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DigiBarn Documents: Teach Xerox File System for 8010 Dandelion from Wildflower site

Date: 14-Mar-85 10:27:31 (Thursday)
From: XDE-Training:OSBU North:Xerox
Subject: File systems: local and remote
To: NewUsers: ;

This tutorial discusses how to store, list, delete, retrieve, and organize files, both on your local disk and on remote file servers. A remote file server is a large capacity file storage device that is shared among many users. Thus, you will use remote file servers as a place to store files that others will need access to, and as a place from which to obtain copies of files created by others. Because remote servers have larger capacity and better reliability than your local disk, you should also back up important local files on your remote server.

The early lessons in this module discuss local files; the later lessons discuss remote files. You should create a practice local file to use for this tutorial, if you don't already have one around. (Creating a local file is covered in TeachBasics.nsmail, if you don't remember how to do it.)

Date: 14-Mar-85 10:27:37 (Thursday)
From: XDE-Training:OSBU North:Xerox
Subject: Naming conventions
To: NewUsers: ;

By convention, a file name has two parts, the main name and the extension, which are separated by a period. For example, the file name "Introduction.doc" has main name "Introduction" and extension "doc". A file name can contain more than one period.

Generally, the main name identifies the file and the extension identifies the type of the file. Although you are free to use any extension that you like when naming files, there are several common extensions that are used throughout the Xerox Development Environment. Standard extensions include:

.bcd		--Mesa object file
.cm		--command file
.doc		--documentation file
.ip		--interpress format file
.mesa		--Mesa language source file
.nsmail		--mail file
.txt		--text file

The Xerox Development Environment is generally insensitive to case in file names. Thus, ALPHA.mesa, alPHa.mESa, and alphA.mesa all refer to the same file. However, capitalization is often used as visual punctuation, especially when a file name consists of more than one word, as in TripReport or MasterList. Since most tools display file names the way they are defined, regardless of how you refer to them, you need only be careful with capitalization when naming a file for the first time.

Date: 14-Mar-85 10:27:52 (Thursday)
From: XDE-Training:OSBU North:Xerox
Subject: The Executive window
To: NewUsers: ;

There are two ways to list the files that are stored on your local disk: with the File Tool and with the Executive. This lesson covers the basics of using the Executive. Find your Executive window; if it is not active, look through your tiny windows and on the inactive list.

Bring up your Executive window. ">" is the symbol which the Executive uses to signify that it is ready to accept your input; this symbol (called a command prompt) should appear in the window.

The Executive has a standard teletype interface, which means that many of the editing functions commonly available in the Xerox Development Environment do not work in this window. For example, set a type-in point and type something after the command prompt (>), but do not type a carriage return. Now select the word and attempt to delete it. XXX will appear to indicate that the command has been aborted, but the letters will not be erased from the screen.

In the Executive window, the type-in point is always at the end of the existing text in the window. Thus, you cannot use any editing technique that requires text selection. However, you can use backspace (BS) and backword (BW) to change the end of a line, and you can copy text into the Executive window from other places on the screen. Try using BS and BW, but try not to enter a carriage return: you might do something unexpected.

In the Executive window, pressing DELETE at any time prior to pressing RETURN will cancel the entire command line and return a blank command line.

Date: 14-Mar-85 10:33:48 (Thursday)
From: XDE-Training:OSBU North:Xerox
Subject: Using the Executive to list files
To: NewUsers: ;

Use Delete to clear out any text you may have entered into the Executive, and type a question mark. This will give you a list of all the commands and all the files that are available to you. This will probably be a long list: when it has finished, scroll up (if necessary) so that you can see the beginning of the list.

The beginning of the list is a group of words followed by ".~". The "dot tilde" extension is a convention that is used to designate a command name. You don't have to type the extension when you invoke the command; the purpose of the extension is to enable you to distinguish command names from file names. For now, you don't need to know the meanings of all of the commands; you just need to realize that they are commands. Many of them will be discussed later in this tutorial.

The rest of the names in the list are file names. Each group of files is headed by a name of the format or tools> or the like. These headings represent local directories that are on the search path. You may only have one group, or you may have several. The next few lessons discuss what a search path is, and how to create and manipulate local directories.

