CD ROM Paradise Collection 4/CD ROM Paradise Collection 4 1995 Nov.iso/filutil/pagin501.zip/BRUCE501.DOC

Text File | 1995-01-11 | 31KB | 643 lines

BRUCE501.DOC
01/11/95

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Contact information:

For the following routines:  AV, BFIND, COPSINCE, DATES, DIRCOMP, DIRTOTAL,
FILL, FIXTEXT, FORTUNE, MULTICOL, PAGINATE, READINIT, and READMAKE-created
files:

                Bruce Guthrie
                Wayne Software
                113 Sheffield St.
                Silver Spring, MD 20910

                fax: [phone]

For the following routines:  CHANGE, CONVERT, FILUPDAT, ISAMFIND/ISAMMAKE, and
READ:

                Bruce Guthrie
                Room H-4885
                U.S. Dept of Commerce/ESA/OBA
                Washington, DC 20230

                fax: [phone]

                E-Mail: [e-mail]

Foreign users:  Please provide an Internet-reachable e-mail address in all
correspondence if you have any hope of getting a reply!  Internet e-mail is the
preferred method of contact for all other users as well.  Remember, CompuServe
and Prodigy are now Internet accessible.

Since these programs are typically "freeware" (with the exception of people
trying to make money from them instead of me), they generate maybe $100/year in
revenue for me.  As such, my ability to afford wonderful customer support is
somewhat restricted.  Please do not leave messages saying "Call me long
distance".  Also, please be specific about what problems you encounter and
include command-line inputs as well as any control or INI files that you're
using.

The "production" releases of these programs are posted directly by me (Bruce
Guthrie, the author) on the Simtel ftp site at oak.oakland.edu.  More
information about locations at this site is provided later.  People are
encouraged to upload them to bulletin board systems but I do not upload them to
BBS's myself.

Standard disclaimer in this society:  Wayne Software disclaims all warranties as
to this software, whether express or implied, including without limitation any
implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose,
functionality, data integrity or protection.

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Introduction:

This documentation provides some overview information on a number of utilities
that have been posted by Wayne Software.  All programs described herein were
written by Bruce Guthrie.  Most are distributed with a Wayne Software copyright.
Others were written for the U.S. Department of Commerce.  All are free for use
provided relevant documentation is kept with the programs, no changes are made
to the programs or documentation, and they are not bundled with commercial
programs or charged for separately.

CHANGE, CONVERT, FILUPDAT, ISAMFIND/ISAMMAKE, and READ are excluded from the
commercial packaging restriction.  These programs are owned by the U.S.
Department of Commerce and may be re-distributed without restriction.

People who need to bundle AV, BFIND, COPSINCE, DATES, DIRCOMP, DIRTOTAL, FILL,
FIXTEXT, FORTUNE, MULTICOL, PAGINATE, READINIT, or READMAKE files in commercial
packages other than shareware/freeware collections must pay a $50 registration
fee to "Wayne Software" at the following address.  READMAKE-created files are
also subject to this limitation.  I don't expect to make any money from these
utilities but I don't want others to sell them instead.

The utilities are uploaded with a ZIP name that includes the year and month of
the release.  The year and month are represented as "ymm" below.

         ZIP file         Executables included

         AVymm.ZIP        AV.EXE
         BFINDymm.ZIP     BFIND.EXE
         CHANGymm.ZIP     CHANGE.EXE
         CONVRymm.ZIP     CONVERT.EXE
         COPSymm.ZIP      COPSINCE.EXE
         DATESymm.ZIP     DATES.EXE
         DIRCOymm.ZIP     DIRCOMP.EXE
         DIRTOymm.ZIP     DIRTOTAL.EXE
         FILLymm.ZIP      FILL.EXE
         FILUPymm.ZIP     FILUPDAT.EXE
         FIXTXymm.ZIP     FIXTEXT.EXE
         FORTNymm.ZIP     FORTUNE.EXE
         ISAMFymm.ZIP     ISAMMAKE.EXE, ISAMFIND.EXE
         MULCOymm.ZIP     MULTICOL.EXE
         PAGINymm.ZIP     PAGINATE.EXE
         READymm.ZIP      READ.EXE, READINIT.EXE, READMAKE.EXE


This collection of utilities were compiled using Microsoft's Visual BASIC for
DOS 1.0 compiler.  In each case, Thomas G. Hanlin III's excellent PBClone
routines, release 2.3, provided additional functionality.  Since Tom has
announced that he will be dropping support for his PBClone routines to allow
himself to spend time on a real life, future directions for my routines is
uncertain.  The basic routines should be able to be maintained indefinitely;
we'll see.  I keep thinking that I should be doing Windows programming but it's
hard to get psyched up for that when you think of Windows as a computer virus.

