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-------------------------- ╘AKING ═YSTERY ╧UT OF ┴╥├ ├OPYRIGHT 1992 ┬Y ╟AELYNE ╥. ═ORANEC ╨UBLISHED IN ╓OL 1 ╔SSUE 2 -------------------------- ├HRIS ╙MEETS' ┴╥├ PROGRAM CAN BE EASY TO USE, BUT THE DOCS THAT COME WITH THE PROGRAM ARE FAR FROM EASY TO READ, AND MAKES THE PROGRAM SEEM FAR MORE COMPLICATED THAN IT REALLY IS. ╔F YOU'VE EVER USED ANY OTHER BRAND OF COMPUTER, THIS PROGRAM IS FAIRLY STRAIGHT FORWARD AND EASY TO USE, BUT THE KEY TO MAKING IT EASY TO USE IS TRANSLATING THE INSTRUCTIONS INTO USER FRIENDLY LANGUAGE. ╔ DID THIS FOR MYSELF, AND ╔'M SHARING IT SO YOU CAN JUST LOAD THE PROGRAM AND ARCHIVE YOUR FILES WITHOUT NEEDING A DEGREE IN ╘ECHNOSPEAK. ┴T THE END OF THIS ARTICLE, YOU'LL FIND A REFER- ENCE SHEET YOU CAN PRINT OUT AND KEEP HANDY WHEN YOU RUN ┴╥├. ╘HIS ARTI- CLE AND REFERENCE SHEET ARE JUST THE BASICS OF RUNNING THE PROGRAM. ╔F YOU REALLY WANT TO KNOW ╚╧╫ IT WORKS, READ THE 50 PAGES OF DOCS. ╔F YOU THINK OF ┴╥├ AS A "─╧╙ ╙HELL INSTEAD OF AS A PROGRAM, IT HELPS. ╧NCE LOADED, IT JUST SITS THERE, WITH A CURSOR BLINKING AT YOU UNTIL YOU TELL IT WHAT TO DO. ╔T OPERATES SIMILAR TO THE WAY THE ├OM- MODORE COMPUTER WORKS IN DIRECT MODE, AS WHEN YOU FIRST TURN THE MACHINE ON. ┴╥├ IS CAPABLE OF LOADING AND RUNNING OTHER PROGRAMS, IT HAS A TEXT EDITOR, AND CAN PERFORM ANY DISK FUNCTIONS YOU NEED IT TO, SUCH AS FORMATTING DISKS, DELETING, COPYING, AND RENAMING FILES. ╔T CAN ALSO TELL YOU THE LOAD ADDRESS OF FILES AND HOW MANY BYTES A FILE CONTAINS. ═OST OF THESE DISK FUNCTIONS RUN VERY SLOW, SO IF YOU HAVE OTHER UTILITIES THAT WORK FASTER, ╔ RECOMMEND USING THEM. ╔T IS HANDY TO HAVE THESE FUNCTIONS AVAILABLE WITHIN THE PROGRAM, THOUGH. ╘HE COMMANDS ARE SHORT, AND ONCE LEARNED, MAKE SENSE. ╒NTIL THEN, HANG IN THERE! ╘HE FIRST CONFUSION IS WITH DISK DRIVE LETTERS. ╔N THE ═╙-─╧╙ WORLD, ALL DISK DRIVES ARE GIVEN LETTER NAMES INSTEAD OF NUMBERS, AND THIS IS HOW ┴╥├ DEALS WITH DISK DRIVES. ╘O FURTHER CONFUSE THE SITUATION, IT'S BROKEN DOWN BY BOTH DEVICE AND DRIVE NUMBERS: ─RIVE ┴ IS DEVICE #8, DRIVE 0, BUT ─RIVE ┬ IS DEVICE #8, DRIVE 1. ╔ INCLUDED A CHART ON THE REFERENCE