QD4 Command Reference
Attributes
Batch File Creation
Compare
files/folders
Copy files/folders
Delete
files/folders
Edit file
File Specification
Global
file find
Goto
folder
Information
Log
drive
Move files/folders
Rename
files/folders
Run
application/command
Sort files
Tag files/folders
View file
QD4 is primarily keyboard operated to provide the fastest operating speed. Mouse functionality is available in a limited form by turning off the keyboard mode under the options menu. Following is a list of the main keys used in QD4
Up, Down,
PgUp and PgDn keys move up and down in
the window
Home and End keys move to the
top and bottom of the window
Ctrl-Home goes to the root folder of the current
drive
Left, Right arrow keys and the Tab key
toggle between the left and right window
Backspace key
changes to the parent folder (up-dir)
Escape key moves to the top of the window if not
already there, otherwise changes to the parent folder (up-dir)
Insert key creates a new folder and changes into
it
Enter key opens the highlighted file or folder.
Ctrl-Enter opens the highlighted folder in the
opposite window.
Alt-Enter opens the highlighted folder in
Windows Explorer
Holding down the Shift key while typing the first few characters of a filename will perform a quick search for the file.
Space bar moves to the next tagged file or can optionally be used to tag/untag files (See T)
Plus
and Minus log the next or previous fixed drive.
Alt-Plus and Alt-Minus log the
next or previous fixed drive in the other window
A
Read and optionally set the
current file or folders attributes ie Read Only, Archive, System
and/or Hidden.
For folders, this function also counts up and displays the total
number of files and total bytes used in the selected folder and
any sub-folders.
CTRL-A
Set attributes for tagged files
This function allows you to set the file attributes for a group of tagged files. Tag the files you wish to change then press CTRL-A, select the required attributes and hit OK to set the attributes of all the tagged files.
CTRL-B
This function will create a batch file using information from the tagged files/folders. This is most usefull for carrying out complicated actions on selected files or for creating batch files for later use.
C / CTRL-C
Copy (Move) file(s) and/or folder(s)
This function will copy ( or move ) the highlighted or tagged file(s) and/or folder(s) to the specified folder. A number of options are available:
Target folder.
The default target folder is the one displayed in the
opposing window but this can easily be changed and a picklist of
"favourite" folders is available. If the target folder
does not exist, QD4 will automatically create it.
Move
You can also opt to MOVE the selected items at this time
rather than copying. Where the source and target items exist on
the same drive QD4 performs a simple RENAME operation Where the
items exist on different drives QD4 first copies the item then
delete's the original.
Copy As
You can elect to copy AS by supplying a valid wildcard mask
ie *.bak so that all files copied will have the extension .bak
Overwrite
You can choose in advance how you want QD4 to react when it
encounters existing files.
If you select the default prompt mode, you can later select all but the rename options during the operation. For example, once you are comfortable with the way QD4 is overwriting you can select to overwrite all, overwrite newer or overwrite none.
Error Handling
QD4 has very powerfull error handling and you can decide in
advance how you want QD4 to handle any errors that occure during
a copy/move process.
If you choose to ignore errors and the target drive runs out of disk space, QD4 will abort.
If you choose to prompt for errors and the target drive runs out of disk space you can insert another disk or task switch to another application and free up some space before instructing QD4 to continue.
These overwrite and error handling options make QD4 extremely powerfull as you can set up a large copy operation and leave it running with no further user intervention if necessary.
Recovery Mode
Recovery mode will attempt to copy damaged files by re-trying the operation using smaller and smaller "chunks". QD4 usually copies files using a 16K chunk but when it encounters a bad sector, recovery mode will keep reducing this chunk size down to a single byte and will only give up when it can't read one byte. QD4 will then continue with the rest of the file. For executable files (.exe) this will probably result in a corrupt and un-usable file but for images and sound files recovery will probably yield a us-able or at least repairable copy which is far better than a truncated file that many other utilities will leave you with.
* Screen shot does not show recovery mode option.