Each of the utilities are separately described in a like-named *.DOC file.  This
documentation (BRUCEymm.DOC--the file release date is indicated by the "ymm"
parameter) serves to summarize what the various utilities consist of.

Most of the routines have defaults that can altered by using initialization
files (inifiles).  These are described in the appropriate documentation.  (One
thing about *.INI files; if you don't have one, it's in your interests to
specify the "/-I" parameter.  Otherwise, the program searches your entire DOS
path looking for the file.)

Wayne Software also writes programs, batch files, and sets up menu systems for
people on a for-fee basis.  If you desire this service, contact Wayne Software
at the address specified above.


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Summary of programs:

A summary of each routine follows.  See the associated *.DOC files for fuller
explanations:

AV.EXE:  Archive directory viewer.  Presents list of files in archive (ZIP, ARC,
etc) and lets you sort as desired.  Also allows resetting of the file date based
on the archive's contents.  Syntax:

    AV filespec [ /-P | /P ] [ /Ox | /O-x ] [ /DATE ] [ /Iinitfile | /-I ]
      [ /MOUSE | /-MOUSE ] [ /Q ] [ /? ] [ > filename ]

BFIND.EXE:  Allows Boolean-type FIND requests.  For example, find any line with
one string AND another one, or any line with one string OR another.  The syntax
shown below is incomplete since "search" allows a lot of choices and allows the
use of parens and Boolean operators.  Syntax:

    BFIND [ /V | /-V ] [ /C | /-C ] [ /N | /-N ] [ /I | /-I ] [ /P | /-P ]
      [ /-HEADER | /HEADER ] [ /Iinitfile | /INULL ]
      { search } infile [ /? | /?&H ] [ >filename ]

CHANGE.EXE:  Processes change commands in files.  Files can be of any size and
type (e.g.  binary or text) and are processed quickly.  Up to thirty change
commands can be processed in a single pass.  Also provides ability to remove
trailing spaces from text files.  Syntax:

    CHANGE infile [ /Cctlfile | /FROM string /TO string [ /IN search ] ]
      [ /LINES { line1-line2 | line1 linect } ... ] [ /V | /-V ] [ /I | /-I ]
      [ /Noutfile [ /OVERWRITE | /-OVERWRITE | /OVERASK ] ]
      [ /Iinitfile ] [ /Fflagfile ] [ /Ttempfile ] [ /TRIM | /-TRIM ]
      [ /BINARY | /TEXT ] [ /VERIFY | /-VERIFY ] [ /Q ] [ /? | /?&H ]

CONVERT.EXE:  Converts data between data formats:  FROM dBase, ASCII-delimited
(commas between fields and quotes around strings), and fixed field TO Lotus WKS,
ASCII-delimited, dBase, and fixed field.  Syntax:

    CONVERT infile [ outfile [ deffile ] ]
      [ /INDEF=deffile | /-INDEF ] [ /OUTDEF=deffile | /-OUTDEF ]
      [ /OVERWRITE | /-OVERWRITE | /APPEND | /OVERASK ] [ /Iinitfile | /-I ]
      [ /FROM FIXED | /FROM ASCII | /FROM DBF ] [ /DELETED | /-DELETED ]
      [ /TO FIXED | /TO ASCII | /TO WKS | /TO DBF ] [ /HEADER | /-HEADER ]
      [ /DELIMS=aroundstrings,aroundnums,betweenfields ] [ /BEEP | /-BEEP ]
      [ /INMISS=val ] [ /INMISSC=val ] [ /OUTMISS=val ] [ /OUTMISSC=val ]
      [ /SKIP | /MISSING | /ABORT ] [ /NULLS | /-NULLS ] [ /Q ] [ /? | /?&H ]

