Tech Arsenal 1/Tech Arsenal (Arsenal Computer).ISO/tek-06/btfl144.zip/README.BTF

Text File | 1993-03-21 | 17KB | 361 lines

                  BTFILER Installation Instructions/
                          Last minute notes.


All BTFILER files are found in a file called BTFL14.ZIP.  You
should extract all files from the ZIP file and make sure all
files are found on the PATH.

Note that the program currently has been tested with variable
length files as large as 25000 bytes without unpleasant side
effects on a system with 540 K of free memory.  The only problem
is that less than a full screen of data will appear.

An undocumented feature is that while opening a file, the
directories specified by the environment variable BTFILEPATH are
also searched.

If you have any trouble seeing the menus, try resetting the
colors (Set Colors under the Options menu).  Also, a new file is
now sent, CINSTALL.DAT.  This will install the standard green
screen color set.  I ran into some problems with folks having
strange screen problems.  Very odd stuff.

Another troubleshooting tip:  If you are having a problem with
running BTFILER, Please(!) try loading BTRIEVE.EXE with the /E
parameter that causes BTRIEVE not to use extended (or is that
expanded?<G>) memory.  Many a problem has been eliminated by
that advice.  Also, if you have some application that runs with
Btrieve and BTFILER does not run, try to determine what start-up
parameters the working system uses, and load BTRIEVE the exact
same way before going into BTFILER.

If this software is more than 9 months old, please send you name
and mailing address, along with a blank diskette and postage for
2 ounces and I will send you the latest version of the
software.  I understand that shareware tends to live on forever,
but I would like you to have the best possible impression of my
work, and while I am not currently aware of any bugs, I can
pretty much assure you that the software will be even better 9
months down the line than it is now.  The address is:

                  Access Microsystems Inc.
                  404 Midstreams Road
                  Brick, New Jersey  08724

Thank you!

                              What's New?

03/21/93  Enhance Index Testing.  Allow selection of individual
          index or all indices, also report more on the failure
          (reason, key number, record number.  Information logged
          to log file if so desired, as well.  (see 11/25/92 note).

          Change menu system.  ALT plus a key such as 'F' for FIle,
          'H' for Help, 'O' for Options, will bring you to that menu
          from any other menu.

          Release 1.44

01/16/93  Fix BTFILER.MSK to allow field edit to work properly
          with decimal places.

01/02/92  Made changes to allow for proper use with data only
          files.

12/29/92  Re-compiled ad resolved unexplained hang-up problem
          with some files.

12/26/92  Add support for F9 key in Edit.  F9 will allow you to
          pick a place in a file, define a field type, length and
          decimals and display and edit a binary value.
          Release 1.43

12/09/92  Fix problem with export of ASCII.

12/03/92  Fix additional index tests, had a problem with ZSTRINGS

11/30/92  Include additional test for index that differs from
          data.  This should, of course, not occur, but that's
          what testing is for!

11/25/92  Finalize logging for reporting results of test/rebuild.
          All messages that indicate success include "OK" (not
          the quotes, just two letters).  All message that indicate
          failure include "FAIL".  To use: use a /L or /L:LOGFILE.EXT
          parameter to BTFILER.  '/L' results in information
          appended to BTFILER.LOG in current working directory.
          VERSION 1.42!

11/04/92  Minor touch.  If you enter a filename containing '*'
          or '?' and no file like that exists, the program now
          tells you so.  This will make the program a bit more
          usable.

10/29/92  Fix bug with import of unformatted ASCII when "Open
          Destination in Accelerated Mode" checked.  (Thanks
          to Paul at Posse, Inc.)

08/28/92  Add BTCOPY.BAT batch file, and fix BTFILER to allow
          keystroke file to work correctly.

08/21/92  Make the parsing (reading, interpreting) of of .INX
          files more relaxed.  Allow empty lines (all spaces) to
          be treated as comments, rather than causing errors.
          Fix up interpretation of very large unsigned numbers
          in import and export.

08/07/92  Break error message on create I/O error into two line so
          screen does not get messed up if long pathnames are used.
          Also, change behavior of string and lstring export:  Convert
          embedded NULLs to spaces.

08/03/92  Add support for Pascal 6 byte REAL (Turbo Pascal) for import
          and export.

07/04/92  Compile under Borland C++ 3.1
          Fix bug that caused hang during startup SOMETIMES
          if PATH was longer than 100 bytes.

06/19/92  Fix minor problem with NUMERIC import.

06/07/92  Fix problem with DATE Import/Export.

06/03/92  Fix problem with BFLOAT import.  Was not working
          correctly for all valid sizes.

