Home
Reviews
File Man
March 13, 2003
File Man is a very nicely featured file management application for Palm OS devices. It requires 97K of space and provides a whole host of options. The tabbed interface nicely distinguishes between RAM and expansion card files, and within each section it is possible to sort by file name, size, creator ID, or type. Sorting by size is very handy if you’re trying to quickly free up memory space on your device, for example. Another one of my favorite touches is that every file displays the launcher icon associated with that file— it’s a great visual cue that can help you see what data files are associated with which application. That’s especially handy for applications like HanDBase, which does not add a prefix to each data file. Another thing I like about File Man is how easy it is to use— the checkboxes to the left of each file allow you to perform mass operations such as copying or moving several files at once.
And if you tap on a file’s icon, you’ll get a very handy little popup menu that allows you to view the file’s attributes, as well as beam, copy, delete, launch, move, or rename it. The file attributes are very important, especially if you don’t use something like Backup Buddy on the desktop— you can make sure that the backup bit is set on every file, to make sure it is backed up at HotSync, for example. You can also set files to read only or hidden, and copy protect them if need be. If you want to copy or move a file to an expansion card, that’s also quite simple— just tap close to the bottom of the screen to select the appropriate destination. In this respect File Man is much easier to use than TealMover, which was my application of choice for file management until I tried File Man.
File Man is the last utility from Bits ‘n Bolts Software that I’ll be reviewing this week. It has earned a permanent spot in my handheld arsenal because it is easy to use, has a great interface, and does everything I need in a file manager. You can get a free trial of File Man at the Bits ‘n Bolts web site, and you can also purchase it for $10.00.
PocketGoddess rating for File Man: 