COPSINCE.EXE:  Copies all files modified since a given date.  Primarily used for
making sure you have a back-up of stuff and also to copy updated programs to
another place.  Lets you define your own groupings of files if desired.  Syntax:

    COPSINCE [ from_dir | from_dir\filespec [ to_dir ] ] [ /TO to_dir ]
      [ mm/dd/yy | -n | /COPY mm/dd/yy | /COPY -n ] [ /ALL | /TEXT | /filetype ]
      [ /Iinitfile | /-I ] [ /DEF filetype=spec [ spec ]... ]
      [ /REPLACE | /-REPLACE ] [ /BEEP | /-BEEP ] [ /Q ] [ /? ]

DATES.EXE:  Simple program that warns you in advance when an event like a
birthday, anniversary, or holiday is coming up.  The idea is to give you advance
warning so you can send a card or get out of town in time.  Syntax:

    DATES [ date_file [...] ] [ /Ddays ] [ /SKIP | /-SKIP ] [ /DATE=format ]
      [ /DATE | /-DATE ] [ /DAY | /-DAY ] [ /AGE | /-AGE ] [ /CTDOWN | /-CTDOWN ]
      [ /COLOR=nnn nnn nnn ] [ /MONO | /COLOR ] [ /Q | /-Q ] [ /SORT | /-SORT ]
      [ /GLOBAL | /-GLOBAL ] [ /CLS | /-CLS ] [ /P | /Pn | /-P ]
      [ /W | /W0 | /-W ] [ /R ] [ /Iinitfile | /-I ] [ /? ] [ > filename ]

DIRCOMP.EXE:  Similar in some ways to DOS's REPLACE command but adds ability to
delete extra files in the destination subdirectory, copy hidden and system
files, and prepare a report showing inconsistencies.  Syntax:

    DIRCOMP directory1 directory2 [ /S ] [ /CREATE ]
      [ /UPDATE ] [ /KILL ] [ /CLONE ] [ /MOVE ] [ /ATTR=[H][S][R] ] [ /NET ]
      [ /Frptfile | /-F ] [ /OVERWRITE | /APPEND | /-OVERWRITE | /OVERASK ]
      [ /ALL ] [ /Td: | /Td:\path ] [ /Q ] [ /? ]

DIRTOTAL.EXE:  Prepares report showing files in subdirectory or drive.  Allows
some restriction requests (show only files with date greater than a certain
value).  Similar to Norton's FF and Ray Van Tassle's WIZ command (which is a
great program but it doesn't work on network or CD-ROM discs) in some ways but
presents a more formal report.  Also allows you to look for duplicate file names
and search by attributes or dates.  Syntax:

    DIRTOTAL [ [ drive: ] ... [drive:][filespec] |
        [ drive: ] ... [drive:]\path[\filespec] ]
      [ /NORMAL | /WIDE | /THIN | /SPLIT ] [ /DUPS ] [ /CHILD ]
      [ /NL ] [ /-HEADERS ] [ /-FOOTERS ] [ /CLUSTERS | /-CLUSTERS ]
      [ /S { GT | GE | LT | LE | EQ | NE } value ]
      [ /D { GT | GE | LT | LE | EQ | NE } mm/dd/yy ] [ /ATTR=attr ]
      [ /Frptfile ] [ /Z | /-Z ] [ /Iinitfile | /-I ]
      [ /SUB1 | /-SUB1 ] [ /SUB2 | /-SUB2 ] [ /+DIR | /-DIR ] [ /n ]
      [ /Ox | /O-x ] [ /BEEP | /-BEEP ] [ /Td: ] [ /Q ] [ /? ]

FILL.EXE:  Program designed to move files off to floppy diskettes, taking the
biggest files first and skipping those that won't fit.  Also provides option of
splitting large files up, labeling output disks, and creating a status report.
Syntax:

