FileMan Help

Overview

File Management: An Introduction


FileMan
    The Toolbar
        Search
        Replace
        Upload
        New File
        New Dir
        Prefs
    The Files Menu
        View
        Name
        Size
        File Type
        Modified
        Owner
        Permissions
    The Command Bar
        Edit
        Download
        Copy
        Delete
        Move
        Chmod
        Tail
        Perl
        Diff
        Compress
        Print

Overview



FileMan is a web-based file manager that allows you to completely manage a website without the need for FTP or Shell access. FileMan provides you with numerous management options not found in FTP programs, but unlike FTP programs is designed solely for personal web management (meaning that remote domains cannot be accessed).

File Management: An Introduction


FileMan users who are unfamiliar with file management should read this section to gain a basic understanding of directories, paths, and other related concepts. Users who feel confident in their understanding of these concepts can proceed to the next three sections, which will deal with FileMan’s structure and features.

File management is key to all computer systems, from basic home PC’s to elaborate servers. A well-structured system of files not only enables you to find resources quickly and easily, but also lets you provide web access to files you wish to make accessible online.

Files are organized using directories (folders). Directories contain files and other directories. When using FileMan, you will have one root directory which will contain all other directories and files. It might help to visualize your directory structure as a sort of tree diagram, with directories and files “branching down” from your one root directory.


Figure 1: A sample directory structure.

This illustration shows the structure of a hypothetical web domain account. In FileMan, as well as many other applications, file locations are specified using paths. Paths are strings of text that define the location of a file by providing the name of each directory and sub-directory (separated by forward slashes) that must be sequentially opened to find the file. Paths usually begin with a forward slash: /. The forward slash symbolizes the root directory. The path to the “currentlogo.jpg” file in this illustration would be:

/images/logos/currentlogo.jpg

since the “currentlogo.jpg” file is found in the “logos” directory, found in the “images” which is itself located in the root directory.

FileMan allows you to view and manage your files using directories and paths. While managing files in FileMan, the path to a directory will be displayed in the Toolbar, with all of the files and directories in that directory displayed in the Files Menu.

Note: You cannot use any blank spaces while naming directories or files. It is also recommended that you do not use upper-case letters in directory and file names; paths are case sensitive online, and upper-case letters are usually avoided to avoid confusion.

FileMan




Figure 2: A sample FileMan window.

There are three main components of FileMan: the Toolbar (displayed at the top of the page), the Files Menu (the list of directories, files and statistics in the middle of the page) and the Command Bar (displayed at the bottom of the page). While these three components do not operate separately from one another, they and their features will be discussed separately for the purposes of organization.

The Toolbar



The Toolbar provides you with the location you are currently viewing in FileMan, as well as a series of tools that allow you to manage your files.


Figure 3: The Toolbar.

In the top left corner of the Toolbar, the location of the directory you are currently viewing will be displayed; /GT/FileMan is being displayed in the example above. Thus, all files and directories in that location will be displayed in the Files Menu. You can click on of the directory names listed to view that directory.

The “Directory:” field in the top right corner of the Toolbar allows you to open a directory found in the location currently being displayed (thus, this box acts like a "cd" command). If you are viewing a directory which contains another directory called “images”, for example, entering “images” in the “Directory:” field and clicking “Go” will open the “images” directory and display its contents in the Files menu. If you wish, you can also enter a multi-directory path in the "Directory:" field, such as "images/logos"

Search
Clicking the “Search” link in the Toolbar will display a search form at the bottom of the page allowing you to search for specific files or directories.


Figure 4: The Search form.

-The “Look in:” drop-down menu allows you to choose whether you wish to search the entire directory you are viewing, or only selected files and subdirectories within that directory (select these files and directories by clicking the checkboxes beside them in the Files menu). Note that directories “above” the one you are viewing cannot be searched; searching a directory named “images” in the root directory will not search any of the other directories and files in the root directory.

-Choose whether or not your search will be “case sensitive” using the checkbox provided.