06/01/92  Add HEX Search option on View menu during browse.  To
          use, simply choose the HEX search option, fill in the
          info, and then press ESC.  Answer the question about
          global search, and the info will be searched for.

05/28/92  We will ship no software before its time.  IT'S TIME!
          Final strnageness removed with BFLOAT export, and
          refine Btrieve Page Size Calculator.

05/17/92  Add Comma delimited import as an option on a new
          Import menu.  Still BETA, not yet fully tested.

05/14/92  Add Comma delimited export as an option on a new
          Export menu.  This becomes BETA Version 1.40!  Final
          version 1.40 will have comma delimited import as well.

04/21/92  Fix problem where BREQUEST version number was not
          recognized when BREQUEST was loaded by BTFILER.
          Further, made sure BREQUEST and BTFILER better co-exist.
          (Internal testing).

04/20/92  Change menu structure around the more exotic file
          recovery methods.  Under Test/Rebuild Btrieve File
          create an additional sub menu called when Advanced
          File Recovery is selected.  This is to try and ensure
          that these file recovery tools do not get overused.
          They are both capable of doing some harm, and should
          almost never be needed.  Also, a warning screen has
          been placed in front of both options (Recover EVERY
          POSSIBLE Record and Rebuild Header).

04/17/92  Add FULL recovery, an exaustive recovery technique
          that tries EVERY possible record position, and even if
          Btrieve returns a status 2, the program then uses DOS
          (fixed length files with no owner set, so as to ensure
          that we don't try to read encrypted data) to read the
          data at the position we think it might be.  We don't
          even touch files with data compression, blank
          truncation, or key only files.  There are limits!

          Use of this on a damaged file will probably require
          some manual intervention to delete "extra" records,
          but it beats trying to re-enter the data! (Thanks to:
          Davin Church [NOVDEV] for some of the ideas about this
          recovery method).

04/16/92  Changed the way that some operations (pack and copy)
          get records from the source file.  Formerly used Key
          0, now use physical positioning.  (Thanks to: Davin
          Church [NOVDEV]).

04/03/92  Add ability to use INSERT and DELETE in the Hex/ASCII
          edit screen.  Also add F1 support in Hex/ASCII edit.

04/02/92  Add support for Header Rebuild.  PLEASE NOTE THAT THIS
          IS NOT FOR FOLKS WHO DON'T KNOW WHAT THEY ARE DOING!
          In any case, the Rebuild Header option on Test/Rebuild
          on the main File menu should only be used after you
          have tried to do a normal rebuild.  To rebuild the
          header, you MUST have a btrieve file available with
          EXACTLY the same file structure as the one whose
          header you wish to rebuild.  After the rebuild of the
          header completes successfully, you will be brought to
          the file rebuild screen with the file to rebuild
          already filled in.  Also, the drive where the work
          file should be built during a rebuild can also be set
          now to allow for the rebuild of a file that is larger
          than the free space on the disk where the file
          resides.  REMEMBER: During header rebuilding you can
          just as easily damage a good file as fix a bad one!
          You should make a backup of the file before you try
          the header rebuild so you can try other methods if
          BTFILER fails.

          Also, there have been several small fixes to allow for
          better recovery of variable length files.

03/27/92  Fix odd display of % Utilization when file has 0 records.

03/26/92  Change behavior of abandon during COPY operation when
          ESC pressed.  Also add ability to use PREALLOCATION=
          line (optional just after FREE SPACE THRESHOLD=) in
          .BTB BTrieve Build description file.  Allow 0 value in
          FREE SPACE THRESHOLD= line to allow 0 free space
          threshold.

03/25/92  Open Btrieve "source" files in various places in Read Only
          mode, so that the file is more likely to be able to be read.

03/19/92  Add color customization, ensure colors updated properly
          when using a program like Carbon Copy with differing
          video adaptors.  Several minor tweaks.  Version 1.31.

03/15/92  Add error reporting to some areas not previously
          reporting errors.  (For instance, when you
          "View Begining with").

          Place up-to-date copy of BTFILER.MSK into ZIP.

02/29/92  Fix problem with packing of files with duplicates
          allowed in key 0.  BTFILER was reading the records
          just fine, but was adding them to the packed file
          in such a way that the duplicates in key 0 were
          causing UPDATES, not INSERTS.  "Always Insert" flag
          added to PACK and COPY screen.  (Thanks to Mike Trill
          from CompuServe for pointing this one out.)  Also,
          add COPY option for one stop export/import into new
          format.

          (In the PM)  Cause a clone to be built in copy if
          destination does not exist.

02/26/92  Fix silly display problem when last record in file
          deleted.

02/19/92  Fix status 22 occuring in error on variable length
          records.  (Internal testing).