D / DELete / CTRL-D / CTRL-DELete
Delete file(s) and/or folder(s)
This function will delete the highlighted or tagged file(s) and/or folder(s) including any sub-folders. This should be used with caution as it is easy to delete an entire folder branch with a few key presses, remember that QD4 is a power tool and should be treated as such.
E
This function calls on the Windows Notepad program to edit the highlighted file. This is intended primarily for small text based files. To edit larger files and other types of files simply hit enter on the file to run the associated application.
F
This function changes the file specification ( or pattern ) which filters the types of files displayed in the window. This is especially usefull when you are looking for specific file types, changing the file specification means that QD4 only displays files of that type. Eg change the file specification to *.jpg to display only JPEG images. This is also handy when working with large numbers of files such as the Windows\System directory, use the file specification to filter out files that you are not interested in to speed up QD4. QD4 supports multiple specifications such as *.gif;*.bmp;*.jpg. Simply seperate each file specification by a semi-colon.
ALT-F
This function is identical to "F" shown above but changes the file specification in the opposing window without you having to jump across, change the file specification, then jump back.
G
This function enables you to jump to a specific folder anywhere on your hard drive(s). Simply type in the first few letters of the folder you require and QD4 will display a list of matching folders for you to choose from. Select the folder you want and QD4 will go to it. It may be necassary to periodically re-scan your drives to keep the folder information up to date. Hopefully this will become un-neccessary in future releases.
CTRL-G
This function will scan your hard drive(s) for files matching a given pattern (ie *.jpg) and present you with a directory listing just like a normal folder. You can then tag, copy, move and rename the files just like any normal folder. You can scan for files in the current path, the current drive or all fixed drives. Using this in conjunction with the compare function can be very usefull for tracking down duplicates and different versions of the same file. QD4 supports multiple specifications such as *.gif;*.bmp;*.jpg. Simply seperate each file specification by a semi-colon.
I
This function returns various system and version information about QD4, your operating system, your hardware and statistics about the displayed folders such as number of files, folders, tagged files, tagged folders etc
K
Yes, I know compare starts with a C but that letter was already used by the Copy command so I figured K was close enough!
This function compares the two windows and tags files according to your choice. The options are:
L
This function changes the current window to another drive or "favourite" folder. QD4 supports all logical drives plus network drives ie \\server\c\windows\system
Also,
Plus and Minus
log the next or previous fixed drive.
Alt-Plus and Alt-Minus log the
next or previous fixed drive in the other window
M
R
Rename file(s) and/or folder(s)
This function renames the highlighted or tagged file(s) and/or folder(s) with a given filename or mask. An example might be renaming a group of files with the .jpeg extension to *.jpg To do this you would simply tag all the .jpeg files using ALT-T then press R to rename the files, type in *.jpg and hit the Enter key or press the Rename button. All the tagged files will now have been renamed from jpeg to jpg. This function supports the same overwrite and error handling options as the copy/move function as described above.
S
This function sorts the current window in one of the following ways:
<up-dir> is always listed first followed by folders in alphabetical order then files in the order selected.
T
Tagging files and/or folders allows you to perform operations on groups of files/folders instead of one at a time. There are a number of ways to tag files:
Tips:
To tag all the folders but not the files, press CTRL-ALT-T then
CTRL-U
To tag all files except .doc files, first use ALT-T with *.doc to
tag all the .doc files then press ALT-R to reverse the tags.
Space bar moves to the next tagged file or can optionally be used to tag/untag in place of T. Simply click on the options menu and tick "Space Bar Tags".
V
This function shows a quick view of the highlighted file and is intended mainly for small text or image files. To view larger files or other types of files press ENTER to run the associated application. QD4 currently supports the following image formats: bmp, gif and jpg. While viewing a file, use the arrow keys to move around the text or image and press ESCape to return to the directory list.
X
This function displays a run dialog which by default contains the highlighted filename. You can then modify the command line to add any switches or other commands before pressing OK to run it. You also have the option to save the command so that you can use it again in the future without no further typing.