SHEET, SO DON'T GIVE UP YET! ╘HROUGHOUT THIS ARTICLE ╔ ONLY REFER TO ─RIVES ┴ (#8), AND ├ (#9), JUST TO KEEP IT SIMPLE. ┴LMOST ALL OF THE COMMANDS FOR ┴╥├ MAKE USE OF DRIVE LETTERS, WHICH ARE ALWAYS FOLLOWED BY COLONS (:). ├OMMANDS THAT ARE GIVEN WITH- OUT DRIVE LETTERS CAUSE THE COMMANDS TO GO TO THE DEFAULT DRIVE, WHICH IS EITHER DRIVE ┴ (#8), OR THE LAST DRIVE ACCESSED. ╔F YOU TYPE IN THE DEVICE LETTER AND COLON WITHOUT ANY COMMAND AFTER IT, SUCH AS ├:[╥┼╘╒╥╬] THAT DRIVE BECOMES THE DEFAULT DRIVE. ╘O READ THE DIRECTORY ON THE DE- FAULT DRIVE, TYPE IN ─╔╥ [╥┼╘╒╥╬]. ╘O USE THE STANDARD ─╧╙ WEDGE INCLUD- ED IN THE PROGRAM, YOU HAVE TO SET THE DEFAULT DRIVE FIRST, OTHERWISE IT PERFORMS THE FUNCTION ON THE DRIVE THAT WAS LAST ACCESSED. ╘HE ┴╥├ COMMANDS ARE THE MOST CONFUSING PART OF OF THE PROGRAM. ┬ASICALLY, THERE ARE ONLY SIX ═┴╔╬ COMMANDS, BUT THERE ARE SO MANY POS- SIBLE WAYS TO USE THEM, THAT A PERSON CAN EASILY BECOME LOST IN THE MAZE OF OPTIONS. ╘HE COMMAND CONSISTS OF THE WORD "┴╥├, AND A SLASH. ╫HAT COMES AFTER THE SLASH DETERMINES WHAT ACTION THE PROGRAM TAKES. ╘HE COM- MAND AFTER THE SLASH CAN BE REMEMBERED IF YOU THINK OF THE ACTION THE LETTER REPRESENTS. ╚ERE IS A LIST OF THE ┴╥├ COMMANDS ╔'M DISCUSSING: ┴╥├/├ ├REATE A NEW ARCHIVE FILE. ┴╥├/┴ ┴PPEND FILES TO AN EXISTING ARCHIVE FILE. ┴╥├/╞ ╞IX AN ARCHIVE THAT HAS BEEN APPENDED. ┴╥├/╓ ╓ERIFY THE INTEGRITY OF AN ARCHIVE. ┴╥├/╠ ╠IST THE FILES THAT ARE WITHIN AN ARCHIVE. ┴╥├/╪ E╪TRACT (DISSOLVE) AN ARCHIVE. ╞OR SIMPLICITY, ╔'M ONLY SHOWING THE SIX MAIN COMMANDS. ╘HE GENERAL FORMAT OF AN INSTRUCTION TO THE ┴╥├ PROGRAM CON- SISTS OF THE ┴╥├ COMMAND, A SPACE, THE DISK DRIVE LETTER WITH A COLON, THEN THE FILE NAME. ╙OME COMMANDS INVOLVE USING TWO DISK DRIVES. ╔N THIS CASE, ADD ANOTHER SPACE, THEN THE NEW DISK DRIVE LETTER, COLON, AND FILE NAME. ╫HEN YOU REFER TO THE CHART, PAY CLOSE ATTENTION TO THE SPACES WITH- IN EACH SET OF INSTRUCTIONS. ╔F YOU LOOK AT SEVERAL EXAMPLES, YOU SHOULD BE ABLE TO SEE THE PATTERN. ╘HE SPACES ARE THERE FOR THE PROGRAM TO DISTINGUISH BETWEEN DIFFERENT SETS OF PARAMETERS, AND BECAUSE OF THIS, ┴╥├ CAN NOT ACCEPT SPACES WITHIN FILE NAMES. ┘OU CAN