-Choose whether to search the contents of files in the directory you are searching with the “Search Contents” checkbox provided. If you are searching a directory with a text file called “test.txt”, which itself contains the string “this is a test”, searching for “this is” will only return “test.txt” if the “Search Contents” function is enabled.

-Choose whether or not you wish to search using a regular expression with the “Expression” checkbox provided. This allows users with some knowledge of regular expressions to search for files with content meeting specified criteria. Clicking the “Expression” checkbox will automatically check the “Search Contents” box.

Replace
Clicking the “Replace” link in the Toolbar will display a form at the bottom of the page allowing you to search for a specific string of text and replace it with a new string of text. Note: This option only works on .txt files.


Figure 5: The Replace form.

-The “Look in:” drop-down menu allows you to choose whether you wish to search the entire directory you are viewing for the string you wish to replace, or only selected files and subdirectories within that directory (select these files and directories by clicking the checkboxes beside them in the Files menu). Note that directories “above” the one you are viewing cannot be searched for strings to replace; searching a directory named “images” in the root directory will not search any of the other directories and files in the root directory.

-Choose whether or not your search for strings will be “case sensitive” using the checkbox provided.

-Choose whether or not you wish to search using a regular expression with the “Expression” checkbox provided. This allows users with some knowledge of regular expressions to search for files with content meeting specified criteria. Clicking the “Expression” checkbox will automatically check the “Search Contents” box.

-Choose whether your search will return and replace “Whole words only” with the checkbox provided. A “whole word only” search for “test” would not return any instances of the words “testing” or “tester”, for example.

-If you choose to “Create .bak file”, a backup file containing the original contents of the file before replacement will be created in the same directory as any files that were modified by the replacement. If, for example, you had a file named “colour.txt” containing the word “blue”, and you used the replace option to substitute “blue” with “red” with the “Create .bak file” option enabled, two files would now appear in the directory that “colour.txt” is located in: a “colour.txt” file containing the word “red”, and a “colour.txt.bk” file containing the word “blue”.

Upload
Clicking the “Upload” link in the Toolbar will display a form at the bottom of the page allowing you to upload a file to the directory you are currently viewing.


Figure 7: The Upload form.

-The current directory that the file will be uploaded to is displayed at the top of the form.

-Click the “Browse…” button to select a file, or simply enter the path to the desired file in the “File name:” field.

-You can select the format of the file you wish to upload: choose Ascii, Binary or Auto. Ascii format should be used for files that use plain text with no formatting, binary should be used for all other types of files. The auto option will automatically determine which format to use; you will usually not need to specify either Ascii or binary.

-If you wish to overwrite existing files with newly uploaded files that have the same name, check the “Overwrite” box, otherwise an error message will appear.

-If you wish to upload multiple files at the same time, click the “Multiple Upload” link to see a menu allowing you to specify up to ten files at a time.

-Click the “Upload” button to upload the file to the directory.

New File
Clicking the “New File” link in the Toolbar displays a form in the Files menu allowing you to create a new file that will be saved in the directory you are currently viewing.


Figure 8: The New File form.

-By default, the HTML editor will be displayed. The HTML editor allows you to enter formatted text (such as bolded or coloured text as well as multiple fonts) and URLs without using any tags. You can switch to plain text if you prefer by clicking the “Switch to Text” button. Note: The HTML editor will only function in Internet Explorer 5.5 or later. Netscape and earlier versions of IE will only be able to use the plain text editor.

-Enter the contents of the new file.

-Enter a file name with the appropriate extension in the field provided, and click the “Save document” button. Your new file will now appear in the directory.

New Dir
Clicking the “New Dir” link in the Toolbar will display a form at the bottom of the page allowing you to create a new directory within the directory you are currently viewing.


Figure 9: The New Directory form.

-Enter a name for the new directory in the field provided and click the “Create” button. Your new directory will now be displayed in the Files menu.

