Basic operation of dskutil entails selecting a mode from the File pulldown on the Menu Bar, traversing directories, and selecting files and/or directories on which to perform some action based on the selected mode of operation. Further references to files in this note will actually refer to Unix files and/or directories. Modes available include deletion of selected files, archival to disk or tape, or archival to a disk or tape on a remote system. The panel shown in Figure 1 has already had a mode of Deletion selected. This is evident by the label on the Action Button on the bottom of the panel. The label on this button contains text reminding the user of the currently selected mode. Upon selecting a mode, the Current Directory and Filter areas may be modified to change directories and limit the files shown, respectively. The filter format is based on Unix regular expression strings. In Figure 2, for example, selecting a filter setting of SPLIT* causes the top list to show only those files starting with that string.
The Sorted List is regenerated whenever a new filter or directory setting is entered and a carriage return in one of those areas is detected. Traversal of directory structures may also be accomplished via use of the options under the Edit pulldown of the Menu Bar which provide for going up or down one directory level.
Further limiting of the Sorted List and the order in which files are shown can be further qualified through the use of Sorting and Searching options available under the View pulldown area of the Menu Bar. The sorting method applies to the manner in which the files are shown and bases the sort on information associated with each file. This also has some impact on the information shown, since the time shown in the lists is the time associated with the sort. The sorting options available are shown in Figure 3.
The searching options will actually limit the files shown to those within a certain size or date range selected. The date used is that which has been selected previously in the sorting options. The search can be limited to the current directory identified or can be expanded to include all sub-directories of the current location. The dialog for entering search options is shown in Figure 4.
Applying the options shown in the above figures to our previous panel yields the sorted list shown in Figure 5.
To select files on which the selected action is to be performed, a double-click of the left mouse button on a file in the Sorted List is used. For convenience when dealing with slow line speeds that may cause problems in determining a double-click, a single click and selection of the Select Convenience Button may be used. A convenience button for selecting all files currently being shown is also on the main panel. To take files out of the selected list and put them back into the upper list, the procedure is similar. Convenience buttons for de-selecting files are also available. Once a list of files has been selected, selection of the Action Button will begin processing based on the selected mode. Confirmation panels and diagnostic panels may also appear during processing. These should be self explanatory.
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