TPUG - Toronto PET Users Group/TPUG Users Group CD/TPUG Users Group CD.iso/AMIGA/AMICUS/AMIBEST1.ADF/DiskCat.DOC

Text File | 1987-07-22 | 20KB | 362 lines

DiskCat Documentation
DiskCat Version 2.31
Copyright 1987, by Edwin C. Alford & MicroAce Software.
All rights Reserved.

DiskCat is a floppy disk catalog program for the Amiga computer.  Version
2.31 is a commercial version of the program and as such is fully protected
by U.S. and International Copyright laws.  You may make backup copies of
the program but usage of the program on more than one CPU is strictly
prohibited without prior written consent of the author.

Version 2.31 also contains many enhancements including faster sorts, more
flexible printing and displaying, a file categorization capability, and the
ability to add comments describing each file.  Unfortunately, as
capabilities increase, so does complexity and the need for documentation.

Since DiskCat makes full and effective use of the Amiga's Intuition
interface, the program is fairly self explanatory.  Consequently, the
documentation is divided into 2 sections.  The first section highlights the
changes and additions contained in Version 2.31 and should be sufficient
for those of you who are familiar with version 1.0 and are anxious to get
started.  The second section contains a more detailed explanation of how
the program works and the purpose of each menu item, gadget, and window.

 Section I.  Version 2.31 Changes

1. Data storage - the manner in which the catalog data is stored has been
drastically changed to provide for less memory usage, more efficient sorts
and more compact catalog storage to disk files.  The catalog is now stored
in one file which ends in '.cat'. The menu item for reading a catalog file
has a subitem for selecting which format to use so that you can still read
catalogs created by version 1.0 of DiskCat.

2. Sorting - The sorts are much, much faster.  Sorting a 1500 file catalog
by extension now takes less than 20 seconds compared to around 8 - 9
minutes with the old version.  Sorts by path have been eliminated (I did
not find them too useful). Sorts by category (see below) have been added.

3. Category Addition.  This is a biggie.  A window has been added which
lets you define categories which can be assigned to different files.  The
intent is for you to be able to tag all of your programs using your own
category definitions so that similar types of programs can be more easily
found in your vast pile of disks.

     In order to place a file in a category, you first mark the file by
either clicking on it with the mouse, or using one the options in the mark
files menus.  Note that setting marks using the menu does not clear any
marks already set.  This permits you to use several criteria when setting
marks.

     After you have selected the files for a category, make sure that the
correct category name appears in the Current Category gadget, and then
select the 'Marked Files' option under the 'Categorize' menu.  Note, adding
a category or clicking on a category in the Category window will
automatically load the Current Category gadget.

4. Display Format.  Using the display menu permits you to select which
information should be displayed about the files.  This is necessary since
it is impossible to display all of the information concerning a file on one
line.

5. Print Format.  You may now select which information should be printed in
any of upto 8 columns and how many times those columns should be repeated
on a single line.

6. Add Comments.  You may open a comments window which allows you to add
upto 40 characters of descriptive information about each individual file.
Entering this information is easy with the use of the cursor control keys
or the scroll bar gadget to position in the list of files.

7. Mark Files.  There are now many ways to mark (highlight) and unmark
files.  You can use the left mouse button and click on files to be marked,
mark all files that match a pattern (MS-Dos style - *.* patterns please) by
file name or by comments.  You can mark all files in a category, or mark
files where duplicate names exist.  To make this feature even more useful,
turn on display marked files only and quickly see the files that match the
criteria which you supplied.

8. Save Config.  Version 2.31 allows you to store a configuration file
which saves the way most of the menu item checkmarks are set.  This file
will be stored in the S:  directory and will be named DCconfig.

