cable, so you simply can buy and use the latter for a parallel XTreeLink connection usage !
---<>--- v. XTreeGold workaround on how to use the >most recent PKZIP ============================================================ --> applies to XTreeGold 2.0 or later A tip from Xtree company on how to use the most recent version of Pkzip: Actually, Zip support in Xtgold is 99% compatible, but it is sometimes useful to use the original program. The trick may also be used for other compression programs such as LHA, ARC, etc. For now, use any text editor and create a file called ZIP.BAT in your XTreeGold directory that contains this: C:\PKZ204x\PKUNZIP %1 Now all you have to do is highlight a ZIP file and press the letter 'O' to open it! This is one keystroke compared to several. To ZIP up files, you can create a LST.BAT in your XTreeGold directory that contains the following: C:\PKZ204x\PKZIP %4 -a @%4.LST Now tag the files you wish to ZIP and press Ctrl/B to activate the Batch Command in XTreeGold. Enter filename.LST (filename can be anything) and press return. At the Line Mask prompt, type: %1 This will enter the name and path of each tagged file into your filename.LST. Now you can highlight the file you just created, press 'O', and you're done! Next time you do this, these two lines are in your history for easy access. Note: This will work for ANY compression method (ARJ, LZH etc.) by changing ZIP.BAT to ARJ.BAT or LZH.BAT and make the calls to the correct subdirectories containing those programs. Todd [Xtree Company] Thanx to >Laurent Duchastel de Montrouge for supplying this text! ---<>--- vi. Append the contents of a selection of files =============================================== --> applies to all XTreeGold versions and ZTreeWin This tip comes right from the XTreeGold manual, but it's that clever, that I want to reproduce it here (for all ZTree-only users, and for those who have "lost" their XTreeGold manual...) Let's say you have a file called "chapter1.doc" and want to append the contents of a selection of files to it. - Tag all the files you want to append - If located in different drives/paths choose 'B'ranch-/'S'howall-/'G'lobal-view - Optional: hit Ctrl-F4 (to show only tagged files on the screen) - Invoke batch-processing by pressing Ctrl-'B' - Enter a filename of your choice with a ".bat" extension ( e.g.: "xappend.bat" ) - At "line mask" enter: type %1>>chapter1.doc (Remember to quote the argument ( "%1" ) if you use LFNs in Win95) - Move the highlight bar to that newly created bat-file and simply e'X'ecute it - Done! Look at your "chapter1.doc", it will now include the contents of all the previously tagged files. ---<>--- vii. Creating shortcuts on your Win95 desktop with ZTreeWin =========================================================== --> applies to ZTreeWin only ZTreeWin provides a much faster way to create a shortcut icon on your Win95 desktop for any file you like, than the standard Win95 dialogue does. Select the desired program or document file with the highlight bar of ZTreeWin and then simply press "H" ("sHortcut") and as destination directory enter "C:\Windows\Desktop" (or whatelse is your appropriate Win95-desktop directory). That's all! A second or so after having done this the new shortcut will be visible on your desktop, where you now can move or alter it just as you like. By the way, this method will even work, if you create a shortcut for ZTreeWin itself (select file "ztwin.bat") on your desktop! ---<>--- viii. Adding comments to your Filespec and Alt-Batch entries ============================================================ --> applies to all XTree(Pro)Gold versions resp. XTreeGold 2.5 or above When entering filespecifications you can precede it with any comments you like. Just put your text in front of the filespecs and terminate it with a colon, for example: program_files: *.exe *.com *.bat This helps you to ensure a better survey of multiple entry lines in the filespec history. -- You can do similar things with the Alt-Batch entries in XTreeGold 2.5 or above. In this case you have to append your comments, preceded by the characters "!!;" (without the quotes), for example: expand %1 %4.exe!!; expand a DOS compressed exe-file Again, this will be helpful for a better survey of permanentely stored history entries. ---<>--- ix. Easy opening of explorer windows with ZTreeWin ================================================== --> applies to ZTreeWin only This tip was supplied by Kim Henkel, the author of ZTree. Thanks! There is a very fast and simple way to open an explorer window of the current directory with ZTreeWin: Either in the directory OR in the file window, invoke the ALT-eXecute command and enter nothing else than a period (a "." dot) and hit return, and then the Windows GUI will come up with an explorer window of the current directory! You can also enter two periods/dots ".." which will take you to the parent directory. And it's also possible to enter a directory specification like "..