Date: 14-Mar-85 10:33:54 (Thursday)
From: XDE-Training:OSBU North:Xerox
Subject: Local directories
To: NewUsers: ;

is the name of a logical volume, which you can think of as a partition of your hard disk. Thus, the list of files that you see when you list the files "on your local disk" is in fact the list of files stored on the logical volume CoPilot. There may be as many as ten logical volumes on a single physical volume, and the files stored on each are entirely separate. Thus, CoPilot is the name of the root directory for all of the files stored on the CoPilot logical volume.

The fully-qualified name of a file describes the path from the machine on which the file is located down to the file itself. The general form for a file name is [MachineName]subdirectories>name.extension.

For example, the simple file name user.cm could be more completely named as user.cm (the file named user.cm on the root directory CoPilot. (The fully-qualified name of this file would also include the name of your own machine; however, you do not need to include the name of your machine when you are referring to a local file, just as you do not need to include the area code when making a local phone call.)

You can also sub-divide your local disk into a group of local directories, which are basically just file groupings. For example, you could create a local directory called "mail", one called "programs", and one called "text". You can create as many local directories as you like. You can also subdivide them as many times as you like: you might want to have the local directory "programs" further divided into individual project names, for example.

The complete name of a file thus includes any local directories when applicable. For example, the file mail>schedule.nsmail would be the complete name of a file stored on the local directory called "mail" on the CoPilot volume.

Date: 14-Mar-85 10:34:00 (Thursday)
From: XDE-Training:OSBU North:Xerox
Subject: The search path
To: NewUsers: ;

Since the complete name of a file gives the path to finding that file, you might think that you need to give the complete path name of a file each time you refer to it. Fortunately, however, this is not the case. For example, when referring to a local file name you never have to include the machine name: there is no question as to the machine being referred to; it is defaulted to your machine. You can explicitly specify a machine name other than your own, but you don't need to worry about that for now.

You can also specify a "search path", which is just a list of local directories, and the order in which they are to be searched. Creation and manipulation of search paths is done with a special tool called the Search Path tool. Find this tool and activate it.

The first line in the Search Path tool shows the current search path. When you give the simple name of a file, the system will start looking for it in the first subdirectory in the list, and will continue the search until it finds it or until the search path is exhausted.

The search path does not necessarily contain all of the local directories in existence. If a directory is not listed on the search path, you effectively cannot see the files contained in that directory unless you refer to them by their fully-qualified name. Thus, if the directory >yes is on the search path, and the directory >no is not; then you can refer to the file >yes>fred as just fred, but you would have to refer to the file >no>sam as >no>sam in order to be able to see it.

Any new files that you create will automatically be stored in the directory at the head of the search path unless you specifically designate another directory.

To see all the directories on the logical volume, Chord anywhere in the Search Path window and bring the menu labelled All Directories to the top of the stack. This lists all directories on the disk, regardless of whether or not they are on the search path.

Date: 14-Mar-85 10:34:05 (Thursday)
From: XDE-Training:OSBU North:Xerox
Subject: Adding new directories to the search path
To: NewUsers: ;

You can create new local directories with the Search Path tool. Type in "practice" in the field labelled Directories:. (Select the colon following the word, and then type in Practice, or copy it in from this message.) Now invoke the Create Dir! command. You should see feedback in the bottom subwindow of the Search Path tool window telling you that the Practice directory has been created. Now Chord again, and notice that the name of your new directory has been added to the All Directories menu.

To add an existing subdirectory to the search path, just select the name of the directory from the All Directories menu. Add the directory Practice to the search path.

If you had entered just "practice" in the form field, rather than "practice", the new directory would have been created as a subdirectory of the directory currently on the top of the search path, rather than as a subdirectory of the root directory itself. The easiest way to make sense out of this is to try it: enter "practice2" into the Directory: field and invoke CreateDir!. Bring up the All Directories menu, and notice that your new directory is Practice>Practice2" rather than "CoPilot>Practice2."

You can also add a directory to the search path by typing its name in the Directory: field and invoking Push!

