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1986-03-17
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PC-KAT (TM)
The Easy, Practical, Super
Capacity Diskette Cataloger
TECHNICAL REFERENCE MANUAL
by
R.H. Martin
Applied Foresight (TM)
P.O. Box 20607
Bloomington, Minn. 55420
January 17, 1986
Version 1.2
Copyright 1986 by R.H. Martin
All Rights Reserved
A DB-SHARE Software Product
A limited license is hereby granted to copy
and distribute wholly unmodified copies of the
PC-KAT Software Diskette which contains this manual
(Read the manual, "THE DB-SHARE PROGRAM"
for full details about this limited license)
Trademark Pending
TECHNICAL REFERENCE MANUAL Copyright 1986 R.H. Martin Page 2
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Table of Contents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
About This Manual . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Using PC-KAT With Tall Tree Systems' JET Program. . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Efficiency Of PC-KAT . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
PC-KAT Inquiry Search Strategies. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Recovering Your Database. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
ABOUT THIS MANUAL
With the exception of the Registration Benefits section, this manual
restricts itself to the base PC-KAT software diskette. The concept of
"base software" is discussed in greater detail in the THE DB-SHARE
PROGRAM manual.
A section is designated by a centered and underlined heading. Centered
but NOT underlined headings are referred to as a subsection.
USING PC-KAT WITH TALL
TREE SYSTEMS' JET PROGRAM
PC-KAT also catalogs, without requiring any data entry, the subdirectory
which a diskette file resides in. This is a feature that many owners of
the high speed copy utility, JET by Tall Tree Systems, will appreciate.
JET is able to copy files to diskettes and preserved their subdirectory
location on the targeted (diskette) volume. Many IBM AT owners may
appreciate this PC-KAT feature too. With the 1.2 MB capacity floppies,
there is increasing use of making subdirectories on floppies. You do not
need JET nor an IBM AT to make subdirectories on your floppies. Just
type: MD A:\SUBDIR and press ENTER to create the directory called,
\SUBDIR, on drive A.
JET is one of the programs available on the JETDRIVE diskette, which
includes a super RAM Disk software for the IBM PC and compatibles.
JETDRIVE retails for $60 and is available by Tall Tree Systems, 1032
Elwell Court, Suite 124, Palo Alto, CA 94303. Some mail order houses,
like Applied Computer Products, Inc., 1-800-223-3860, sell JETDRIVE for
as little as $40.
EFFICIENCY OF PC-KAT
PC-KAT is fast and efficient, minimizing the amount of disk space
required to store the cataloged information. Each date and time field is
concatenated together and stored as a 4 byte long integer. In plain
words, what you see on the screen as 10 bytes of information is stored in
4 bytes of storage. The four byte volume ID is stored as a 2 byte
integer. If a diskette filename is associated with a floppy
TECHNICAL REFERENCE MANUAL Copyright 1986 R.H. Martin Page 3
subdirectory, the directory name is separately stored in the database
only once in its alphabetical description form, and given an ID number.
This ID number is carried in the appropriate individual filename records.
The entire PC-KAT database is kept in the files prefixed as KATDB.DA and
KATDB.KE. The database contains the system control record, the diskette
volume text information and the directory file information for all
cataloged files. In addition, all the record pointers are stored in the
database to allow quick updating and retrieval of information. The file
KATDB.DBD is the data base structure dictionary which never grows but is
needed for the programs to work and must reside in the same directory
area on the hard disk alongside the other KATDB files.
What this means is that although PC-KAT must keep its inter-relationships
connected at the disk drive level versus smaller packages which do most
of their inter-relationships at runtime in memory, PC-KAT does not use up
hardly any more disk space, and that is because of its efficient use of
disk space. Additionally, PC-KAT has to allow for its database pointers
to expand up to 16 million records. What this means is that on the
average, PC-KAT uses up only 7 percent more space per cataloged directory
entry than does its competitors.
The other packages gain their processing efficiency by storing the entire
database in memory at run time. That is why they can't get larger,
because they are constrained by available program data memory space.
Yet, without significantly sacrificing additional disk space, PC-KAT uses
disk space to hold its pointers, and achieves comparable processing
efficiency on a catalog database capable of holding 16 million records.
The author maintains for himself a PC-KAT database of over 12,800
filenames and around six hundred diskettes.
Throughout the built-up of this database, the author has not noticed a
worsening of processing performance, except that a display request for a
floating substring phrase within any and all cataloged filenames does
take a little longer as the database grows. To use the DOS DIR command
syntax to explain this type of search request, although DOS does not
honor such a search request, if it did, a request might look like this:
DIR *CAT*. On a COMPAQ PLUS, with 8,000 filenames in a PC-KAT database,
it takes under 2 minutes for such a search to finish, whereas with 6,000
filenames, it takes under 1.5 minutes. Search requests for left-hand
anchored substring phrases within any and all cataloged filenames is
extremely rapid, taking only a couple of seconds to fulfill. A search
request at the DOS DIR level might look like: DIR CAT*.
