When opening a file, Multi-Edit will (by default) scan the beginning of the file to determine what the line terminator characters are. Line terminator characters determine where one line ends and a new line begins when loading a file. DOS/Windows files use a carriage-return/line-feed character combination (0x0D 0x0A – CR/LF). UNIX files use a line-feed character (0x0A – LF). Apple Macintosh files use a carriage-return (0x0D – CR). Binary files have no line terminators—they are treated as continuous streams of data. Usually Multi-Edit automatically detects the type of file being loaded.

If you wish, you may specify what type of file is being loaded. In the file prompt dialog, you may change “Type:” to DOS, UNIX, Mac, or Binary. Selecting ‘Binary’ will load the file as a continuous stream of data. For easier reading, binary files use a Binary Record Length that can be specified on the fly or for a particular extension. The default is 16 if you do not specify a record length.

Each filename extension has its own default “Line Terminator” type. This is set via Tools | Customize | General | Filename Extensions, select an extension, click ‘Edit’, and set “File Type”. The choices are Auto Detect, MSDOS text, UNIX text, Mac (Macintosh) , or Binary. Auto Detect is the default.

When loading a file in Multi-Edit, the file type must be determined first. Multi-Edit first looks to see if the user explicitly specified the file type in the Open File dialog. If the user left the file type option as “Default”, then Multi-Edit checks the file extension and looks for a match in its Filename Extensions database. If the extension is found and file type is set to Auto Detect, or if there is no set up data for the extension, then Multi-Edit will load the first 4096 characters and count all CR and LF characters. Based upon the results of this test, the line terminators are set to the type found most often. The file is then loaded and broken into lines based on the line terminator. The lines are stored internally, excluding the line terminating character(s). When a file is saved to disk, the lines are reassembled into a stream, and the line terminators are inserted at the end of each line.

You can determine the current file type (i.e. line terminating character(s)) for a loaded file via File | Properties. This will give you the File Properties dialog. You can also get the File Properties dialog by clicking in the lower left corner of a window just to the right of the window letter. In this dialog, you can change the file type.

Multi-Edit offers two different styles of File Prompt dialogs: the old “Explorer” version and a newer “Enhanced” version (which is the default). Described here is the newer Enhanced version.

Up one level: Selects the directory one level higher than the current selected directory.
Refresh: Refreshes the tree and file list view.
Desktop: Selects and views the desktop.
Properties: Displays the currently selected files properties.
Create New Folder: Creates a new folder in the currently selected directory.
Select All: Selects all of the files listed in the file list view.
Deselect All: Deselects the files listed in the file list view.
Small Icons: Displays the files using small icons.
Large Icons: Displays the files using large icons.
List View: Displays the files using a list.
Detail View: Displays the file details in the file list view.

The File list view is designed to help you search for the file you want to open. It also displays the contents of the current directory or folder, confined to the appropriate directory mask, if any. Use the arrow keys or mouse to scroll through files in search of the one you want. Use the arrow keys or mouse to highlight the file and select OK to open it. Alternatively, you can place the mouse cursor on the file you want and double-click the left mouse button to open it.

The Directory tree view displays the selected directory and its subdirectories. Use the arrow keys or mouse to scroll through directories in search of the one you want. Use the arrow keys or mouse to highlight the directory and select OK to open it. Or, place the mouse cursor on the directory you want and double-click the left mouse button to open it.

If you are not sure of a file's name or location, type as much as you do know (the Name field also accepts wildcards, such as *.*). As you type, Multi-Edit will highlight the first file matching the currently entered filename (or part thereof) in the File List Box. If you find the file you are looking for, press Enter or select OK. Multi-Edit will then load the currently highlighted file. If you entered a wildcard, press Enter or select OK to accept that wildcard entry and continue your search. Multi-Edit can also load multiple files at one time. Simply separate filenames by a space to load more than one file. The history list contains up to 15 file or directory names that were opened during the current editing session. To access the History List Box, click on the down arrow to the right of the field. If you want to access the items in the history list without viewing them, you can press the down arrow to cycle through the lists entries when the field has focus.

Below the Name Field is a drop-down list box of common file masks. To access the Mask list box, click on the down arrow to the right of the field. Move through the list using the scroll bar. If you want to access the items in the list without viewing them, press the down arrow to cycle through the list's entries when the field has focus. Notice the drop-down list contains both the extensions and the Language associated with each extension.

This check box allows you to toggle the read/write status of a file when loading it.

If the file is not marked as read-only, you may check this box upon loading that file to open a read-only “copy” of the file. This does not change the read/write status of that file. The original file on disk will still be read/write, but you will have only a read-only copy of that file.

If the file is marked as read-only, you may uncheck this box upon loading that file to open that file as read/write. This enables the read/write status of that file.

Checking this box will open the current file in OEM Translate mode. It does not alter the OEM Translate setting for the rest of your Multi-Edit session. To change that setting, look under Tools | Customize | Fonts.