    FILL [ source-filespec ] [ [ /TO ] dest-drive: | [ /TO ] dest-drive:\path\ ]
      [ /MOVE | /COPY ] [ /PROMPT | /-PROMPT ] [ /Iinitfile | /-I ]
      [ /OVERWRITE | /-OVERWRITE | /OVERSKIP | /OVERASK ]
      [ /Ox | /O-x ] [ /Xfilespec ]... [ /WIPE | /-WIPE ] [ /MULTI | /SINGLE ]
      [ /SPLIT ] [ /LABEL=label [ /START=n ] ] [ /Fstatfile [ /S+ | /S- | S* ]
      [ /CONTINUAL ] [ /TIME | /-TIME ] [ /BEEP | /-BEEP ]
      [ /FAKE ] [ /Q ] [ /? ]

FILUPDAT.EXE:  Program which compares a selected list of files in a source path
against those in another path and copies those that have been updated.  Similar
to DOS' REPLACE command but works from a stored list of files and can handle any
number of directories.  Syntax:

    FILUPDAT ctlfile
      [ /Flist_file [ /OVERWRITE | /APPEND | /-OVERWRITE | /OVERASK ] ]
      [ /FULL ] [ /ALL ] [ /Q ] [ /? ]

FIXTEXT.EXE:  Program which applies a user-definable character-translation table
to a text file.  Can allow you to convert graphics characters to their ASCII
equivalents, lowercase letters to uppercase letter, etc.  Can also be used to
translate DOS text files to Mac or Unix text files and vice versa.  Can also
expand tabs, remove trailing spaces, and remove backspaces.  Syntax:

    FIXTEXT infile { outfile [ /OVERWRITE | /-OVERWRITE | /OVERASK ] |
      /REPLACE } [ /Iinitfile | /-I ] [ /TEXT | /-TEXT ] [ /EJECT=str ]
      [ /CRLF | /CR | /LF | /-LINE ] [ /TO CRLF | /TO CR | /TO LF | /TO -LINE ]
      [ /WIDTH=n ] [ /Frptfile | /-F ] [ /Q ] [ /? | /?&H ]

FORTUNE.EXE:  Program which adds some fine-tuning to the DOS FOR command.
Among other things, this lets you distinguish file name roots from their
extensions as well as increment file names by specified values.  Syntax:

    FORTUNE { IN (set) | IN filespec | /IN (set) | /IN filespec | filespec }
      [ /AS filename ] [ /OVERWRITE | /APPEND | /-OVERWRITE | /OVERASK ]
      [ /VAR=char ] [ /DELIM=chars ] [ /+n | /-n ] [ /S ] [ /Xfilespec ] ...
      [ /ECHO | /-ECHO ] [ /ABEND | /-ABEND ] [ /PAUSE | /-PAUSE ]
      [ /CHECK | /-CHECK ] [ /Iinitfile | /-I ] [ /? ]
      { DO cmd | /DO cmd | cmd }

ISAMFIND.EXE:  Program that works in conjunction with ISAMMAKE.EXE (see below)
to provide full-text searching of text files.  This is useful for helpdesk
applications and other functions where you want to search for files and retrieve
the "best" document that matches your search criteria.  Syntax:

    ISAMFIND [ string [ string ]... ] /Fcorename [ /2 | /3 | /4 | /5 ]
      [ /READ | /Vpgm | /-READ ] [ /TOP=n ] [ /TRUNC | /-TRUNC ]
      [ /ACCEPT=string ] [ /AREA=string ] [ /Xfilename ] [ /SINCE=yymmdd ]
      [ /Ofilename | /-O ] [ /OVERWRITE | /-OVERWRITE | /OVERASK | /APPEND ]
      [ /CONT=string ] [ /PATH | /-PATH ] [ /Iinitfile | /-I ] [ /? ]

ISAMMAKE.EXE:  Program that works in conjunction with ISAMDEMO.EXE (see above)
to create the files necessary for full-text searching.  Syntax:

    ISAMMAKE /Fcorename /Cctlfile [ /C=L | /C=F ] [ /2 | /3 | /4 | /5 ]
      [ /ACCEPT=string ] [ /AREA=string ] [ /CONT=string ] [ /STOP=string ]
      [ /OVERWRITE | /-OVERWRITE | /APPEND | /UPDATE ] [ /SKIP=string ] [ /Td: ]
      [ /Wn ] [ /PACK | /-PACK ] [ /Iinitfile | /-I ] [ /? | /?&H ]

