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ThankyouforinstallingFilecatsStandardorFilecatsProfessional.
FilecatsallowstoyouimportthecontentsofWindowsExplorerintoMicrosoftExcel.Filecats
ProfessionalalsoaddsmetadataforMicrosoftOfficedocuments,audio/videofiles,
pictures/photographs,andMSGfilescontainedinWindowsExplorer.
Filecatsisveryeasytouse.Onceinstalled,thereisnoprogramintheStartmenuorontheDesktop.
Instead,simplyrighthandclickonasinglefolderordriveandselectFilecatsStandardorFilecats
Professional.Thatsit!Thespreadsheetiscreated,andyoucanuseitoremailittosomeoneelse
theydontneedtohaveFilecatsinstalledtousethespreadsheet.
AdditionalfeaturescanalsobeshowninthevideosontheFilecatswebsite,www.filecats.co.uk
If,however,thereareadditionalquestionsyouwanttoanswering,thismanualshowssomeofthe
featuresofFilecats,andhowtomakebestuseofit.
Contents
StartingFilecats.......................................................................................................................................1
SelectingMetadata(FilecatsProfessional).............................................................................................4
TheCataloguingprocess.........................................................................................................................9
TheCataloguespreadsheet..................................................................................................................14
FoldersFilteringandGrouping.......................................................................................................14
ColumnsinbothFilecatsStandardandFilecatsProfessional...........................................................19
HyperlinksChangingtheRelativePath..........................................................................................22
HyperlinksHash/PoundSign,andLongPath/Filenames...............................................................27
Metadata...........................................................................................................................................28
Thankyou..........................................................................................................................................31

Starting Filecats
Youcanrighthandclickthesinglefolderordrivebyusingoneofthefollowingmethods:
1. OpenWindowsExplorerandrighthandclickonasinglefolderordriveinthelefthandpane.

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2. OpenWindowsExplorerandrighthandclickonasinglefolderordriveintherighthand
pane.

3. ClickontheStartmenuandComputer,andrighthandclickonasingleharddrive[Thisdoes
notworkonWindows8.0,butdoesworkonWindows8.1]:

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4. Righthandclickonashortcutwhichpointstoafolderordrive:

5. ClickontheStartmenuandComputer,andrighthandclickonyourname,(My)Documents,
(My)Picturesor(My)Music,astheseareshortcutstoasinglefolder.[Thisdoesnotworkon
Windows8.0,butdoesworkonWindows8.1]:

Thefollowingmethodswillnotwork:
1. Righthandclickonafile(suchasaWordorExceldocument),insteadofafolderordrive.
2. RighthandclickonaLibrary,asthatisnotafolderordrive.

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Youcan,however,cataloguepartofalibrary:

1. RighthandclickingonthelibraryDocumentswillcataloguethefolderMyDocuments.
2. RighthandclickingonthelibraryMusicwillcataloguethefolderMyMusic.
3. RighthandclickingonthelibraryPictureswillcataloguethefolderMyPictures.
4. RighthandclickonthelibraryVideoswillcataloguethefolderVideos.
Selecting Metadata (Filecats Professional)
AfteryouhaveclickedFilecatsProfessionalonasinglefileorfolder,theMetadataoptionsbox
appears:

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TheMetadataoptionsboxincludesthefollowing:
Standard(common)Metadata:
o Dates,companyandtitle,
o Authors,
o Categories,
o Comments,
o Tagsand
o Lesscommonstandardmetadata.
MicrosoftOfficeDocumentsMetadata,whicharegroupedinto:
o Commonmetadata,and o Lesscommonmetadata.
ImageMetadata,whicharegroupedinto:
o Imagemetadata, o Commonphotometadata,

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o Lesscommonphotometadata,and o GPSmetadata.
MediaMetadata,whicharegroupedinto:
o Media,
o Audio,
o Music,
o Videoand
o RecordedTV.
OutlookMSGMetadata,whicharegroupedinto:
o Outlook,
o Common,
o CommonEmailmetadata,
o Calendar,
o CommonContactmetadata,
o Task,
o Journal&Note,
o Lesscommonemailmetadata,
o Lesscommoncontactmetadata,
o Body.
Moredetaileddescriptionsofthespecificmetadatawhichcanbeextractedcanbefoundonour
website,Filecats.co.uk
Youcanfinetunethemetadatabyclickingonthesettingsbuttonontherighthandside.For
example,youmaywishtocatalogueemailmetadatawithoutcataloguingcalendar,contact,orother
MSGmetadata.

