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The QuickFix System Version 2.00 Evaluation
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Copyright (C)1992,1993 R.Janorkar
The QuickFix System is supplied as is. The author disclaims all
warranties, expressed or implied, including, without limitation,
the warranties of merchantability and of fitness for any
purpose. The author assumes no liability for any damages, direct
or consequential, which may result from the use of this software
package.
The entire QuickFix System package, including, but not limited
to, the Fixmenu program, the QuickFix program, the MakeFix
program, the Fix2Exe program, and all associated manuals and
program documentation is Copyright 1992,1993 R.Janorkar, all
rights are reserved. Altering, modifying, decompiling or reverse
engineering this software or its documentation is expressly
prohibited.
The QuickFix System creates, maintains and applies file
modification patches to software files.
A file modification patch is a process by which one or more
software files can be modified (converting the file(s) in the
process).
This is a FULLY FUNCTIONAL evaluation release of the QuickFix
System v2.00, you may NOT distribute the patch files created
with this release. All features are available in this release to
allow you to evaluate the program completely. Registration is
mandatory for commercial and personal use. Please use the order
form enclosed in this archive, or call the number given below.
The commercial package contains dual media diskettes, a printed
manual, a registration number, and a license that allows you to
use the QuickFix System on any number of workstations, on any
number of individual products, with NO royaltee fees for such
usage.
The commercial QuickFix System package is marketed by First
Prince Marketing, 22 Prince Street, NY 10012. Techinical support
is available Monday through Friday between 9am and 5pm at
(212)334-1243 and the FAX line is (212)334-1245.
The following documentation is adequate for evaluation purposes,
the commercial package comes with a printed illustrated manual.
Introduction
~~~~~~~~~~~~
There are four programs included in the QuickFix System.
A full featured database manager menu interface program called
Fixmenu. This front end program allows you to create, maintain
and update file modification patch (Fix) files for your software
programs and files.
The MakeFix patch creation utility is the patch generator that
creates the individual update patch (Fix) files. It is executed
by the menu interface program automatically, but can also be run
from the operating system as a stand alone program.
The QuickFix patch applicator utility applies the update patch
(Fix) files created by the QuickFix System, and is meant to be
distributed along with the patch files to the end users.
The Fix2Exe utility converts update patch (Fix) files into self
executing programs that do not require the QuickFix applicator
program.
The QuickFix System will work on any IBM compatible computer
system from XT class to 486 class. A hard drive is required,
with a minimum of 1 Megabyte free disk space. More disk space
will be needed as more patch files are created. The program will
detect when it is being run on a monochrome display and use a
default monochrome color set giving maximum display visibility.
The QuickFix System does NOT require a math co-processor or a
mouse.
Since the QuickFix System is disk intensive, the use of external
disk cache software is recommended to speed up operation.
The Fixmenu interface program requires 512 Kilobytes of free
conventional memory. EMS (Expanded Memory LIM v3.2 or v4.0) will
be used if it is present.
The QuickFix applicator utility uses only 70 Kilobytes of
conventional system memory and requires no Expanded memory.
The MakeFix patch creation utility uses only 75 Kilobytes of
conventional system memory and requires no Expanded memory.
The Fix2Exe conversion utility uses only 65 Kilobytes of
conventional system memory and requires no Expanded memory.
All programs requires DOS 2 or higher to operate.
The use of certain TSR (Terminate Stay Resident) programs and
certain device drivers may cause conflicts with the QuickFix
System. If this is the case, it will be necessary to disable the
offending program before the QuickFix System can be used.
The QuickFix System requires very little hard disk space to
install, less than 1 Megabyte. Simply extract the contents of
this archive into an appropriate directory
The Fixmenu interface program MUST be started from this home
directory. All the data files and the work files that the
program creates will reside in the home directory.
The QuickFix System can generate upgrade Fix files for vastly
different files. It can apply multiple updates from the same Fix
file, and even update a file from any of a series of releases to
the latest version. Subdirectories can also be specified,
allowing entire file directory structures to be updated from a
single Fix file.
The fix applicator utility checks the target files before and
after applying the fix. If the target file does not match the
CRC of the Original file that is coded into the Fix file, the
user is notified and the applicator attempts to continue with
the next fix if more updates are included in the Fix file. After
applying the fix, the target file is again tested against the
CRC of the Modified file coded into the Fix file. If any target
files are missing the applicator will display a message to the
user and skip to the next file that needs to be updated.
The menu driven Fixmenu interface program is very easy to use.
On line help is available at all times, and the menus are simple
and intuitive. The Fixmenu program also maintains the various
splinter files associated with a project, to allow changes and
creation of new Fix files with a minimum of fuss. The file
sizes, and time/date stamps of all the Original and Modified
files are recorded in the project database, if either has
changed, the associated splinter file is updated.
