Path: utzoo!attcan!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!rutgers!apple!agate!earth.cchem.berkeley.edu!garys
From: garys@earth.cchem.berkeley.edu (Gary Shea)
Newsgroups: comp.windows.x
Subject: Beta-sites and licensing info requested
Message-ID: <26386@agate.BERKELEY.EDU>
Date: 17 Jul 89 11:10:20 GMT
Sender: usenet@agate.BERKELEY.EDU
Reply-To: garys@earth.berkeley.edu (Gary Shea)
Distribution: usa
Organization: U.C. Berkeley EECS CAD Group
Lines: 52

This is a request for beta-site volunteers for xf(1X), a
simple tool to generate collections of file names
for command line input to normal Unix(tm) commands.

Xf(1X) is useful in a situation where you wish to select files to
delete (or copy, or whatever), the file names are NOT related by
a simple regular expression, and the files in question reside
in more than one directory.  The command:

(earth:garys) 619 % rm `xf`

displays a compact directory window from which an arbitrary
collection of filenames may be selected (true 'selection' is not used,
so many filenames may be highlighted at the same time).
From that window, you may open windows up and down the directory tree
by clicking on a button or filename, or at arbitrary locations in
the tree by typing in a directory name.  All windows
remain visible.  When the desired files have been highlighted, you
pick the 'done' button on any of the windows, and the highlighted
filenames are sent to the stdout.  Xf(1X) is fully customizable --
everything possible is set up by user-specified resources.
There is an Imakefile and an app-defaults file.

---- Beta testing ----

I hope to release xf(1X) this month, but would like to have
a short beta test period before making it generally available.
It has only been built on a monochrome VAXStation 3200,
under Ultrix 3.0, with a somewhat hacked version of X11R3.
Xf(1X) is mostly ANSI C (the main widget is a hacked version of
the Athena List widget, and remains K&R), and assumes that you
have POSIX-style directory-manipulation routines (*), getopt(3), 
and an ANSI C compiler (i used gcc 1.35).  If you would
be willing to try out xf, and especially if you have different
hardware, please let me know.

---- Licensing ----

Since xf has Athena code in it, I am open to recommendations
about what license would be appropriate -- i had originally
intended to use the GNU General Public License, but the
presence of the Athena code no doubt rules that out.

	TIA....

(*) -- Both the POSIX directory routines and getopt(3) are available
	from your friendly nearby comp.sources.unix archive... and
	are present on many Unix(tm) machines.

Gary Shea
Dep't of Chemistry, UC Berkeley
earth.cchem.berkeley.edu (128.32.144.102)