SUBSTITUTE EITHER A QUESTION MARK OR A SHIFTED-SPACE INSTEAD. ┴╥├ WILL FIND THE CORRECT FILE, AND THE SPACE IN THE FILE NAME WILL BE LEFT INTACT WHEN THE ARCHIVE IS DISSOLVED. ┴RC ALLOWS SEVERAL DIFFERENT PARAMETERS TO BE SET IN RESPECT TO WHAT TYPE OF COMPRESSION IT USES, AND WHICH FILES IT WORKS ON, AS WILD- CARDS AND OTHER SHORTCUTS ARE ALLOWED. ╚OWEVER, TO EXPLAIN EACH ONE WOULD TAKE UP MORE SPACE HERE, AND WOULD MAKE THINGS SEEM MORE DIF- FICULT THAN IT NEEDS TO BE, SO ╔ WILL INSTEAD INCLUDE ALL THE PARAMETERS, WILDCARDS, AND SHORTCUTS IN THE REFERENCE CHART. ┴╥├/├ ├REATE A NEW ARCHIVE FILE. ╘HIS IS THE COMMAND THAT IS USED WHEN YOU HAVE SEVERAL FILES YOU WANT TO COMPRESS, AND PACK TOGETHER INTO ONE ARC'ED FILE. ╔T'S EASIEST TO ARC FILES USING TWO DISK DRIVES. ╨UT A BLANK FORMATED DISK INTO DRIVE ┴ (#8), AND A DISK WITH THE FILES YOU WANT TO PACK TOGETHER INTO DRIVE ├ (#9). ╘O MAKE IT REAL EASY FOR YOURSELF, HAVE ╧╬╠┘ THE FILES YOU WANT TO ARCHIVE ON THE DISK IN DRIVE ├, SO YOU CAN USE THE WILDCARD (*) IN THE ┴╥├ COMMAND, INSTEAD OF LISTING INDIVIDUAL FILE NAMES. ╔F ╔ WERE ARCHIVING ARTICLE FILES, ╔ WOULD USE THE FOLLOWING COMMAND TO CREATE A NEW ARC'ED FILE CALLED ┴RTICLES.ARC: ┴╥├/├ ┴:┴RTICLES ├:* ╔N THE EXAMPLE ABOVE, ┴╥├ LOOKS AT THE LETTER AFTER THE SLASH AND FINDS A ├ FOR ├REATE. ╔T GOES TO THE NEXT PARAMETER, AND FINDS THAT THE NEW ARCHIVE IS TO BE NAMED ┴RTICLES, AND WILL BE CREATED ON DRIVE ┴ (#8). ╙O IT OPENS UP A NEW FILE ON THAT DRIVE AND NAMES IT ┴RTICLES.ARC. ╔T ADDS THE .ARC EXTENSION WHEN IT CREATES THE FILE. ╘HEN ┴╥├ LOOKS TO THE NEXT PARAMETER, AND LEARNS THAT ╔ WANT ALL OF THE FILES ON DRIVE ├ (#9) ARCHIVED. ╔T LOOKS AT EACH FILE, AND DECIDES ON THE BEST METHOD TO COMPRESS IT, AND WHEN IT'S DONE PACKING IT, IT PUTS IT IN THE NEW FILE ON DRIVE ┴ (#8). ┴╥├/┴ ┴PPEND FILES TO AN EXISTING ARCHIVE FILE. ┴ WEEK OR SO HAS PASSED SINCE ╔ CREATED THE ┴RTICLES.ARC FILE, AND ╔'VE WRITTEN TWO NEW ARTICLES. ╔'D LIKE TO ADD IT TO THE ┴RTICLES.ARC FILE, BUT ╔ DON'T WANT TO HASSLE WITH CREATING A NEW ARC FILE. ╔NSTEAD, ╔ APPEND THE FILES TO THE ONE ╔ MADE A FEW WEEKS BEFORE, USING THE ┴╥├/┴ COMMAND. ╧NCE AGAIN, ╔ PUT THE DISK