Date: 14-Mar-85 13:41:14 (Thursday)
From: XDE-Training:OSBU North:Xerox
Subject: Removing directories from the search path
To: NewUsers: ;

You can remove directories from the search path in a similar manner. Just bring up the Search Path menu, and select the name of the directory that you wish to remove from the search path. Remove the Practice directory, and use the Destroy Dir! command to destroy the directory. As a protective measure, the system will not allow you to destroy a directory that contains any files, or a directory that is on the search path. Thus, if you have created a Practice>Practice2 directory, you will have to delete the Practice2 directory before you can delete the Practice directory.

If you want to completely change the search path, you can type in your desired search path in the Directories: field and then invoke Set!

You should consult the Search Path tool chapter of your XDE User's Guide if you would like more information on the operation of the Search Path tool.

Most of the Search Path tool commands are also available from the Executive window. Check your list of Executive commands, and you should see CreateDir, PopWorkingDirectory, PushWorkingDirectory, SetSearchPath, and ShowSearchPath. You can manipulate your search path from either the Search Path Tool or the Executive or both, depending on what is most convenient for you.

For more information on the Executive commands, consult the Executive chapter of your XDE User's Guide.

Date: 14-Mar-85 13:41:08 (Thursday)
From: XDE-Training:OSBU North:Xerox
Subject: Renaming files
To: NewUsers: ;

The Executive Rename command is used to rename local files. Rename can be used to rename the simple name of a file, as in renaming a file called Conference.temp to Conference.txt. Rename can also be used to rename the path name associated with a file; that is, to change the local directory that it is found on.

As an example of this, assume that you have a local directory named "draft", and there is a file on that local directory named StatusReport.txt. When you have finished your status report, you decide to move it from the directory "draft" to the main directory CoPilot. To do this, you would enter the following line in your Executive window:

Rename StatusReport.txt ¬ Draft>StatusReport.txt

As you can see, the syntax of rename requires the destination file name, followed by a ¬, followed by the source file name. The ¬ must be surrounded by spaces. (The ¬ character is not on your keyboard; you get one by typing the key labelled with a left quotation mark and a left apostrophe. If you can't find it, you will have to check your keyboard mapping chart.)

You can also abbreviate the Rename command if you like; ren will work just as well. Capitalization is unimportant: coPIlot is as good as CoPilot or copilot. However, the new file name will be capitalized exactly as you type it; in fact, you can use Rename.~ to change the capitalization of a filename.

Experiment with Rename a bit. If you have trouble, you can always refer to the Executive chapter of your XDE User's Guide.

Date: 14-Mar-85 13:41:02 (Thursday)
From: XDE-Training:OSBU North:Xerox
Subject: Deleting files
To: NewUsers: ;

The Executive Delete command is used to delete files from the local disk. Delete really does delete a file: once you have used delete, there is not usually any way to recover your file.

You are going to use scratch files to experiment with the Delete command. When you edit a source file, the edits are not immediately made to the actual file. Instead, the system creates a temporary copy of the original file, and the edits are made to that file. When you invoke Save, the edited version becomes the "real" file, and the unedited version is saved as a backup. These backup versions are labelled with a single $ following the filename. The $$ versions are also backup files; they contain all characters entered into the file during the actual editing process. Thus, a $ file is a copy of the complete, unedited file, and a $$ file is a log of the changes made during the last editing session.

To find out if you have any existing scratch files, type *$? in the Executive window. The * character is a wildcard, used to match any or all characters. Thus, this string asks the Executive to list all files that end in the character $. If you don't have a scratch file, generate one by editing a source file. (You should have a practice file around by now.)

Now try deleting the scratch file. Since this is practice, it doesn't matter whether you use the $ version or the $$ version. Generally speaking, however, the $$ versions are less useful to keep around than $ versions. You should also note that scratch files are never deleted automatically, and that you should occasionally clean up your disk by deleting scratch files that you don't need.

You can also use the * "wildcard" in local deletions.

Date: 14-Mar-85 13:40:57 (Thursday)
From: XDE-Training:OSBU North:Xerox
Subject: The File Tool
To: NewUsers: ;

This tutorial has covered most of the file manipulation commands available from the Executive window. The rest of the lessons in this tutorial will use the File Tool. Therefore, you should put your Executive tool away for a while (either deactivate it or Size it), and bring up your File Tool window.

