Contents

Expand for Windows is a graphical interface that allows you to expand files. It's easy, powerful, and fast.

The following Help Topics are available:

Features

Quick tour

How to use Expand for Windows

Error messages


Main Window

This is Expand for Windows main dialog. From here you can select files you wish to expand, set their destination directory, and start the expansion process. You can also set user preference and obtain help on different options and items.

For more help click on the button or area in question.


Select Button

This button allows you to select the file or files that you wish to expand. It uses a modified common dialog box to maintain a familiar and easy to use interface.

For more information about how to select the files you wish to expand see Select files window. For a step by step example see Examples.


Destination Button

This button allows you to define the target directory for a file or number of files. One of Expand for Windows strong features is the ability to expand multiple files to the same or different directory at the same time.

For more information about how to select files or set destination (target) directory see Destination directory window.

PS. This button can only be selected when you have selected one or more files to expand.


Expand Button

Click on this button to start the expansion process. When you set the destination (target) directory for any given file, that file will be marked with a right arrow > to indicate that all needed information to expand the file has been defined. The expand procedure uses this tag to determine which files need to be expanded. Once the expansion procedure has completed, each processed file is tagged with a plus + sign.

To obtain more detailed information about a tagged file double-click on that entry. A dialog box with that file information will be displayed. For more information see the File Information Dialog.

PS. This button can only be selected when you have selected one or more files to expand.


Configure Button

Click on this button to configure Expand for Windows.


Help Button

Click on this button to obtain help on Expand for Windows and its functions and dialogs.


Exit Button

Exits Expand for Windows.


Remove Button

This button allows you to delete one or more files from the Expand file list. This button will be grayed-out (unavailable) of the list contains no files. Use this button if you have reached the limit of fifty files and need to expand more files.


Files to Expand List

This list includes all files added using the Select... button. Each file in this list can belong to only one category at any given time:

- files marked with > means that all information needed to expand the file has been set and the file is ready to expand.

- files marked with + means that file(s) has been expanded and no further action can be taken (except for removing them from this list).

- files without any marks means that these files has not be prepared for expansion. To prepare these file click on the Destination... button.

You can also retrieve more detailed information about each marked file by double-click on that file. For more information on the type of information available see File Information Dialog


Status Bar

Expand for Windows uses this area to provide immediate information about button function and information message that don't need the user's immediate attention. To view information about a particular button function. click the button and hold the mouse down. Text explaining the functionality will be displayed in this area.


Quick tour

Expand for Windows main window

Select files window

Destination directory window

Configuration dialog

File information window

Disk information window

Menu interface


How to use it
How To Use Expand for Windows

This section leads through a step-by-step process to how to select files to expand, set the destination directory, unmark a file or group of files, and how to manually rename a file.

How to select files to expand:

1.	Click on the Select... button or press F2.

2. 	Change to the source drive and directory.

3. 	If needed, select the type of files to display from the List Files of Type: list.

4. 	You can either double-click on a single file to add it

or

select the file and click on Add File(s)

Note: Multiple file selection can only be added using the Add File(s) button.

5. Once done click on Close.

How to set destination directory on files:

1.	Click on the Destination... button or press F3.

2.	Unmarked files and files marked with > will be copied to the Selected File(s) list.

3.	Change to the destination (target) drive and directory.

4.	Select the file or multiple files you wish to expand to the desired directory.

5.	Click on Set or Reset button.

6. Since assigning a destination directory and extracting the expanding file name are closely related, consult the section How to manually rename a file: for more information.

How to manually rename a file:

1.	Select the file desired file.

a. To use automatic renaming (automatically use the expanded extension):

1. You can either double-click on a single file to process it and mark it

or

select the file and click on the Set button

Note: Multiple file selection can only be processed using the Set button.

b. To use manual file renaming:

1. Select the desired file. If the selected file was previously marked, the Set button changes to Reset and the associated filename will be entered in the File Name field, otherwise this field will be empty.