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Ifallofthemetadataisdeselectedorthesliderssetatzero,theresultswillbethesameasper
FilecatsStandard.
AdditionalmetadatawilltakeFilecatslongertocapture,asisindicatedbythePerformanceIndicator
atthebottomofthescreen:

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Onceyouhavesetthemetadataoptionsappropriately,pleaseclicktheStartbuttontostart.
IfyouhaveusingOffice2003orearlierthen,duetothelimitationsofOffice2003,onlymetadataup
to240columnscanbeupdated.
Ifspecificmetadatahasbeenrequestedbutthereisnosuchspecificmetadatainanyfile,thenthe
columnwillbehiddeninthefinalcatalogue.
MSGMetadata
IfyouarecataloguingMSGfiles:Pleasenotethatthecomputerwilltakeapproximately1
minutetocataloguemetadatafromthefirstMSGfile.Subsequentfileswillbecatalogued
muchmorequickly.

ClickingtheBodyOutlookMetadatamaysignificantlyincreasethesizeoftheExcel
spreadsheet,asthetextofthebodyoftheemailisincluded.Pleasenotethat,iftheBody
optionisselected,thecataloguewillnotbeWordWrapped,duetothequantityoftext
beinginserted.YoucanWordWrapappropriatecolumnsoncethecatalogueiscreated,if
youwish.
IfbothLesscommonemailandBodyOutlookMetadataareselected,thenthetextis
alsoincludedinHTMLformat,andthedeliveryheadersarealsoincluded.Thesewillalso
significantlyincreasethesizeoftheExcelspreadsheet.

Pleasenotethat,iftoomuchmetadata(especiallyincludingtheBodytext)iscataloguedfor
severalhundredthousandrows,thenExcelmaycrashorfailtoreopenacatalogue.Thisisa

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problemwithMicrosoftExcel,whichhopefullywouldbecorrectedinfutureversionsof
Excel.
The Cataloguing process
Onceyouhaverighthandclickedonafolderordrive,andsetanymetadataoptionsifappropriate,
thenFilecatsstartscataloguing.Thefollowingscreenisshownduringthistime:

Firstofall,FilecatsopensMicrosoftExcel.TheremaybeashortdelayuntilExcelopens.

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ThenFilecatsstartscataloguingthefiles.Thespeedisdependentonmanyfactors,suchasthespeed
ofthecomputerprocessor,thespeedoftheinterface(e.g.internalharddrivewillbefasterthanan
externalharddriveorUSBdrive)andtheamountofmetadatathatisrequiredtobecaptured.

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Oncethefileshavebeencatalogued,ortheCancelbuttonhasbeenpressed,thenthespreadsheet
isformatted,sothatthecolumnsareappropriatelysized,datesareformattedassuch,androwsare
appropriatedsized(unlessyouarecataloguingBodymetadata).
Speedofformattingisdependentonthenumberofrowscataloguedandtheamountofmetadata
catalogued.

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Oncethecataloguinghasbeencompleted,thenFilecatswillaskyoutosavethecatalogue.
IntheTaskbarinWindows7and8,youmayseetheExcelicongloworange:

IfyouswitchtoExcel,youwillseeadialogboxappearaskingyoutosaveit.

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YoucaneithersaveitorpressCancel.IfyouareusingExcel2007orlater,youcanchangethe
SaveastypetoExcelBinaryWorkbook(*.xlsb)thiswillreducethesizeofthespreadsheet.
Onceyouhavedoneeither,Filecatshasfinished,anditends.YounowhavethecatalogueinExcel
formatforyoutouseasyouwish.

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The Catalogue spreadsheet
ThefollowingsectionexaminesvariousaspectsoftheworkbookproducedbyFilecats.
TheCataloguespreadsheetproducedbyFilecatsStandardstartswiththesecolumns:

Folders Filtering and Grouping

Allfoldersareshowninhighlightedrows.Eachlevelisshowninadifferentcolour,asshownbelow.
Thefoldersaregroupedtogether.Inthetoplefthandcornerarethenumbers .Ifyoupress
,therootfolder(showninrow5above)andthenextleveloffoldersareshown,andallother
foldersandfilesarehidden:

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Allofthefoldersbartherootfolderareinthesamefolder,astheyareallfolderscontaineddirectly
intherootfolder.
Itshouldbenotedthatthisisnotaproperfilter,andthemissingrowsareonlyhidden,not
filtered.Thismeansthatifyou,forexample,pastedataoveraseriesofrowswhichinclude
hiddenrows,thenthepasteactionwillincludethehiddenrows.
Forexample,ifyoucopycellA11(thenumber7),highlightcellsA21toA31andpaste,
thenthenumber7willbepastedincellA21,cellA31,andcellsA2230.Ifyoudontwant
thattohappen,thenyoushouldfilterinsteadofusingthesegroups.
Ifyouwanttoviewthefilesandfolderswithinthefolder,clickthe buttoninthenextrow.For
example,ifyouwanttoviewthefileswithinrow11,youshouldclickthe buttoninthenextrow,
row21.