MULTICOL.EXE:  Program creates multiple column listings from straight ASCII
text, ASCII-delimited text, or dBase files.  Also does subtotalling.  Can
also be used to add headers and footers to standard one-column text.  To
be replaced (eventually) by the PAGINATE command.  Syntax:

    MULTICOL infile outfile [ /OVERWRITE | /-OVERWRITE | /OVERASK ]
      [ /DELIM="string" ] [ /LINES=n ] [ /WIDTH=n ] [ /EJECT | /-EJECT ]
      [ /COLUMNS=n ] [ /-WRAP | /WRAP [ /INDENT=n ] | /REFLOW ]
      [ /Iinitfile | /-I ] [ /SETUP="string" ] [ /RESET="string" ]
      [ /{ TITLE | HEADER | FOOTER }[ R | C | L ][ 1 to 5]="text" ]
      [ /{ TITLE | HEADER | FOOTER }{ T | B }="string" ]
      [ /-TITLE ] [ /FROM FIXED | /FROM ASCII | /FROM DBF ] [ /DELETED ]
      [ /INDEF=deffile | /-INDEF ] [ /OUTDEF=deffile | /-OUTDEF ]
      [ /DELIMS=aroundstrings,aroundnums,betweenfields ] [ /BEEP | /-BEEP ]
      [ /SKIP | /MISSING | /ABORT ] [ /GAP=n ] [ /BLANKS | /-BLANKS ] [ /TALLY ]
      [ /INMISS=val ] [ /INMISSC=val ] [ /OUTMISS=val ] [ /OUTMISSC=val ]
      [ /SUM={ col_spec | var_spec } ] [ /BREAK={ col_spec | var_spec } ]
      [ /PRINT={ col_spec | var_spec } ] [ /? | /?&H ]

PAGINATE.EXE:  Program paginates text files, adding titles, footers, indexes,
etc.  Also provides the ability to work with ASCII-delimited text and dBase
files to pop tables into your text.  Can also be used to sort your information
and present it in a multicolumn format.  Syntax:

    PAGINATE infile outfile [ /Cctlfile ] [ /BEEP | /-BEEP ] [ /DEBUG ]
      [ /OVERWRITE | /APPEND | /-OVERWRITE | /OVERASK ] [ /Iinitfile | /-I ]
      [ /marker command ]...
      [ /? ] [ /?&H ]

READ.EXE:  Text file browser.  Supports marking, copying text, reading Unix
and Mac text files, etc.  Only works with files of 16,000 lines or less (maybe
800,000 bytes).  Other text viewers are out there.  This one has some advantage
because it's free!  Syntax:

    READ [ filespec | @flistfile ] [ /TITLE="title" ] [ /DATE=NONE ]
      [ /line ] [ /MONO | /COLOR ] [ /EGA | /VGA ] [ /-MOUSE ] [ /DOS | /-DOS ]
      [ /Iinitfile | /-I ] [ /Q ] [ /PORT=port ] [ /INITT=string ]
      [ /INITW=string ] [ /AFTERP=string ] [ /AFTERF=string ]
      [ /COLOR=nnn nnn nnn nnn ] [ /? ]

READINIT.EXE:  Creates and maintains the READ.INI file which may be used by
READ.EXE, READWK.EXE and any self-viewable file created by READMAKE.EXE.
Syntax:

    READINIT [ /MONO | /COLOR ]
      [ Iinitfile | /-I ] [ /PORT=port ] [ /PTYPE=name ] [ /INITT=string ]
      [ /INITW=string ] [ /AFTERP=string ] [ /AFTERF=string ]
      [ /COLOR=nnn nnn nnn nnn ] [ /? ]

READMAKE.EXE:  Program which takes an ASCII-text file and makes it
self-viewable.  Provides same capabilities as the READ program.  Syntax:

    READMAKE infile [ outfile ] [ /OVERWRITE | /-OVERWRITE | /OVERASK ]
      [ /DATE=FILE | /DATE=TODAY | /DATE=NONE ] [ /TITLE="text" ] [ /? ]


-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Where to find them on the Internet:

In general, I no longer upload utilities to computer bulletin boards.  While
users are encouraged to do so, it's a lot easier for me to post them using ftp
on the Internet.  I post them directly on the Simtel archives at oak.oakland.edu
and they are available there using anonymous ftp.  (This site is also mirrored
at lots of different sites.) Subdirectory names have been undergoing some
revisions out there of late but the directories should stay roughly the same.
The version numbers (indicated by the three digits before the .zip extension)
may change as they reflect the last release date of the program ("409" is
September 1994).  The versions listed below are current as of January 1995.