2. Enter a filename in the File Name field, or replace the existing one.

3. Click on the Set or Reset button.

4. Once done click on Close.

Note: Manual rename only valid for single file processing.

How to unmark a file or group of files:

Marked files are files for which the destination directory and the expanded name have been set. Also there are files that the expansion process will act upon to process. The UnMark button will be enabled and disabled dynamically depending on the status of the selected file. To UnMark a file:

1. Select the desired marked file or files.

2. Click on the UnMark button. This will remove the mark > from all selected files in the Selected File(s) list and the main list box.

Note: Files marked with the + sign in the main list cannot be manipulated.


Error messages

These are the error message Expand for Windows uses to inform you of any errors or appropriate actions. They are alphabetically sorted. For more information click on the message text.

"%s" is an unknown extension. Type an extension in the box below, or click on Cancel to use the same extension

Cannot add additional files. Maximum total of 50 has been reached.

Entered file name contains invalid characters. Please re-enter a valid name.

Entered file name exceeds the maximum 8 characters limit. Please re-enter a valid name.

Error encountered expanding the file %s.

Error opening destination file: %s.

Error opening source file: %s.

Error retrieving compressed file information.

Extension exceeds the 3 character limit. Please re-enter a valid extension.

Failed allocating needed memory. Close some applications and try again.

Failed loading dialog filters.

Failed to create main window!

Nothing to operate on. Select file(s) first using the Select... button.

The file %s already exists. Do you want to overwrite it?

The file '%s' has already been added.

Unable to locate initialization file. Reverting to default settings.

This application uses CTL3D32.DLL, which has not been correctly installed.


Destination Directory Window

This dialog allows you to set the destination (target) directory for a file or group of files. It also allows you to manually rename files if you desire.

For more information about the functionality of any of the buttons or fields click on that area.


Configuration Dialog

This dialog allows you to configure Expand for Windows.

For more information about the functionality of any of the buttons or fields click on that area.


Menu interface

Although using a mouse is highly recommended, all mouse functions are supported via the menu options, or functions keys.


Select Files Window

Through this dialog you can select files to be expanded. You can view individual files based on their extension, view all compressed files, or view all files on the selected drive and directory.

For more information about the functionality of any of the button or fields click on that area.


File Name List

This area lists all files that match the selected extension in the File Type List. Single or multiple selections are supported. To add selected files follow these steps:

- For one file selection you can either double click on the entry or click on the Add File(s) button.

- For multiple files selection click on the button Add File(s)  after you have selected the group of files you wish to add.


File Type List

From this list you can select which files to display in the File Name List making it easier to locate a particular file. If you wish you could also list all compressed file, or all files on the selected drive and directory.

The following file types are available:

Control Panel appletes	CP_	CPL
Dynamic Link Libraries	DL_	DLL
Screen Font	FO_	FON
True Type Font	TT_	TTF
Bitmap files	BM_	BMP
Executable files	CO_	COM
Executable files	EX_	EXE
Plain Text files	TX_	TXT
Write Text files	WR_	WRI
Setup Information files	IN_	INF
Help files	HL_	HLP
Device Drivers files	DR_	DRV
Printer Description files	PP_	PPD
System Devices Drivers	SY_	SYS
No extension files	_	(no extension)


Close Button

Click on this button once you're finished adding files.


Add Files Button

Click on this button to add the selected file or group of files to the main window list. Adding a file or files is the first step in expanding a file. Once a file has been added you can set the target directory which indicates the file is read to expand.


Features

Expand multiple files at the same time

Ability to expand multiple files to the same or different directory at the same time.

Smart file manual renaming

Supports a number of compressed extensions

Totally configurable

Detailed file information on demand

Windows interface


Selected Files List

This list shows files that have been selected to be configured for expanding. It also provides visual feedback to whether the information (destination directory, expanded filename) has been set for a particular file or not. To provide the feedback, a mark symbol > is added to the left side of the file entry. This symbol will not interfere with the filename and is only used for information purposes.

Only files that are not marked or has the > symbol will be added to this list from the main list.