02/17/92  (Happy Washington's Birthday!)  Little changes
          resulting from extensive testing.  Expand size of
          possible keystroke file to 200.  Make the
          /c:myconfig.cf2 file the file written to, if
          specified on the command line.  Also add ability to
          specify MANUAL as a key type.

          First general release of 1.30.

02/11/92  New version fixes.  Fix display problems for lines
          shorter than 80, fix odd behavior when last record is
          deleted (again...this reared it's ugly head before...)
          and ensure that highlighting does not disappear during
          record delete.  Still BETA, for brave souls who do
          frequent backups (just in case!).

02/07/92  New Version!  Ver. 1.30 adds ability to use a file
          of keystrokes to run the program (Batch mode).  See
          BTCLONE.BAT and BTRESET.BAT for info on creating files.
          Also, the open mode of the files Browsed/Edited can be
          set.  In addition, the default filename mask can be set.
          If you already have edited a file, you can get back to
          the default filename mask by pressing <F9> in fields
          where the status line says you can.  You can also
          clear out any data entry field by pressing <CTRL-C>.
          There are also some memory allocation fixes.

          Features added include: Transactions can be started,
          abandoned or finished out properly (although the
          program in BETA will allow you to try to do silly
          things while in a transaction, and simply fail with an
          error message rather than letting you know up front.)
          Supplemental index addition is now supported.  See
          SAMPLE.BTS (Btrieve Supplemental) for details.

          BETA RELEASE!

01/27/92  Fix problem that happens during PACK with SHARE
          loaded.  PACK works fine, but error was reported
          at the end of the process, and temporary files were
          not deleted.  (Thanks to: Carl in Orlando).

01/22/92  Bug fix.  Fixed problem with screen display if last
          record on screen deleted.  Problem might have just
          been added with the 1/20/92 change to the program.
          (internal testing).

01/20/92  Bug Fixes.  Also, change version number to 1.21 to
          ensure I will know if you have the latest version
          if you call.  Fix problem with saving of variable length
          records.  If you edited the first record in a variable
          length file, made no changes, and edited that record
          again, the record length would be reported as the
          maximum record length specified in the "Set Misc.
          Parameters" section.  (Thanks to: Brian Levine of
          Orlando)  Also, remove "<ESC> to Exit Help" message when
          you have exited help.  (Thanks to: Steve Checkosky in
          Syracuse)  Fixed memory allocation bug while deleting
          records.  (Internal testing).

          Along the way, added a feature that allow for setting
          of length of a variable length record when you go to
          save it.  Uses current length as default, and will use
          current length if length is too long (longer than
          Longest variable length record setting in "Set Misc.
          Parameters") or too short (shorter than fixed length
          portion of record).

          Also, see the documentation regarding ways to register
          BTFILER if you must use a credit card.  You may do so
          through CompuServe or the toll free number listed in
          the documentation.

01/17/92  Bug fixes/Silly Spelling error fix.  Fixed problem that
          caused an Abnormal Program Termination if statistics
          were requested on a file with 0 records.  (Thanks to:
          Jamie Bozzo from Mass.)  Fixed spelling errors in
          BTFILER.MNU and BTFILER.HLP.

01/04/92  Bug fixes.  Fixed problem that could cause NULL Pointer
          error (Thanks to: Brian Levine of Orlando) and problem
          that could allow editing of the byte in memory just
          BEFORE the buffer for a Btrieve record (internal testing).

12/20/91  NEW VERSION (1.20).  Help available when BTRIEVE
          errors occur, explanations of BTRIEVE errors available
          while listing errors.  New features include Set and
          Clear owner, Statistics on a Btrieve file,
          improvements to the Import/Export utility (a late
          version 1.10 add-in).  Print documantation from the
          menu.  Also, Btrieve Page Size Calculator, Create
          Btrieve fiels for ASCII BTrieve Build (BTB) description
          file.  Like BUTIL -CREATE but with MUCH better error
          reporting!

12/05/91  Various fixes.  Fixed some oddness if the menu
          control, fixed a problem with error reporting (changes
          to BTFILER.BER), and made the HEX/ASCII edit routine
          allow display and edit of 256 bytes at a time, double
          the previous display.

          Changed system behavior during EXPORT.  Prompts user
          to see if s/he wants to delete destination ASCII file
          before doing export, or export is abandoned.  This was
          needed since there could be problems if the
          destination ASCII file was created by BUTIL -RECOVER,
          since this results in a literal control-Z written to
          the file, which will cause problems for BTFILER during
          Import.

          While browsing a file, the HOME and END keys work to
          put you at the beginning and the end of the file,
          respectively.

12/01/91  Import/Export is added to the FILE menu.