FileMerger is a small drag-and-drop utility for merging files. You drag a bunch of files to the FileMerger icon, drop them in, and FileMerger starts up. It shows you a list containing all the files you dropped. By dragging the filenames in the list, you can put them in the proper order. Once you've put all the files into the right order, select the merged file's creator from the pop-up menu. The pop-up menu will default to the creator of the first file you dragged. Once you've selected the creator, push the "merge" button. FileMerger will then ask you to name the file that will result from the merge. Once you've done that, FileMerger will start merging the files. A progress bar will display how much merging has been done. When the bar reaches the end, FileMerger will quit and you will have your new merged file.
If you try to merge files that aren't of type "TEXT," FileMerger will give you a warning. If you continue, FileMerger will simply merge the data forks of the files you dragged and save the merged file as a "TEXT" file.
System Requirements
FileMerger requires System 7. It's fat code, so you can use it on either a 68K Mac or a PowerMac.
Usage Notes
FileMerger has several potential uses. The most obvious use to me is for merging binhexed or uuencoded binary segments from usenet. I wanted a fast and simple way to do this. I wanted a drag-and-drop program that I could keep on my desktop which was very simple to use. So I made FileMerger. If you can find any other uses, that's great!
People who work with large datasets in a scientific or academic environment might find a use for FileMerger. If you have two tab-delimited text files of data, for example, and want to merge them together without having to cut-and-paste, you might find FileMerger useful.
Some files, for example an e-mail reader's nickname files, are text-based. If you wanted to merge two nickname files, for example, you could do it easily with FileMerger. However, in this case you may have to set the merged file's creator in order for it to work properly. There are several drag-and-drop programs that allow you to do this.
I wouldn't expect FileMerger to work on non-text based files. For example, merging two "PICT" files will result in garbage, not a new "PICT" file.
Price
I hope you like FileMerger, find it useful, and will support my efforts to write more good software for the Macintosh by paying the shareware fee.
FileMerger has the following pricing:
• Single User License: US$5
• Site License: US$100
• World-Wide License: US$500
A single user license applies to one person. A site license covers all locations for your organization within a 160 km (100 mile) radius of your site. With a site license you don't need to keep track of how many people at your site are using the software. A World-Wide license covers all locations for your organization on the planet.
How to Register
Payment is relatively painless. Open the Register program that accompanies FileMerger. Enter your name, your e-mail address, and the number of single user licenses you desire (or site or world-wide licenses). Save or Copy or Print the data from the Register program and send the data and payment to Kagi Shareware. Kagi Shareware handles my payment processing.
If paying with Credit Card or First Virtual, you can email or fax the data to Kagi Shareware. Their email address is shareware@kagi.com and their fax number is +1 510 652-6589. You can either Copy the data from Register and paste into the body of an e-mail message or you can Save the data to a file and attach that file to an e-mail message. There is no need to compress the data file; it's already pretty small. If you have a fax modem, just Print the data to the Kagi fax number.
Payments sent via e-mail are processed within 3 to 4 days. You will receive an e-mail acknowledgment when it is processed. Payments sent via fax take up to 10 days and if you provide a correct internet e-mail address you will receive an e-mail acknowledgment.
If paying with Cash or US$ Check you should print the data using the Register application and send it to the address shown on the form, which is:
Kagi Shareware
1442-A Walnut Street #392-HG
Berkeley, California 94709-1405
USA
You can pay with a wide variety of cash from different countries but at present if you pay via check, it must be a check drawn in US Dollars. Kagi Shareware cannot accept checks in other currencies, the conversion rate for a non-US$ check is around US$15 per check and that's not practical considering that FileMerger only costs US$5.
The Invoice option is for companies with purchasing departments. If that's you, then enter all the data, print three copies of the form, and send it to your accounts payable people. They must include a copy of the form with their payment.
Please do not fax or e-mail forms that indicate Cash, Check, or Invoice as the payment method. These need to be sent through the postal mail with payment. Payments sent via postal mail take time to reach Kagi Shareware and then up to 10 days for processing.
Legal Stuff
You may copy and distribute FileMerger but you may not sell it for profit. If you want to include it in a shareware/freeware collection, contact me at the e-mail address below. If you distribute it in any way, you must include this "Read Me" file and the Register program along with it.
Use FileMerger at your own risk. I make no warranties as to performance of merchantability or any other warranties whether expressed or implied. No warranty of fitness for a particular purpose is offered. If the program does something weird, like damages a file or disk, I am not legally responsible. However, if it does something weird, I'd like to know so I can try to fix it in future versions. Please send bug reports to the e-mail address below.
How to Contact Me
If you find a bug, have comments, or just want to say hi, my e-mail address is gherrick@kagi.com.
Version History
March 1996
FileMerger 1.1 adds the ability to specify the merged file's creator.
February 1996
FileMerger 1.0 is the first public release of FileMerger.
Other Programs
Here's some of my other programs:
•Finder Windows: Have you ever wished that the Finder had a simple "Window" menu like many other applications? Finder Windows is an extension that adds a "Window" menu to the Finder. You can now see a list of all the Finder's open windows, choose among them, stack them, and arrange them. Finder Windows is available at Info-Mac and other popular Macintosh shareware archives. The latest version (as of the writing of this ReadMe file) is 1.0.
•Addiction Manager: This is a program that helps people manage their addictions to computer games or other stuff (like the internet). It is available at Info-Mac and other popular Macintosh shareware archives. The latest version (as of the writing of this ReadMe file) is 1.0.1.
•Sokoban 3D: This computer game, based on the classic Sokoban game, puts you into a 3-D puzzle from the first-person point-of-view. It is available at Info-Mac and other popular Macintosh shareware archives. The latest version (as of the writing of this ReadMe file) is 1.0.
