SnFile V 1.2 Copyright December 1996 Richard Wakelin.
Shareware. See the end of this document for details.

Contents
1.	Disclaimer
2.	Introduction
3.	Installing SnFile
4.	The tree window
5.	The file list window
6.	Copying, moving and tagging files
7.      Starting applications
8.      Viewing .pic (picture) files
9.	Known limitations
10.	Contact address and other details


1. Disclaimer

Use this program at your own risk.
The author is not responsible for any loss of data that may occur as a
result of using SnFile.
The Psion logo and other words used in this program are registered
trademarks of Psion plc.
Psion have no connection with this program. The Psion logo and other
trademarks are used for decorative purposes only. Do not contact
Psion about this program, contact me at the email address at the foot of
this page.
I cannot guarantee that there are no hidden bugs waiting to be
discovered so make sure that you back up your data before using this (or
any other shareware/freeware) program.


2. Introduction
...............

Snfile12.zip contains the following files

sfile.opa
sfile2.opo
Both these files are needed to run the program

New in this version.
Setting of file attributes and a few minor bugs fixed.


The main features of SnFile 1.2 are

(a) A fast drawing, full expanded directory tree.
(b) Multiple tagging of files across different directories and devices.
(c) Moving, copying and deleting groups of tagged files.
(d) Start the built in apps by selecting their files from the file list.
(e) Start opo and opa applications by selecting them from the file list.
(f) View .pic (picture) files by selecting them from the file list.
(g) Most of the usual file management facilities found elsewhere.


SnFile has been written to ease the task of Siena file management,
especially the task of moving and copying files between different
directories and devices. The menus have been designed to behave intelligently 
i.e. you cannot delete a file from a ROM or write protected disk so the
menus will not offer you that choice. If you have not tagged any files
the menus will not show any options for dealing with tagged files.
Some users may recognise this program as a rehashed version of
Infowin, a file management program that I wrote for the S3a. I have
attempted to make this program easier to use and have scrapped many
fancy (but useless) features of that program.


3. Installing SnFile
....................

Two options exist for installing SnFile.
The first is the traditional method.
Place sfile.opa in  M:\APP\ directory and sfile2.opo in M:\APP\SNFILE\
and install sfile.opa to the system screen.
Below are instructions on how to do this.
Press tab while in the system screen and choose Make directory from the
Directory menu. Type app in the dialog box and press enter. Press tab
again and use the arrow keys to move to the app directory. choose Make
directory from the Directory menu, type snfile in the dialog box and
press enter. This will create the directory structure M:\APP\SNFILE\.
Place sfile.opa in the M:\APP\ directory and sfile2.opo in M:\APP\SNFILE\.

Second method.
Copy both sfile.opa and sfile2.opo to an app directory on any drive and 
install sfile.opa to the system screen in the usual way. Alternatively 
install both files to any directory you choose although this will mean 
having to navigate to that directory when installing to the system 
screen. What ever you choose make sure that both files go into the same 
directory or the program will not start.

It is better to use the first installation option as any future add on
modules will be need to be installed in \APP\SNFILE\.


4. The tree window
..................

This is the window  you see after starting the program (after a brief 
splash screen). It displays a full expanded directory tree that can be 
scrolled up and down using the arrow keys and pg up-pg dn keys. The 
tree is fully expanded so that you can see all the directories and sub 
directories that exist an any drive. This window can display sub 
directories up to six levels deep. i.e. m:\sub1\sub2\sub3\sub4\sub5\sub6. 
This restriction is due to the size of the Siena screen although an 
average user will have no need to nest sub directories to such a level. 
You can view the contents of drives A: (the external ssd drive), M: (the 
Siena's internal ram drive) or the contents of the internal ROM::. To 
move from drive to drive, press either the A, M, or R keys or use the 
left and right arrow keys. The buttons at the top of the screen will 
indicate which drive is currently being displayed i.e. if the M button is 
depressed then that is the drive you are viewing. At the bottom of the 
screen is a small status bar which shows the current directory path. 
Both the tree and file list windows contain a scroll bar on their right 
hand side. This helps indicate how much of the display is currently off 
screen (the behaviour of this bar can be a bit erratic and needs further 
programming attention). To create a sub directory, move to a directory 
(or sub directory) and choose Create from the directory menu. To delete 
a directory choose Remove from the same menu. To open a directory 
press the Enter key. To return to the tree window press the Esc key. 
The menus in this window are self explanatory so I wont go into great 
detail here. The only thing worth mentioning is the files menu. This 
menu only appears in the tree window when files have been tagged and 
allows you to easily copy or move files to other directories or devices. 
See section 6 for more details of moving and copying files.