The FixMenu interface program
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Fixmenu program is a full featured menu driven database
management program that creates and maintains Fix files. The
Fixmenu program keeps track of the Fix files generated,
maintains a database for each project recording file
information, and maintains the individual splinter files.
Your display type will be detected, and the program will
automatically select Color or Monochrome mode. There are two
possible command line options that can be used with the Fixmenu
program. If for some reason the program does not recognize your
Monochrome display, you can force it into Monochrome mode by
using the command line parameter /M
FIXMENU /M
The program also detects the number of drives attached to your
computer system. If for some reason it does not list all your
available drives in the file directory tree, you can pass the
drive specification on the command line with the parameter
/<drive>: where <drive> is the letter for you last drive. For
example, if you have drives A: through E: installed, you would
use the command line parameter /E:
FIXMENU /E:
If you have drives A: through Z: installed, you would use
FIXMENU /Z:
Specifying a non existent drive will not cause any damage, but
if the non existent drive is selected in the file directory
tree, no file names and no directory names will be displayed.
Command line parameters can be passed in any order.
The Fixmenu program requires 512K free conventional memory to
operate. If there is any Expanded memory available (EMS LIM 3.2
or 4.0) it will be used as well. In the event of incompatible
EMS memory conflicts, you can disable the Fixmenu EMS usage by
adding an environmental variable to your AUTOEXEC.BAT startup
batch file:
SET FIXMENU=E0
Where E instructs Fixmenu to limit EMS usage to 0 Kilobytes.
Note that you can also use a different value here if you merely
wish to restrict the amount of EMS that the program will use.
If your display exhibits a peculiar looking cursor, you can add
an environmental variable to your AUTOEXEC.BAT startup batch
file:
SET FIXMENU=BADCURS
This will instruct Fixmenu to use an alternate video cursor
display method. You can use both options in the SET FIXMENU
variable together:
SET FIXMENU=E0;BADCURS
in any order as long as they are separated by a semi colon.
Remember not to leave any blank spaces in the line.
The Fixmenu program is NOT network aware. It will not work
across networks. It will be necessary to install one copy of the
program for every site. However, the Original and the Modified
files can be used across networks (they can not be shared while
being used).
The menu interface program requires the MakeFix patch creation
program to exist in the same directory (the home directory). If
the MakeFix utility is not found, the menu program will display
a message and abort.
The Fixmenu program catalogs each set of files as Projects.
There can be any number of individual records within a project,
and any number of projects may exist.
There are six options available from the Main Menu.
Select Project
Add Project
Delete Project
Edit Project
Run Project
Quit
On line help is available in the Fixmenu program by pressing the
F1 key at any time. A window will appear with the help text. Use
the Page Up and the Page Down keys to navigate the help screens
displayed. Pressing the Escape key will return to the program.
The Fixmenu program also has a built in screen saver feature. If
you do press any key for 5 minutes, the screen will be blanked
with a moving "Press any key" message. Press any key to restore
the menu and to continue using the program. The screen blanker
can be called at any time by pressing the Alt-B key combination.
Select Project
The Select Project option allows you to choose from a list of
existing project names. If only one project exists, it will be
selected without any prompting. If more than one project exist,
use the Up and the Down arrow keys to navigate the list and
select with the Enter key. If there are more projects than can
be displayed in the allocated space, you can use the Page Up and
the Page Down keys to navigate the list. The Home key will take
you to the first item and the End key will take you to the last
item on the list. Pressing Escape will abort the selection and
will return to the Main Menu. If any project was active before
selecting this option, it will remain active. Only one project
can be active at a given time.
Add Project
The Add Project option allows you to add a new project to the
system. You may use any name up to 8 characters with no imbedded
spaces. The project name that you enter will be used as a root
name for the database and splinter files that will be created.
Press the Enter key to accept the name you have entered, the new
project will become active and the new project database will be
created. Press the Escape key to abort and return to the Main
Menu, if a project was active it will remain active. If you
enter a project name that is already in use, the new project
will NOT be created, the old project with the same name will
become active instead.
Delete Project
The Delete Project option is used to delete an entire project.
If no project is active this option will not be available. If a
project is active, this option deletes the database for the
active project and ALL splinter files that are associated with
the project. Final Fix files (if any exist) will NOT be deleted.
You will be prompted to confirm the deletion, type YES to delete
delete the project, pressing Escape or typing any other letters
will abort the deletion and return to the Main Menu. Deleting a
project is PERMANENT!!! Be absolutely sure before answering YES
to the prompt.
