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BRUCE.DOC 1 Revised: 11-30-96
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Introduction
This documentation provides some overview information on a number of utilities.
All programs described herein were written by Bruce Guthrie. Most are
distributed with a Wayne Software copyright. Others were written for the U.S.
Department of Commerce.
All programs are free for use provided relevant documentation is kept with the
programs, no changes are made to the programs or documentation, and they are not
bundled with commercial programs or charged for separately.
CHANGE, CONVERT, FILUPDAT, READ, and READY are excluded from the
commercial-packaging restriction. These programs are owned by the U.S.
Department of Commerce and may be re-distributed without restriction.
People who need to bundle AV, BFIND, COPSINCE, DATES, DIRCOMP, DIRTOTAL, EUMAIL,
FILL, FIXTEXT, FORTUNE, HTMSTRIP, MOZ, PAGINATE, READINIT, or TXTABLE in
commercial packages other than shareware/freeware collections must pay a $50
registration fee to "Wayne Software" at the following address. READMAKE-created
files are also subject to this limitation. I don't expect to make any money
from these utilities but I don't want others to sell them instead.
Shareware-distribution groups that charge more than $7 for a diskette or $20 for
a CD-ROM are, as far as I'm concerned, making excessive profits from these
programs--they're actual costs are way below this--and probably keeping people
from registering the other shareware on the disk; I do not want these types of
places distributing my programs.
This collection of utilities were compiled using Microsoft's Visual BASIC for
DOS 1.0 compiler in addition to Thomas G. Hanlin III's excellent PBClone
routines. Both the compiler and the library are now officially "dead", as is
DOS apparently, so adding support for new data formats and such may not be
possible. Keep in mind that they are DOS-based routines so forget long Win95
file names and such. I keep thinking that I should be doing Windows programming
but it's hard to get psyched up for that when you think of Windows as a computer
virus.
Documentation provided in appropriate ZIP files:
* routine.DOC: Each utility is separately described in a like-named *.DOC file.
* FILE_ID.DIZ: Standard "Description In Zip" file.
* BRUCE.DOC: This file serves to summarize all of the various utilities.
* BRUCEINI.DOC: Most of the routines have defaults that can altered by using
initialization files (inifiles). These are referenced in the regular
documentation and further described here.
* BRUCEHEX.DOC: Many of the routines allow you to enter parameters as either
hexadecimal or decimal strings. This is referenced in the regular
documentation and further described here.
* HISTORY.ymm: List of recent modifications to all programs. The "ymm"
indicates the release date in year/month format. "601" means 1996, first
month (Jan 1996).
All program documentation was created using a text editor (PE2). The PAGINATE
command (see below) was used to justify the text and create titles, page breaks,
and (where provided) indexes.
BRUCE.DOC 2 Revised: 11-30-96
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Contact information
For the following routines: AV, BFIND, COPSINCE, DATES, DIRCOMP, DIRTOTAL,
EUMAIL, FILL, FIXTEXT, FORTUNE, HTMSTRIP, MOZ, PAGINATE, READINIT,
READMAKE-created files, and TXTABLE:
Bruce Guthrie
Wayne Software
113 Sheffield St.
Silver Spring, MD 20910
fax: (301) 588-8986
e-mail: bguthrie@nmaa.org
http://hjs.geol.uib.no/guthrie/
For the following routines: CHANGE, CONVERT, FILUPDAT, READ, and READY:
Bruce Guthrie
Room H-4885
U.S. Dept of Commerce/ESA/STAT-USA
Washington, DC 20230
fax: (202) 482-2164
voice: (202) 482-3234
e-mail: bguthrie@doc.gov
Please provide an Internet e-mail address on all correspondence.
Since these programs are typically "freeware" (with the exception of people
trying to make money from them instead of me), they generate maybe $100/year in
revenue for me. As such, my ability to afford wonderful customer support is
somewhat restricted. Please do not leave messages saying "Call me long
distance". Also, please be specific about what problems you encounter and
include command-line inputs as well as any control or INI files that you're
using.