The File Tool has four subwindows. The uppermost subwindow is a message subwindow; the second subwindow is a form subwindow; the third is a command subwindow, and the fourth is a log subwindow. Take a look at the command subwindow.

At the far right of the command subwindow there is a command called List-Options! Invoke this command; a small options window should appear on top of the command subwindow. This window contains various options that you can ask for when listing information about a file. These are boolean options: that is, they are either on or off. Highlighted items are on; these items represent the information that is currently provided by a list command. To change the setting of a boolean, you need only click over it with Point. Try turning some booleans on and off. When you have set the options that you like, invoke the Apply! command in the Options subwindow. This will put your choices into effect and remove the options window.

The Local-List command lists the specified information about files on the local disk. This command operates on the files listed in the Source: field of the form subwindow. (Throughout the XDE, items followed by a colon indicate that you are to enter a value following the colon. The word preceding the colon is usually a hint as to what information is required.)

Thus, for example, if you want to see all of the files on your local disk, set a type-in point and enter an asterisk (the wild card) in the Source field. (* matches zero or more characters; i.e., *abc matches abc and xabc and yabc.) You can request information about one file, many files, or all files. You can use the wild card anywhere in the file name; for example, if you would like to list all files that have the extension .nsmail, you could enter *.nsmail in the Source field and then invoke Local-List!

The LocalDir: field specifies which local directory is to be searched. If this field is blank, Local-List will list all appropriate files on the search path. If there is a directory in this field, the search will be restricted to the files on that local directory.

Experiment with Local-List! and List-Options!

Date: 14-Mar-85 13:56:42 (Thursday)
From: XDE-Training:OSBU North:Xerox
Subject: Naming conventions: Domains and Organizations
To: NewUsers: ;

The rest of the messages in this tutorial discuss manipulating files that are stored on remote file servers. To access such files, you first need to understand the conventions by which they are named, and you need to be able to identify yourself to show that you have access to the specified file.

In the XDE, all objects (machines and users) are named according to a hierarchical naming system. The world of objects is divided into organizations, and the organizations are further subdivided into domains. These divisions are logical rather than physical; an organization is typically a corporation (e.g. Xerox), and its domains reflect administrative, physical, or functional divisions within that corporation. Names are of the form ::.

The simple name of a user is just his or her legal name, such as Mark K. Hahn, or Franklin Lee Yien. Within a particular domain, a user name must be unique: thus, there can be only one Mark K. Hahn in the domain OSBU North, but there can be another in the domain OSBU South.

When referring to a user name, you need only give as much of the name as is required to uniquely identify it. Thus, if you are within the domain OSBU North, you can refer to a printer as just "Pegasus", but if you are outside of that domain you must refer to it as "Pegasus:OSBU North", and if you are outside of the organization Xerox, you must refer to it as "Pegasus:OSBU North:Xerox".

For simplicity, user names can also be aliased. Thus, Hahn might be an acceptable alias for Mark K. Hahn. Aliases are generally created at the same time as the user name; you must use the registered alias or aliases for a name. Aliases must be unique; your system administrator is responsible for ensuring that user names and aliases are unique.

Date: 14-Mar-85 13:56:59 (Thursday)
From: XDE-Training:OSBU North:Xerox
Subject: The Clearinghouse command
To: NewUsers: ;

Each user has an account on a remote file server, which is a separate machine with a large file storage capacity. You should check with someone to find out the name of your server.

To be able to communicate with remote file servers, you must first be logged in. You do not have to be logged in to manipulate files on your local disk, since all files stored there belong to you, but you do need to log in to identify yourself to the remote server.

The first step is to use the Executive's Clearinghouse command to set the domain and organization.

In the Executive, type Clearinghouse, followed by a carriage return. You will be prompted for the name of a domain. Fill in your domain, followed by another carrriage return. Next, you will be prompted for an organization. Fill in the appropriate organization and then another carriage return.

Note: You must include the carriage returns. You cannot type "Clearinghouse osbu north" on one line.

