Windows 2000 and EarthVision

From DGInsider, Q2 1999

Dynamic Graphics offers a Windows 2000 version of EarthVision. As a means of cutting hardware expenditure, many corporations are migrating from Unix to Windows. For EarthVision users, this means becoming aquainted with a new operating system to perform daily computational tasks. Users accustomed to a Unix environment, as well as new computer users, may find the initial foray into Windows challenging to the point of frustration. But do not despair. When Dynamic Graphics began porting our software to Windows, we went through a similar transition. We are certain that from our collective experiences we can provide some guidance in taking this new step.

Exploring the Windows Explorer

When we use a computer, most operations deal with manipulating files. The Windows Explorer is a powerful tool that lets you view and manipulate the file system on your computer. It can be found under the Start menu, under Programs –> Windows Explorer. Alternately, right click on the "My Computer" icon or the start menu and select "Explore" from the menu. In this article, we will look at two common issues regarding its use.

Changing the Default Settings

Figure 1

Once you initialize the Explorer, you see the file system represented as a tree with expandable nodes (or folders) on the left, with the contents of the current open node on the right. What you see on the right side can be modified by choosing different options from the “View” menu. For example, going to the View menu and choosing “Details” lists the files in the current folder as columns with detailed information that includes their size and last modified time. Explorer’s default settings hide filename extensions. This convention is often unnerving to the Unix user (and generally considered not a good idea since many viruses count on users not seeing the double suffix used in many virus files). Having just created an “info.txt” file in a directory, the user is often dismayed to see an “info” file in the directory when viewed with the Explorer. This setting can be changed by going into the “Tools” menu, choosing “File options,” and then the “View” tab. Click on the option that says “Show all files,” and uncheck the box that says “Hide extensions to known file types” (fig. 1). Now you should be able to see all files in the current folder with their full names.

Viewing Text Files

Figure 2

Unix users usually fall into two categories: vi fans and emacs buffs. Both tools are excellent for editing text (ASCII) files. If you are comfortable with these tools and want to continue using them, visit the following website: http://www.gnu.org/software/emacs, where you will find emacs for Windows; a Windows version of vi is available from http://www.vim.org. If, however, you are feeling adventurous, Windows offers two text editing tools of its own: Notepad (for small files) and Wordpad.

Using Explorer to quickly view a text file (which may or may not have a .txt extension) is simple: Click on the file using the right mouse button. Choose the “Open with” (fig. 2) option, and from the list that appears, select Wordpad (recommended) or Notepad. (Please note: Uncheck the little box that says “Always use this program to open this type of file” if you do not want it to do so.) One quirk of using Wordpad is that you have to make sure that you save the document as a text file to ensure that it remains so. Also, Notepad has a tendency to add a “.txt” extension to your files. So if you created “test.dat,” and you suddenly find a “test.dat.txt” file in your folder, you now know what happened.

What is the Registry?

Once you start using Windows, it is inevitable that you will one day hear the phrase “Windows Registry.” It is most commonly used by programmers and systems folks who tell their managers “Oh that—it’s because of the registry settings.” But really, the Registry is a very important component of Windows. It can be looked upon as a central persistent database that contains comprehensive information about the system, user programs, and users. Unix and X window users might be familiar with “dot files,” (such as .Xinitrc), which save the current settings for future use. Similarly, the Registry has keys and values that form a persistent system to store information. You can explore the Registry using the “regedit” tool. (You can bring this tool up by going to the Start menu, choosing “Run,” and typing in “regedit” in the command window.) Take care not to modify anything inadvertently; you might accidentally damage your system if you are not careful.

Now that you know what the Registry is, here is an exercise that should make the Unix user happy. In the Unix shells, it is common to use the Tab or Escape key to complete file names you are currently typing. To achieve the same effect when using the MS-DOS command prompt, change the Registry as follows. Using “regedit,” navigate to the following key:

Figure 3

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Command Processor (fig. 3).

(If the Command Processor key does not exist at that location, you need to create one here.) Create a new DWORD within this folder called CompletionChar and set its value to (hexadecimal) 0x09, to use the Tab key for file name completion. Now you can bring up an MS-DOS command window for some tests.

 
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Last updated:  March 22, 2007