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CD ROM Paradise Collection 4
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CD ROM Paradise Collection 4 1995 Nov.iso
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flmas350.zip
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FMCONFIG.DOC
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1995-01-15
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F L O P P Y M A S T E R
Version 3.5
*** CONFIG PROGRAM ***
This document will briefly explain how to use Floppy Master's configuration
program, FMCONFIG.EXE. It should be located in the same directory as main
FMASTER.EXE file (it may be renamed) and FMASTER.CFG file (it will be
created the first time you save configuration, if it does not exist yet).
You may use the /BW switch to force config program in the monochrome mode,
if autodetection fails to detect it properly.
1. Registering Floppy Master
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Floppy Master uses key registration codes to register shareware version of
Floppy Master for personal usage. When you have received your registration
code, start the config program and in main menu choose the first option
(Register Floppy Master).
A form will pop up, asking you to enter the key code and your name,
surname and address. All this data is necessary to register program and
without filling the entire form out you will not be able to continue.
Besides that, each key code is prepared for each registered user separately
and includes his/hers initials. If initials in key code do not match those
of name and surname you have entered, program will not allow you to
register.
Press F10 when form is properly filled out (or press ESC if you don't
want to continue with the registration process). If there is nothing wrong,
config program will try to patch the main EXE file to register it. If you
have renamed or moved EXE file to other location, config program will not be
able to find it and you will be prompted to enter full path and filename.
You should enter something like 'C:\FMASTER\FMASTER.EXE'.
After that, you should be notified that Floppy Master is successfully
registered. If you still have problems registering Floppy Master, contact
the author to work it out.
2. Archivers setup
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
In this section, you can setup your own archivers for Floppy Master to work
with. Floppy Master will be able to add to the database files inside archive
files, too. Any archiver program will do, as long as it complies to
following conditions:
- It must be able to produce list of files in given archive file. List of
files must be arranged in columns, separated by spaces and it must include
filename and file size.
- DOS redirection must be supported by archiver program when generating file
list. Floppy Master tries to redirect archiver output in the file and it
analyzes it later. You may check if your archiver support this by typing
something like that (this is for ZIP archiver):
PKUNZIP -V TEST.ZIP > FILELIST.TXT <Enter>
A file FILELIST.TXT should be created, containing files in TEST.ZIP.
The following archivers have been successfully tested with Floppy Master:
ZIP, ARJ, UC2, LZH, LIM, ARC, RAR.
* Archiver RAR seems to have some troubles on some machines. In general, it
works just fine, but there were some cases of hanging machine up when
browsing archive. It is not clear yet if this is bug in RAR or in Floppy
Master...
* Archiver LIMIT (LIM) is not compatible with Floppy Master, since it does
not fully support DOS redirection.
After selecting option in the main menu, you will be presented list of
currently supported archivers. Move the selection bar to empty space to add
a new archiver, or pick existing one to modify setup, and press Enter.
A dialog box will show up to enter archivers data. Extension is used to
identify archiver type (like ZIP, ARJ etc.) Wild chars like '*' and '?' are
not supported at the moment. File name and file size columns tell program
where to look for data in file listings, produced by archiver (description
of these follows). Command line to display files in the archive is what you
have to type to get list of files in the archive file. Replace the archiver
filename with !F. !F must be present in the command line, since it stands
for filename to look inside it.
For PkZip archiver, that line should be:
PKUNZIP.EXE -V !F
This line should produce something like that:
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
PKUNZIP (R) FAST! Extract Utility Version 2.04g 02-01-93
Copr. 1989-1993 PKWARE Inc. All Rights Reserved. Shareware Version
PKUNZIP Reg. U.S. Pat. and Tm. Off.
■ 80486 CPU detected.
■ EMS version 4.00 detected.
■ XMS version 2.00 detected.
■ DPMI version 0.90 detected.
Searching ZIP: FM310.ZIP
Length Method Size Ratio Date Time CRC-32 Attr Name
------ ------ ----- ----- ---- ---- -------- ---- ----
51513 DeflatX 50427 3% 09-27-94 05:51 47a31e8d --w- FMASTER.EXE
9807 DeflatX 3766 62% 09-03-94 10:35 9aeb2441 --w- WHATSNEW.DOC
26561 DeflatX 9918 63% 09-27-94 05:50 6928928a --w- MANUAL.HLP
458 DeflatX 259 44% 09-04-94 07:02 e45179d7 --w- FILE_ID.DIZ
------ ------ --- -------
88339 64370 28% 4
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Now, back to filename in file size columns. The output produced by archiver
program is divided in columns, as length, method, size etc. Floppy Master
will need to know which column is for filenames and which is filled with
files original sizes. For PkZip archiver, the proper columns are no. 9 for
filenames and no. 1 for file sizes:
51513 DeflatX 50427 3% 09-27-94 05:51 47a31e8d --w- FMASTER.EXE
^^^^^ ^^^^^^^ ^^^^^ ^^^ ^^^^^^^^ ^^^^^ ^^^^^^^^ ^^^^ ^^^^^^^^^^^^
No.1 No.2 No.3 No.4 No.5 No.6 No.7 No.8 No.9
*******************
NOTE THIS !!!