Prefs
Clicking the “Prefs” link in the Toolbar will display a menu allowing you to customize your FileMan settings.


Figure 11: The Preferences menu.

Password Directory: This field allows you to specify the path to a directory in which files containing usernames and passwords you specify with the Protect option will be stored.

Working Directory: If you wish to select a directory other than your root directory as the default directory that will be displayed when you open FileMan, enter the path to that directory in this field. Do not include a trailing slash.

Sort Order: This drop-down menu allows you to select the criteria by which the files and directories you view are sorted.

Rows per page: You can configure the maximum number of files and directories that will be displayed per page in the Files menu while using FileMan in this field. Check the “All files” box to display all files and directories on a single page.

Pages per screen: At the bottom of the Files menu, a series of page numbers is displayed if the number of files and directories in the directory you are viewing exceeds the number defined in the above option. This field allows you to specify the maximum number of pages that will be displayed at the bottom of the Files menu; additional pages can be accessed by clicking the direction arrows to the left and right of the list of pages.

Editor mode: This option allows you to choose whether the HTML editor or the plain text editor will be shown by default when the “New File” link is clicked.

The README’s content: When you view a directory containing a file called “Readme”, the first ten lines of that file will automatically be displayed in the Files Menu. This option allows you to choose whether those lines will appear at the top or bottom of the Files Menu.

Do you want to show hidden files?: Choose whether or not hidden files will be displayed while using FileMan.

Scheme: You can choose from a series of pre-configured colour schemes in the drop-down menu. A sample screen will be displayed.

Font: You can define the default font (in HTML format) that will be used in FileMan in this field.

Click the “Save” button to confirm any changes you make to FileMan’s preferences, or click the “Cancel” button.

The Files Menu



The Files Menu displays the files and directories in the directory you are viewing and provides detailed information about each of them through a series of columns.


Figure 13: A sample Files Menu.

The checkboxes at the left of the Files Menu allows you to select files or directories for the commands found in the Commands Bar. Clicking the checkbox at the top of the menu automatically selects all displayed files and directories.

View
The icons listed in the view column indicated whether an item is a file or a directory. Clicking the icon beside a desired file or directory will open it. Clicking the “View” heading will sort the files and directories by type.

Name
The names of all directories and files are displayed in this column. Clicking the name of a desired file or directory will open it. Clicking the “Name” heading will sort the files and directories by name in ascending order. Clicking the “Name” heading a second time will sort them in descending order.

Size
The sizes of each file are listed in this column. Clicking the “Size” heading will sort the files by size in ascending order. Clicking the “Size” heading a second time will sort them in descending order.

File Type
The file type of each file (directories are called “file folder”s) is listed in this column. Clicking the “File Type” heading will sort the files and directories by file type in ascending alphabetical order. Clicking the “File Type” heading a second time will sort them in descending alphabetical order.

Modified
The date that each file or directory was last modified is listed in this column. Clicking the “Modified” heading will sort the files and directories by modification date in ascending order. Clicking the “Modified” heading a second time will sort them in descending alphabetical order.

Owner
The username of the owner of each file and directory is listed in this column. Clicking the “Owner” heading will sort the files and directories by owner in ascending alphabetical order. Clicking the “Owner” heading a second time will sort them in descending alphabetical order.

Permissions
The permission settings of each file and directory are listed in this column. Clicking the “Permissions” heading will sort the files and directories by permission settings in ascending alphabetical order. Clicking the “Permissions” heading a second time will sort them in descending alphabetical order. Clicking on the permission settings of a specific file or directory will display a form allowing you to modify the file or directory’s permission settings by checking individual permissions or by entering the numeric code for the desired permissions. If you need more information, a tutorial explaining how to configure permissions is available here.

Note: This option will not work if FileMan is running on a Windows server.


Figure 14: A sample permission settings menu.

The Command Bar



The Command Bar allows you to perform commands and actions upon files and directories that you have selected in the Files menu.