You can also click once on a marked entry to display the filename the compressed file will be expanded to. The name will be displayed in the File Name field of Manual Rename.


Set Button

Button text will also change to ReSet.

Click on this button to set the selected file, or files, specific information; destination directory and expanded filename. This button also allows you to define the manually entered filename in the File Name field in the Manual Rename box.

The text on the button will change to ReSet if you select a marked filename entry. This is to provide immediate feedback that the selected file information has been set and you're about to redefine that information.


UnMark Button

Click on this button to remove the mark symbol > from selected file(s). Removing the mark discards all entry information, destination directory and expanded filename, for the affected selection. Removing the mark symbol also means that the expansion process will ignore processing these files.


Manual Rename

This field provides you with an easy way to rename the target file for the compressed file. If this field is left blank, Expand for Windows keep the filename the same and try to extract the extension for the compressed filename. However, to override this simply enter a filename and click Set or ReSet. In this case the entered filename will override the default.


File Information Dialog


Original Filename

This field shows the original (compressed) file name.


Expanded Filename

This field shows the name the compressed file will be written as.


Source Path

This field shows the source path the compressed file will be read from.


Destination Path

This field shows the destination (target) path the expanded file will be written to.


Original Size

This field displays the original compressed file size in bytes.


Expanded Size

This field shows the size of the expanded file in bytes. If the file has not been expanded yet, this field will display the message "<Not available yet>".


"%s" is an unknown extension. Type an extension in the box below, or click on Cancel to use the
"%s" is an unknown extension. Type an extension in the box below, or click on Cancel to use the same extension:

Expand for Windows relies on two methods to finding the correct extension of a compressed file: the extension saved within the compressed file itself, and an internal lookup table. If Expand for Windows fails to retrieve an extension from the compressed file, it searches its internal table to match a predefined extension with the compressed file extension. Although Expand for Windows uses a wide range of known extensions, it's possible that certain extensions will not be found. In this case, the above error message will display on the screen with the unknown extension. "%s" will represent the extension in question.

Following is a list of extensions supported by the internal table:

File description	Compressed file extension	Expanded file extension
Control Panel appletes	CP_	CPL
Dynamic Link Libraries	DL_	DLL
Screen Font	FO_	FON
True Type Font	TT_	TTF
Bitmap files	BM_	BMP
Executable files	CO_	COM
Executable files	EX_	EXE
Plain Text files	TX_	TXT
Write Text files	WR_	WRI
Setup Information files	IN_	INF
Help files	HL_	HLP
Device Drivers files	DR_	DRV
Printer Description files	PP_	PPD
System Devices Drivers	SY_	SYS
No extension files	_	(no extension)


Cannot add additional files. Maximum total of 50 has been reached.

For performance reasons, Expand for Windows enforces a limit of fifty (50) files that can be manipulated at any given time. Once that limit is reached, the above message will display on the screen. To add more files use the Remove button on the main window to delete some files first.


Entered file name contains invalid characters. Please re-enter a valid name.

This message will display if invalid character were found when you manually rename a file.

Names can contain any characters and numbers except the followings:

? \ * " < > | / : (space character)


Entered file name exceeds the maximum 8 characters limit. Please re-eneter a valid name.
Entered file name exceeds the maximum 8 characters limit. Please re-enter a valid name.

This message will display if invalid character were found when you manually rename a file.

Although the target directory for the expanded file might support long file names, all system files should be at the most eight characters in length.


Error encountered expanding the file %s.

This error could indicate memory allocation error while expanding the file represented by %s. It also could indicate error reading the source file.


Error openning destination file: %s.
Error opening destination file: %s.

This error indicates that a problem was encountered while attempting to write the destination file. The file might be already opened exclusively by another application (if the filename already exists), or the destination file resides on a read only disk (ex. write-protected floppy or a CD-ROM).


Error openning source file: %s.
Error opening source file: %s.

This error indicates that a problem was encountered while attempting to open the source file. The file might be corrupt, or a problem encountered on the media containing the file.


Error retrieving compressed file information.