\subdir", or even a full path like "c:\windows", but for some reason you can't use more than two periods/dots, so trying to enter "..." will NOT work. Because this is, strictly speaking, rather a Windows feature than a ZTree one, it's important to use ALT-eXecute rather than eXecute, for only the former will invoke a new session (instance). By the way, this will work with a number of other Windows applications, too. Try for instance to enter "." (without quotes) at the Windows95 Start Menu/Run command and see what happens! ---<>--- x. Handy entry of the selfsame target directory =============================================== --> applies to all XTree(Pro)Gold versions and ZTree If you want to copy a file to the selfsame directory (using a new name), you don't have to select it's own target path by entering the entire directory name, nor to point to it with F2, just enter a period (dot) "." as target destination, and the file will be copied to the selfsame directory. This trick works the same way as in the ZTreeWin-procedure described above (|topic ix.) and as the XTreeGold 2.5/3.0 command line drive:\path options, for this is, strictly speaking, rather a DOS-inherent behaviour than a XTree/ZTree one. Therefore you can also enter an additional period/dot for each additional parent directory level (although in ZTree/Win95 not more than one level above ("..") works), as well as sibling directory specifications, such as "..\newdir" . ---<>--- xi. Using instant one-line CTRL-Batch entries ============================================= --> applies to all XTree(Pro)Gold versions Normally, there are two entries to be made at the CTRL-'B'atch prompts; the batch file name (e.g. "FILELIST.TXT") and the line mask (e.g. "%1"). But it is also possible to use a single line for these specifications, just enter two exclamation marks after the batch file name and the line mask right behind them, e.g. "FILELIST.TXT !! %1" (the spaces are used just to improve readability and may be omitted). As a result, you now can then retrieve a file name and the corresponding line mask from the input history with a single selection! Note that XTree is recognizing instantly if you enter the line mask specification already at the first prompt, it does not come up with a second line mask-prompt any more in this case! ---<>--- xii. XTree Gold and .LZH Files ============================= --> applies to all XTree(Pro)Gold versions (and ZTreeWin, though the latter is already prepared for an integrated .LZH-support) This tip is from Michael Palmer, originally published on the >PC Update website with a small modification contributed by >Geoff Cutter "As XTree users know this great program has a facility for decompressing ZIP files with a couple of keystrokes. However what some users may not know is that XTree can be persuaded to decompress LZH files just as easily and as our BBS carries mainly LZH files this is, I have found, very useful to know. First of all put a copy of LHA.EXE in your XTree directory (XTGOLD) then while in XTree go down the tree until \XTGOLD is highlighted and press Alt+E to enable XTree's text editor. At the prompt enter the file name LZH.BAT and then create and save a one-line file like this: LHA E %1 Now when you have an LZH file you want to decompress all you need to do is go into XTree and find the file you have downloaded (mine are always in C:\BLUEWAVE\DOWN to start with), and highlight it. Then press "O" for Open (or click on Open) and that's it! Your LZH file will be decompressed. For an alternate method you can instantly convert any .LZH file to an equivalent .ZIP archive, then freely dispose of the LZH file and use the inbuilt ZIP functions of XTree to manage your new ZIP archived file. Just create the different version of LZH.BAT exactly as listed below in your XTree directory and use the "O"pen command on the LZH archive file as above. @ECHO OFF :: LZH.BAT v2 :: XTree convert LZH to ZIP MD XXX CD XXX LHA x %1 PKZIP -m -P -r -o %4 *.