Date: 14-Mar-85 13:56:59 (Thursday)
From: XDE-Training:OSBU North:Xerox
Subject: Logging in
To: NewUsers: ;

To login, type Login (or just log) to the Executive, and follow with a carriage return. The system will prompt you for your user name (your last name; this is usually an acceptable alias.) If you have already logged in once, your name will automatically appear in the User: field. If your name is already there, just confirm it with a carriage return. If it is not there, type it in, and follow with either a space or a carriage return. If you make a mistake while tying your user name, you can use the backspace key to fix the mistake.

You will now be prompted for a password. You should have been set up with a temporary password when you were given your account. Enter the password; case does not matter. If you make a mistake, you can backspace over it, or hit the DELETE key to start over. (You will learn how to change your password later.)

Type a carriage return after you have finished typing in your password. If you have entered an incorrect password you will not immediately be informed of that fact, so be careful not to type your password wrong. If you think you have made a mistake, just login again right away; the new login will automatically override the old one.

Since each machine only has a single user, there is no need for a logout command. However, if you would like to destroy your login so that no one else can use your account to read or send mail or to retrieve files, you can do so by logging in without a password or with an incorrect one. (Note: this will not prevent you (or anyone else sitting at your machine) from looking at the files on your local disk, including your mail files. Therefore, if you are concerned about security, you will have to learn to store your files on the remote server without keeping copies on your local disk.)

Date: 14-Mar-85 13:57:04 (Thursday)
From: XDE-Training:OSBU North:Xerox
Subject: Storing files on a remote file server
To: NewUsers: ;

Once you are logged in, you are ready to learn about remote filing operations using the File Tool.

To store a file on your remote directory, you have to tell the File Tool where that directory is. Therefore, you should set a type-in point in the Host: field and type in the name of your remote host (file server). This field tells the File Tool the name of the machine on which you want to store your file. (If you don't know the name of this server, you will have to ask someone.)

Now press the NEXT key. Your type-in point should now be in the field following the Directory: field. The NEXT key is an accelerator for moving among fields in order.

Fill in the Directory: field with your directory, usually your last name. (Your system administrator is responsible for creating and naming directories; check with him or her if you don't know the name of your directory.)

Note: You can use either / or > to separate the names of directories in the File Tool. Thus, the direcory documentation/tutorials is equivalent to documentation>tutorials.

If you like, you may also divide the remote directory into subdirectories, just as you can on the local disk. For example, if you are working on a program and would like to have all of your work on it grouped together, you might want to create a subdirectory that is the name of the program. The name of the directory and its subdirectories must be separated by the angle bracket sign. For example, your Directory: entry might be "Miller>current". You may use as many levels of subdirectories as you like.

Date: 14-Mar-85 13:57:09 (Thursday)
From: XDE-Training:OSBU North:Xerox
Subject: The Source field
To: NewUsers: ;

When you have filled in the name of the directory (and optional subdirectories), use NEXT to advance to the Source field. "Source" is the local name of the file or files that you are interested in; type this information into the Source field. If you wish to operate on more than one file, separate the file names with spaces or carriage returns (or use the * wildcard character, if applicable.) You should not need to include local directories, if the file is on the search path. You can specify a local directory in the LocalDir: field, much as you did with Local-List! and Local-Delete!

Now invoke Store! in the command subwindow, and your file will be stored on the remote file server under the specified directory. While the File Tool is actually performing an operation, the command subwindow is cleared except for a pair of black boxes, which "dance" to show the rate of data transfer. When the operation finishes, the command subwindow will reappear.

You can later store different versions of the file under the same name; they will automatically be given sequential version numbers. The earliest version of a file is version filename!1. Normally, when you retrieve a file from a remote server, you get the most recent version of the file unless you specifically designate an earlier version.

Date: 14-Mar-85 13:51:43 (Thursday)
From: XDE-Training:OSBU North:Xerox
Subject: The Verify option
To: NewUsers: ;

Using the File Tool to retrieve, list and delete remote files is very much like using it to store a file. You may not need to practice each of these commands, but feel free to experiment.