Edit Project
This option allows you to edit the individual records in a
project, to make changes or add new records to the project. If
no project is active this option will not be available. A browse
window will appear with the following prompts. The Page Up key
takes you to the previous record, and the Page Down key takes
you to the next record. If you were at the last existing record,
a new blank record is added. After you have finished editing,
press the F10 key to save the record and exit back to the Main
Menu.
Project name: This is the name of the active project, and
can not be changed.
Order: This is the order in which the individual splinter files
will be assembled to create the final Fix file(s). By default
the order begins at 1 and increments with each new record added.
You may change this order if required. If two records are given
the same Order number, the older record will be used first.
Active: Splinter files are created and included in the final Fix
file(s) only if this field is set to Y. Setting this field to N
will cause the record to be totally ignored. Since there is no
way to delete individual records, setting this field to N is the
only way to prevent a record from being used.
Original: This is the full drive:\path\filename.extension of the
Original file to use for creating an update patch. The file
size, time and date are displayed on the next line. If the file
does not exist, the file size, time and date fields will be
blank. You may type in the file name with full path, or press
the F9 key to activate the pop up file directory tree. Pressing
the Enter key on an empty field also has the same result.
Comment: This is the Fix file comment associated with the
Original file. This comment will be displayed when the Fix file
is applied by the end user. It can contain any relevant
information regarding the Original file such as the version
number. If the associated splinter file exists, and you edit
this field, the splinter file will be updated with the new
comment. The update is done only when you press the Page Up, the
Page Down or the F10 key to save and exit.
Modified: This is the full drive:\path\filename.extension of the
Modified file to use for creating an update patch. The file
size, time and date are displayed on the next line. If the file
does not exist, the file size, time and date fields will be
blank. You may type in the file name with full path, or press
the F9 key to activate the pop up file directory tree. Pressing
the Enter key on an empty field also has the same result.
Comment: This is the Fix file comment associated with the
Modified file. This comment will be displayed when the Fix file
is applied by the end user. It can contain any relevant
information regarding the Modified file such as the version
number. If the associated splinter file exists, and you edit
this field, the splinter file will be updated with the new
comment. The update is done only when you press the Page Up, the
Page Down or the F10 key to save and exit.
Final Fix filename: This is the name of the desired final Fix
file. The final Fix file is created from the individual splinter
files from Active records only. The Fix file will always be
created in the QuickFix home directory, you can not specify a
path. If you do not specify a file extension after the file
name, an extension of .QF will be assumed. If any of the
Original or Modified files have been changed (if they do not
match the size, time and date in the respective database
records), the associated splinter file and the final Fix file
are deleted. To rebuild them use the Run Project option from the
Main Menu.
On disk: This is the actual disk file name of the splinter file
for the record. You can not edit this field, if no splinter file
is present this field will be blank. The root name of the
splinter file will be the same as the project name, with a
unique file extension (.000 .001 .002).
Path specification: The QuickFix System has the capability to
update entire directory structures. If you wish to use this
feature, you can enter the appropriate path name in this field.
The path name that you specify is used from the location at
which the Fix is applied, it does NOT specify an explicit
directory.
Memo: This field is available for your notes, it is not used by
the program in any way.
Run Project
This option creates the individual splinter files and the final
Fix file(s) for the active project. This option will not be
available if no project is active. When you select this option,
a pick list will offer two choices, to Only create splinter
files or to Create splinter & Fix files. If you choose to create
only the splinter files, the final Fix file(s) will not be
assembled. If you choose to create both splinter files and final
Fix files, the final Fix files will also be created. The Fixmenu
program will execute the MakeFix utility for each active record
in the project, creating the individual splinter files. If a
splinter file exists, and is up to date (both the Original file
and the Modified file have not been changed) the same splinter
file is used, saving time. The MakeFix program could run for
hours, depending on the nature of differences between the files.
A screen snapshot is taken after each splinter file has been
prepared. After all the splinter files and (if selected) the Fix
file(s) have been created, the screen will be blanked with a
moving "Press any key" message.
Quit
This option closes all databases and splinter files, and returns
to the operating system. Pressing Escape at the Main Menu also
has the same result. You must always use this option to quit the
program before turning the power off to your computer system, as
some files may be inadvertently left open and cause data loss.
The QuickFix applicator utility
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The QuickFix program is the update Fix file applicator utility.
It uses the Fix files created by the Fixmenu and the MakeFix
programs to update the target files, and must be distributed
along with the Fix files to the end users. If a target file can
not be found or does not match the CRC that is encoded into the
Fix file, QuickFix will inform the user, skip the file, and will
attempt to continue with the next Fix (if any). If a fatal error
does occur, QuickFix will report the error and will suggest a
possible solution to remedy it.