* MOVE %4.ZIP %2:%3 CD .. RD XXX :: END How does it work? LZH.BAT version 2 will create a temporary directory (named XXX) on your hard disk and extract the .LZH archive into it (including any enclosed subdirectories that it may contain), then it will ZIP up all the newly extracted files with subdirs (if any). Lastly it moves the new .ZIP to where you were and deletes the XXX directory, it is up to you to delete the now redundant .LZH file. If the .LZH file is on a floppy disk or CD-ROM it is necessary to copy it to your hard disk first before converting it. When the operation is completed you will get the "Press any Key to continue..." message, back in XTree make sure you hit Alt+F3 to "refresh" the directory so your new ZIP file will be visible!" By Michael Palmer, reprinted here according to the legal copyright notices of >Melbourne PC User Group Inc. Added a small modification (PKZIP -r option) contributed by >Geoff Cutter ---<>--- xiii. Partial logging with XTreePro =================================== --> applies to XTreePro (and first part also to XTree(Pro)Gold accordingly) Although XTreePro has far less features than the later XTreeGold versions, it may be useful nevertheless on occasion because of its much smaller size and memory use (and its availability, by the way...). The basic XTreePro file (that already runs stand-alone) takes just 46 kB, and will log to significantly more files than any XTreeGold version, due to its smaller amount of occupied conventional memory. On the other hand it's missing ability of partial logging (introduced in XTreeGold 2.0), may appear as a substantial disadvantage, since you will likely not be able to log to a nowadays hard disk standard of some 100 MB of files without running out of memory. However, there is a crafty trick (based on tips from the READ.ME-file of the original XTreePro distribution) on how you can "emulate" partial logging in XTreePro by using the DOS "SUBST"-command: Create a batch file named XTP.BAT, or so, to run XTreePro, which should contain what follows: @ECHO OFF IF EXIST %1\..\*.* GOTO NOT_ROOT C:\XTREE\XTPRO.COM %1 %2%3%4%5%6%7%8%9 GOTO END :NOT_ROOT C:\WINDOWS\COMMAND\SUBST Z: /D>NUL C:\WINDOWS\COMMAND\SUBST Z: %1 C:\XTREE\XTPRO.COM Z: %2 %3%4%5%6%7%8%9 C:\WINDOWS\COMMAND\SUBST Z: /D>NUL :END Note: This assumes your DOS files are in directory C:\WINDOWS\COMMAND (default in Win95) and your XTreePro directory is C:\XTREE; if your system's settings are differing, just change the batch file accordingly. Furthermore, a LASTDRIVE=Z line may be required in your CONFIG.SYS on a non-Win95 system. (A simplified version of this batch file (tailored to XTreeGold) is given here). Now you can use this batch file to start XTreePro logging an entire disk or just parts of it (mapped to a virtual drive "Z:"), illustrated by the following samples: XTP A: Logs the entire drive A: XTP . Logs the current directory only XTP Logs the entire current drive XTP \PROGRAM Logs directory "\PROGRAM" on the current drive only XTP E:\DOCS Logs directory "E:\DOCS" only --- Now, if you just want to get a quick survey of the first level directories only (similar to the "root only" logging method of XTreeGold) there is another trick you can use; try the batch file as described above with the following (XTreePro-specific) command line option: XTP /f100 If you run XTreePro with this option it will soon report an "Out of memory" alert, but don't worry, just hit "ESC" (to use the partial information), and you will likely see just the files and the first level directories under the root directory to be logged on a typical system. If the directory names appear to be unsorted and incomplete you may have to experiment on increasing the number after the /f switch by certain steps, until the entire first level directories are shown in alphabetical order. For example, on a hard disk with about 1 GB of files a value of 200 may be appropriate (so try using "/f200" instead). How does it work? The /f# command line switch specifies the maximum number of files/directories to be logged (with a valid range from 100 to 65535). Normally, you should configure your XTreePro with the XTPROCFG.EXE utility to the maximum of 65535 "File/Directory Limit". However, if you decrease this value by the overriding command line option, XTreePro will stop logging the disk after it has reached the specified number of files and directories. Of course you then won't be able to view any files apart from the root one (and probably from a couple of subsequent directories), but on the other hand this method offers you a much more clearly survey of the basic (first level) directory structure than by logging the entire tree and files. Furthermore, on a typical sized hard drive XTreePro won't be able to fully log the disk anyhow. That's when the XTP.BAT file (as showed above) comes into play to log only portions of the