_DIR: List the contents of a directory

Description of _DIR options

<-Directory to list

A list of links to the files, and subdirectories, of this directory will be displayed. Clikcing on a link will either request the file, or display the files, etc. of the subdirectory.

The directory you enter is usually interpreted relative to the root-directory for this site's web resources. Alternatively, if the directory you enter has been appropriately defined, it can refer to a virtual directory, which can be anywhere accessible to the server.

<- Subdirectories also

You can also display a list of subdirectories under the chosen directory. This list can be either at the Top of the screen (above the list of files), or at the bottom.

<-Include files that match

Enter a list of file & subdirectory patterns, or leave blank to display all files & subdirectories.

• Use a space delimited list
• File patterns may contain one or several *s (wildcard characters)
• Subdirectory entries should be just the name -- do not include any path information.

<-Type-of-file icons

If checked, _DIR will place a small representative icon next to each file name; each icon suggesting the type of file (where type is based on the file's extension).

<-Display mode

_DIR can display results using a variety of modes:

• PRE: a simple list using fixed-width fonts. File information (such as file size) is placed into left aligned, fixed width columns. PRE is suitable for fast printing! However, as a simple format, the PRE mode does not support display of file descriptions.
• UL: a simple bulleted list. File information (such as size, and descriptions) are placed after the file name -- no attempt is made to align each field in a seperate column.
• DL: Similar to UL, but descriptions are written under filename & file information, indented in by one tab. This is a bit cleaner then UL, but is longer.
• GRID: A table, with one file per cell (you can choose the number of cells per row). GRID is quite compact. However, as a simple format, the GRID mode does not support display of file descriptions.
• TABLE: A table, with one file per row. File information is placed into a seperate column. Descriptions are also placed into seperate columns. This is fairly easy to read, but is slower to process (especially when there are lots of files in a directory).

Notes on GRID and TABLE:

• If Alternate colors is checked, then background colors of each cell (or row) will alternate. Using alternating colors can make it easier to read, but is harder to print.
• You can place a box around the GRID or TABLE table.
• You can expand the amount of white space (extra cell padding) bordering each cell of a table

<-Title

A title to write at the top of the page. If not specified, the name of the selected directory will be used.

<- Terse

This option is often used with header and footer files.

By default, _DIR will display several lines of summary info. This includes:

• The number of files and directories
• A reminder to click on a link to download the file
• The URL to this directory

To suppress display of this summary information, check the Terse box.

<-Descriptions

Along with file size and date information, _DIR can display descriptive information about each file. This descriptive information can be contained in special description files that are included in the selected directory. In addition, _DIR can automatically generate descriptions for HTML and Plain-text files.

• These descriptions can either be displayed as plain-text (with HTML elements displayed as typed), or HTML formatting can be retained. Displaying descriptions as HTML can lead to prettier output, but if the descriptions are inappropriately formatted, it can also lead to terrible looking results.
• When choosing to automatically generate descrptions, you also choose how many characters of such a description should be used -- since the automatic generation process uses rules that can lead to overly long descriptions!

<-Description files

Description files are specially formatted text files. _DIR understand two types of description files:

• Single-line: each line starts with a file (or directory name), followed by a colon (:), followed by a description that fits on one (possibly long) line.
• Keyed: Keys, consisting of a file (or directory) name enclosed by { } brackets, delimits the start of a description. The description runs to the next { in the file. Thus, descriptions can span many lines; or, you could put several descriptions on a single line.

Notes:

• Description files are pulled from the directory being listed. That is, each directory should have its own description file.
• If you select a description type but leave the description file field empty, then a default filename will be used: _DIR.LST or _DIR.KEY for single-line and keyed descriptions (respectively).
• If a description file contains an entry for a file, an automatic description will not be generated. This is true even if the description in the file is just a single space.
• Examples:

  Single line:	DIR.TXT description of SREhttp/2's !DIR special feature and _DIR addon CGI-BIN.HTM How to use CGI-BIN Scripts under SREhttp/2 SREH2A.GIF The SREhttp/2 logo. DEMOS directory containing SREhttp/2 demos & on-line configurators
  Keyed:	{DIR.TXT}description of SREhttp/2's !DIR special feature and the _DIR addon {CGI-BIN.HTM} Using CGI-BIN {SREH2A.GIF} The SREhttp/2 logo. {DEMOS} directory containing SREhttp/2 demos & on-line configurators For example, links to demos and descriptions of the SRE_UTIL utiltities

<- Only display if listed in description file

This option is only used if:

a Description file is selected

Table or DL display-mode is selected

If you check the Only display if listed in description file checkbox, the description file acts as an inclusion list -- only files (and subdirectories) listed in the description file will be listed, and they will be listed in the order they appear (in the description file).
Furthermore, you can embed extra descriptive text, that will also be listed. This is done by using [desc] as a file name (or as a key).

Note that if you use this option, then inclusion_list and the DIR_EXCLUSION SREhttp/2 parameter, will be ignored.

Example:

Single line:	DIR.TXT description of SREhttp/2's !DIR special feature and _DIR addon CGI-BIN.HTM How to use CGI-BIN Scripts under SREhttp/2 [DESC] Non-text files SREH2A.GIF The SREhttp/2 logo. IMGS The images directory [DESC] Other Directories DEMOS directory containing SREhttp/2 demos & on-line configurators

<-Header & footer files

_DIR can display a header, and a footer file, above (or below) the file and directory lists.

• If you enter a relative name (without a leading /), these files are assumed to be in (or under) the selected directory. If you do include a leading /, then the normal rules for matching requests-to-files are used (that is, the header or footer file can be any of your web-accessible files).
• Headers and footers are displayed as plain-text, unless you direct otherwise by checking the As HTML box.
• You can limit the number of lines to display by filling in the Max lines box.

<-Assume all files are text files

If checked, _DIR will create special links that tell the server to send the file as text/plain document. This can be handy if you have lots of text files with odd extensions -- but it can be dangerous if you have image (or other non-text files) mixed with text files!

<-Seperate window

If checked, clicking on a file link will cause files to be displayed in a dedicated file-viewer window (which will be opened when you first choose a file).
This can be a convenient way of looking at several files in succession, but it does lead to screen clutter.