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1978-02-04
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Aladdin's Magic Browser
(c) 1991 A.S.A.P. Software
Written by: Gilles Therreault
Aladdin's Magic Browser is a utility that enables you to use the .dat files
generated by Aladdin in various ways such as conversion to an ascii format
usable by wordprocessors or databases to either search, print or modify
the file as you please. The program also enables viewing, printing and the
creation of a special subfile which is created by the user and contains
specific files to be downloaded by Aladdin.
CONVERT OPTIONS
Convert Aladdin .DAT file to Ascii .SDF file
- This option will create an Ascii .SDF file of a fixed record
lenght of 105 bytes that can be imported into a database such as
dBman or Superbase.
The following are the field lenghts and field descriptions
Bytes Field Description
5 File Number
21 File Name
1 Type
20 Uploader Address
6 Date in yymmdd format
7 File Size
6 Number of times file was accessed
3 Library number
36 Brief description of the file.
NOTE: Each record ends with a $0D/$0A which means CR/LF
Convert Aladdin .DAT file to Ascii .TXT file
- This option will create an Ascii .TXT file of a fixed record
record lenght of 124 bytes which may be loaded into a wordprocessor
The following are the field lenghts and field descriptions.
Bytes Field Description
5 File Number
21 File Name
1 Type
20 Uploader Address
6 Date in yymmdd format
7 File Size
6 Number of times file was accessed
3 Library number
* NOTE: $0D/$0A CR/LF used to end first line
12 " Desc: " string before actual description
36 Brief description of the file.
* NOTE: $0D/$0A CR/LF used to end second line
VIEW OPTIONS
- This option will enable you to view a .DAT, .SDF, or .TXT file
with the following search and movement buttons.
SEARCH BUTTONS:
( RECORD BUTTON )
- If this button is selected a checkmark will appear in front
of the button name indicating a record by record search.
- This is the default search method.
- Select this button if you wish to cancel all active searches.
( LIBRARY BUTTON )
- When the library button is selected a new screen will appear
displaying the library category numbers available for the
file being viewed.
- Atari ST Roundtable has 36 categories Aladdin file ATARISTR.DAT
- ST Aladdin Roundtable has 6 categories Aladdin file STALAD.DAT
- Gadgets Roundtable has 15 categories Aladdin file GADGETSR.DAT
- When a number is selected a brief description will appear at the
bottom of the screen. Once OK is selected you will be returned
to the previous screen and a checkmark will appear in front of
the library search button indicating a library search is now
active.
- At any time you wish to change a library search just select
this button and repeat the above steps.
- If you select either the REWIND or FF buttons with this search
active the whole file will be searched.
( File Number ) Not implemented
( File Name ) Not implemented
( Address ) Not Implemented
( Date ) Not Implemented
( File Size ) Not Implemented
( Accesses ) Not Implemented
( DESCRIPTION BUTTON )
- When this button is selected a new screen will appear asking you
to enter a search string of up to 36 characters. The program
will use this string to find a match in the description field of
the records being read. If a match is found the record will be
displayed on the screen.
- If you select either the REWIND or FF buttons with this search
active the whole file will be searched.
- For example, you may want to find all records that are related to <gem>.
Enter this as the search string in either UPPER case or lower case
and the program will read a record and search for <gem> in the
description field. If a description field has a string such as
<ProGEM by Tim Oren Column #15>, this would be a valid match
because the search string may be located anywhere inside the 36
character description field string.
- Once the OK button is selected you will return to the previous
screen and a checkmark will be displayed in front of the
Description search button indicating a description search is
now active.
- A library search and a description search may be active at the
same time enabling you to search files in a specific library
with a specific description.
SUBFILE OPTIONS
( RECORD BUTTON )
- When this button is selected all records displayed on the screen
will be saved into a separate subfile on the default directory
under the same name of the current file being viewed.
- Make sure the .dat files you are using are located in their own
directory because when a recording is done and the file being viewed
is in the default directory the subfile will be appended to this file
because they both have the same name.
- The subfile will be created with any of the above search options active,
the RECORD BUTTON selected and the use of the movement buttons will
be required to move the record pointer within the file.
- If no valid matches are found no records will be displayed on the screen
and a subfile will not be created.
- Once the searching of the main file has been completed select the
STOP BUTTON and the .idx and .fmk files will be created for the subfile
for later use with Aladdin.
- You may repeat the above steps with as many .dat files (OF THE SAME NAME)
as you wish and all matches will be append to the subfile.
( PAUSE BUTTON )
- When you are in record search mode this will enable you to pause a recording
of a subfile when you are scanning for particular files of interest to you.
- Once you have located a file of interest select the RECORD BUTTON and then
select PAUSE again to resume scanning.
- Repeat the above until you are satisfied and press the STOP BUTTON.
( STOP )
- When this button is selected the current recording of a file will stop and
the necessary index files for use with Aladdin will be created.
- If you exited the view option once a subfile had been recorded and did not
select the stop button the subfile index files would not be created, so I
decided to have the program check if the record button is selected when
exiting the view option and perform these necessary tasks automatically.
( ERASE )
- This button will erase a previously created recording of a subfile
along with the index files located in the default directory.
MOVEMENT BUTTONS
( << REWIND BUTTON )
- This button will display a file record by record backwards.
- Useful when doing a library or description search, a complete
file will be scanned backwards displaying all records which
match the current search criteria.
( < PLAY BUTTON )
- This button will display one record backwards when selected.
( > PLAY BUTTON )
- This button will display one record forwards when selected.
( >> FF BUTTON )
- Same as REWIND BUTTON but file scanned forwards.
( SLIDER )
- The slider may also be used do move forwards or backwards
indicating the current record position in the file being viewed.
Just Grab the slider and drag it.
PRINT OPTION
- This Option will print a normal or condensed listing of a
.dat,.txt, or .sdf file.
** Version 1.10 update **
- Overall Screen display of the program has been improved.
- Searches may now be aborted! once initiated by holding the ESC key.
Implemented in the View screen once one of the movement buttons has been
selected, Such as Fast Forward or Rewind buttons.
Implemented in the Print screen once the print button has been selected.
- Fixed a bug in the display of the .TXT file once converted from Aladdin
format.
- Fixed a bug in the subfile creation.
Subfiles will now be named with the first 4 characters of the original
including _SUB.EXT
Where SUB indicates sub file and EXT indicates the type of subfile,
either .DAT for Aladdin, .SDF for Ascii fixed format, or .TXT for a
Ascii text file.
Example ATAR_SUB.DAT
If you would like to make a subfile of a subfile, make sure you rename
it to the correct roundtable name.
Example ATARISTR.DAT for Atari ST roundtable
STALAD.DAT for ST Aladdin roundtable
GADGETSR.DAT for Gadgets by Small roundtable
* Future Update *
- The next update will include Sorting and Indexing on all fields in the
file.
- Improved search routines to take advantage of the sort and index routines.
NOTE:
I recommend the use of a hard disk or ram disk with this program due
due to the disk-intensive operations. Also you should download files
#17525 to #17540, these 15 .LZH files contain all the Atari ST roundtable
files in .dat format for use with Aladdin.
I hope to solve your file searching headaches with this program
and would appreciate any suggestions, comments, or bug reports you
may have.
Send E-mail to (G.THERREAULT)