# The MIT License (MIT) # # Copyright (C) 2026 Scott Duensing # # Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy # of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to # deal in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the # rights to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or # sell copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is # furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions: # # The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in # all copies or substantial portions of the Software. # # THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR # IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, # FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE # AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER # LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING # FROM, OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS # IN THE SOFTWARE. # File Manager help. Compiled to fileMgr.hlp next to fileMgr.app; F1 and # Help > Contents in a File Manager window open it. .topic filemgr.overview .title File Manager .toc 0 File Manager .default .index File Manager .index Files .index Folders .index Drives .h1 File Manager The File Manager shows the files and folders on your disks and lets you open, copy, move, rename, and delete them. .link filemgr.window The parts of the window .link filemgr.open Opening files and starting programs .link filemgr.select Choosing files .link filemgr.copy Copying and moving .link filemgr.organize New folders, renaming, and deleting .link filemgr.props Properties .link filemgr.keys Keys and menus .h2 More Than One Window You can open the File Manager more than once, for example one window on each of two folders. File > New Window opens another File Manager on the folder you are looking at. Copy, Cut, and Paste move files between the windows (see Copying and Moving). .topic filemgr.window .title The File Manager Window .toc 1 The Window .index Drive Bar .index Path Bar .index Folder Tree .index Status Bar .index Sorting .h1 The File Manager Window .h2 Drive Bar The row of buttons at the top has one button for each drive in your computer, such as A: and C:. Click one to go to that drive. Drives without a disk in them (an empty floppy or CD-ROM drive) are listed too; choosing one tells you the drive is not ready instead of stopping with a disk error. Put a disk in and try again. .h2 Path Bar The Path box shows the folder you are looking at. To go somewhere else, type a folder name there, such as C:\DVX\APPS, and press Enter. .h2 Folder Tree The left side shows the folders from the top of the drive down to the one you are in, with the folders next to each step and the folders inside the current one. Click a folder, or move to it with the arrow keys, to see what is in it; its own folders then appear beneath it. .h2 File List The right side lists the folder's contents: folders first, then files. The columns are: .table Column What it shows ------ ------------- Name The file or folder name. Size The file size in bytes. Type Folder, Program, or the kind of file (for example TXT File). Modified The date and time the file was last changed. .endtable Click a column heading to sort by that column; click it again to reverse the order. The View menu has the same choices (Sort by Name, Size, Type, or Date, and Descending). Folders always stay at the top. To show only some files, choose View > Filter... and type a pattern such as *.TXT. Several patterns can be separated with semicolons, for example *.TXT;*.BAT. *.* shows everything again. While a filter is on, it is shown at the end of the window title. .h2 Status Bar The bottom line shows how many items are in the folder, how many you have selected, and how big they are together, and how much free space is left on the drive. .topic filemgr.open .title Opening Files and Starting Programs .toc 1 Opening Files .index Opening Files .index Starting Programs .index File Types .h1 Opening Files and Starting Programs Double-click an item, or select it and press Enter (or choose File > Open): .list .item A folder opens in the same window. .item A program (Type: Program) starts. .item A DOS program (a file ending in .EXE, .COM, or .BAT) runs with DVX stepped aside: DVX first names the programs that will close, this File Manager too, and asks whether to go on, and comes back when the DOS program ends (see DOS Programs in the Program Manager's help). .item A document opens in the program chosen for its type, for example a .TXT file in Notepad. Which program opens each kind of file is set on the File Types tab of the Control Panel. If no program is chosen for a file's type, the File Manager says so. .endlist To go back up to the folder that holds the current one, press Backspace or choose View > Up One Level. .topic filemgr.select .title Choosing Files .toc 1 Choosing Files .index Selecting Files .index Select All .index Invert Selection .h1 Choosing Files Most commands work on the selected files and folders in the list. .list .item Click an item to select it. .item Ctrl+click adds an item to the selection or removes it. .item Shift+click selects everything between the last item you clicked and this one. .item With the keyboard, the arrow keys move the highlight, Shift+arrow keys select a range, and Space selects or unselects the highlighted item. Typing the first letters of a name jumps to it. .item Edit > Select All (Ctrl+A) selects everything; Edit > Invert Selection selects everything that was not selected and unselects the rest. .endlist If nothing is selected, commands work on the highlighted item. When the folder tree has the focus (click in it, or press Tab), Rename, Delete, Copy, Cut, and Properties work on the folder chosen in the tree instead. .topic filemgr.copy .title Copying and Moving .toc 1 Copying and Moving .index Copying Files .index Moving Files .index Cut and Paste .index Replace Existing Files .h1 Copying and Moving There are two ways to copy or move files