WITH ┴RTICLES.ARC ON IT INTO DRIVE ┴ (#8), AND THE DISK WITH THE FILES ╔ WANT TO ADD TO THE ARCHIVE IN DRIVE ├ (#9). ╘HEN ╔ TYPE IN THE FOLLOWING COMMAND: ┴╥├/┴ ┴:┴RTICLES.ARC ├:┴RTICLENAME ├:╬EXTARTICLENAME ╘HIS TIME ┴╥├ LOOKS AT THE INSTRUCTION AND SEES ╔ EXPECT IT TO APPEND FILES TO THE ┴RTICLE.ARC ARCHIVE IN DRIVE ┴ (#8), IT LOOKS TO THE NEXT PARAMETER AND FINDS THAT ╔ WANT IT TO GO TO DRIVE ├ (#9), TO COMPRESS ┴RTICLENAME AND ADD IT TO ┴RTICLES.ARC. ╫HEN IT FINISHES WITH THIS TASK, IT GOES TO THE NEXT PARAMETER AND DOES THE SAME THING WITH THE FILE ╬EXTARTICLE, WHICH IS ALSO IN DRIVE ├. ┴╥├/╞ ╞IX AN ARCHIVE THAT HAS BEEN APPENDED. ┴RCHIVED FILES HAVE A CERTAIN NUMBER OF BYTES IN THEM, AND OCCASIONALLY WHEN YOU APPEND TO AN ARC'ED FILE, THE NUMBER OF BYTES BECOMES INCORRECT. ╘HIS CAN ALSO HAPPEN OCCASIONALLY WHEN DOWNLOADING ARCHIVED FILES. ╘HIS IS ALSO A USE- FUL COMMAND WHEN YOU TRY TO DISSOLVE AN ARC'ED FILE AND IT RUNS INTO AN ERROR. ╔ RECENTLY USED THIS COMMAND WHEN ╔ TRIED TO DISSOLVE AN ARC'ED FILE THAT STOPPED HALFWAY THROUGH THE PROCESS. ╔T LOOKED OVER THE FILE, AND FIXED IT. ╚OW IT FIXED IT DIDN'T SEEM AS IMPORTANT AS JUST THE FACT THAT IT DID THE JOB! ╘HE COMMAND ╔ USED WAS: ┴╥├/╞ ┴:MESSEDUP.ARC ╘HIS TIME ┴╥├ LOOKED AT THE ╞, AND KNEW ╔ WANTED IT TO ╞IX AN AR- CHIVE. ╔T WENT TO THE NEXT PARAMETER AND SAW THAT ╔ WANTED IT TO FIX THE FILE NAMED MESSEDUP.ARC, AND THAT IT COULD FIND THE FILE IN DRIVE ┴ (#8). ╫HEN IT WAS FINISHED, IT RETURNED A MESSAGE THAT SAID "┴RCHIVE ╞IXED. ┴╥├/╓ ╓ERIFY THE INTEGRITY OF AN ARCHIVE. ╘HIS COMMAND CAN BE USED JUST TO MAKE SURE THAT THE ARC'ED FILE IS OKAY. ┘OU COULD USE THIS ALSO AS A QUICK WAY TO LIST THE FILES WITHIN AN ARCHIVE. ╔ COULD HAVE USED IT BEFORE FIXING THE MESSEDUP.ARC FILE, BUT SINCE ╔ KNEW IT NEEDED TO BE FIXED, ╔ SKIPPED THE EXTRA STEP. ╔F ╔ WERE TO USE THIS FEATURE, IT WOULD BE IN THE FOLLOWING FORM: ┴╥├/╓ ┴:┴RCHIVENAME.ARC ╔N THIS CASE, ┴╥├ LOOKS AT THE ╓, AND KNOWS IT WILL BE VERIFYING A FILE. ╔T GOES TO THE NEXT PARAMETER, AND SEES THAT IT WILL BE FOUND IN DRIVE ┴ (#8), AND THE FILE ╔ WANT VERIFIED IS CALLED "┴RCHIVENAME.ARC. ╔T THEN VERIFIES EACH FILE WITHIN THE