FDES17X : File Description Catalog for Windows
          Information about the program usage

Title   : FDES
Version : 1.7
Date    : Feb 7, 2000
Author  : J R Ferguson
E-mail  : j.r.ferguson@iname.com
Download: http://hello.to/ferguson
Usage   : Windows 3.1/95/NT application

This program may be used and copied freely without  charge,  but  only  for
non-commercial  purposes.  The  author is not responsible for any damage or
loss of data that may be caused by using it.

FDES is distributed in two versions:
 1. FDESnnX.ZIP - Executable and Help file only
 2. FDESnnS.ZIP - Source files (Borland Delphi v1.0 and EDITHELP)
In both names, nn stands for a 2 digit release number.


General information
-------------------

FDES is a file description catalog. It helps you remember  what  all  those
files  you store on your disks are for. With FDES you can view and maintain
a list of filenames connected to a group name and a short descriptive text.

FDES supports both DOS filenames (max 8 characters, ignoring case) and long
filenames (max 40 characters, case sensitive).

A group name is a name for a category you defined yourself. It may  be  any
identifier  that  groups  files  together,  like  DosGame for DOS games and
W95Util for Windows 95 utilities.


The main data file
------------------

The main data file is the file you  open  and  save  using  the  File  menu
commands.  Its name is saved in the FDES.INI file, so when FDES is started,
it automatically reopens the datafile that was used the last time.

You can maintain the main datafile from  the  main  application  window  by
using the Edit menu entries Add, Change and Delete. Also, such menu entries
are provided in a pop-up menu, activated by pressing the right mouse-button
over the main window listbox.

FDES supports two types of file description catalogs: Dos name catalogs and
Long name catalogs.

The  main  datafile of a Dos name catalog contains an 8 character uppercase
filename, an  8  character  group  name  and  a  description  of  max.  200
characters  for  each  catalog  entry.  The extension for this file type is
".fdc".

The main  datafile  of  a  Long  name  catalog  contains  an  40  character
case-sensitive  filename,  an  8  character group name and a description of
max. 200 characters for each catalog entry. The  extension  for  this  file
type is ".fde".

Use  the  <File|New|Dos  name  catalog> or the <File|New|Long name catalog>
menu command to create a new file description catalog.

Use the <File|Open> menu command to  open  an  existing  filke  description
catalog and <File|Save> to save its changes.

To  convert  a  Dos  name catalog (.fdc) into a Long name catalog (.fde) or
vice versa, use the <File|Save As> menu command and specify the appropriate
file extension.

When you  convert  a  Dos  name  catalog  into  a  long  name  catalog,  no
information  will  be  lost. When, however, you convert a Long name catalog
into a Dos name catalog, the filename entries will be  truncated  to  their
first 8 characters, and changed to all uppercase.


The group data file
-------------------

The group datafile contains a list  of  group  names  that  is  used  as  a
selection  list  when  you  add  or change an entry in the File Despriction
Catalog. This file has the same filename as  the  main  datafile,  with  an
extension of .FDG (short for File Description Groups). The  group  datafile
is  automatically  opened  and  saved  together with the main data file.

To maintain the group datafile, you open the group list dialog by  choosing
the  Group  list  option  from  the main window's Edit menu. The group list
dialog has its own Edit menu, and also provides a  pop-up  menu,  activated
with a right mouse-button click.


History
-------

v1.7  Feb 07,2000  Changed Author's URL; added URL to aboutbox.
v1.6  Nov 29,1998  Support for Long name catalog.
v1.5  Oct 28,1998  No history information available before this release.