Section II. - Detailed Description of DiskCat Functions

1. Maximum Files in Catalog Requester - When you first start DiskCat, a
requester will appear asking or the maximum number of files in the catalog.
This is necessary because DiskCat allocates some memory in the beginning so
that the sorts will be faster.  The default maximum number is 2000, but any
number between 20 and 20000 is acceptable.  Don't worry if you do not
allocate enough space initially, because you can fill up a catalog, save it
to disk, and then restart DiskCat with a larger maximum number to start
with.  Then if you read back in the saved catalog, you will be able to add
to it.  As a good rule of thumb, I recommend using a maximum of 4000 or
less for a system with 512K of memory.

2. Project Menu

2.1. Save Catalog - This menu option will save the current catalog,
including the category definitions and the comments.  When selected, a file
name requester will appear.  The default is ":NEW". The data file used to
store the catalog information will be the pathname you supply with a ".cat"
extension appended to it.

2.2. Catalog Disks - This is how you add disks into the catalog that is
currently in memory.  The requester that appears can be satisfied by
inserting a disk into the current catalog drive (initially DF1:, but can be
set with the Catalog Drive menu item), or by clicking on the "GO" or
"CANCEL" gadgets.  After DiskCat is done cataloging the current disk, this
requester will appear again so you can continue cataloging.  You cannot
catalog a disk which has the same name as a disk already in the catalog.

2.3. Delete Disk - This menu item lets you delete a disk from the catalog.
If selected, a disk name requester will appear.  Simply type in the name of
the disk which you wish to delete.  DiskCat will search for that disk in
the catalog and delete it along with all of its files.  Note that this
search, like all searches in DiskCat, is case insensitive so that you may
type the disk name in either upper or lower case with the same result.

   2.4. Clear Catalog - This option wipes out the entire catalog that is in
memory, freeing the memory for use in developing another catalog.

   2.5. Print Catalog - This menu item opens the print window and allows
you to print the catalog.  For a more detailed discussion of the print
window and its menu see section 9 below.

   2.6. Show Category Window - This option opens a small window which is
used to create, change and delete categories.  A category name can be upto
20 characters long and can be used to organize your catalog.

To create a category, click in the Category name box at the bottom of the
window, and type in the new category name to be added.  Then, select the
ADD gadget.  The new category name will then appear in both the category
list displayed in this window, and in the "CURRENT CATEGORY" string gadget
at the bottom right of the main window.  In developing your category names,
keep in mind that sorts on category will be alphabetical.

For example, suppose that you wish to categorize you games into basic
games, graphics games and adventure games.  Using category names of "Games,
adventure", "Games, Basic", and "Games, graphics", will insure that your
games are all grouped together in you catalog if it is sorted by category.

Placing files into categories after the categories have been defined is a 3
step process:  1) Select the category you are going to be working with.
You may do this by clicking on that category name in the category window.
This will cause the selected category name to be copied to the "CURRENT
CATEGORY" gadget at the bottom right of the main window.  Alternately, you
may just enter the desired category name into the "CURRENT CATEGORY" gadget
directly, but make sure that you spell it the same way that you did when
you defined it.

        2) Mark (highlight) all the files that you want to place into this
        category.  See the section on marking files below for more
        information on how to do this.

        3) Select the "Marked Files" item under the "Categorize" menu in
        the main window.  All of the marked files will then be noted as
        belonging to the current category.

        You may change a category name by first selecting it (clicking on
        it with the left mouse button) in the category window, and then
        selecting the "CHANGE" gadget.  A requester will appear asking you
        for the replacement name to be used.  Changing the category name in
        the category window automatically changes it for all files which
        are in that category.

        Categories may be deleted by selecting the category name and then
        clicking on the "DELETE" gadget.  This will delete the category
        name for all files in that category, but not delete the files
        themselves.

   2.7. Describe Disks/Describe Catalog - This option allows you to change
        between the two major display options in the main window. If you
        are currently displaying information about the files in the catalog
        (the case on starting up DiskCat), the menu option will read
        "Describe Disks".  Selecting it will cause information to be
        displayed about the disks currently in the catalog.  If the disk
        information is currently displayed, then the menu option will read
        "Describe Catalog".

