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1992-10-18
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SIMDIR
Version 2.2 (C) 1991-1992 Christopher Schmidt
cschmidt@lynx.northeastern.edu
PROGRAM DESCRIPTION
The program SIMDIR displays the file SIMIBM.IDX, which contains a list
of the files in the MSDOS directories in the SIMTEL20 archive. You
can browse through the list by moving a highlight bar and by pressing
function keys.
The file is displayed as a two-level hierarchy. The upper (initial)
level consists of a list of directories, and the lower level consists
of a list of files within a single directory. At the lower level, you
can move directly to the next or previous directory by pressing a
single key, and you can search across directory for strings of text,
and you can copy selected entries to a "log" file. At either level,
you can exclude all files that were uploaded before a specified date.
PROGRAM INSTALLATION
The file SIMIBM.IDX is stored in compressed format in a file named
SIMIBM.ZIP, which is stored in the SIMTEL20 archive in the directory
PD1:<MSDOS.FILEDOCS>. You must download and un-compress this file
before you can use the SIMDIR program.
The SIMDIR program can display other data files that have the same
format as SIMIBM.IDX. The file name SIMIBM.IDX is simply the default
value for an optional command line parameter.
The SIMDIR installation package includes a file named COLOR.CON, which
defines an alternate color scheme. If you have a color monitor and
you want to try the alternate color scheme, which is more festive than
the default color scheme, rename the file COLOR.CON to SIMDIR.CON
before running the program. If you choose not to use COLOR.CON, you
can delete that file from your installation. In any case, you can
modify all colors from inside the program.
PROGRAM EXECUTION
You can execute the program just by typing SIMDIR at the DOS prompt,
providing that the data file SIMIBM.IDX is in the current DOS default
directory. You can use optional command line parameters to override
the default directories and file names. If you intend to use the
defaults, you can skip reading the rest of this section, which is a
bit thick with detail.
The SIMDIR program takes three optional command line parameters
(described below). Here is what the command line would look like if
you typed the default values for all parameters:
SIMDIR SIMIBM.IDX SIMIBM.X SIMDIR.CON
Methods for specifying the program file name parameters:
o If you prefer not to set the default directory or type any
command line parameters every time you execute the program,
you can create a batch file that executes the program.
o To specify just the file locations, you need only type the
location (drive and directory) portion of the first file name;
the locations of the other files would default to that. For
instance, if all three files are located in C:\SIMTEL\, then
you could execute the program from any directory by typing:
SIMDIR C:\SIMTEL\
o Instead of typing the file name parameters on the command
line, you can specify any or all file names by defining DOS
environment symbols. Example:
SET SIMDAT=C:\SIMTEL\SIMIBM.IDX
SET SIMDEX=C:\SIMTEL\SIMIBM.X
SET SIMCON=C:\SIMTEL\SIMDIR.CON
To specify just the file locations, you need only define
SIMDAT; the locations of the other files would default to
that. Command line parameters override environment symbols.
Command line parameter descriptions:
(1) Data file specification.
You may type any portion of the complete file specification,
including the drive, directory, name, and extension. The
defaults for drive and directory are the current DOS system
defaults. The default name is SIMIBM and the default
extension is IDX.
(2) Index file specification.
You may type any portion of the complete file specification,
including the drive, directory, name, and extension. The
defaults for drive, directory, and name are those of the data
file, and the default extension is X.
The program uses the index file to locate the start of each
directory in the data file. The program creates the index
file if it does not exist, or if its signature does not match
that of the data file. It takes about one minute to create
the index file. The index file is about 8000 bytes in size
for the current version of the data file SIMIBM.IDX, which
itself is about 800,000 bytes in size.
(3) Configuration file specification.
You may type any portion of the complete file specification,
including the drive, directory, name, and extension. The
defaults for drive and directory are those of the index file.
The default name is SIMDIR and the default extension is CON.
The configuation file contains your screen color selections.
If you do not change the colors, then there is no need for a
configuration file. It is not an error if the program cannot
not find the configuration file. If the configuration file
does not exist, the program will create the configuration file
when you instruct the program to "save" your color selections.