*******************
If filename is displayed in two columns, like
README DOC
TEST ZIP
FMASTER EXE,
count this as one single column! Floppy Master will figure it out that those
two fits together and will handle them as one! UltraCompressor II (UC2) is
an example of archiver which produces such output.
When all data in the dialog box is filled in, press ESC to update and return
to archiver list. If you would like to cancel changes in the dialog box,
press the F10 key.
******************************************
If something does not work as it should...
******************************************
If any of the settings are not in order, program will most likely respond by
not recognizing archive files (on the file list, files will not have the
"Arc" attribute set after modifying data and will behave as all other normal
files). If this happens, check the following:
- check if command line you have entered works. Write the same one at
command prompt and check if it works. Try to redirect the resulting list
in the file (as mentioned above) to check if archiver is compatible with
Floppy Master. Remember, if your archiver program is not in the path, you
must specify full path to the program.
- check again if column numbers in the file list match those in the config
program. This is most likely to be the cause of an error. Again, archiver
program must be able to produce file list in text format, one line for
each file in the archive (no empty lines between files or something).
- if archiver is none of those tested with Floppy Master, it may be possible
that program can not recognize column structure correctly. If you suspect
this might be the case, contact the author and provide him with file
listing, generated by your nonworking archiver.
3. Enable browsing archive files
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
If archive file browsing is enabled, Floppy Master will try to collect list
of files inside archive files such as ZIP, ARJ, etc. when modifying disk
data. If option is disabled, archive files are treated as all the others.
You may also set this option in Floppy Master, too, before starting the
process of collecting data.
Enabling this option will make modifying disk data much slower, since
program has to call an external archiver for each archive file it finds.
Also, database size may expand in size for few times if archive browsing is
enabled. It is recommended that you turn archive browsing off in the config
program and manually turn it on in Floppy Master only when you are going to
modify disk data for disks with archive files you would like to browse
trough when in the database.
When modifying disk data for CD-ROMs, it is strongly recommended that you
don't enable archive browsing. You may wait even for an hour or so for
process to complete and end up with very large database.
4. Auto file descriptions
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
This is another option that applies to modifying disk data. If auto file
descriptions are enabled, Floppy Master will search for FILES.BBS and
DESCRIPT.ION and try to import file descriptions from there. Enabling this
option will also increase time to complete operation.
Keep in mind that databases with a lot of file descriptions are very large
and slow to modify, so try using file descriptions with some sense.
5. Size of memory file buffers
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Floppy Master uses kind of virtual memory to handle databases. An important
part of memory management are file buffers, used to improve speed when
working with database. File buffers should be as large as possible, but
small enough to leave some memory still free for program to work with.
Default setting is up to 60% of program memory dedicated to file buffers.
This should do in most cases, however if you run out of memory, make file
buffers smaller. You can also minimize file buffers, leaving them just 4kB
of memory and have as much free memory as possible in cost of some
degradation in program speed.
6. Create file index
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
When browsing disk in a large database, it may take a while for program to
find files for a chosen disk. If file index creating is enables, Floppy
Master will create index of files every time you choose do display disk
info (this will take an extra second or two), but disk browsing will be
considerably faster. If you don't intend to browse disks a lot or your
database in quite small, you should probably disable file index.
7. Confirm disk data overwrite
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
If you try to modify disk data in the database, existing disk data for that
disk is normally replaced with the new one. If you like to, you may enable
this option and program will request that you confirm disk data replacement.
Recommended is not to bother with this, just turn it off.
8. Archive files and optimization
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
When optimizing floppy disks, there are two ways to treat archive files. If
archive files are treated as directories, they may be moved to another
location without any connection to other files in the directory. If they are
treated as normal files, they are only a part of directory and may not be
separated from other files in the directory.
Be advised: if you instruct Floppy Master to treat archive files as
standalone directories, program will need much greater memory resources to
successfully complete the task. Optimizing disks is a very complex task and
requires a lot of free memory - adding so many extra directories to handle
may simply be too much.
9. Display type (mono, color)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
With this option, you may force Floppy Master to work in color or monochrome
mode, or leave the decision to the program.
10. Time format
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Nothing much to say, choose between 12-hour and 24-hour time format display
in the status line.
*************************************************************************
* Remember to save configuration when exiting config program *
*************************************************************************