| To
begin">
How to
print the contents of a Windows95 folder Page
JohnKalpus.com |
(How to add a
"Print Directory" command to a context menu in Explorer)
|
| To
begin, open an MS-DOS Prompt window. When Windows 95 opens such a window, it always sets
the DOS prompt to the Windows 95 folder. You can create the batch file in this folder, or
you can use the change directory (CD) command to change to any folder you want. For
example, suppose you want to create the batch file PrintDir.bat in the \Batch folder.
You'd use the command CD\Batch. |
| Once
you're in the desired folder, type the following three lines, pressing [Enter] after each
one: |
copy con PrintDir.bat
dir %1 /on > prn
echo ^L > prn |
| (Remember,
DOS represents [Ctrl]L with the special character ^L on the command line.) To close the
file and save it, press [F6] and then press [Enter]. (Notice that DOS represents
[F6] with the special character ^Z on the command line.) At this point, close the MS-DOS
Prompt window. |
| Now
that you've created the batch file, you need to configure it so that it behaves like a
Windows command rather than a DOS program. To do so, you'll configure the batch file to
run in the background. To begin, open either My Computer or Windows Explorer and locate
the PrintDir.bat file. When you do, right-click the file and select the Properties command
from the context menu. When the PrintDir.bat Properties sheet appears, click the Program
tab. Now, select the Minimized option in the Run dropdown list and select the Close on
exit check box. As soon as you click OK, you'll notice that Windows 95 automatically
creates a shortcut to the PrintDir.bat file. You now need to associate this shortcut with
the Folder type. |
| Once you
associate the batch file's shortcut with the Folder type, you'll be able to run the batch
file by selecting it from any regular or shortcut folder's context menu. First, pull down
the View menu in either My Computer or Windows Explorer and select the Options... command.
When the Options properties sheet appears, click the File Types tab. Now, scroll through
the Registered file types list and select the Folder option, then click the Edit...
button. |
|
| When you do, the
Edit File Type dialog box opens, (If you haven't installed Internet Explorer, your Edit
File Type dialog box will look a little different.) Now, click the New... button to open the New Action dialog box,
type Print Directory in the Action text box. This will become the context menu command
associated with the batch file. Now, click the Browse... button and use the Open With
dialog box to locate the shortcut to the batch file, which will be in the same folder as
the batch file itself |
|
| For
example, if you saved PrintDir.bat in the \Batch folder, you'll find the shortcut there
too. When you select the shortcut, you'll notice in the File Name text box that the file
extension is PIF, which stands for Program Information File (this is the way Windows 95
identifies a shortcut to a DOS program). To continue, click the Open button and then click
OK in the New Action dialog box. When you return to the Edit File Type dialog box, you'll
see that the Print Directory command now appears in the Actions list box. To complete the
procedure, click Close twice--once to close the Edit File Type dialog box and once to
close the Options properties sheet. |
Still
confused? Download the PrintDir.Bat file and follow the instructions above.
Click to download PrintDir.bat. file |
John Kalpus - "Dr. Discovery"
DrDscovery@aol.com
P.O. Box 83211 San Diego, CA 92138-3211
Speaker Author Educator
Keynotes Breakouts Consulting Services
|