INDEX FILE SIGNATURES
This section is somewhat technical.
When you download a new version of the data file after having used
this program with a previous version of the data file, this program
usually detects that the index file is out of date. It does this by
comparing a "signature" stored in the index file with the proper
signature for the data file. The signature contains the data file's
size and time stamp.
When the program opens an existing index file, it reads the signature
stored there; if the signature is unrecognized, or if its time and
size components do not match those of the data file, then the program
concludes that the index file should be rewritten. Before overwriting
an old index file, the program asks for confirmation, to avoid
destroying something valuable.
If you should notice that the program does not create a new index file
when accessing a new version of the data file, you should terminate
the program, delete the index file, and start the program again.
LOGICAL NAMES
This program supports the use of "logical names" in place of actual
directory names and file names. The following description of logical
names is rather technical; however, using logical names is entirely
optional, so you can skip this section if you like.
Logical names are DOS environment symbols. (You create and display
DOS environment symbols using the SET command in the DOS command
interpreter.) When a logical name is used in a file specification,
the logical name must be followed by a colon if you want this program
to replace the logical name with its associated string from the DOS
environment. You can use logical names in this program's command line
parameters and in output log file names.
For example, suppose you define a DOS environment symbol like this:
SET SMF=C:\SIMTEL\MSDOS\FILEDOCS\
You can then invoke this program with a command line like this:
SIMDIR SMF:
The effect would be exactly as though you had typed this:
SIMDIR C:\SIMTEL\MSDOS\FILEDOCS\
Wherever a colon appears in a file specification, if the token to the
left of the colon is a DOS environment symbol, then the symbol and the
colon are replaced by the translation; otherwise, the symbol and the
colon remain in place, so actual drive names are not affected. This
works much like a macro processor. The colon can be followed by the
remaining portion of a complete directory specification or file
specification. Syntactically, the logical name is identical to the
drive name portion of a complete DOS file specification, except that
logical names are not limited to single letters.
AUTHORSHIP AND OWNERSHIP
This program is not public domain, but it is free of charge and it may
be freely distributed, provided (a) this document is included, (b) the
program and document are not modified in any way, and (c) no profit is
made from the distribution. The program was written by me, it is my
property, and I retain all rights. No warranties are implied or
expressed, and so on. It would please me very much to hear any
comments you have regarding this program.
Christopher Schmidt
cschmidt@lynx.northeastern.edu
Waltham, Massachusetts, USA
REVISIONS
Version 2.0 July 1991
This was the first version. I changed the version number of the
first version from 1.0 to 2.0 when I realized that in the file
name SIMDIR10.ZIP, the numeral "1" might be confused with the
letter "I". The fact that the name SIMDIR20 is similar to the
name SIMTEL20 is a nice coincidence.
Version 2.1 February 1992
o The program now displays file sizes greater than one megabyte.
One of my correspondents kindly informed me that the BIBLE
directory in SIMIBM.IDX has two files whose sizes exceed one
megabyte.
o The program now stores a "signature" in the index file to help
ensure that the index file is valid and that it matches the
current data file. One of my correspondents generously helped
me to understand that the previous method for ensuring index
file integrity was inadequate.
o The program now supports the use of DOS environment symbols as
logical names in file specifications.
Version 2.2 October 1992
o You can now modify the screen colors. Your screen color
selections are stored in a program configuration file.
o I moved the command descriptions from the program document
into the program itself. I hope the online help now contains
all the information you need (date formats and the like) to
type appropriate command parameters.
o You can now use DOS environment symbols to specify the program
file name parameters, without having to type any parameters on
the command line.
o When you use the Select command (which excludes files older
than a specified date) at file-list level, the date
restriction now applies to directory-list level as well. In
previous versions, the program applied the date restriction
only to the current directory.
o At the file-list level, if either of the search commands
cannot find the specified string within the current directory,
the program now asks whether you want to search the remaining
directories. In previous versions, the program searched
remaining directories without asking.
o When the program prompts for a command parameter, you can
press the up and down arrow keys to scroll through a list of
your previous responses.
o The behavior of the program in response to the PGUP and PGDN
keys is a little different. I hope this new version is more
convenient.