DropHTM

DropHTM, HTML Multi-File Info Editor

This GUI application modifies the file information in one or more HTML files that are dragged and dropped onto the DropHTM window from Windows Explorer.

Usage: DROPHTM [/K] [/W[basepath]]

options:

/K If a single file is dropped onto the DropHTM window when all fields are blank, only the "keywords" field is loaded from the file's keyword list. If this option is not specified, all fields are loaded from the file's file information.

/W[basepath] Enables clipboard watch mode, and optionally specifies the path to the directory that is used as a base path for local "http:" URLs. If basepath is not specified, it defaults to the root directory of the drive which contains the current working directory for DropHTM.

To use this utility, perform the following steps:

Invoke the application. A window will appear with fields for the Title, Sort Order, Description, and Keywords.
Invoke Windows Explorer and find the files you wish to modify.
In the DropHTM window, enter text into the fields that you wish to modify. Leave the other fields blank.
Drag the HTML file(s) you wish to modify from the Explorer window into the DropHTM window. The file information in the file(s) will be immediately modified according to the fields that were filled in in the window. Fields that are blank in the window will not be modified.
You can clear the fields by pressing the Clear button, and then repeating the steps starting at step 2 above for other files.
When you no longer need the DropHTM window, press the Close button.

When you enter text in the Title, Sort Order, or Description fields, the new text will replace any previous text for those fields in the dropped files.

When you enter one or more keywords in the Keywords field, the keywords will be added to the current list of keywords. If a keyword already exists in the current list, a duplicate will not be added. You may also enter a keyword rule in this field. The keyword rule will be applied to each file that is dropped.

Files other than HTML files may be dragged onto the window. When this happens, the HTML file with the same base name will be modified. If an HTML file with the same base name does not exist, one will be created.

File folders (directories) may also be dragged onto the window. When this happens, the corresponding index file which is contained in the directory is modified. An index file must be named "index.htm", "index.html", "welcome.htm", or "welcome.html". If an index file does not exist for the directory, one will be created with the name "index.htm".

If a single file is dropped onto the DropHTM window when all fields are blank, the file information is read from the dropped file and automatically entered into the DropHTM window.

Context Help

If you right-click on a field name, and select "What's This" from the context pop-up menu, a help box will be displayed for that field.

Special Title & Description Operations

Text which is entered in the Title or Description field normally replaces the existing Title or Description in the modified files.

In addition to replacing the entire Title or Description, text can be added to or deleted from the existing title. To do this, a special prefix character may be used as the first character of the Title or Description field, as shown in the table below:

`+text`	Append `text` to the end of the existing field.
`-*`	Delete the entire field.
`-text`	Remove the first (left-most) occurance of `text` from the existing field, if it exists.
`<text`	Prepend `text` to the beginning of the existing field.
`>text`	Append `text` to the end of the existing field. (same as `+`)
`?text=new`	Replace all occurrences of `text` with `new` text. The search (`text`) is case-insensitive.

If the special string %FILENAME% is found anywhere in the Title or Description field text, it will be replaced by the name of the file that was dropped (excluding the path).

Warning: pay close attention to the file name extensions of the files you are dropping. If you drop a .htm file then %FILENAME% will have a .htm extension. If you drop a .jpg file then %FILENAME% will have a .jpg extension. If you drop a file folder (directory), then %FILENAME% will be the directory name.

Remember, you may right-click on any field name to obtain help for that field. The help box will contain a brief summary of the information presented here.

Clipboard Watch Mode

This application provides an optional "clipboard watch mode" which watches the Windows clipboard for local file URLs. When this mode is enabled, users can browse local files with their favorite web browser, and easily add keywords to viewed web pages without opening an Explorer window.

The following command line syntax enables the clipboard watch mode:

   drophtm /W[basepath]

Where, basepath is the optional path to the directory that is used as a base path for local "http:" URLs (see description below). If basepath is not specified, it defaults to the root directory of drive which contains the current working directory for DropHTM.

When a local file URL is copied to the clipboard from any application (usually a web browser), it has the same effect as dragging and dropping the HTML file on the DropHTM application. DropHTM will display a verification dialog box before making any changes to the file.

If you are using Netscape or Internet Explorer, you can use one of the following methods to copy a local file URL to the clipboard:

If you would like to copy the URL of a link on the currently displayed page, simply right-click on the link and select "Copy Link Location" (Netscape) or "Copy Shortcut" (Internet Explorer).
In Netscape, you can also copy the local file URL of the currently displayed page to the clipboard. Simply highlight the file URL displayed in the Location field at the top of the browser window, and press Ctrl-C.

Other browsers may provide similar methods.

The URL that is copied to the clipboard must be in one of the following formats. Any other format will be ignored by DropHTM.

   1.  file:///drive:/path
   2.  file:///drive|/path
   3.  http://127.0.0.1/path

Where, drive is a drive letter, and path is an absolute path (starting at the root directory) to a file on that drive. Syntax 2 is allowed for compatibility with Netscape. Syntax 3 is used for local testing when using a web server. In this mode, drive is not specified, and the path is appended to the basepath specified by the /W option on the command line (see description above).

If the file specified by the URL does not exist, DropHTM will ignore it and quietly do nothing.

Table of Contents

	`/K`		If a single file is dropped onto the DropHTM window when all fields are blank, only the "keywords" field is loaded from the file's keyword list. If this option is not specified, all fields are loaded from the file's file information.
	`/W[basepath]`		Enables clipboard watch mode, and optionally specifies the path to the directory that is used as a base path for local "http:" URLs. If `basepath` is not specified, it defaults to the root directory of the drive which contains the current working directory for DropHTM.