Off SimTel/msdos/, look for:

     arcutil/av412.zip        Archive view: Free ZIP etc directory viewer
     textutil/bfind501.zip    Boolean FIND command (BFIND BEGIN & END)
     textutil/chang501.zip    Change strings in text files
     spredsht/convr501.zip    Convert dBase, ASCII-delim, fixed, 1-2-3
     dirutil/cops407.zip      Copies files modified since given date
     batutil/dates501.zip     Warns you in advance of birthdays etc
     dirutil/dirco501.zip     Updates files based on source directory
     dirutil/dirto501.zip     Directory lister and totaller
     diskutil/fill501.zip     Stuffs as many files as possible on disk
     dirutil/filup401.zip     Copy updated files based on a control list
     textutil/fixtx407.zip    Translate text file characters en masse
     batutil/fortn411.zip     Fine-tunes DOS FOR command w/options
     textutil/isamf412.zip    Full-text searching help desk documents
     textutil/mulco501.zip    Multicolumn text with headers, dBase supported
     textutil/pagin501.zip    Paginates text (headers, indexes, sorting...)
     textutil/read409.zip     Free viewer, also make any text self-viewing

Note that the versions above are subject to change.  The last three digits
before ".zip" indicate the last digit of the year and the two digit month.
Depending on how often I've updated things, you might find something like a 410
version instead of 409 when you go to look.

If you can't get all of the utilities from your own sources, send $10 to the
address above and I'll send you everything.  Please specify disk size/density
unless you want HD 3.5" diskettes.  If you want to avoid the $10, send me two
HD diskettes in a self-addressed, stamped mailer, and I'll send you everything.
(Again, I'm not out to make money on these.)

Another Wayne Software product, called The DEMO System, is released as a
shareware program.  The DEMO System is a unique system designed to create
text-screen demos, tutorials, help screens, etc.  Look for the file
DEMOSymm.ZIP.  On oak.oakland.edu, it's in SimTel/msdos/ as:

     screen/demos401.zip      Create tutorials, demos, menu systems, etc.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Beta-zoids...  Thanks to:

Beta testers are always desired for these utilities.  You don't get a damned
thing out of being one (which is about what I get for writing them) but it
doesn't cost you much besides an hour or two and lets you have more of an impact
on the future courses of the routines.

In order to be a beta tester, you have to be able to receive uuencoded files via
e-mail (so forget CompuServe and Prodigy people; sorry).  If you're interested,
drop a message to me at [e-mail] and tell me which routine(s) you're
interested in being on the list for.

Existing routines have gotten suggestions, comments, and even complements from
all over the world (definitely something I *love* about the Internet).  No money
of course but the ego's a powerful thing to feed!  (The flamers of course should
be burned at the stake or maybe start writing their own programs instead of
criticizing other people's.) Thanks to (and sorry for screwing up some of these
addresses and for forgetting to put in others)...

CHANGE:         [e-mail]
CHANGE:         [e-mail]
CHANGE:         rallings@[e-mail]
CHANGE:         [e-mail]
CONVERT:        [e-mail]
CONVERT:        [e-mail]
CONVERT:        [e-mail]
CONVERT:        [e-mail]
CONVERT:        [e-mail]
CONVERT:        [e-mail]
DATES:          [e-mail]
DATES:          [e-mail]
DATES:          [e-mail]
DATES:          [e-mail]
DATES:          [e-mail]
DIRCOMP:        [e-mail]
DIRCOMP:        [e-mail]
DIRTOTAL:       [e-mail]
DIRTOTAL:       [e-mail]
DIRTOTAL:       [e-mail]
FILL:           [e-mail]
FILL:           [e-mail]
FILL:           [e-mail]
FORTUNE:        [e-mail]
ISAMFIND:       [e-mail]
MULTICOL:       [e-mail]
READ:           [e-mail]
READ:           [e-mail]


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Revision history:

Detailed revision histories for the programs are only maintained for the last
three releases.  After that, you get the major revision summaries only for the
next three releases.  After that, you get almost nothing.  No one reads this
junk anyway, right?  Programmer types like to put in it in just to justify what
they've been doing over the last couple of years.