   2.8. Add Comments - This allows you to add a 40 character description to
        each file in you catalog.  Selecting this option opens a borderless
        window in the center of the screen with the words "Press Escape to
        Exit" in the title bar of this window.  A box will be drawn around
        the filename displayed in the first column and the cursor will be
        positioned in the upper left hand corner of the comments window. To
        begin entering comments, just start typing. You may use the Cursor
        Control Keys to move around the window.  Pressing the down arrow
        while you are positioned on the last line of the window will cause
        the comments and their corresponding filenames to be scrolled down
        one screen.  Pressing the up arrow while you are positioned on the
        first line of the window will cause the comments and their
        corresponding filenames to be scrolled up one screen.

        You may use the scroll gadget in the main window to position yourself
       in the catalog.  However, you must be sure to click back in the
       center of the screen (the comments window) before trying to enter
       comments again.  Trying to use any of the other gadgets or menus in
       the main window will display a requester telling you to finish
       entering comments first.  To exit the add comments mode, merely press
       the escape key while the comments window is active.

   2.9. Read Catalog File - this menu item will read a previously saved
        catalog file and append it to the catalog that is currently in
        memory. Note that it will not delete the catalog currently in
        memory but will merely attempt to tack on the catalog in the disk
        file to the information already in memory. If a duplicate disk
        exists in the disk file catalog it will display a requester noting
        the duplicate disk name and skip that disk.

   2.10. Quit - this will end the DiskCat program.

3. Sort Menu - This sorts the catalog according to the order selected by
   the menu item. Sorts by disk first are nearly instantaneous, sorts by
   category are the slowest.  Sorting a 2500 file catalog by filename, then
   disk will usually take 10 to 20 seconds.

4. Misc Menu - This provides miscellaneous options described below.
   4.1. AmigaDOS Files - Files that are in the c, devs, libs, and System
        directories on a disk are usually associated with bootable AmigaDOS
        disks.  In many cases you will not care about including these files
        in your catalog.  This menu item has two subitems which allow you
        to include or skip these files when you are cataloging a disk. If
        you skip these files then they will not take up space in your
        catalog.  Note that this option only pertains to cataloging disks
        the first time into a given catalog, not adding them from a already
        saved catalog.

   4.2. .info files - Files that end in ".info" are usually icon files for
        other files also in the catalog. Skipping .info files means that a
        flag will be created indicating that an icon exists for a file when
        both the file and its corresponding .info file is found.  Including
        .info files will not flag the files for whether or not they have an
        icon, and will create a separate entry in the catalog for the icon
        files in the catalog.  You might want to include the .info files
        separately for disks on which you have icon files with no
        corresponding executable or project files.

   4.3. Catalog Drive - this allows you to select which drive should be
        used when you are cataloging disks.

   4.4. About DiskCat - displays the copyright and associated information
        concerning the program.

   4.5. Save Config. Version 2.31 allows you to store a configuration file
        which saves the way the submenu item checkmarks are set. This
        file will be stored in the S: directory and will be named DCconfig.
        Note that checkmarked menu items ( as opposed to submenu items)
        are not saved. (E.g. Print files per line, and  print labels
        settings are not saved.)
        This option did not exist in version 2.3 of DiskCat.

