Introduction. 1

Display Structure. 2

Main window. 2

Layout 2

Commands. 2

Double click commands. 2

Mouse right click commands. 2

New/Edit Dig Window. 3

Layout 3

Double Clicking Stored Profiles. 3

Double Clicking Recently Used Folders. 3

Recent Command. 3

Special Note - Shortcuts. 3

Favorites Command. 4

What Is It? Command. 4

Managing Profiles Window. 4

Layout 4

Creating new profile. 4

Supplied profiles. 4

Folder Structure Window. 5

Options Window. 5

Page size. 5

Usage history items kept 5

Folders kept 5

Show pictures. 5

Check for updates. 5

Technical notes. 5

Install/Uninstall 5

Known issues. 5

Vandal Software. 5

Printing Bug. 6

Introduction

Finding files can sometimes be like digging for treasure - frustrating and not very productive. File Digger helps you to find word processor documents, spreadsheets, pictures, music, video and just about any file on your computer.

 

How does it do it?

 

File Digger uses a concept called application profile to help you find files. When you are working on a computer you use – Word processor, spreadsheet, browser etc.  In effect you have your own applications profile.

 

One of the main features of Windows is a file extension such as ‘Doc’. Your computer associates an extension with an application; in this case ‘Doc’ is associated with Microsoft Word.  There are over 30,000 different file extensions and the list is growing daily. At present there no controls on file extensions. The last application registered on your system wins the extension battle.

 

File Digger analyzes your computer and identifies all of the registered file extensions. Each is placed in an application profile.  Then File Digger adds its own predefined profiles such as ‘<8 media>’ for music and videos. You can also create your own profiles.

 

For example - You can create a profile ‘My’ which contains word processor, spreadsheet and internet.

 

How do I find a file?

 

To find a file you select a profile such as ‘Word’ and a starting folder. File Digger will display all of files within a profile and the starting folder. You can then narrow your search using filters and/or a find command.

 

File Digger doesn’t alter any system settings it simply keeps track of profiles and file extensions associated with it.

 

The demonstration version of File Digger is fully functional with one exception - only the first 10 files found are displayed.

Display Structure

 

File Digger has the following display structure:

 

It finds files with extensions specified within a profile in a selected folder; Sorts these in as specified order; applies the selected filter to that file list and displays these files in page(s).

 

Profile->Folder->Sort->Filter->Pages

 

Why pages?

 

File Digger displays pictures. To limit the frustration of slow picture load and control amount of memory the system uses we limit the number of items displayed to a page.

Main window

Layout

The components of the main window are detailed below.

 

Page navigation

Sort specification

Find

Usage history *

Filter

Display area *

 

* Mouse right click activates additional commands

Commands

Command

Function

First page

Go to first page

Previous page

Go to previous page

Select page

Drop down list of all pages available

Next page

Go to next page

Last page

Go to last page

 

 

Select sort

Selects sort sequence;

Please note that Modified and Size are sorted in a descending order.

Find

Finds specified file name; You can use pattern characters *,? And #

Please note that:

·         Find will look for next file

·         It will reset after new dig, sort, filter change or page size change

 

Double click commands

Double clicking on usage history item will invoke a new dig.

Double clicking on a file will invoke a default program associated with that file.

Mouse right click commands

 

Command

Function

Details

Displays pictures or a list

New/Edit Dig

Detailed below

 

 

Selected File Open Folder

Opens a folder containing the selected picture

Selected File Dig In Folder

Digs for files using the current profile in a selected file folder

Selected File Create Find Pattern

Create a file find search pattern

 

 

Folder Structure

Displays the selected folder structure

Clear Cache And Bin

Clears internet cache and recycle bin. File Digger looks inside these if you specify a full disk scan. It may be time consuming and frustrating going through all of internet cache.

Export To CSV File

Export the current view to a CSV file that can be read by Excel

Options, Help And Buy

Detailed below.

 

 

New/Edit Dig Window

 

To start a new dig - select a profile and folder and click on ‘Dig’ button.

 

Layout

 

 

Stored profiles *

 

 

 

Selected profile extensions

 

Recently used folders

 

Dig

Cancel

Recent

Favorites

What is it?

 

Double Clicking Stored Profiles

Will load profiles management windows (Detailed below)

Double Clicking Recently Used Folders

Will let you add a new folder.

Recent Command

Clicking on a ‘Recent’ button will do a special dig in the recently used documents folder.

Windows usually displays only the last 20 most recent used documents. There could be hundreds of references stored. File Digger finds then all.

 

Hint:

To quickly find a document click on ‘Recent’ button then select by ‘Modified’ sort. You can then look at different days.

 

Special Note - Shortcuts

Recently used documents folder (C:\Documents and Settings\Administrator\Recent) contains shortcuts (files with extension ‘lnk’). Shortcuts are special files that point to other system objects such as files and folders.

 

Windows creates a shortcut when you open a document or a folder but it can also create its own shortcuts.

 

Windows activates, deactivates and authorizes access to shortcuts. File Digger will display all of shortcuts found in a recently used documents folder.