--------------
Release 95/01:

All routines:  Dropped references to CONFIGWS.EXE in the documentation.  The
use of *.INI files is strongly recommended although CONFIGWS.EXE should still
work for quite awhile.  Also dropped CONFIGWS.EXE from the distribution
version of BFIND (version 501 and after).

All routines:  Now accept an environmental variable as another way of setting
the desired defaults.  For example, "SET FILL=/-I" sets the default to not look
for an INI file at all.  "SET DATES=/SORT /D20" sets two defaults for the DATE
program.  The environmental variable is totally optional.

BFIND:  Ignored some NOT conditions; fixed it.

CHANGE:  Ignored some NOT conditions; fixed it.

CONVERT:  Now allows dBase files with memo fields to be read; the memo fields
are automatically ignored however.

DATES:  Added the ability to include certain options within a dates input file.
This allows you to change colors and such on the fly.  Specifically, the
following commands can be imbedded within the input file:

        /Ddays            (can also be specified for an individual event)
        /DATE=format
        /DATE   and /-DATE
        /DAY    and /-DAY
        /AGE    and /-AGE
        /CTDOWN and /-CTDOWN
        /COLOR=nnn nnn nnn nnn

Also fixed up an error when you had leap day dates.  This didn't show up last
year at all because it was a leap year but it generated error messages this
year.  Now, Feb 29 will be treated the same as Feb 28 on non-leap years.

DIRCOMP:  Added /Td:\path parameter.  This option was added for some network
administrators who are using the command extensively to update files on
student workstations.

DIRTOTAL:  Added /Td:\path parameter.  Program was incorrectly reporting cluster
sizes larger than 32000 bytes; fixed.  Fixed up some summary information
problems when asking for multiple drives.

FILL:  Now provides some rudimentary error-detection, which helps in cases of
bad sectors.  Basically tells you to run SCANDISK, deletes the output file that
failed (keeps the source file), sets a return level of 252, and returns you to
DOS.  Modified the way that /FORMAT worked for 360K and 720K diskettes; DOS for
some reason tries to reformat 360K diskettes as 1.2MB diskettes and that's not
all that healthy.  Added a percentage done for the total bytes copied/moved.
Added /TIME and /-TIME parameters; skipping the transfer speed information is
the default (used to always show).

MULTICOL:  Maintenance release.  Modified documentation to indicate that this
would be the last release of this program; PAGINATE does more and that's the
program I'll be maintaining.

PAGINATE:  Bug fixes.  Changed it so that INDENT n-n worked on the first word vs
the first letter (allowing you to do more interesting bulleted items).  Added
ADJUST and -ADJUST to control widow lines.  Documented the /DEBUG parameter.
Frankly, this program works a lot better than I expected it would!

--------------
Release 94/12:

AV:  Added some more keystrokes to the viewer; Up, Down, Ctrl-C, Home, and End.
Also added complete mouse support for the routine, adding a mouse button bar
and allowing you to select whichever options you want to select.  Added /MOUSE
and /-MOUSE parms.

CHANGE:  Fixed a problem which occassionally dropped characters from the output
file.

FILL:  Fixed a bug with LABEL=label specifications that included more than one
"n".  Didn't like the way that /PROMPT work so fixed that up a bit.

ISAMFIND/ISAMMAKE:  Fixed quite a number of quirks and bugs.

PAGINATE:  First release.  This is a rather powerful document formatter that
I've wanted to write for awhile and has been languishing for lack of effort for
almost as long.  Has an incredible number of options, all of which worked at
least once for me when I was coding it but some of which probably no longer do.
Let me know.  I fix things (maybe as well as I break things).