Figure 15: A sample Command Bar.

To the right of the list of commands, a line of text indicates the number of files or directories selected, and a summary of the cumulative size of the selected items.

Edit
After selecting a single file, clicking the “Edit” link will open the file, allowing you to edit it just as if you’d clicked on its name in the Files menu.

Download
After selecting one or more files or directories, clicking the “Download” link displays a series of options that allow you to download the items in various file and compression formats.


Figure 16: The download menu.

-Choose the format of the item(s) you are downloading in the “Options” drop-down menu. Choose between Ascii, Binary and Auto. Ascii format should be used for files that use plain text with no formatting, binary should be used for all other types of files. The auto option will automatically determine which format to use; you will usually not need to specify either Ascii or binary.

-If you wish to download the item(s) in a compressed format, select the desired compression format (which should be indicated by the file extensions) from the “Compressed type” drop-down menu. Choose from None, .tar, .tar.gz and .zip.

Note: if you are downloading multiple items, you will have to select a compression type.

Note: If your server does not have extension modules that will handle the various compression types, they will not be available. Contact your system administrator if you need to have them installed.

-Click the “Download” button.

Copy
After selecting one or more files or directories, clicking the “Copy” link displays a menu allowing you to specify a directory in which the selected item(s) will be copied.


Figure 17: The copy file menu.

-Enter the path to the directory you wish to copy the item(s) to, and click the “Copy” button.

Delete
After selecting one or more files or directories, clicking the “Delete” link will permanently delete them.

Move
After selecting one or more files or directories, clicking the “Move” link displays a menu allowing you to specify a directory to which the selected item(s) will be moved.


Figure 18: The move file menu.

-Enter the path to the directory you wish to move the item(s) to, and click the “Move” button.

Chmod
After selecting one or more files or directories, clicking the “Chmod” link displays a menu allowing you to specify the permissions for the selected item(s), just as if you’d clicked on the permissions of a file in the Files Menu. If you need more information, a tutorial explaining how to configurie permissions is available here.

Rescursive: Change files and directories recursively


Figure 19: The Chmod menu.

Note: This option will not work if FileMan is running on a Windows server.

Tail
After selecting a single file, clicking the “Tail” link displays a menu allowing you to configure a screen that will show the last lines of that file.


Figure 20: The Tail menu.

-Enter how many of the file’s last lines you wish to view in the “Command” field. If you want the tail screen to automatically refresh while you are viewing it, choose a refresh rate (in seconds) from the drop-down menu. This option can be useful when you wish to view access and error logs as they are being generated.

Perl
After selecting a single file, clicking the “Perl” link will check the syntax of perl files to that the syntax is correct.


Figure 21: The Perl menu.

Diff
After selecting a single file, clicking the “Diff” link displays a menu allowing you to compare the file’s content with that of another and have the differences between the two displayed. This option will only work for text-based files, such as .txt or .html files. This option is useful when reviewing files that are often updated.


Figure 22: The Diff menu.

-Enter the path to the desired second file and click the “Diff” button.

-The differences between the two files will be displayed in a new screen. Lines that are prefaced by a greater-than sign (>) are lines which appear in the second file but not in the first. Lines that are prefaced by a less-than sign (<) are lines which do not appear in the second file but do appear in the first.

Compress
After selecting a single file, clicking the “Compress” link displays a menu allowing you to choose a compression format and location to save a compressed copy of the file.


Figure 23: The Compress menu.

-Choose a compression format from the drop-down menu. Choose from .tar, .tar.gz and .zip.

-Enter the path to the location you wish to save the compressed file in the field provided. Click the “Create File” button.

Note: If your server does not have extension modules that will handle the various compression types, the "Compression" option will not be displayed. Contact your system administrator if you need to have them installed.

Print
After selecting one or more files, clicking the “Print” link will open a window displaying a preview of the file’s printed appearance, as well as your regular print window. If you select multiple files to be printed, you will be given the option of printing them separately or as one document.