When opening a file, the Type field allows you to change the line terminator for the file. Multi-Edit uses this “file type” to determine both where to break lines when loading a file and which characters to insert when the Enter key is pressed during normal editing.

• Default: Each extension can have its own default file type. By changing the Type field when opening a file, it is possible to override the default file type. It is also possible to tell Multi-Edit to automatically detect an extension's file type when loading it.
• DOS: This option will load the file as a DOS file. DOS files use a carriage return and a line feed to mark the end of the line.
• UNIX: This selection will load the file as a UNIX file. UNIX uses only line feeds to mark the end of the line.
• Mac: Selecting Mac file type will load the file as a Macintosh file. Mac files only use a carriage return to mark the end of the line.
• Binary: Binary files have no line terminators as they are continuous streams of data; however, for easier reading, binary files use a Binary Record Length that can be specified on the fly or for a particular extension in Filename Extension Setup.

If Binary is selected as the File Type then you may specify here the Binary Record Length of the file that is about to be opened. The record length is the number of characters that will be displayed before Multi-Edit wraps the data to a new line. This can be useful for locating addresses in binary files. If no value is specified here and the file is loaded as a binary file, the default record length as given in Filename Extension Setup for that file type will be used (Tools | Customize | General | Filename Extensions). If no record length is given, a default value of 16 is used.

The Work field contains the current working directory. To the right of this field are two buttons, which allow the working directory to be set, or displayed in the file list view and directory tree view.

Alternatively, the Explorer-style dialog offers an interface similar to the common Windows dialogs with which you are familiar. To use this dialog, check the box for “Explorer Style” under Tools | Customize | Files.

You can also open a file using the “drag and drop” method. From Windows Explorer, select the file you want to open with the mouse and drag it to the Multi-Edit screen. This is a fast and convenient method of opening files.

The FilePane Add-On provides convenient access to a set of commonly used files or directories, similar to the Favorites menu in a web browser. You may access the FilePane via View | FilePane. (If Files is already checked, then use View | Navigation Pane.) You will initially get the message, “Unable to find FilePane database - no entries in pane!” This just means you have not added any files or folders to the file pane yet. Add a file to the file pane by clicking the ‘Add File to FilePane’ button. Add a directory by clicking the ‘Add Directory to FilePane’ button. The depth of a directory is initially set to one, meaning the contents of subdirectories will not be listed. You may change this by clicking the 'Edit FilePane List' button, select your directory, click ‘Edit’, and set the “Depth: ” value to a higher number. (Setting the depth too deep can have a performance impact when the tree is created and refreshed.)

File | Properties displays the current file’s name, the amount of disk space the file occupies, and the date and time the file was last modified. You can also change the file Locked/Read Only status of the file, and the “File Type”. This dictates what line terminator is used within the file. [See the File Type (Line Terminators) section above for more information on file type and line terminators.] If the current file type is binary, then the option to change the line length will be displayed after you click the OK button.

When this option is used, the current file will be reverted to its last saved state, overwriting the currently viewed file and any changes following the last save.

Multi-Edit's Network File Locking feature prevents more than one person at a time from having write-access to any file. Other network users may load the file, but it will be marked Read Only, and no modifications will be permitted. Multi-Edit is always shipped with Network File Locking disabled. To enable this feature, go to Tools | Customize | Files | Autosave, and check the box for Network File Locking.

If Multi-Edit was not exited properly, i.e. there was a power failure, reboot or system crash, any files which were loaded at the time will be marked Read Only. In order to unlock these files, you can:

Run the DOS program ATTRIB.

OR…

Load the restricted files into Multi-Edit and change the locked status via File | Properties.

File Locking also includes configuration and data files used by Multi-Edit. If the configuration files are locked, you will see this message: Your configuration files are locked! Before unlocking them, insure that there are NOT multiple copies of Multi-Edit running with your user id. Do you want to unlock your configuration files? (Yes/No/Help)

If File Locking is turned ON, your configuration files may become locked under the following conditions:

IF MULTI-EDIT WAS NOT EXITED PROPERLY. If you turn off your computer without exiting Multi-Edit first, or if you re-boot your computer while in Multi-Edit, your configuration files will become locked. If this is the case, answer Yes to Do you want to unlock your configuration files?

IF TWO USERS ARE LOGGED IN UNDER THE SAME USER ID. If two users are logged in under the same user ID, only one user can have write-access to the files. The second user may load Multi-Edit and answer No to Do you want to unlock your configuration files? The 'Unlock Your Configuration Files' option SHOULD NOT be used in this situation.

Autosave allows you to configure Multi-Edit to automatically save all modified files based on two different methods. The first method allows you to save files based on x seconds of keyboard inactivity. The second method allows you to save files at absolute intervals (every x seconds). Each method also includes the option of saving only the files loaded or the complete editor status at the same time (this includes all files loaded and the window sizes, etc). Setting either field to zero will turn the option off.