When you are experimenting with the Delete commands, you can use the Verify boolean of the File Tool to protect yourself from deleting something that you didn't really mean to delete. Find the word Verify near the right edge of the File Tool command subwindow. This word represents a boolean option: when it is highlighted, the option is on, when it is not highlighted, the option is off. To turn on Verify, simply click over the word (the default value is usually off).

When Verify is turned on, invoking a Delete command will not actually delete the file. Instead, the command subwindow will change, and offer you the choices of Confirm! Deny! and Stop!. Invoking Confirm! proceeds with the deletion; invoking Deny! denies it. Confirm! and Deny! appear on a file-by-file basis: if you specify the deletion of a large list of files, you will be asked to confirm or deny each one.

Stop! aborts the entire command, rather than just denying the deletion of a single file. For example, you would want to use Stop! if you acccidentally did a Local-Delete of * instead of a Local List of *. You don't want to confirm or deny each file individually; you just want to stop the command altogether.

Whether or not you use Verify is entirely up to you.

Date: 14-Mar-85 13:52:13 (Thursday)
From: XDE-Training:OSBU North:Xerox
Subject: Deleting files
To: NewUsers: ;

Local-Delete and Remote-Delete are used to delete files from your local workstation or from a remote file server, respectively. Local-Delete can only be used to delete files from your own local workstation; hence, you need only fill in the Source field when using this command. Using this command is equivalent to using the Executive to delete files. You can also specify a local directory if you like; if you don't specify one, the File Tool will look for the file via the current search path.

Local-Delete allows you to delete files either one at a time or by using expansion characters (such as *) to encompass a group of files. With Remote-Delete, however, you can only delete one version of a file at a time; you cannot delete all versions of a file simultaneously. For example, try storing your practice file several more times so that you have three or four versions of it stored on your directory. (You will have to make changes in your file before you can store it. Thus, store a copy, make a change, store another copy, and so on.)

Fill in the fields with the correct information, and invoke Remote-Delete!. Notice that only the EARLIEST version of the file has been deleted. In general, you will only be allowed to use Remote-Delete! on files from your own directory.

Date: 14-Mar-85 13:57:14 (Thursday)
From: XDE-Training:OSBU North:Xerox
Subject: Listing and retrieving remote files
To: NewUsers: ;

Retrieve! allows you to copy a file from a remote directory onto your local disk. To use this command, just fill in the Host, Directory and Source fields, and then invoke Retrieve! You may retrieve a file from any remote directory to which you have access; you are not restricted to your own directory, or even to your own host. You can use the LocalDir field to specify the local directory that you want the file to be stored in. Note: you will be asked for confirmation on file retrieval when you have the Verify option turned on.

The Dest'n field is used when you want to rename a file. Thus, if you are retrieving a file called ThisFileHasANameThatIsTooLong, and you want to call it just LongFileName on your own machine, you would put ThisFileHasANameThatIsTooLong in the Source: field, and LongFileName in the Dest'n: field.

Leaving the Dest'n field blank will cause the file to be stored under its original name; that is, the same name as in the source field.

The Dest'n field is also used with the Copy! command, which copies a local file into another local file. When using Copy!, the name of the file that you are copying from goes in the Source: field; the name of the file that you wish to copy into goes in the Dest'n: field.

Date: 14-Mar-85 13:54:33 (Thursday)
From: XDE-Training:OSBU North:Xerox
Subject: Close!
To: NewUsers: ;

When you are using your file tool to communicate with a remote file server, there is an open connection between your machine and the file server. If you Size or Deactivate the File Tool window when you are through using it, the connection will automatically be closed. However, if you like to leave your File Tool window active on your screen, you should use the Close! command to close your connection (and free any resources needed to maintain it) while you are not actually using the tool. This is good policy; get in the habit of using Close!.

At the far right of the second subwindow of the File Tool is a collection of mysterious-looking symbols that have been ignored in this tutorial. These symbols are boolean options controlling fine points of the operation of the File Tool. If you are interested, they are fully documented in the File Tool chapter of your XDE User's Guide.

