Editing DOS Navigator

{{Short description|File manager for DOS, OS/2 and Windows}}
{{Infobox software
| logo                   = 
| screenshot             = DOS Navigator.png
| caption                = Screenshot of DOS Navigator
| author                 = Stefan Tanurkov, Andrew Zabolotny, Sergey Melnik (initial release)
| developer              = Ritlabs
| released               = {{Start date and age|1991}}
| latest release version = {{wikidata|property|preferred|references|edit|Q1250911|P348|P548=Q2804309}}
| latest release date    = {{wikidata|qualifier|preferred|single|Q1250911|P348|P548=Q2804309|P577}}
| latest preview version = {{wikidata|property|preferred|references|edit|Q1250911|P348|P548=Q51930650}}
| latest preview date    = {{wikidata|qualifier|preferred|single|Q1250911|P348|P548=Q51930650|P577}}
| programming language   = [[Turbo Pascal]], [[Turbo Vision]]
| operating_system       = [[DOS]], [[OS/2]], [[Windows]]
| genre                  = [[Orthodox file manager]]
| license                = [[BSD licenses|BSD-3-Clause]]
| website                = {{URL|ritlabs.com/en/products/dn/}}
}}

'''DOS Navigator''' ('''DN''') is an [[orthodox file manager]] for [[DOS]], [[OS/2]], and [[Microsoft Windows|Windows]].

== Influence ==
DOS Navigator is an influential early implementation of orthodox file manager (OFM). By implementing three additional types of [[virtual file system]]s (VFS): [[XTree]], Briefcase and list-based, DN launched a new generation of OFMs. It offers unlimited panels and many new important features, making it one of the most powerful (and complex) OFMs.<ref name="Bezroukov_2011_DN"/>

== History ==
The initial version of DN I (v 0.90) was released in 1991, and written by Stefan Tanurkov, Andrew Zabolotny and Sergey Melnik (all from [[Chișinău]], [[Moldova]]). After that, DN was rewritten using [[Turbo Vision]] by Stefan Tanurkov and Dmitry Dotsenko (Dotsenko developed DN at [[Moscow State University]]). These versions are sometimes referred as DN II.

In 1993, Slava Filimonov invited Stefan to join him to continue producing and publishing DN with joint efforts. Slava programmed new components, design and made countless optimizations and improvements. He wrote a new [[software key]] protection system that remained unbroken for almost four years after its introduction.<ref name="Fravia_1997"/>

DN II was actively developed until the start of 1995, until version 1.35.<ref name="Bezroukov_2011_DN"/> Several other programmers participated in development after version 1.35. Starting from version 1.37, Filimonov and Ilya Bagdasarov were in charge of bug-fixing. Filimonov and Bagdasarov solely maintained, developed and released versions 1.37 through 1.39. After they left, DN was maintained again by Tanurkov and Maxim Masiutin.

In 1998, the development mostly took a bug-fixing direction as Ritlabs' product [[The Bat!]] became a more promising software product with much better commercial potential. The last [[shareware]] version was 1.50. In late 1999, Ritlabs decided to make version 1.51 of the DOS Navigator completely free with freely available [[source code]].

Several open source DN branches currently exist including win32/dpmi/os2 version "dn/2"<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.dnosp.com/ |title = DOS Navigator Open Source Project}}</ref> and Linux [[porting|port]] attempt "dn2l".<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://github.com/unxed/dn2l/|title=Dn2l|website=[[GitHub]]|date=8 November 2021}}</ref>

== Disadvantages ==
The original DN contains a large amount of [[Assembler (computing)|assembler]] code, complicating ports to other platforms. The cross-platform version, DN OSP, in turn, is tied to the [[Virtual Pascal]] [[compiler]] and [[runtime library]], which are no longer supported. No version of DN as of January 2022 supports [[Unicode]] on platforms other than Windows, although cross-platform implementation of [[Turbo Vision]] for Pascal with Unicode support exists.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|lang=en|url=https://gitlab.com/freepascal.org/fpc/source/-/issues/21373|title=Free Vision for linux platform does not properly display the Russian language. (#21373) · Issues · FPC / FPC / FPC Source|website=GitLab|access-date=2022-02-07}}</ref> The source code license is compromised.