5. The file list window
.......................

This is the window you see after having pressed the Enter key in the 
tree window. This shows what files, if any, are in a particular directory. 
This window does not attempt to show any sub directories that may be 
in a directory as this is clearly displayed in the tree window. The 
movement keys in this window are the same as for the tree window. 
The menus in this window are also self explanatory. As in the rest of 
the program, the menus that are displayed depend on the type of device 
you are looking at and whether any files are tagged. A special mention 
needs to be given to the sort menu though. This menu, as its name 
suggests, allows the displayed file list to be sorted by name, size, type 
and date. Sorting by name or type sorts only by the first letter of a file 
name or extension. The order of sorting also changes each time you sort 
the list. For instance, the first time you sort by size the list will show the 
files in descending size order. Sort again and the list will show the files 
in ascending size order. This also applies alphabetically A..Z then Z..A.
At the bottom of the file list window is a status bar showing the number 
of files in the current directory and the total size of these files in bytes. 
If you have tagged any files then the total size, in bytes, will be shown 
on the right hand side of the status bar. This is the total size of ALL 
tagged files across different directories and devices.


6. Copying, moving and tagging files
....................................

One of the reasons this program was written was to make the task of 
copying and moving files as easy as possible. If you have used Microsoft 
Windows you will be used to the concept of copy and paste. SnFile 
follows this convention to a degree. Instead of copy and paste it is tag 
and paste that is used here. To tag or untag a file in the file list window 
press the spacebar. The highlight will move down to the next line to 
ease the task of tagging whole lists of files (for deleting perhaps !). You 
can also use the shift and arrow keys to tag files in the same way as you 
do using the built in file manager. When you tag or untag a file its 
name and location is copied to, or removed from, a temporary data file. 
Think of this data file as being a clipboard. When files are tagged the 
menus will display various options for deleting, copying, moving and 
untagging the tagged files. What options are shown depends on what 
device you are currently looking at. You cannot copy or move files to a 
ROM drive so the menu will not offer you that choice.
Here is an example of copying or moving files.
In the tree window go to the directory you wish to copy files from. Press 
enter to open the directory and tag the files you wish to copy or move. 
Press Esc to return to the tree window and go to the directory you wish 
to copy or move the files to. From the files menu choose copy or move 
to this directory. You can also open the target directory first and then 
copy or move files to it. All the files that are currently tagged are copied 
or moved. For instance, you can tag a few files in the Sienas ROM, go to 
disk A: (if fitted) and tag some files there and then tag some files in the 
internal RAM drive. When you choose 'copy to this directory' from the 
file menu all the tagged files, from each device, will be copied to the 
current directory. If you choose move instead, only the files that can be 
moved will be moved (not the rom files).


7. Starting applications
........................

All the built in applications that use files (Word, Data, Sheet ect)
can be started by selecting a file (pressing enter) in the file list
window. For instance, open the DAT directory and select a data file.
The Data application will start loaded with that file. Exiting the
application returns to the file list window.
OPO and OPA files can also be started by selecting them from the file
list window.
Selecting other types of files has no effect.


8. Viewing .pic (picture) files
...............................

Psion .pic files can contain more than one picture. Typically a .pic file
contains two picture (or bitmaps), one for the black plane and one for the
grey plane of the screen. The icons on the system screen are an example of
this. They can also contain only one or any number of pictures.
SnFile has a built in .pic file viewer that allows you to view all the
pictures in a .pic file.
When you select a .pic file from the file list window SnFile first checks
how may pictures are in the file. If only one picture exists then it is
displayed on screen. If two pictures exist SnFile checks if they are the same
width and height. If they are then it is assumed that they are a black grey
bitmap and both planes are loaded to the screen. If they are not the same
width and height or if there are more than two bitmaps then a dialog box
appears and you can view each bitmap in turn. If you press Psion Enter
then this dialog will appear in any case. 


9. Known limitations
....................

There is a limit to the number of directories or files that can be 
displayed at any one time. If you try to display a directory tree that 
contains more than 130 directories and sub directories or you open a 
directory that contains more than 130 files the program may exit 
prematurely. This is because of operating system memory limitations. 
Very few people should be bothered with this though. The program is 
also fairly memory hungry. When a tree or file list is displayed the 
program grabs a large enough chunk of memory to display up to 130 
items. This is obviously a waste when only a few lines need to be 
displayed. I am currently experimenting with dynamic memory 
allocation which I hope will resolve this problem in  future versions.


10. Contact address and other details
.....................................

I hope you find this program useful.
Please redistribute this program along with this text file. I have only 
uploaded this program to CIX and CIS so please cross post any other 
library or BBS

A version of this program for the 3a/c called X3Tree is also available.
X3Tree features side by side tree and file list windows. If you would like
a copy of this program then contact me at the email address below.

SnFile is shareware. Hundreds of hours have been spent developing this
program. IF you use this program on a regular basis then please consider
paying for it. Send a small cash donation of 10 to the address below.
If nothing else it will encourage me to develop the program further.
Any comments or suggestions by email only please.

Richard Wakelin
8 Ezard Street, Stockton On Tees,
Cleveland, TS19 0BZ
England UK

Email rbenno@cix.compulink.co.uk
Email 106305.466@compuserve.com