Date: 14-Mar-85 13:55:06 (Thursday)
From: XDE-Training:OSBU North:Xerox
Subject: The File Transfer Program
To: NewUsers: ;

The File Transfer Program (FTP) is a predecessor of the File Tool, and thus the two share many functions. You will want to use the File Tool for most of your filing operations; however, FTP is more useful when you need to operate on a large number of files, such as when you execute a transfer of an entire group of files from one machine to another. The FTP program runs from the Executive window, and FTP commands can thus be included in an Executive command file.

An Executive command file is just a list of Executive commands that are executed in order without requiring any interaction from you. Thus, for example, if you want to back up a group of files onto a remote file server every night before you leave work, you can write an Executive command file that contains the commands to do so. You can then run that command file without having to interact with the File Tool directly.

If you are interested in writing command files that use the FTP program, you should read the FTP chapter of your XDE User's Guide.

Date: 2-Oct-86 16:13:13 (Thursday)
From: XDE-Training:OSBU North:Xerox
Subject: FSWindowTool
To: NewUsers: ;

FSWindowTool is a tool that allows you to access either local files or files on remote file servers. This is a complex tool that provides a great deal of functionality: when you want to do a filing operation and you can't figure out how to do it--try this tool. Note, however, that this tool is a Prototype, and not part of the standard XDE Desktop Product.

To use this tool, you need to run the file NSFilingConfig.bcd, and then FSWindowTool.bcd from the Executive window. When the window first appears, you have a choice of three options: local, mesa, and remote. Reasonably enough, choosing local allows you to operate on local logical volumes, remote allows you to operate on files stored on a remote file server, and Mesa allows you to operate on files in the "Mesa world." The Mesa world is essentially your CoPilot volume; the Mesa development environment is the old name for the environment itself. In general, you will probably use this tool to operate on files that are stored on your Star volume or on a remote file server.

For now, you don't really need to understand what logical volumes are; you only need to become familiar enough with the FSWindowTool that you can use it when you have to. The following lessons will provide a brief overview of how to use this tool. You should experiment with it as you go along.

Date: 14-Mar-85 13:56:26 (Thursday)
From: XDE-Training:OSBU North:Xerox
Subject: Changing directory protection
To: NewUsers: ;

As an example of using this tool, assume that you want to change the access rights on your directory on your remote file server. To do this, first select the remote option on the logon window. (To do this operation, you will have to be logged in; if you aren't currently logged in, bring up your Executive window and do so. You can also use the SetDomain/Organization command to specify the domain and organization of the file server that you are interested in. If the file server that you are interested in is not in your domain, you will have to use this command.)

Selecting the remote option will provide a list of remote file servers in the specified domain and organization. Find the name of your server, select it, and invoke the Open&List command. This will open a window that lists the file drawers on that particular file server. (The list always contains 16 items; if you can't find the name of your file drawer, invoke the Next Page! command.)

When you have found your file drawer, invoke Open&List again. This will open another window, this time containing a list of the files and or subdirectories on your file drawer.

To change the protection on a specific folder or file, select the name of thaXDE-Training:OSBU North:Xerox file from the list, and invoke the Attributes! command. This will open another window that contains the attributes of the specified file. One of the attributes in this list is the Access List:, which specifies the current access rights for the file.

To change this list, just fill in the name of a person or group in the Access Entry: Name: field, and select the desired attributes (Read, Write, Add, Remove, or Owner) from the form subwindow. This items are booleans; if an access is selected, invoking Change Access List! will give the specified person that access; if the access is not highlighted, invoking Change Access List! will remove that access for the specified person.

Date: 14-Mar-85 13:56:26 (Thursday)
From: XDE-Training:OSBU North:Xerox
Subject: Experiment
To: NewUsers: ;

As you can see, this is a very complicated tool, and we haven't discussed all of its capabilities. Experiment with it now as long as you like, and make sure that you read the documentation on this tool. It is a very useful tool. You can use the Close! command in the form subwindow to close each of the windows. When you are through experimenting with this tool, you should now be familiar with most basic filing operations. If you are unsure about any of the information presented here, you should go back and review the material until you are fully comfortable with it. When you are ready for more, chord over the File: field in the MailTool command subwindow and select TeachText.nsmail.

See Also:

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