ARCHIVE. ╔F IT FINDS AN ERROR, IT DISPLAYS AN ERROR MESSAGE, AND ╔ KNOW TO USE THE ┴╥├/╞ COMMAND TO FIX THE ARCHIVE. ╔F IT DOESN'T FIND ANY ERRORS, IT RETURNS THE MESSAGE, "┴RCHIVE IS ╧KAY. ┴╥├/╠ ╠IST THE FILES THAT ARE WITHIN AN ARCHIVE. ╘HIS COMMAND DOES MORE THAN LIST THE FILES INSIDE AN ARC'ED FILE. ╘HE FORMAT FOR THIS COMMAND IS: ┴╥├/╠ ┴:┴RCNAME.ARC ╘HE LIST ALSO INCLUDES THE FILE TYPE, THE NUMBER OF BLOCKS IT USES BEFORE AND AFTER COMPRESSION, THE VERSION NUMBER OF THE ┴╥├ PROGRAM USED, THE METHOD OF COMPRESSION USED FOR EACH FILE, AND THE DATE THAT THE ARCHIVE WAS CREATED. ╠ISTING THE ARCHIVE IS A QUICK WAY OF FINDING OUT HOW MUCH DISK SPACE YOU NEED FOR THE DISSOLVED FILES. ┴╥├/╪ E╪TRACT (DISSOLVE) AN ARCHIVE. ╔N A CERTAIN SENSE, ╔ THINK ╔ SAVED THE MOST DIFFICULT FOR THE LAST. ═AINLY BECAUSE TO USE TWO DISK DRIVES TO DISSOLVE AN ARCHIVE, THE COMMAND DOESN'T FOLLOW THE CONSIS- TENCY OF THE PREVIOUS COMMANDS. ┴CTUALLY, ╔ SUGGEST USING ╧MEGA╤-╔╔ TO DISSOLVE ARC'ED FILES, ESPECIALLY IF YOU WANT TO USE TWO DISK DRIVES. ╔F YOU REALLY WANT TO USE ┴╥├ TO EXTRACT THE FILES, PUT A BLANK FOR- MATTED DISK INTO DRIVE ├ (#9), AND THE ARCHIVED FILE INTO DRIVE ┴. ╘HEN TYPE THIS COMMAND IN FOR ┴╥├ TO DISSOLVE THE FILE: ┴╥├/╪├ ┴:┴RCHIVENAME.ARC ╙EE WHAT ╔ MEAN? ╘HE DISK DRIVE LETTER FOR DRIVE ├ IS RIGHT BEHIND THE ╪ TELLING ┴╥├ TO EXTRACT THE FILE. ╫HY THE SYNTAX IS DIFFERENT FOR THIS COMMAND IS DIFFERENT FROM ALL THE OTHER FORMATS IS A MYSTERY TO ME. ╘HERE IS A RATHER USEFUL FEATURE TO ┴╥├ FOR DISSOLVING ONLY PART OF AN ARCHIVED FILE. ╞OR INSTANCE, IF ╔ NEEDED TO DO SOME WORK ON ONE OF MY ARTICLES THAT WERE COMPRESSED IN MY ┴RTICLES.ARC FILE, ╔ COULD USE ┴╥├ TO DISSOLVE JUST THAT ARTICLE, AND LEAVE THE ARCHIVED FILE INTACT. ╘HIS WOULD BE THE ELECTRONIC EQUIVALENT TO TAKING ONE FILE FOLDER OUT OF A LARGE FILING CABINET. ┘OU DON'T HAVE TO TAKE EVERY FOLDER OUT OF THE FILE CABINET TO GET THE FILE YOU NEED. ╘HE COMMAND FOR THIS IS: ┴╥├/╪ ┴:┴RTICLES.ARC ┴RTICLENAME ╔N THIS EXAMPLE, ┴╥├ EXTRACTS ONLY THE FILE CALLED ARTICLENAME FROM THE ARCHIVE CALLED ┴RTICLES.ARC. ╘HE ORIGINAL ARTICLE IS PUT ON THE SAME DISK AS THE ARCHIVED FILE, IN THIS INSTANCE