The QuickFix applicator program requires only 70 Kilobytes of
conventional memory to run. It does not require any Expanded
memory. Sufficient disk space is required to complete the
updates, equal to the size of the largest file being affected.
Using QuickFix is very easy, simply pass the name of the Fix
file on the command line. Both the Fix file and the QuickFix
applicator program must exist in the same directory as the
target file(s). For example, to apply a Fix file named
UPDATE.QF:
QUICKFIX UPDATE.QF
If no file extension is specified for the Fix file, an extension
of .QF is automatically assumed:
QUICKFIX UPDATE
If the Fix file is named QUICKFIX.QF it will be found and used
by the applicator program automatically without needing any
command line parameters, for example:
QUICKFIX
If no command line is specified, and no QUICKFIX.QF default Fix
file is found in the current directory, QuickFix will display an
error message and terminate.
The MakeFix creation utility
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The MakeFix program creates the update Fix files. It only
accepts input in the form of command line arguments. The Fixmenu
interface shell handles the required syntax when it is used, but
you can also use this utility to create Fix files directly from
the DOS command line.
The MakeFix patch creation program requires 75 Kilobytes of
conventional memory to run. It does not require any Expanded
memory.
The syntax to use MakeFix is:
MAKEFIX <original> (c1) <modified> (c2) <fixfile> <path>
where <original> is the drive:\pathname\filename.extension
of the Original file to use;
and (c1) is the comment associated with the Original file,
contained in parenthesis (), if no comment is
specified this option will be ignored;
and <modified> is the drive:\pathname\filename.extension of
the Modified file to use;
and (c1) is the comment associated with the Modified file,
contained in parenthesis (), if no comment is
specified this option will be ignored;
and <fixfile> is the filename.extension of the Fix file to
create, NO path is allowed, the Fix file can be
created in the current directory only;
and <path> is the path information to write into the Fix
file, if the preceding and trailing backslashes are
omitted, they will be added automatically. If this
option is used it is ignored.
MakeFix will compare the Original file and the Modified file,
mapping their differences into the specified Fix file. The
Original and the Modified file names will be displayed, with
their respective file sizes in Hexadecimal digits.
If both the Original and the Modified files are identical to
each other, MakeFix will display an error message and terminate
without creating a Fix file.
As MakeFix compares the Original and the Modified files, it
displays the location within the files in the form of a
Hexadecimal address. If differences are found, a hexadecimal
number will show the amount of tries MakeFix has attempted. A
quick pass will be made first, if this fails a slower pass will
be made to resolve the difference between the files.
Large files with severe differences could take MakeFix several
hours to complete. Operation can be aborted by pressing the
Control-C keys, but the Fix file that was being created will
only be half complete and will be useless.
To create multiple update Fix files from the command line, you
must run the MakeFix program on each set of Original and
Modified files using the same final Fix file name for each set.
Each successive Fix will be appended to the same Fix file,
creating a multiple update Fix file. The MakeFix program tests
the validity of the Fix file if it exists, if the Fix file is
corrupt it is DELETED and a new one is created. If the existing
Fix file is valid, it is used and the new Fix information is
appended to it. Note this does not allow you much flexibility,
use of the Fixmenu interface program is recommended.
The Fix2Exe conversion utility
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Fix2Exe program converts Fix files into self executing
programs. The resultant self applying executable Fix files do
not require the QuickFix applicator, they update the target
files themselves. The Fix2Exe program is not called by the menu
interface, it is a standalone utility that can be used after the
final Fix file has been prepared.
The Fix2Exe conversion program requires only 65 Kilobytes of
conventional memory to run. It does not use any Expanded memory.
The syntax to use Fix2Exe is:
FIX2EXE <infile[.ext]> [<outfile[.ext]>]
where <infile[.ext]> is the path and file name of the Fix
file that is to be converted, if no extension is
specified then .QF is assumed;
and [<outfile[.ext]>] is the path and filename for the EXE
program to create, if not specified the same root
name as the source Fix file will be used, if no
extension is specified then .EXE is assumed.
Fix2Exe will create the specified executable Fix program that
can be distributed to end users.
If the specified output EXE file already exists, it will be
overwritten without any warning.
The self EXEcuting fix files created by Fix2Exe are functionally
identical to the original Fix files, except they do not require
the QuickFix applicator utility.
Thanks go to ...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ron 'Q' Kulick
Harris 'Speedy' Lam
David 'The Man' Kaufman
Rick 'Trekky' Alvey
Tom 'Smurf' Murphy
Joe 'Wave' Eversole
Dane 'Babble' Beko
and Marcus 'Modem' Byron for his invaluable help.