drive. Finally, by combining these tricks, you can also log to the first level only under a large subdirectory: XTP \PROGRAMS /f100 This will log to first 100 files and directories under the branch "PROGRAMS" on the current drive only! ---<>--- xiv. XTreeGold and Long File Names ================================== --> applies to all XTree(Pro)Gold versions Normally, if you run a DOS application like XTreeGold, you can neither view nor copy or move Long File Names (LFNs) without truncating it to the 8.3 DOS standard. However, there are some tricks that provide at least basic capablities of dealing with LFNs. -> The following examples *normally* will only work in a "DOS-box" under the Windows 9x/NT Graphical User Interface (GUI), and not if booted into command line only mode ("DOS-mode", e.g. with an emergency boot floppy) ! However, meanwhile there's a clever DOS utility available, that enables any DOS program which can use long filenames, for example DOS 7 Command.com, edit.com and all >DJGPP programs, to load and save Long File and Directory Names in the same way as under the Win9x/NT "DOS-box" ! This ingenious tools is called "LFNDOS", its Freeware, and is available from: ^http://saturn.spaceports.com/~dosuser/lfndos.zip . And there's even the source code distributed at: ^http://saturn.spaceports.com/~dosuser/lfndssrc.zip . But please be aware that, since LFNDOS uses direct disk access, there's *no_guarantee* to be completely safe for write accesses. So be careful when using it ! However, there are no problems as long as only read accesses are performed. <- Here is how to enable XTreeGold to show the non-truncated Long File Names to you by special request: First, add an Application menu entry named "Show Long file name", or so, which should contain the following lines: 01 echo. 02 attrib "%1" 03 echo. 04 pause 05 cls Then, add a second menu entry, called e.g. "Show LFN Directory list", containing these lines: 01 @echo off 02 dir /p "%3" 03 pause Now, if you're highlighting any long directory or file name you can review it's "real", untruncated name by starting the application menu with F9 and invoking the "Show Long file name" batch commands you've just created. Et voila ! There's the LFN in full length displayed in a DOS-box subshell on the screen, until you hit "Enter" ! Furthermore, if in directory view, you can display a LFN-list of all files and directories below the current one by invoking the entry "Show LFN Directory list". And here is a clever third-party utility software for Win9x/NT that enables you to backup and restore long directory- or filenames being truncated after a copy or move operation: "LFNIT! v3.1" (Homepage: >www.ozemail.com.au/~launch/lfnit.html , also refer to the corresponding Auxiliary Apps entry ). Let's assume you want to copy all files from a source directory to a separate backup target directory with XTreeGold while preserving the Long File Names: - First invoke the LFNit filename backup process in the file window of the source dir by hitting Alt-'B'atch while highlighting *any* file, and entering "C:\TOOLS\LFNIT\LFNIT /x %3 /a /e /g" (where "C:\TOOLS\LFNIT\" is the path to your "LFNIT.EXE"). This creates the batch file "LFNRENEW.BAT" in the current directory. - Then tag all files (Ctrl+'T'ag) and perform the copy command (Ctrl+'C'opy) to a target directory of your choice. - Last, simply e'X'ecute the file "LFNRENEW.BAT" in the target directory, this will perfectly restore the long names of all the copied files . Check it with the "Show LFN Directory list"-function introduced above ! Finally, I'd like to stress, that all these quick and dirty tricks are, of course, just a stopgap, and, in order to have a natively LFN-capable "XTree version" under Win9x/NT, it is undoubtedly better to get "ZTreeWin" going, *the* great XTreeGold Shareware clone for Windows 95/98 and NT ! Refer to its homepage to download a free 30-day trial at: >www.ztree.com/html/ztreewin.htm ---<>--- more to come ... ---<>--- Any comments, questions, suggestions, new recipes, anything missing or anything not working as described on your system ? ---> Then please post your message to the XTree Forum Last updated 05-22-18 --- XTree, XTreeGold and XTreeLink are registered trademarks of Symantec Inc. Windows and Windows95 are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation.

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`XTP A:`	`Logs the entire drive A:`
`XTP .`	`Logs the current directory only`
`XTP`	`Logs the entire current drive`
`XTP \PROGRAM`	`Logs directory "\PROGRAM" on the current drive only`
`XTP E:\DOCS`	`Logs directory "E:\DOCS" only`