5. Mark Files Menu - Set, clear and use marks on files.

   5.1. Set Marks - Allows you to set marks (highlight) the files in your
        catalog according to various criteria. These criteria are:
        1)   All files - all files in the catalog.  Useful if you want to
             mark all of the files in the catalog and then clear some of
             these marks.
        2)   Use pattern on filename - will mark those files whose name
             match the pattern shown in the "CURRENT PATTERN" gadget at the
             bottom right hand side of the main window.  "*" matches any
             character string and "?" matches any individual character. Any
             other character appearing in the "CURRENT PATTERN" gadget will
             have to be in the filename in the correct position for that
             filename to be marked.
        3)   Use category - marks all files with the category name the same
             as that displayed in the "CURRENT CATEGORY" gadget.  See the
             section on the category window above for easy ways to set the
             current category gadget.
        4)   Files with icons - marks all files that have previously been
             determined to have an icon. See .info files under the Misc
             menu above for how this is determined.
        5)   Possible Duplicates - marks all files where there are two or
             more files with the same name. This option will also sort the
             catalog by filename.
        6)   Use Pattern on Comments - the same as 2) above except that the
             comments field is used instead of the category field.

    5.2  Display - This menu item lets you display all the files, only the
         marked files, or only the unmarked files.  This is extremely
         useful if you are doing some searching for files by pattern or
     category, since you can turn on the display of marked files only
         then watch the matches appear on you screen.

    5.3  Delete - This menu item lets you delete either marked or unmarked
         files from the catalog.  This is the same as clicking on the delete
         gadget in the main window.

    5.4  Clear marks - These options are basically the same as those under
         set marks described above, except they clear the marks.

6. Display Menu - There are menu items for each of 4 columns in this menu.
   These menu items let you choose what will be displayed on the screen
   in each of the columns.  Note that comments only appears as a choice
   in column 2.  This is because comments take 40 characters to display
   which will actually fill up columns 2 and 3.

7. Categorize Menu - There is only one choice in this menu - to categorize
   all of the marked files.  If selected, any files that are currently
   marked will be placed in the category described by the "CURRENT
   CATEGORY" gadget appearing at the bottom right of the main window.
   See the Category Window section described above for a more detailed
   description on how to place files in categories.

8. Gadgets

    8.1 Slide or Scroll gadget - This is the gadget appearing along the
    left side of the screen.  It can be used to scroll through the
    catalog.

    8.2 DELETE gadget - selecting this gadget will cause all marked files
    to be deleted from the catalog.

    8.3 Clear gadget - selecting this gadget will cause all of the marks
    to be cleared for any marked (highlighted) files.

9.  Print Window
    The print window allows you to print out your catalog. When you open
    the print window from the projects menu, the menus change, and 3
    gadgets appear in the small print menu near the center of you screen.

    The first gadget is used to enter the number of lines to print on a
    page.  The suggested value is 55 lines which will give you nice top
    and bottom margins on a standard 8-1/2 x 11 sheet of paper at a
    with a spacing of 6 lines per inch.  However, you may set this to any
    size that you want in order to print on special forms or labels.

    The Print gadget will cause the current catalog to start to be
    printed.  The cancel gadget will either close the print window or
    stop the current printout depending on whether or not you have started
    to print a catalog.  If you cancel a current print out, please
    remember that your printer might continue to print for a while if
    it has a buffer.

   Print Window Menus:

    9.1 Printer Preferences - This allows you to set print quality mode,
        size, and lines per inch from the program.  One of the choices
        is just to use your preferences settings.

    9.2 Columns - This menu is similar to the display menu in the main
        window.  It gives you full control over in which columns you
        wish your information to be printed.  Selecting Skip for any
        column causes that column not to appear at all. For example
        if you skip column 1, what you have selected for column 2 will
        appear in column 1.

    9.3 Special Formats - allows you to print labels and skip or include
        disk summary statistics. Selecting Print Labels instead of
        Standard Format, will sort the catalog by disk and then prompt you
        every time it changes disks or runs out of space on what you have
        defined as the length of a label.

    9.4 Files Per Line - This menu lets you select how many times you
        wish to print your columns on a line.  For example, if all you
        want to print is the filename and size, you could select this
        information to be printed in columns 1 & 2 and skip all other
        columns.  Then you could specify  4 files per line with this menu
        and you would have a printout 8 columns wide with filename
        and size columns alternating 4 times across the page.