THE PREFERENCE MENU

The preference menu has four menu items that when accessed open up windows that you can use to customize File Passage (FP).  You can customize FP's interface, catalog output, preview output, and filter logic.

INTERFACE LEVELS

File Passage can change its interface to one of four levels of user experience.  The levels range from inexperienced to programmer.  Each ascending interface level provides the user with greater power.  The purpose of having different interface levels is so that the user can learn File Passage (FP) basics, without having to absorb every feature of FP all at once.

Lesser experience interface levels offer fewer EDIT, WORK, OPTION, USE, FILTER menu items, and fewer catalog output options.  When an OPTION item or catalog output option is not offered, then the item status automatically defaults to the OFF state at the point of function execution.

Interface Level:  Inexperienced

From this interface level, the USE and FILTER menus do not exist.  Options are limited to the essential basics of selecting files.  In the CATALOG window, the CONTENT WINDOW switch becomes unavailable.  In function windows, the CHOOSE TEMPLATE button becomes unavailable.

Interface Level:  Intermediate

At this level of experience, there are six filters available for use.  Also, the open folders option becomes available, and the CONTENT WINDOW switch is visible at this interface level.

Interface Level:  Experienced

When this interface level is in use, all filters become available.  Also, several OPTIONS become available in some functions.

Interface Level:  Programmer

The programmer interface level offers the same level as the experienced level with two inclusions:  the CHECK SRC INTEGRITY OPTION and STORAGE TYPE in the catalog output options window.

FP will, present to the user, the INTERFACE LEVEL window at program start, if FP detects its path has changed since the last session.

CATALOG OUTPUT

Catalog output preferences range from an attribute check list, a margin adjustment, a sort option, a content window masking switch, a content window block size, and a content window mask.

Attribute Check List

The attribute check list gives you control over which file attributes you want FP to report on when doing a catalog or preview.  You can also access this window from the catalog function window by selecting the OUTPUT OPTIONS... button.

Margin Adjustment

You can change the left and right margins in a print-out of a catalog-style list.

The Sort Check Box

You can choose to have the catalog output sorted or presented in its original structure.  Sorting takes time, so you might want to leave this off if you're in a hurry or cataloging large volumes, or you want to know the folders original file order.  Sorting doesn't sort everything:  Sort cannot sort across an open folder within another folder.  You'll only notice this when cataloging or previewing with the open folders option.

Content Window Options

There are several items that you can adjust for the content window output.  You can tell FP to mask or not to mask out any non-ASCII characters, and what to mask these characters with.  Also, you can set the block size to your liking, up to available memory.

PREVIEW PREFERENCE

From here, you tell FP how you want the preview window to look.  You can tell FP to list filtered attributes, catalog attributes, or no attributes.  Filtered attributes will be the attributes currently in use.  Catalog attributes are the one the catalog output window uses.

The sort check box works the same as under catalog preferences.

Preview has three additional fields that can be included in the preview:
	(1).  file's life status;
	(2).  passed blocks;
	(3).  difference in blocks.

File's Life Status

This field can be either 'new' or 'old'.  'New' means that a source's corresponding target file does not exist before a data transfer.  'Old' means just the opposite of new, that the target does exist.

Passed Blocks

This field is the accumulation of the accumulated total blocks passed with each file.  If the preview is not sorted, then this field will be in consecutive order.  If the preview is sorted, then continuous blocks passed may become out of sequence.

Difference In Blocks

FP subtracts a file's storage target blocks from the source blocks to arrive at this field.  "New" target files have zero target blocks.

FILTER LOGIC PREFERENCE

This window allows you to set the filter logic of each filter for whatever function is active.  Filter logic states are positive or negative.  See the documentation file on filters for more information on filter logic and filters.