IT HAPPENS TO BE DRIVE ┴. ╔F ╔ WANTED IT TO BE PUT ON DRIVE ├ (#9), THE COMMAND WOULD HAVE BEEN: ┴╥├/╪├ ┴:┴RTICLES.ARC ┴RTICLENAME ╬OTICE THE ├ FOR DRIVE ├ IS PLACED RIGHT AFTER THE ╪ FOR EXTRACT. ╔F ╔ COULDN'T REMEMBER THE NAME OF THE FILE ╔ NEEDED, ╔ COULD HAVE LISTED THE ARCHIVE FIRST, SO ╔ WOULD KNOW THE EXACT FILE NAME. ╫ILDCARDS CAN ALSO BE USED. ╧THER ├OMMANDS AND ╞EATURES OF ┴╥├: ----------------------------------- ┴S MENTIONED EARLIER, THERE ARE MANY OTHER COMMANDS THAT CAN BE USED FOR FILE MANIPULATION. ╘WO OF THE MORE INTERESTING ONES ARE SIZE, AND START. ╔F YOU TYPE IN: ╙╔┌┼ ┴:╞ILENAME ┘OU CAN FIND OUT HOW MANY BYTES ARE IN THE FILE. ╙╘┴╥╘ ┴:╞ILENAME WILL DISPLAY THE LOAD ADDRESS OF A FILE. ┴:FILENAME ╘HIS WILL LOAD AND RUN EITHER BASIC OR MACHINE LANGUAGE PROGRAMS. ╔ TRIED THIS WITH A COMMERCIAL PROGRAM THAT LOADS MULTIPLE FILES AS IT BOOTS THE PROGRAM. ┴╥├ DISPLAYED THE NAME OF EACH FILE AS IT WAS LOADING. ╘HE PROGRAM BOOTED AND RAN NORMALLY WITHOUT ANY PROBLEMS. ╘HIS IS A FEATURE WHICH COULD BE USEFUL FOR THOSE WHO LIKE TO TINKER WITH THE INNER WORKINGS OF PROGRAMS. ┘OU CAN ALSO SEND THE CONTENTS OF A FILE TO THE SCREEN, WITH THE ╘┘╨┼ COMMAND. ╘HIS WORKS WITH BOTH PROGRAM AND SEQUENTIAL FILES, ANOTHER INTERESTING FEATURE FOR TINKERERS. ┴FTER LOOKING AT THE ╘EXT ┼DITOR PORTION OF THE DOCS, ╔ DECIDED THAT THERE ARE MUCH EASIER TEXT EDITORS AVAILABLE FOR ME TO USE. ╘HE EDITOR IS INTENDED FOR EDITING ASSEMBLY LANGUAGE SOURCE FILES. ╞ROM A QUICK GLANCE IT LOOKS LIKE THE ARCHAIC EDITORS FROM WHEN COMPUTERS USED PRINTERS IN THE SAME MANNER AS WE NOW USE MONITORS. ─ELETES ARE MADE USING BACK SLASHES. ╘HE ─╧╙ WEDGE IS STANDARD. ┴LL YOU NEED DO IS TYPE > THEN THE ─╧╙ COMMAND (LISTED IN THE REFERENCE CHART). ╩UST REMEMBER TO SET THE DE- FAULT DRIVE FIRST. ╫ITHOUT HAVING TO RESORT TO THE ─╧╙ WEDGE, YOU CAN RE- NAME, COPY AND DELETE FILES. ╘HE COMMANDS ARE LISTED IN THE REFERENCE CHART. ╔F YOU'VE CREATED AN ARC'ED FILE, AND WANT TO MAKE IT INTO A ╙ELF ─ISSOLVING ┴RCHIVE, YOU CAN LOAD ┴╥├-╙─┴, TO CHANGE THE ARCHIVE. ┴╥├-╙─┴ IS VERY USER FRIENDLY IN COMPARISON TO ┴╥├. ╔T'S MENU DRIVEN, AND COMES WITH EASY TO UNDERSTAND DOCS.