Building on the earlier example of listing all the files within a directory on a webpage, we can now add some nifty sorting features to make the experience all the better.

Just put both files in a directory with the rest of the files and you’re done! Easy as cakes.

View the source code!
Download the source code! [ 6k ]

There have been occasions where I have needed to just dump some files in a hidden directory of a website for internal use or to preview to a client. I don’t want to create a whole preview site for just this instance, and I want to keep directory browsing off for the rest of the site.

ASP offers some simple tools to list all the files in a specific folder and any sub-folders. The following code wasn’t written by me, credit goes to Mike Hall. I did however make some modifications to his original code. He had it set up in such a way as that you needed to manually enter which folders would be listed. I wanted something simpler. Something you could just drop in a folder on your site and it would automatically load and list all the files. I also didn’t want the index file to appear in this list.

View the source code!
Download the source code! [ 1k ]

Check out the updated version as well.

Working of several dozen projects a year, I need a way to archive older files to a DVD but still find them quickly when I need them again. Here is a little trick that I have put into practice. I find it is useful when coming to a new project or back to one after a lengthy absence.

After burning a DVD for archiving older project files, I make a text file with the name of every file on that disk. That way I can do a search in the text document and quickly see which disk to pull out for the file I need.

Here is the process: In the Start Menu, go to Run and type “cmd”. Browse to the directory you want to index, say the D drive (type d:). Then type “dir /s >> document.txt” (the “/s” will get all sub folders too, if you don’t want this, just leave it off).

This will list everything into a new text document named “document.txt” There are other options you can do to this, such as “dir /s /b >> document.txt” which will list only the filename, none of the date modified or size information. For more on these options, see Microsoft’s Documentation (or type “dir /?”).

Director, Flash, Photoshop, VR Worx

As part of a college field trip to Poland, we teamed up with the Majdanek Museum in Lublin to create interactive educational pieces concerning the concentration camp.

Working in teams of 3-6, we spent several days photographing, scanning documents, and becoming familiar with the history of the camp.

Upon returning to the States, we had to share both what we learned and the digital files we gathered with class members were not part of the trip.

The group I was part of decided to create a virtual tour of the camp, using Apple’s Quicktime VR technology within a Flash/Director environment. The VR scenes themselves have graphical elements that relate to the larger interface, such as lines connecting typography and a camp map with direction pointer.

Our team was later approached to create a Polish version of the software, but the project eventually fell through.