DiskTop v4.5 Ships!

January 27, 1994, West Des Moines, IA--PrairieSoft today announced the
release of DiskTop 4.5, a favorite desk accessory file management tool
that has won numerous awards, both in the US and in Europe. DiskTop
provides simple, yet powerful ways to locate and manage your files and
hard disk(s).

DiskTop allows users to find, list, delete, rename, copy, move, size,
launch, shut down, restart and set the attributes of files on any disk or
volume the user has mounted without leaving the current application.

New features added to DiskTop

Now, one basic window provides all the information necessary for finding
and maintaining files. The DiskTop window has 10 customizable views, in
addition to the Technical and Normal View. The custom views allow users to
rearrange, sort, add or remove columns of information such as Name,
Modified, Created, etc. Each custom view can be saved with a name of your
choice and modified at any time.

A new "Jump-to" submenu lets users add the root level of a drive and the
names of often used folders. Users can instantly access any of these
folders by selecting them from the Jump-to submenu, even if they are five
folders deep on another drive.

System 7 aliases are now fully supported. Aliases can be created and saved
in any location and are listed in italics in the DiskTop window.

Long-loved features remain unchanged

Several things have not changed with the new version. The dialog boxes are
very similar to v4.0.2 although the Copy and Move dialogs now work faster.
The DT Launch and DiskTop Find functions remain the same. DT Launch lets
you add, remove and launch documents and applications from the DT Launch
Window. DiskTop Find allows users to specify multiple search criteria then
search one or multiple disks/volumes for specific information.

DiskTop resells for $99.95. Customer support, free for all registered
users, is available from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm, Central Time, Monday through
Friday at 515.225.4122.

Users outside the United States and Canada should contact their local
distributors for pricing and availability. You may also contact
PrairieSoft directly.

DiskTop requires an Apple Macintosh Plus or greater with System 6.0.4 or
greater.

PrairieSoft looks forward to announcing new additions to our product line
as well as upgrades to our existing products, making them even more
valuable to the Macintosh community.

PrairieSoft Inc
1650 Fuller Rd, PO Box 65820
West Des Moines, IA 50265
515-225-3720,  fax 515-225-2422
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What's new in DiskTop 4.5

A concise (not complete) list of the differences between DiskTop 4.0.2 and
DiskTop 4.5.

One Basic Window 

At first glance, DiskTop veterans will notice that DiskTop 4.5 has only one
main window, instead of the 'disktop' and the Files window used in 4.0.2.
DiskTop 4.5 provides all the information in the same window layout.

New Jump-to Submenus 

DiskTop 4.5 users can add the names of often used folders to a submenu of
the Drives menu. This is called the Jump-to submenu. Once a name is added,
users can switch to view that folder by selecting if from that menu, even
if they are currently viewing a folder fifteen layers deep on another
drive. (Note: The root level of a drive can also be added to the Jump-to
submenu.)

The Jump-to submenus also appear in the Drives menu that appears in the
Move, Copy and Make Alias dialog boxes.

New View Menu and Customized Views

DiskTop 4.0.2 users will remember opening the Preferences dialog box every
time the wanted to switch from Normal to Technical views. The DiskTop 4.5
window includes a pop-up View menu, used to select from Normal, Technical
or ten customizable views. Users can create custom views by removing or
resizing the columns of information presented in the window--then saving
the view with a name of their choice.

In addition, the DiskTop window now includes standard zoom and size boxes,
as well as up and down and left and right scroll bars, so the user can
adjust the window to any width or height. DiskTop 4.0.2 only allowed users
to alter the height of the window.

Sorting Order is More Apparent and Saved 

The column headings are now listed on buttons. You resort the information
in the window by clicking on the column heading button, and the button
remains visibly depressed. Each customizable view also keeps it' s own
unique sort.

Color and Gray Scale Monitors Show 3-D buttons in the Main Window

If you use a black and white (2-bit) display) the standard Macintosh
buttons are used.

Aliases Are Now Supported 

DiskTop 4.0.2 did not recognize aliases (used by System 7). DiskTop 4.5
recognizes them, displays them in italics (like the Finder) and allows
users to create and save aliases where they want from the DiskTop window,
using the "Make Alias" command in the DiskTop menu.

Follow That Path

DiskTop 4.5 users can now locate a file and use the Path command to copy
the path to the file to the Clipboard. (The path is recorded in text, such
as Harddisk 1: System Folder: Extensions: ImageWriter.) This can be pasted
into e-mail messages, or other places to record or share file location
information with others.

Locked Column 

If a file is locked (i.e. its locked bit is set in the technical Get Info
dialog box) a padlock appears in the file's listing in the DiskTop window.
DiskTop 4.0.2 users had to check the Get Info window to determine if a
file was locked.

Find Dialog Box Stores Criteria from Last Find

DiskTop 4.0.2 users needed to reenter the data in the Find Criteria dialog
box to repeat a search. DiskTop 4.5 retains the search criteria settings.
The data is there the next time you click "Find" if you need to repeat the
search for some reason, such as searching additional disks.

Press Command Key to See Keyboard Shortcuts 

If you press and hold down the Command key, the command keys for the
buttons display in the main window.

Command - D Shows the Desktop 

DiskTop 4.0.2 users used Command - D to delete files. That now pops the
contents of the desktop into view in the DiskTop window. Deleting items is
done with Command -T (think "trash") in DiskTop 4.5.

Copy and Move Dialog Boxes Lists Folders Faster 

The Copy and Move dialog boxes have been altered to list only folders when
selecting where to copy or move the affected item. This causes these
dialog boxes to open faster. Users can see what files are in the folders
by clicking a button marked "Show both Files and Folders" in these dialog
boxes.

The Make Alias dialog box is very similar to the Copy and Move dialog
boxes. It also lists only folders unless "Show both..." is clicked.

Get Info Dialog Boxes Now List Attributes for System 7 or 6 

Files have different possible attributes under System 6 and System 7. The
attributes that appear in the technical level Get Info dialog boxes now
correctly list attributes for the System you are using. DiskTop 4.0.2
listed only System 6 attributes, whether running under System 6 or 7.
Attributes that don't apply to a particular system are dimmed.

Get Info Now Available on Disks 

This was not available in DiskTop 4.0.2.

DiskTop 4.5 Shows Space Allocated to Files DiskTop 4.0.2 showed actual
sizes of files listed in K. The space allocated for files is usually
larger. (The minimum allocation for files varies from disk to disk.)

Save List Now Creates Tab Delimited Text File 

Using DiskTop 4.5, the text file created by the Save List command in the
DiskTop menu creates a list that is tab delimited (rather than space
delimited). The tabs are set at each column heading. This works great when
importing this information into spreadsheets and databases.

If It Ain't Broke... 

. . . don't fix it!. A lot of things have not changed or changed very
little. Most of the dialog boxes will be very familiar to DiskTop 4.0.2
users. DT Launch is untouched. DiskTop Find (the Find Criteria dialog box
accessed from the Apple menu) is unchanged, other than criteria is
retained in case you need to repeat the last search (as mentioned above).
CE Toolbox version 1.6.5 will continue to ship with DiskTop 4.5 as it did
with 4.0.2.

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