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Ifyoupress ,thentherootfolder,thefilesintherootfolder,andallsubfolders(including
subfoldersofsubfolders)arethenshown:

Thefolderswhichareingreenaresubfoldersoffoldersshowninyellow.
Ifyoupress ,thenallfolders,subfoldersandfilesareshown.

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Note:Ifyouwanttosortthedatainadifferentorder,youshouldremovethegroupingfirst.
TodothatonExcel2007orlater,gotoDataUngroupClearOutline.Thiscannotbe
undone,soyoumaywishtosaveitfirst.

AnotherwayoffilteringonfoldersisbyclickingonthearrowincellD4andselectFolder.Thisis
whatitlookslikeonExcel2007orlater.

OnExcel2007orlater,youshouldthenclick(SelectAll)todeselecteverything,andthenclick
Foldertoselectit,thenclickOK.Alternatively,youcanenterFolderintheSearchboxand
pressOK.
Thisshowsallofthefolders,andtherownumbersarenowshowninblue,indicatingafilter.

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TheIndentcolumnshowshowdeepwithinthefolderstructureafileorfolderis.
0indicatesthatthefolderistherootfolder.
1indicatesthatthefileorfolderisintherootfolder.
2indicatesthatthefileorfolderisinafolderwithintherootfolder,etc.
Ifyouwantonlyfolderswithintherootfolder,youshouldalsoselect1intheIndentfilter.

Toremoveafilter,select(SelectAll)orClearFilterfrom

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Columns in both Filecats Standard and Filecats Professional
Goingfromlefttoright,thecolumnsexportedareasfollows:

ID.Thisisasequentialnumberforeachfileandfolder.Itisnotintrinsictothefile.
Therefore,ifyoudoasecondcatalogueandthenumberoffilesandfoldershavechanged
comparedthefirstcatalogue,thenthenumberforaparticularfilemaychange.

FolderorFileName.Thisisthefilenameorthefoldernameforaparticularfile.
Therootfolder,asshowninrow5above,isshownasasingleslash.
Thenameisindentedaccordingtoafileorfoldersdepth,i.e.afilewithintherootfolder
willbeindentedslightly,whereasafilewithinafolderwithinafolderwillbeindentedmore.

Someofthefollowingcolumnsarenotavailableifthecombinationofthepathandfilenameis
greaterthan255characters.ThisisbecauseoflimitationsofWindowsandMicrosoftExcel.

Open.Thisisahyperlinktothefileorfolder.Ifafolder,itwillopenitinWindowsExplorer.If
afile,itwillopenthefileifpossibleusingthesoftwareonyourmachine.

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IfWindowsdoesnotbelieveyouhavesuitablesoftwaretoopenthefile,thenyouwillbe
unabletoopenthefilefromExcel.

Dependingonthetypeoffile,youmayreceiveaMicrosoftExcelSecurityNotice,suchasthe
onebelow.Thisisnormal.

AsstatedintheSecurityNotice,filemaycontainvirusesandotherthingswhichmaybe
harmfultoyourcomputeranddata.ThisisthesameifyouopenthefilewithinWindows
Explorer,butyoumaynotgetthiswarninginWindowsExplorer.

ThisfeatureisdiscussedfurtherintheHyperlinkssectionbelow.

FileType.Thisistheextensionofthefile.Usingthisinformation,youcanfilteronallExcel
documentsbyfilteringonfilescontaining.xls,whichwillinclude.xlsxand.xlsb.

ThedescriptionoftheFileTypecanbegeneratedinFilecatsProfessionalintheStandard
Metadatasection.

Attributes.Theseareattributesofthefile,including:
o AArchive,

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o DDirectory(Folder),
o HHidden,and
o RReadonly
o SSystem.

FolderandFileName.Thisistheoriginalfolderandfilenamecatalogued.Forexample,ifa
fileA.docxiscontainedinC:\MyFolder\Folder2,thenthiscolumnwillcontain
C:\MyFolder\Folder2\A.docx

PathfromRoot.Thiscontainsthefoldernameonly,andexcludesthecataloguedfolder.For
example,ifyouhavecataloguedthefolderC:\MyFolder,thenfortheabovefilethis
columnwillcontainFolder2\,i.e.itdoesnotincludeC:\MyFolder\anditdoesnot
includeA.docx.