PC-KAT is fast because of the tools used in developing PC-KAT (discussed
earlier) and because of its streamlined design. For instance, if you
have a diskette previously cataloged by PC-KAT, when you change, add or
delete a few files on the diskette, PC-KAT concentrates on these
modifications. A less efficient design might start out the processing of
each diskette with the deletion of all prior database information for
that diskette. Because of PC-KAT's usage of the sophisticated DB-VISTA
TECHNICAL REFERENCE MANUAL Copyright 1986 R.H. Martin Page 4
database manager, it is able to immediately access prior information for
the at-hand diskette in the correct processing order in which it needs
it. Finally, PC-KAT is fast because it allows the user to use a RAM disk
emulator to store the subprograms and work files for PC-KAT on the RAM
disk.
PC-KAT is also fast because it is smart. If you mistakenly insert a
diskette which hasn't changed since it was last processed by PC-KAT, you
are told this is the case. PC-KAT keeps for each diskette both a numeric
total of the number of files on the diskette plus the sum of all dates +
all times + all file sizes of all the files on the diskette. Before PC-
KAT considers updating directory entries for a diskette, it compares
these two new totals with the prior run's old totals.
PC-KAT INQUIRY SEARCH STRATEGIES
To understand the many ways you can search your PC-KAT database and how
efficient will be your search, you need to know how your PC-KAT database
is structured. For searching purposes, you can think of the database
being ordered in two different ways:
(a) by alphabetical, indexed, order by FILENAME.EXT, regardless of the
volume ID; and
(b) by numeric, indexed, order by volume ID, and within volume ID order,
subordered alphabetically, by FILENAME.EXT.
The path information is carried in the database, but it has no ordering
effect in terms of aiding retrieval of information.
Based upon the structure of PC-KAT's database design, the following
examples represent a range of searchs ordered by a most efficient search
argument to a least efficient search argument:
FILENAME ARGUMENT TYPE EXT ARGUMENT TYPE PATH ARGUMENT TYPE
-------- - --- - -------- -
MYFILE E DOC E MYPATH E
MYFILE E DOC E MY A
MYFILE E DOC E AT U
MYFILE E D A <left blank>
MYFILE E O U <left blank>
MYFILE E <left blank> <left blank>
MY A DOC E MYPATH E
MY A DOC E MY A
MY A DOC E AT U
MY A D A <left blank>
MY A O U <left blank>
MY A <left blank> <left blank>
FIL U DOC E MYPATH E
FIL U DOC E MY A
FIL U DOC E AT U
FIL U D A <left blank>
TECHNICAL REFERENCE MANUAL Copyright 1986 R.H. Martin Page 5
FIL U O U <left blank>
* FIL U <left blank> <left blank>
<left blank> DOC E MYPATH E
<left blank> DOC E MY A
<left blank> DOC E AT U
<left blank> D A <left blank>
<left blank> O U <left blank>
<left blank> <left blank> MYPATH E
<left blank> <left blank> MY A
<left blank> <left blank> AT U
Don't be afraid to use the search strategy you need to accomplish the job
you want done. For instance, against a database of 12,000 directory
entries, to search using an argument like the above line with an asterick
preceeding it, took around two and a half minutes. This search argument
causes the entire database to be scanned from start to end.
RECOVERING YOUR DATABASE
"Into each life a little rain must fall." It can happen to one's
database too. Recovery should be done when you loose your hard disk or
when something has damaged your database. In either case, the database
recovery procedure is the same. True, you have to restore everything
else in a hard disk failure, but you're on your own to figure that
dilemna out. Just the database recovery procedure is documented here.
Follow these procedures.
# ACTION EVENT OR COMMAND COMMENT
-- ------ ---------------------------------- -----------------------
1 Type C: Move to your hard disk.
2 Type CD \ Move to the root
directory.
3 Type VERIFY ON Ensure better file
copies.
4 Type COPY KATDB.LOG KATDB.FIX Save current log file.
5 Type KATLOG Print your current log
file.
6 Find Latest PC-KAT database backup disks Insert disk 1 into
drive.
7 Type RESTORE A: C:KATDB.* Restore old PC-KAT
database.
8 Do PC-KAT Integrity Analysis if not If integrity fails go
using a "VERIFIED" backup set. back to step 5.
TECHNICAL REFERENCE MANUAL Copyright 1986 R.H. Martin Page 6
9 Read KATLOG printout for line # of B/U state which you're restored
to. Call this number "RESTORE-LINENUM".
10 Read KATLOG printout for last line # of printout. Call this
number "LAST-LINENUM".
11 Calc Write down what LAST-LINENUM minus RESTORE-LINENUM equals.
Call this number STRIP-LINENUM.
12 Type KATSTRIP STRIP-LINENUM Substitute real number.
KATDB.FIX now contains
an unsorted list of
disks to reprocess.
13 Type SORT <KATDB.FIX >PRN This printout is sorted
by yet-to-redo volume
ID within location.
14 DO KAT -U or some variation Reprocess listed
diskettes.
15 Type DEL KATDB.FIX No longer needed.
You're done! Consider doing a PC-KAT Integrity Analysis and Backup to
preserve the recovery work you just went through.