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The File Selector, love it or hate it there's absolutely no way of avoiding it. Every time you want to load a file into your favourite program it pops up out of the blue begging for your attention. Back in the dawn of time when the operating system in your Atari was still a puppy, the concept of a file selector was revolutionary. Files on your floppy disks were just a mouse click away. By todays standards the first TOS file selectors are very basic. If you want your computer to look at a different drive you have to type the path onto the Directory Line. Many ST users will still be doing this as an update didn't appear until TOS 1.04. The main change was the addition of 16 drive buttons A through to P. Typing was still required to set-up a filter but most of the work could be carried out with the mouse. Since this modification evolution of the TOS file selector has ceased. With the launch of the Falcon the OK and Cancel buttons were moved and its looks were improved slightly by giving it the 3D treatment. These were the only changes made.
Why Atari didn't improve the functionality of its file selector is a mystery. It worked, so why change it. There may well be another reason though, replacement file selectors are big business. Mainly due I think to Atari's lack of improvement on this front. This article is a brief run down of every popular file selector from the TOS base model up to the super dooper multi-tasking GTi variety.
"Replacements" I hear you cry. Why yes, one of the great features of Atari's baby is the ease with which some operating system functions can be improved upon, the file selector is a classic example.
You may think that the Atari file selector does everything asked of it and you can't think of any more features you would like included. Well here is an illustration. You've finished working on your latest master piece but haven't saved it yet. You're getting tired and it's about time you were in bed. You start to quit the program and it tells you that you haven't saved your work so you select save, horror of horrors there is no room on the disk. You look frantically for another but they are all brand new and haven't been formatted yet. You can't delete any of the work on the current disk because it's too valuable. You've one option only, quit back to the desktop, lose all your work, format a new disk and start all over again. But hey, just a minute you installed that fancy new file selector yesterday and its got a built in format function. Wiping the sweat from your brow you relax as the new selector saves the day. Formatting is just one function included in many of todays file selectors. But lets go back to the beginning.
As can be seen the file selector built into TOS 1.0 and 1.02 is
very basic. There are no drive buttons, if you want to look on a
different drive you have to clear the directory line and type in a new
path. This selector had an annoying bug, if after entering a new path,
you pressed Return the file selector would vanish. This should not
happen if the Selection line is empty, the new entered path should be
displayed in the file selector window. One way around this bug was to
left click on the file selector window update box. This can be seen in
the top left hand corner of the window. The directory line can also be
used as a file filter. In place of the *.* you could type *.TXT. After
clicking on the update button the window would only display folders
and *.TXT files. This is incredibly handy if the current path is full
of many different file types.
The file selector was improved for TOS 1.04. Drive buttons were added
and the bug previously mentioned was fixed. It remains in more or less
this form today.
Obviously there is a lot of scope here for improvement. Many different replacement file selectors have been released but we've trimmed these down to four main entrants. We'll cover each one in turn.
The first to enter the arena is the Universal Item Selector III.
Unique in its field because it's the only commercially available
replacement. At one time considered by many as the best file selector
available.
Obtained from the FaST Club and currently up to version 3.32. It is supplied on one disk and comes with a very well written 44 page manual.
Similar in some ways to the TOS variety this one comes stacked with features. Most of the disk and file operations carried out on the desktop can be performed from inside UIS III. Formatting disks, copying, moving, deleting or renaming files and creating folders. These are all easily achieved from various buttons displayed around the selectors main dialogue.
Multiple files can be selected at once for any of the file operations. Once selected these can be dragged to various points around the selector. If dragged to the question mark icon a display will inform you of their size. The P button gives a full directory print out. Dragging files to this button will give you a partial directory print out showing the selected files. If you only drag one file to the button you get the choice of showing or printing the file, the same function as the show/print/cancel available from the desktop. A tick button is also included, files dragged here can have various attributes altered. These include Read/Write, Read Only, Show, Hide and Touch. The touch button updates the file time/date stamp to the one currently stored in your Atari's clock.
Often you want to see what's behind the file selector, UIS III can be moved easily, simply click and drag. One of the great UIS features is in it's ability to be set at various sizes. It can be set to display the same amount of files as the standard TOS selector. The window can be widened to show the files size and date or can alternatively be set to display 36 files at once. These will be set in three columns of twelve. Font size can also be altered between large and small.
Pre TOS 1.04 users who've longed to carry out the four fingered salute - reboot your Atari using the keyboard - can do this once UIS III is installed.
On the whole a very good replacement file selector. A little over shadowed maybe by later rivals. If you just want to get rid of that awful TOS selector, and get a good manual into the bargain this one comes highly recommended.
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