Size.Thisisthesizeforfilesshowninbytes.Thiscolumnisblankforfolders.

Indent.Fornestedfolders,thisshowsthenumberoffoldersaparticularfolderisnested
fromtheroot.Forexample,ifyouhavecataloguedthefolderC:\MyFolder,then
C:\MyFolder\Folder2is1folderawayfromtherootfolder,andthereforethiscolumnwill
containthenumber1.

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Forfiles,thisshowstheindentofthefolderplus1.Therefore,asthefolder
C:\MyFolder\Folder2is1indentawayfromC:\MyFolder\,then
C:\MyFolder\Folder2\A.docxis2indentsaway.

Created.Thisisthedateandtimethatthefileorfolderwascreated,accordingtoWindows
Explorer.Bearinmindthatthismaynotbereliableasthemostappropriatecreation
date/time.Forexample,itmaybethedate/timethatitwascreatedonanindividual
computer,asopposedtowhenitwasoriginallycreated.

Alternatively,itmaynotbetherelevantdateforthefile.Forexample,ifyoucopyanemail
fromMicrosoftOutlooktoMicrosoftWindows,thisdate/timeofthefileiswhenthecopying
wasdone,insteadofwhentheemailwassent/received.

Amorereliabledatemaybecontainedinthemetadata,whichmaybeobtainablewith
FilecatsProfessional.

LastWritten.Thisisthedateandtimethatthefileorfolderwaslastwritten,accordingto
WindowsExplorer.Morereliabledate/timemaybeavailableintheFilecatsProfessional
metadata.

LastAccessed.Thisisthedateandtimethatthefileorfolderwaslastaccessed,accordingto
WindowsExplorer.Morereliabledate/timemaybeavailableintheFilecatsProfessional
metadata.

Folder.ThisisahyperlinktoWindowsExplorer,andwillopentherelevantfolder.

Hyperlinks Changing the Relative Path

Therearetwotypesofhyperlinks,onetoafile(whichopensinaprogrammeinstalledonyour
computer)andonetoafolder(whichopensinWindowsExplorer).
Bydefault,thisreferstotheoriginalfolderandfileslocation.Forexample,ifyoucatalogue
C:\MyFolder\,andthehyperlinktoFolder2\A.docxwillopentheWorddocument
C:\MyFolder\Folder2\A.docx.Youcanseethisbyhoveringoverthehyperlink.Somecharactersin
thehoveredhyperlink,suchas:,maybealteredfortechnicalreasons.

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ItcanbeseenthatthefolderwhichhasbeencalculatedisC:\MyFolder,andthefileiscontainedin
C:\MyFolder\Folder2\A.docx,andthehyperlinkshowsC:\MyFolder\Folder2\A.docx(albeitthat
thecolonhasbeenconvertedinto%3A,whichincomputertermsisthesame).
However,whathappensifyoumovethefolders.Forexample,whatifyoucatalogueafolder,then
putitonCD,orviceversa?Orifyouarchiveitontoanexternalharddrive.Thenthehyperlinkwillno
longerwork.
Forexample,ifthespreadsheetissavedintoC:\MyFolder,thefolderthatwascatalogued,and
thenallthefilesandfoldersaremovedontoaEdriveintoE:\MyFolder,thenthehyperlinkswillno
longerwork.

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DespitethefilesbeingmovedtotheEdrive,thehyperlinkreferstotheCdrive.Ifthehyperlinkis
clicked,yougetthefollowingmessage:

Therefore,thehyperlinksneedtobechanged.ThisiseasilydoneinFilecats.
CellsF1andG1showwheretheoriginalrootfolder:

However,OriginalPathisnottheonlyoption.IfyouclickinsidecellF1,anarrowappearsinthe
bottomrightofthecell(orthebottomleftofthenextcell):

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Clickingonthisarrowgivesthreeoptions:

OriginalPathisareferencetotheoriginalrootfolder.IfyoucataloguedC:\MyFolder,thiswillbe
C:\MyFolder.
ChangingthistotheSpreadsheetPathchangesthereferencetothepathwherethespreadsheetis
saved.Forexample,ifyousavedthespreadsheetintoC:\MyFolder,itwillsaveC:\MyFolder.If
yousavethespreadsheetinadifferentlocation,orifyoumovethatspreadsheetinWindows
Explorer,thennexttimeyouopenthatspreadsheet,itwillbeupdated.
Inthiscase,thespreadsheetwassavedintherootfolder,C:\MyFolder.Thentheentirefolderwas
movedtotheEdrive.
Openingthespreadsheetshowsthe
follows:

