1-> The dirl command fascinates me, but I use it once a year max.
A great reason to use DIRL more often is to get a listing of long
"filenames", implemented with an initial LB command at the top of file.
(Herb Tyson gets the credit for this idea. When I read it, in "XyWrite
Revealed", I pounced on it.) Entering the long name (e.g., "Letter
dated 10/17/95 to Joe Blow suggesting a legal name change and
recommending qualified counsel") requires discipline at first; with
time, it becomes more or less habitual. A by-product of using long
filenames is that, in an environment where you operate on files by
typing out their names, you begin to appreciate the virtues of the 8.3
convention. A fully qualified d:\path\filename.ext gives you, in a few
characters, a unique and usable identifier for every file in the system
-- an advantage the Win95 tilde-truncation ploy recognizes in a back-
handed way but, IMHO, seriously compromises by assigning names that are
too cryptic. (MS's point, of course, is that the average Joe Blow user
is "protected" from his own ignorance by never having to use the short
names or even knowing they're there. Long live the LCD.) Still,
there's a place for descriptive names, even in a char.-based system;
DIRL makes it happen.
2-> I hope someone else will take on a conversion of 2.BAT->xpl.
I did, several years ago. I call it GO, and I find it indispensable,
in both DOS and Xy. (Though I recall seeing 2.BAT in PC Mag, my XPL
version predates that piece, being an adaptation of a batch file of my
own concoction.) The current version of GO (for Xy4|XyWin) is in
SmartSet. Below is an XPLeNCODEd replica of the original, GO.XPM (in
my nomenclature, .XPM denotes a III+ PM).
Note well: GO.XPM, as configured below, can only be used with a RUN
command. To enable the Help-based frame usage, you must have a "shell"
program that passes command line arguments to Help via a memory-
resident Save/Get, typically one in the "permanent" programming (100-
999) range. If you use, e.g., Save/Get 200, then you must change the
one instance of "{<}SX02,@upr({<}IS00{>})", immediately following LaBel
"b", to "{<}SX02,@upr({<}IS200{>})". I assume you have a shell PM; if
not, let me know.
XPLeNCODE v1.8
b-gin GO.XPM
[cr|lf]
{<}GLa{>} GO.XPM -- C.L.Distefano 6/8/91 - rev. 9/1
/92[cr|lf]
{{Cgo}}[cr|lf]
[cr|lf]
{2}{<}GLa{>}Change current dri
ve/directory with a single command,[cr|lf]
without typing{32}
colon or backslash [;6/8/91 - rev. 9/1/92][cr|lf]
[cr|lf]
Synta
x: run go.xpm,[d] [dir1] [dir2] [...] [dirn]<XC>[cr|lf]
{32}
go [d] [dir1] [dir2] [...] [dirn]<@H>[cr|lf]
{<}LD-{>} [c
r|lf]{<}LBa{>}{<}SV01,Z{>}{<}GLb{>} <--Set LAST DRIVE letter{32}
in [255+65+69]Sv01[255+65+70] (Default = Z)[cr|lf]
Tog
gle into E-XP-anded View to set Save/Get[cr|lf]
[cr|lf]
{<}LBb{
>}{<}SX02,@upr({<}IS00{>}){>}{<}SV03,GO {>}{<}IF{<}IS03{>}{23
8}{<}IS02{>}==0{>}{<}SV04,{>}{<}XS02,03,05,06,04{>}{<}SX02,{<
}IS04{>}{>}{<}EI{>}{<}SV03,ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ{>}{<}XS
03,01,04,05,06{>}{<}SX01,{<}IS04{>}+{<}IS01{>}{>}{<}SV03, {>}
{<}SV04,{>}{<}SV05,\{>}{<}SX06,0{>}{<}SV07,:{>}{<}SV08,\{>}{<
}SU09,[DX_][BC_]cd {<}PV04{>}[XC_]{>}{<}SX10,{<}VA$EB{>}{>}{<
}SU11,[BC_]d eb={<}PV10{>}[XC_][BC_][DO_]{>}[BC_][DX_]d eb=0,
0[XC_]{<}IF{<}IS03{>}{238}{<}IS02{>}<0{>}{<}GLf{>}[cr|lf]
[cr|
lf]{<}EI{>}{<}SX02,{<}IS02{>}+{<}IS03{>}{>}{<}LBc{>}{<}SV12,{
>}{<}XS02,03,04,13,12{>}{<}IF{<}PV06{>}>0!@siz({<}IS04{>})>1!
{<}IS04{>}{238}{<}IS01{>}<0{>}{<}GLd{>}{<}EI{>}{<}SX05,{<}IS0
4{>}+{<}IS07{>}{>}[DX_][BC_]{<}PV05{>}[XC_][BC_][DO_]{<}IF@si
z({<}IS12{>})>0{>}{<}SX05,{<}IS05{>}+{<}IS08{>}{>}{<}EI{>}{<}
GLe{>}{<}LBd{>}{<}GT09{>}{<}IF{<}ER{>}{>}{<}SV09,{>}{<}EI{>}{
<}IF{<}IS08{>}{238}{<}IS05{>}==@siz({<}IS05{>})-1{>}{<}SX05,{
<}IS05{>}+{<}IS04{>}{>}{<}GLe{>}{<}EI{>}{<}SX05,{<}IS05{>}+{<
}IS08{>}+{<}IS04{>}{>}{<}LBe{>}{<}SX06,1{>}{<}IF@siz({<}IS12{
>})>0{>}{<}SX02,{<}IS12{>}{>}{<}GLc{>}{<}EI{>}{<}IF@siz({<}IS
09{>})>0{>}{<}GLg{>}{<}EI{>}[DX_][BC_]cd {<}P
V05{>}[XC_][BC_][DO_]{<}IF{<}ER{>}{>}{<}GLh{>}{<}EI{>}{<}GLg{
>}[cr|lf]
[cr|lf]
{<}LBf{>}{<}IF@siz({<}IS02{>})==1&{<}IS02{>}{
238}{<}IS01{>}>-1{>}[DX_][BC_]{<}PV02{>}:[XC_][BC_][DO_]{<}LB
g{>}{<}GT11{>}{<}PRDone{>}{<}EX{>}{<}EI{>}[DX_][BC_]cd {<}PV0
2{>}[XC_]{<}IF{<}ER{>}{>}[BC_]cd \{<}PV02{>}[XC_]{<}EI{>}[BC_
][DO_]{<}IF@not({<}ER{>}){>}{<}GLg{>}{<}EI{>}{<}LBh{>}{<}GT11
{>}{<}PRPath not found{>}{<}EX{>}[cr|lf]
-nd
XPLeNCODE
--------------
Carl Distefano
70154.3452@compuserve.com