=== Source code license ===
DN source code was published under the 3-clause [[BSD license]]. However, the code included an implementation of the [[Turbo Vision]] library based on the version from the [[Turbo Pascal]] distribution, and the latter was never released under a license that allows creation of derivative works. In addition,  DN OSP contains modified parts of the [[Virtual Pascal]] runtime library, while the license for Virtual Pascal itself prohibits distribution of modified versions, however, it is not clear whether this applies only to the compiler or to the runtime library too.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://github.com/unxed/dn2l|title = Dn2l|website = [[GitHub]]|date = 2 February 2022}}</ref>

== Legacy ==
[[File:Spreadsheet Dos Navigator.jpg|thumb|Spreadsheet in DOS Navigator]]
Other groups release software based on the DN open source code, including features such as support for [[long filename]]s, and support for [[Linux]].

* DN 1.51 650&nbsp;KB for [[Win32]] & OS/2 - Sources (Virtual Pascal) (972,655)
* DOS Navigator [http://www.dnosp.com/ Open Source Project] (ODN)
* [https://github.com/unxed/dn2l dn2l] Linux port based on DN OSP source code
* DN OSP 6.4.0 1&nbsp;MB for DOS/[[DOS Protected Mode Interface|DPMI]] ([[Windows 9x]])
* Necromancer's DOS Navigator (NDN)
* DN 4.9.0 2004 for DOS included in [[Ultimate Boot CD]] (UBCD) v3.4

== See also ==
* [[Orthodox file manager]]
* [[Comparison of file managers]]

== References ==
{{Reflist|refs=
<ref name="Bezroukov_2011_DN">{{cite web |title=Dos Navigator — a breakthrough in VFS development |author-first=Nikolai |author-last=Bezroukov |author-link=Nikolai Bezroukov |publisher=Softpanorama |date=2013-07-07 |work=Less is More: The Orthodox File Manager (OFM) Paradigm |url=http://www.softpanorama.org/OFM/Paradigm/Ch03/dos_navigator.shtml |access-date=2013-10-12 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130416012156/http://www.softpanorama.org/OFM/Paradigm/Ch03/dos_navigator.shtml |archive-date=2013-04-16 }}</ref>
<ref name="Fravia_1997">{{cite web |title=DOS Navigator v1.50: how to spy our targets |author-first=Francesco |author-last=Vianello |author-link=Francesco Vianello |date=1997-12-10 |work=[[Fravia]]'s page of reverse engineering |url=http://www.woodmann.com/fravia/fp_dosna.htm |access-date=2018-09-10 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20180911023943/http://www.woodmann.com/fravia/fp_dosna.htm |archive-date=2018-09-11 }} (NB. DN as an example of DOS cracking.)</ref>
}}

== External links ==
* {{Official website|http://www.ritlabs.com/en/products/dn/<!-- https://archive.today/20170315021359/https://www.ritlabs.com/en/products/dn/ -->}}
* [http://www.softpanorama.org/OFM/Paradigm/Ch03/dos_navigator.shtml<!-- https://archive.today/20130416012156/http://www.softpanorama.org/OFM/Paradigm/Ch03/dos_navigator.shtml --> DN Line - a Breakthrough in VFS], Softpanorama
* [http://www.dnosp.com/e_index.php<!-- https://archive.today/20130102123329/http://www.dnosp.com/ --> DOS Navigator Open Source Project]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20170924022712/http://dn2.byte.nsk.su/ DOS Navigator/2 Open Source Project ver. 2]
* [http://www.ndn.muxe.com/download/<!-- https://archive.today/20180911024812/http://ndn.muxe.com/index.php --> Necromancer's DOS Navigator], Branch of original DOS Navigator it currently runs on DOS, Windows and Linux
* [https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/0B_wEiYjzVkC0ZGtkbENENzF1Nms?resourcekey=0-sanKRVNJrVNVW1O50JaurA Necromancer's DOS Navigator new versions also 64-bit DOS and Windows]
{{file managers}}

[[Category:Orthodox file managers]]
[[Category:Free file managers]]
[[Category:DOS software]]
[[Category:Software using the BSD license]]
[[Category:OS/2 software]]
[[Category:Software using Turbo Vision]]