--------------
Release 94/11:

DATES:  Now allows you to specify dates relative to the day of the week.  For
example, in the United States Mother's Day is on the second Sunday of May and
Thanksgiving is on the last Thursday of November.  You can show these dates in
the program as "05/2SU/XX" and "11/LTH/XX" respectively.  Also added /SORT,
/-SORT, /DATE, /-DATE, /CTDOWN, /-CTDOWN, /GLOBAL, and /-GLOBAL parameters.
Added /WEEKDAY and /-WEEKDAY as synonyms for /DAY and /-DAY.  Can now specify
date thresholds that vary on an event-by-event basis (for example, show a
particular 45 days before it happens while other events all show up only 14 days
beforehand).  Fixed up a bug with the /AGE option when the event was in the next
calendar year (hadn't been an issue until we approached the end of the year of
course) as well as with "negative" ages.  Also started trimming leading spaces
from event descriptions; I hope this doesn't affect anyone but us anal-retentive
types like to have all of the columns line up nice and neat.

DIRTOTAL:  Thomas Hanlin III has announced he's giving up support for the
PBClone routines which I use extensively for my programs.  One of the PBClone
routines that worked improperly involved checking into the members of a
self-extracting file (the "/Z2" parameter).  If you have a certain number of
self-extracting files, DIRTOTAL gives you a "too many files" error message.
Since this error doesn't look like it will fixed now, I've removed mention of
the /Z2 and /-Z2 options in the documentation and from the DIRTOTAL /?  screens.
The program will still try to respect the option if you use it (although you may
get the "too many files" message) but it's just not documented anymore.  If
anyone has been using the option with success, please let me know
([e-mail]).  For consistency's sake, changed the program so it gives you
root/subdirectory totals even if there are no subdirectories.

FORTUNE:  Added support for command files (including /CHECK and /-CHECK parms).
These allow you to use the command to create a text file that you might use with
DOS redirection.  An example shown in the documentation uses this feature to log
onto an ftp site and upload all files matching a given specification:

        /header
        ftp
        ftp.cu.nih.gov
        anonymous
        [e-mail]
        cd pub
        cd incoming
        /main
        send %A
                                             (blank line)
        /footer
        quit

ISAMFIND/ISAMMAKE:  First release.  Lots of changes made since initial beta
testing.  Some of the changes haven't been tested completely.  Works fine for
what I need it to do but some of the option combinations may be flakey.  I'm
sure I'll hear about it.

-------------- (kind of terse; revisions made 4 to 6 months ago)
Release 94/10:

  CONVERT:  Added /FIRSTOBS=n and /LASTOBS=n parameters.

  DATES:  Added various screen pausing options.

Release 94/09:

  BFIND:  Added the ability to include hexadecimal codes in the find string.

  CONVERT:  Lots of bug fixes (including one involving ASCII-delimited input
  files that didn't have any quoted strings in them).

  DATES:  Added /DATE=form option to let you specify different formats for the
  input dates.  For example, /DATE=dd/mm/yy.  Added ability to read months in
  JAN, FEB, MAR, etc form.

Release 94/08:

  BFIND:  Added /Iinitfile and /-I parms.  Only program temporarily retaining
  CONFIGWS.*.

  DATES:  Added /R, /DAY, /MONO, /COLOR, /SKIP, and /-SKIP parameters.  Allowed
  for up to 10 input files and comments within files.

  FILL:  Added /FAKE parameter.

  FORTUNE:  Added /Iinitfile and /-I parms.

Release 94/07:

  All:  Added support for /Iinitfile and /-I parms, dropping CONFIGWS.*.

  DATES:  Added /-I, /CLS, /-CLS, /COLOR=nnn nnn nnn, /Q, and /-Q parameters.

  READ and READINIT:  Made READ's use of hexadecimal codes (previously /nnn)
  consistent with the other Wayne Software routines (use \nnn or &Hxx instead).
  Converted the READ.INI file to the newer initfile system.

-------------- (real terse)
Release 94/06:
  New:  DATES.

Release 94/02:
  New:  FORTUNE.

Release 94/01:
  New:  COPSINCE and FIXTEXT.

Release 93/03:
  New:  AV and READINIT.

Release 93/01:
  First release posted on SIMTEL (Internet).
  New:  The DEMO System (shareware and not part of normal package).