The File(s) section of the Main Window consists of a button labeled “File(s)”, an unlabeled button beside it, as shown, and to the right of the buttons, an edit box for entering the names of the File(s) on which you want to perform Find, Replace, or Touch operations.
You can enter names for more than one File. To do so, separate the names with a right-angle bracket (>) or a vertical bar (|). The following example would cause a Find, Replace, or Touch operation to occur on files named “myletter1.txt” and “myletter2.txt” residing in the Folder(s) you chose to search.
myletter1.txt > myletter2.txt
Usually, you will not enter a full file name as in this example. Instead, you will enter in File(s) a file mask that contains the file-name wild cards (? and *). For example, in place of “myletter1.txt > myletter2.txt”, you might enter one of the following.
myletter?.txt my*.txt my*.* *.*
To enter more than one file mask, separate the file masks with a right-angle bracket (>), as follows.
my*.txt > *.doc > *.rtf
You can exclude file masks from Find, Replace, and Touch operations by entering the file masks in File(s) preceded by a left-angle bracket (<). The following example would cause an operation on all files named “my-something.txt”, “something.doc”, and “something.rtf”, excluding all files beginning with “mycat” or “mydog”.
my*.txt < mycat*.* > *.doc > *.rtf < mydog*.*
Notice that the left and right angle brackets, for inclusion and exclusion, may be mixed freely in the File(s) entry.
To browse for files on your drives, click the button labeled “File(s)”. A window that shows file names will open. Click on a file name to select it. The name of the selected file appears in the edit box near the bottom of the window. To accept the name, click the OK button. You may choose more than one file at a time by using the shift key or the control key while clicking your mouse.
Click on this button to pop up a dialog that will help you choose file extensions that are to be searched. For help with the dialog, see Select File(s).
To list the files and folders you have chosen by your entries in File(s) and Folder(s), select List Folders and Files from the Perform Menu.
See also: Persistent File List