Beta testers and suggestions are always appreciated. Contact me at
bguthrie@nmaa.org Note that all beta releases are done via e-mail so if your
gateway can't handle some pretty big mail attachments, you definitely do NOT
want to be a beta tester for me! Modifications that are not of mainstream use
can be contracted for.
WIN/NT AND WIN95 USERS: All of these programs are DOS applications. This means
that they expect 8.3 filenames, short paths, etc. If you use long paths or
illegal characters in your file names or whatever, these programs may not work
for you. This is not a "bug" in the software. That's just the way DOS apps
are.
STANDARD LEGAL DISCLAIMER: Wayne Software disclaims all warranties as to this
software, whether express or implied, including without limitation any implied
warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, functionality,
data integrity or protection.
BRUCE.DOC 3 Revised: 11-30-96
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Finding the programs--Current version is 611 (1996 November)
The utilities are uploaded with a ZIP name that includes the year and month of
the release in a "ymm" format (mm-number month where 01=January, and 199y for
year). The files are posted directly by the author to two places. The
following Web site, provided by Hans Schrader, has the current versions of *all*
programs:
http://hjs.geol.uib.no/guthrie/
Major revisions are directly posted by the author to the following:
* Simtel (Coast-To-Coast): ftp.coast.net (http://www.coast.net/Simtel)
* Simtel (Keith Petersen): ftp.simtel.net (http://www.simtel.net/simtel.net)
* ZDI Software Library: No idea where that is!
Simtel locations and versions
http://www.coast.net/SimTel/msdos/ ftp://ftp.simtel.net/simtelnet/msdos/
..arcutil/ ..arcutils/
av607.zip Archive View: Free ZIP etc directory viewer
..batutil/ ..batchutl/
dates611.zip Warns you in advance of birthdays etc
fortn608.zip Fine-tunes DOS FOR command w/options
..dirutil/ ..dirutl/
cops611.zip Copies files modified since given date
dirco611.zip Updates files based on source directory
dirto610.zip Directory lister and totaller
filup610.zip Copy updated files based on a control list
..diskutil/ ..diskutil/
fill610.zip Stuffs as many files as possible on disk
..internet/ ..html/
htmst611.zip Reprocesses HTML pages for humans to read
..offline/ ..mailnews/
eumal611.zip Eudora utility for nicknames, boxes
..spredsht/ ..spredsht/
convr611.zip Convert dBase, ASCII-delim, fixed, 1-2-3
..textutil/ ..txtutl/
bfind610.zip Boolean FIND command (BFIND BEGIN & END)
chang610.zip Change strings in text/binary files
fixtx611.zip Translate text file characters en masse
pagin611.zip Paginates text (indexes, sorts, tables)
read609.zip Free viewer, also make any text self-viewing
txtab611.zip Generates text tables
If you're using a version of the programs that's more than a year old, it's
almost always the case that there's a newer version. Please check for an
update. If you can receive binary attachments, contact me at bguthrie@nmaa.org
for free updates. Alternatively, send $10 made out to "Wayne Software" to the
Wayne Software address above and I'll send you everything on diskette. (If you
need anything other than 3.5" high density, specify that too please.)
The versions of each program posted on SimTel are documented below along with
the directory information for this site. The *current* versions of *all*
programs are posted on the Web site in Norway.
BRUCE.DOC 4 Revised: 11-30-96
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Short program descriptions
AV.EXE: Archive directory viewer. Presents list of files in archive (ZIP, ARC,
etc) and lets you sort as desired. Also allows resetting of the file date
based on the archive's contents.
BFIND.EXE: Allows Boolean-type FIND requests. For example, find any line with
one string AND another one, or any line with one string OR another. Also
allows wildcarded input file names.