Thisisbecausetheoriginalpath
remainsunchanged.
However,ifyouclickinsidecellF1,
thenclickthedropdownarrow,then
clickSpreadsheetPath,cellG1is
updated:

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Nowthehyperlinksareupdated:

Alternatively,youcanuseacustom
path.IfyouclickinsidecellF1,then
clickthedropdownarrow,thenclick
CustomPath,youwillthenseethe
following:

TheCustomPathiscurrentlyblank.If
youopenthesecondspreadsheetin
thisworkbook,theInput
spreadsheet,youwillseethe
following:

YoucanthenenteryourCustomPath
intocellB5.IfIenter
g:\MyCustomPathintocellB5

theCustomPathisupdated.

Thehyperlinksareupdated:

Thisgivesmaximumflexibility.

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Youcancreateacatalogueandsaveitintherootfolder,oranywhere,andthehyperlinks
willworkaslongasthefilesremaininthesameplace.
Youcancreateacatalogueandsaveintherootfolder,andifyouchangethepathto
Spreadsheetpaththen,ifyoumovethecatalogueandthedatatoanewlocation,aslong
asthecatalogueismovedtothenewrootfolder,thehyperlinkswillwork.Thiscanbeused
forCDsandforarchiving.
Youcancreateacatalogueanduseacustompath.Aslongasitismaintainedandthefiling
structureandthefilesremainintact,thenthehyperlinkswillwork.
Moreofthiscanbeseenonofthevideosonourwebsite.Pleaseclickheretoseeit.
Hyperlinks Hash/Pound Sign, and Long Path/Filenames
The#symbol,knownvariouslyasahashorpoundsign,issometimesusedinfolderandfile
names,especiallyinAmerica,whereitisusedasasynonymforthewordnumber.
However,itisareservedcharacterinMicrosoftExcel,andgenerallycannotbeusedinhyperlinks.
ThisisalimitationofMicrosoftExcel.Therefore,anyhyperlinkwithahashinthefolderstructureor
thefilenamewillnotwork.
However,FilecatsusesanalternativesystemofcodingwhichmeansthatitcanworkinExcel2010or
later.Forexample,thishyperlinkwillfailinExcel2007,butsucceedinExcel2010.

Additionally,MicrosoftWindowshasaproblemwhenthecombinationoffolders(knownasa
path)plusthefilename(withtheextension)is256characterslongormore.Youmaygeterrorsin
WindowsExplorersuchasthis:

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Forexample,thecombinationofthispathandfilenameis256characters:

Ifthecombinationofpathandfilenameis256charactersorlonger,thenthehyperlinksmaynot
work,andthefiletype,attributes,size,index,datesandmetadatamaynotbecaptured.
Thesefilescanbeidentified.ThehyperlinkwillnotsayOpen,andadefaultsizeandindentof1
bytesanddefaultdatesof1/0/190012:00:00AMmaybeinsertediftheycannotberead.

ThisisalimitationofWindowsExplorer.Ifthishappens,youmaywishtoshortenthepathorfile
names.
Metadata
FilecatsProfessionalcanalsoimportmetadata.
Thecolumnheadersarecategorisedinthedifferentheadingsshownonpage5above.Moredetails
ofthemetadatacanbefoundonourwebsite,www.filecats.co.uk.
Standardmetadataincludethefollowing:

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MicrosoftOfficemetadataincludethefollowing:

Photographandpicturemetadataincludethefollowing:

Audio/videometadataincludethefollowing:

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EmailMSGmetadataincludethefollowing:

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Moreinformationaboutmetadataandvideosareincludedonourwebsite,www.filecats.co.uk.
Thank you
ThankyouforinstallingFilecats.Pleaseenjoythe7dayfreetrial.Ifyoufindituseful,pleasebuya
yearlylicense.
Afteracoupleofdays,whenyoustartFilecats,youwillseeamessagewhichwillhaveahyperlink
enablingyoutobuyayearlylicense.
Ifyouhaveanyquestionsorcomments,pleaseletmeknowbygoingtoourwebsiteandclickingthe
NowChattingbuttonatthebottomright:

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Legalbit:AnycommentsmadeorquestionsaskedwillbecomethecopyrightofFilecats
Limited.FilecatsLimitedmayuseanycommentsforpublicitypurposes,unlessotherwise
stated.
IhopeyouenjoyFilecatsStandardorFilecatsProfessional,andhopeyouwillfinditasusefulasIdo
everyday.
ManualVersion1.0.