and folders: .list .item Select them and choose File > Copy To... (F8) or File > Move To... (F7), then choose the folder they should go to. To put them in a new folder, type its name in the Folder name box; it is made for you. .item Select them and choose Edit > Copy (Ctrl+C) or Edit > Cut (Ctrl+X). Then, in this or another File Manager window, go to the folder they should go to and choose Edit > Paste (Ctrl+V). Copy leaves the originals where they are; Cut moves them. Files you copied can be pasted again in other folders; after pasting a cut, the clipboard is empty. .endlist Folders are copied or moved with everything in them. Copies keep the date of the original. .h2 While It Works Copying, moving, and deleting happen in the background, in a small window that shows what is being done and how far along it is. You can keep working in DVX meanwhile. Click Cancel (or close that window) to stop; a file that was only partly copied is removed, and everything finished before that stays done. .h2 When a File Already Exists If the place you copy or move to already has a file with the same name, you are asked what to do: .table Button What it does ------ ------------ Yes Replace that file. No Keep the existing file and skip this one. Yes to All Replace this file and every other one without asking again. Cancel Stop copying. .endtable .h2 When Something Goes Wrong If a file cannot be read or written (for example the disk is full, write-protected, or was taken out of the drive), you are told why and can choose Retry (try again, for example after putting the disk back), Skip (leave this item out and go on), or Cancel. A folder whose contents were skipped is not removed by a move. A folder cannot be copied or moved into itself or into one of its own folders, and a file cannot be copied onto itself; you are told if you try. .topic filemgr.organize .title New Folders, Renaming, and Deleting .toc 1 Organizing .index New Folder .index Renaming Files .index Deleting Files .index Read-Only Files .index File Names .h1 New Folders, Renaming, and Deleting .h2 New Folder File > New Folder... makes a folder in the current folder. Type its name and press Enter. .h2 Rename Select one file or folder and choose File > Rename... or press F2, then type the new name. .h2 Delete Select the files and folders and press Del or choose File > Delete. You are asked to confirm first. Folders are deleted with everything in them. If a file is read-only, you are asked again before it is deleted (Yes, No, Yes to All, or Cancel). .h2 File Names What a name may be depends on the disk. When the disk takes long file names (DVX running under Windows, or a long file name driver such as DOSLFN loaded before DVX), a name can have up to 255 characters, including spaces, several dots, and + , ; = [ ] (for example Letter to Mom.final.txt); it cannot end with a dot or a space. Otherwise names follow the DOS rules: up to eight characters, optionally followed by a dot and up to three more (for example REPORT.TXT), and spaces and + , ; = [ ] are not allowed. On every disk the characters " * / : < > ? \ | and device names such as CON, PRN, or LPT1 are not allowed. If a name is not allowed, the File Manager tells you why. A new folder is first named New Folder on a disk that takes long names, NEWFOLDR on one that does not; type over it. Files and disks bigger than 2 GB (a FAT32 disk) show their full size. .topic filemgr.props .title Properties .toc 1 Properties .index Properties .index Attributes .index Read-Only .index Hidden Files .index Archive .h1 Properties Select one or more items and choose File > Properties or press Alt+Enter. The Properties window shows the name, the folder it is in, the total size (for a folder, everything in it) with the number of files and folders, and the date the item was last changed. A big folder takes a moment to count: the size and the numbers grow, marked "so far", until the count is done, and you can change the attributes or close the window meanwhile. The Attributes boxes can be changed; click OK to apply them to every selected item, or Cancel to leave them as they were. .table Attribute Meaning --------- ------- Read-only The file cannot be changed or deleted by programs until this is cleared. Hidden The file is left out of normal DOS directory listings. System The file belongs to the operating system. Archive The file has changed since it was last backed up. .endtable .topic filemgr.keys .title Keys and Menus .toc 1 Keys and Menus .index File Manager Keys .index Shortcut Keys .h1 Keys and Menus .table Key What it does --- ------------ Tab Move between the drive bar, the path bar, the folder tree, and the file list. Enter Open the highlighted item. Backspace Go up to the parent folder. Del Delete the selection. F2 Rename. F5 Read the folder again (show changes made elsewhere). F7 Move to a folder. F8 Copy to a folder. Alt+Enter Properties. Ctrl+A Select all. Ctrl+C Copy. Ctrl+X Cut. Ctrl+V Paste. F1 Help. .endtable .h2 Menus .table Menu Command What it does ---- ------- ------------ File Open Open the highlighted item. File New Folder Make a folder. File Copy To Copy the selection to a folder you choose. File Move To Move the selection to a folder you choose. File Rename Rename the selected item. File Delete Delete the selection. File Properties Size, date, and attributes. File New Window Open another File Manager window. File Exit Close this window. Edit Cut, Copy, Paste Move or copy files between folders and windows. Edit Select All Select everything. Edit Invert Selection Swap selected and unselected items. View Refresh Read the folder again. View Filter Show only files matching a pattern. View Up One Level Go to the parent folder. View Sort by ... Sort by name, size, type, or date. View Descending Reverse the sort order. Help Contents Open this help. Help About Show the program name and copyright. .endtable If you close a File Manager window while it is still copying, moving, or deleting, you are asked whether to stop.