 

For example shortcut is deactivated when file it points to is deleted. You may not be authorized to open a shortcut created by a system or another user.

 

When you double click on a shortcut File Digger will open only active and authorized shortcut.

 

Shortcut names show file/folder that it points to. File Digger displays all of shortcuts to provide you with extra information.

 

 For example if you are searching for a word document you created and can’t remember its file name then quick search in a recent folder may help.

 

Please do not clear ‘Recently accessed documents’ within the ‘Start’ button - Windows will delete all of the shortcuts stored in recently used documents folder.

Favorites Command

Clicking on ‘Favorites’ list all the favorites.

 

Hint:

To print your ‘Favorites’ structure. Click on ‘Favorites’ then select command ‘Folder Structure’.

What Is It? Command

This command finds an extension in a profile.

Managing Profiles Window

Profile naming notation is as follows:

 

Simple name such as ‘catfile’ is a profile defined by your system.

Name in ‘<>’ is the one File Digger provides.

Name in ‘”””’ is the one you define.

 

Profiles are sorted in the following order:

 

Yours first

Ours second

System defined third

 

Please note that all text is displayed and stored in a lower case. You can’t delete File Digger or system supplied profiles.

 

Layout

 

Available profiles

Delete

Add to new

New profile

Add

Delete

New

Save

Done

 

Stored profiles

 

 

New profile extensions

 

Selected profile extensions

 

New profile log

 

 

Creating new profile

You can add file extensions either from a stored profile (click on an ‘Arrow’) or directly (click on ‘Plus’ button). The system will not duplicate extensions. To save a profile click on ‘Disk’ button.

 

Hint:

Be specific with file extensions. More extensions mean longer scan time.

 

Supplied profiles

 

 

Profile

Description

<0 word processor>

Files that Word can read and use

<1 spreadsheet>

Files that Excel can read and use

<2 database>

Access files

<3 presentation>

PowerPoint files

<5 office>

Sum of above

<6 internet>

Common Web files

<8 media>

Audio and video files

<audio>

Audio files - most common formats

<image>

Pictures  -most common formats and Icons

<shortcuts>

Shortcuts

<text>

Text file; Warning there are lots of text files on your system!

<video>

Video files - most common formats

 

.

Folder Structure Window

You can display and print selected folder structure. Please note that we provide a limit on number of folders displayed. Using higher limit will consume more system memory and paper.

Options Window

Option settings are designed to control the scope of the dig and the amount of system memory you consume displaying pictures.

Page size

Set number of files per page. Lots of pictures on a single page have two impacts:

 

·         Slows down page load time

·         Consumes more system memory resources

 

If you have a powerful computer and fast disk then you can select higher values.

 

Usage history items kept

Sets number of items that the system will keep.

Folders kept

Sets number of items that the system will keep.

Show pictures

If this option is on File Digger will load and display bmp, gif, jpeg, jpg, tiff, wmf and png files.  In all other cases an icon of the associated application is displayed i.e. Just like Windows explorer.

 

Displaying pictures is very handy if you are searching for a picture but it will slow down page load and consume more of systems memory resources.

 

Unless you are searching for a picture we suggest you turn this option off.

Check for updates

When you are checking for updates File Digger will access the internet and verify if your software and the start file is at the latest version.

 

If required it will upload the latest start file. Start file contains the latest File Digger profiles

Technical notes

This section describes how to maintain the software.

Install/Uninstall

To install File Digger place it and its files in a directory. To uninstall delete it and its files.

Known issues

Vandal Software

 

Identified

2005/1/5

 

Behavior

Some applications are not well behaved and activate programs upon your entry into a folder. One such program from a major camera producer resets video settings.

 

Severity

Nuisance

 

Printing Bug

The Margin Value Decreases Every Time PageSetupDialog Is Displayed

Rating:  Nuisance

 

CAUSE

If the default measurement system is U.S., the PageSetupDialog box uses thousandths of inches as the default unit of measurement. If the default measurement system is Metric, the dialog box uses hundredths of millimeters as the default unit of measurement. By default, U.S. is the measurement system. If the measurement system is Metric, the margins are converted from U.S. system to Metric system. When the PageSetupDialog is closed, the computer saves information about the page size. When the PageSetupDialog is reopened, the computer incorrectly assumes the margin as if it was a U.S. system margin instead of a Metric system margin. The computer converts the margin to the Metric system again. Therefore, the margin reduces every time the PageSetupDialog is displayed.

 

STATUS

Microsoft has confirmed that this is a bug - Microsoft Knowledge Base Article 814355

 

Microsoft workaround

To work around this bug, you can use the U.S. settings for the Measurement system property of the Regional and Language Options. To do this, follow these steps:

 

On the taskbar, click Start. Point to Settings, and then click Control Panel.

Click Regional and Language Options.

On the Regional Options tab, click Customize.

Set U.S. as the Measurement System property.

Click OK to save the settings.

Click OK in the Regional and Language Options window

 

Our workaround

The systems sets page margins to 1 inch and 10 centimeters. Depending on regional system setting this may not work all the time and you may need to set page margins manually. Print preview also alters the margins.