CHANGE.EXE: Processes change commands in files. Files can be of any size and
type (e.g. binary or text) and are processed quickly. Up to thirty change
commands can be processed in a single pass. Also provides ability to remove
trailing spaces from text files.
CONVERT.EXE: Converts between data formats: FROM dBase, ASCII-delimited
(typically commas between fields and quotes around strings), and fixed field
TO Lotus WKS, ASCII-delimited, dBase, and fixed field. Also provides ability
to add and drop fields, giving you the ability to crunch tables.
COPSINCE.EXE: Copies all files modified since a given date. Primarily used for
making sure you have a back-up of files and also to copy updated programs to
another place. Lets you define your own groupings of files if desired.
DATES.EXE: Program that warns you in advance when an event like a birthday,
anniversary, or holiday is coming up. The idea is to give you advance
warning so you can send a card or get out of town in time.
DIRCOMP.EXE: Similar in some ways to DOS's REPLACE command but adds ability to
delete extra files in the destination subdirectory, copy hidden and system
files, and prepare a report showing inconsistencies. Is frequently used by
network administrators to update workstation files.
DIRTOTAL.EXE: Prepares report showing files in subdirectory or drive. Allows
restricting search based on date, size, attributes, etc. Works on networked
and CD-ROM drives. Produces more formalized report than some utilities do.
Also allows you to look for duplicate file names.
EUMAIL.EXE: Eudora mail summarizer. Dumps your Qualcomm Eudora mailbook as well
as summarizing the contents of all of your Eudora boxes and folders.
FILL.EXE: Program designed to move files off to floppy diskettes, taking the
biggest files first and skipping those that won't fit. Also provides option
of splitting large files, creating a status report, and other features.
FILUPDAT.EXE: Program which compares a selected list of files in a source path
against those in another path and copies those that have been updated.
Similar to DOS' REPLACE command but works from a stored list of files
(controlled updates) and can handle any number of directories.
BRUCE.DOC 5 Revised: 11-30-96
FIXTEXT.EXE: Program which applies a user-definable character-translation table
to a text file. Can allow you to convert graphics characters to their text
equivalents, lowercase letters to uppercase letter, etc. Can also be used to
translate DOS text files to Mac or Unix text files and vice versa. Can also
expand tabs, remove leading and trailing spaces, remove backspaces, and
remove blank lines.
FORTUNE.EXE: A tuner-upper for the DOS FOR command. Generates a batch file
which does all those wildcard things you wished FOR could do (like "FORTUNE
IN (*.BAS) DO RENAME %A %2*.*" to remove parts of file names). Lets you do
all sorts of things including distinguishing file name roots from their
extensions as well as incrementing file names by specified values.
HTMSTRIP.EXE: Goes through downloaded pages from the Web and removes embedded
HTML commands. Reflows paragraphs and tries to make it basically readable.
Can function on individually-saved pages or else process your entire disk
cache. Awarded a "Best" rating by "PC Computing" in their July 1996 issue.
Includes MOZ.EXE which renames the files in your Web cache subdirectory so
you can identify them more easily.
PAGINATE.EXE: Reformats text files with embedded formatting codes. Handles
things like titles, footers, indexes, alignment, justification, multicolumn
listings, etc. Also provides support for embedding tabular data in
ASCII-delimited or dBase formats which can be embedded and/or sorted in your
reports.
READ.EXE, READY.EXE, READINIT.EXE, and READMAKE.EXE: Text file browsing
utilities. READ--Supports marking, copying text, reading Unix and Mac text
files, etc. Handles files of 16,000 lines or less (approx 800,000 bytes).
READY--truncates or wraps lines over 255 characters in length but handles
files of an unlimited number of lines. READMAKE--Takes an ASCII-text file
and makes it self-viewable (using a READ clone).
TXTABLE.EXE: Program to generate text tables. Allows inputs to be HTML-based as
well as one-record per cell.