This error might result while attempting to retrieve compressed file information, such as original extension or file size.


Extension exceeds the 3 character limit. Please re-enter a valid extension.

This message will display if invalid character were found when you manually rename a file.

The entered extension exceeds the three (3) character limit.


Failed allocating needed memory. Close some applications and try again.

This error indicates an error was encountered while allocating memory needed to process selected file(s). Expand for Windows allocates and frees memory as needed to avoid holding memory that could be used by other applications. However, due to low memory situations it might fail to allocate the needed memory. If the above message appears close some applications and try the operation again.


Failed loading dialog filters.

Dialog filters are special character strings to sort the displayed files names based on their extension. This error should never appear, however, if it does it's an indication of very low memory situations.


Failed to create main window!

This error indicates an error occurred while creating Expand for Windows main window. It this occurs the application will not be able to continue. This error should never appear, however, if it does it's an indication of very low memory situations, or a corruption in memory.


Nothing to operate on. Select file(s) first using the Select... button.

This error appears if you click on the Destination...  or Expand button without selecting some files via Select... button. Since setting destination (target) directories and initiating the expansion process depends on pre-selected file, you need to select one or more files before you can proceed.


The file %s already exists. Do you want to overwrite it?

This message is displayed if you're expanding a file (represented by %s) to a directory where a pre-exiting file with the same name was found. At this time you have a choice of either overwriting the file or skipping it by selecting NO.

If you wish for Expand for Windows to overwrite duplicate filename without warning disable the Warn before overwriting files option in the Configure...  dialog.


The file '%s' has already been added.

The file (represented by %s) was already added to the expand file list. This message is an informative message only and no action is needed.


Unable to locate initialization file. Reverting to default settings.

This message will be displayed in the status bar area. It indicates that upon startup Expand for Windows could not locate its initialization file. In this case all settings will revert to default values.


This application uses CTL3D32.DLL, which has not been correctly installed.

This error is generated by the file CTL3D32.DLL and not EXPNDW32 and is included here for reference. It's caused by CTL3D32.DLL being installed in a directory different than <winnt directory>\SYSTEM32. Or locating a copy of the DLL on the path before the copy in the <winnt directory>\SYSTEM32.

To solve this problem make sure you maintain one copy of CTL3D32.DLL in the <winnt directory>\SYSTEM32 directory. Locate and delete all other copies.


Keep Original File Extension

This option allows extra flexibility when working with unknown extensions. By default (this option is NOT checked) Expand for Windows will prompt you when it cannot resolve the file extension. This may be inconvenience if you're dealing with a number of such files. Checking this option instructs Expand for Windows to keep the same extension when expanding the file and not prompt you for it.

Caution: Use this option with caution. Having this option enabled and disabling Warn Before Overwriting Files will result in file corruption if the source and target directory are the same.


Warn Before Overwriting  Files

Enabled by default, this options instructs Expand for Windows to warn you before creating the target file if another file with the same name exists. This will helps avoid deleting files you wish to save.

Caution: Use this option with caution. Disabling this option and enabling Keep Original File Extension will result in file corruption if the source and target directory are the same.


Quit When Done

This instructs Expand for Windows to quit when finished processing the marked files.


Disk Information Window


Available Drives

This list shows available drive on the machines. The list may include local hard drives, partitions, and remote (network) drives. To view the details on an drive either use the mouse to select the desired drive, or use the Up and Down arrow.

Note: Since CD-ROM drives are read only and they always return zero for available disk space, they will not be listed.


Drive Details

Expand for Windows will retrieve detailed information about the following:

Drive Type: Fixed Drive or Remove (network).

Disk Label: The current label for the selected drive.

File System Type: Can be either Fat, HPFS, or NTFS.

Space (bytes free): This is the free space available on the selected drive.


Files In List
New Files In List

This list provides immediate feedback to which files has been added to the list of files to expand. Entries in this list cannot be manipulated directly. If you need to add files use the File Name List, or if you need to delete file use the Files to Expand List in the main window.