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1992-08-08
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FIX-File Fix, Version 3.04 08-Aug-92
Binary editor, with record orientation, which allows searches for either
text or hex strings. Default record size automatically set to maximum
allowed by number of lines on screen. (Maximum record size is 576 bytes
with a 50-line screen.) The program draws from a common library of routines
shared with other programs I've written. Color or black-and-white mode
automatically determined at program start-up. New: Typing of extended
ASCII characters enabled (for non-American users with modified keyboards).
Contents:
=========
Purpose
Display
Syntax
Switches
Commands
Program background
Purpose:
========
For easy viewing and editing of any type of file, text or binary, read-only,
hidden or system. Will not extend the size of a file, only replace
characters.
FIX is a free program.
Display:
========
The program adjusts for color based on the display mode. However, if the
user has a color graphics card, but no color monitor, the display may be
improved by using the DOS command "MODE BW80". Conversely, color mode may
be forced on by using "MODE CO80".
A command-line switch is also available to force black-and-white mode. See
"Switches" below.
EGA/43- and VGA/50-line modes are supported. At program start-up, an
attempt is made to detect the actual number of lines on the screen, up to a
maximum of 50, and to adjust the display accordingly.
Included in the distribution archive is SAMPLE.DAT, a sample binary data
file which includes all 256 possible characters in numerical sequence (all
of which are available for viewing in a file, with the exception of ASCII
codes 0 and 255). You may use it to familiarize yourself with how the
program displays characters.
Syntax:
=======
Usage: FIX [switches] [filespec]
If no extension is specified for "filespec", ".*" is assumed. If a valid
filename is specified unambiguously, the file is immediately displayed.
Either specifying "filespec" using wildcards, or specifying a drive or
directory name causes a scrollable directory window to pop up. Simply
typing the program name is the same as specifying "*.*".
Examples: FIX c: <- current directory of drive C:
FIX d:\ <- root of drive D:
FIX \dbase\data <- data subdirectory of \dbase
Switches:
=========
There is at present only one switch.
/BW Black-and-White mode
Either '/' or '-' may be used to specify switches.
Entering an invalid switch causes the program to display a brief help screen
then exit.
Examples: FIX /h
FIX -?
Commands:
=========
Key Mnemonic Description Alternate Command Keys
--- -------- ----------------------- ----------------------
F1 Help Help screen H
F3 Size Change record size S
F4 Edit Edit displayed record E
F5 Goto Select by record number G
F6 First View first record F, <Home>
F7 Prev View previous record P, <Up>, <PgUp>
F8 Next View next record N, <Dn>, <PgDn>, <Ret>
F9 Last View last record L, <End>
F10 Quit Quit program Q, <Esc>
Alt-G Goto file offset
Alt-F Find text Ctrl-F Find bytes
Alt-H Change header length Alt-O Change record offset
Use <Alt-G> to "Go-to" a specific offset within a file, [0..FileSize-1].
Useful for quickly moving to a location specified by an external program
that generates offset information - DOS's own COMP command, for example.
The position you specify will appear in the upper-left corner and the record
offset will be adjusted accordingly (normally zero).
Use <Alt-F> to specify a text string to "Find". The search starts from the
next position after the current position in the file. Once a search string
is specified, the program "remembers" it the next time the <Alt-F> hot-key
is used, so you can find successive occurrences of the same string by
repeatedly pressing <Alt-F> followed by <Ret>. The search is not
case-sensitive so upper- and lower-case alphabetic characters are handled
equivalently. Wildcards are supported. '?' will match any single
character. '*' will match any sequence of zero or more characters.
Examples: "c?n" will match "Can" and "con".
"PC*S" will match "pcs", "PC-DOS" and "PC-MOS"
Use <Ctrl-F> to specify an arbitrary sequence of bytes to "Find". Two
windows are available for data entry. The top (ASCII) window is for
entering characters you can type at the keyboard. The bottom (Hex) window
allows you to enter any byte values in hex. What is typed in one window is
echoed in the other. To switch windows, you may cursor in the appropriate
direction or just press <Tab>. <Ret> to initiate the search. <Esc> if you
change your mind about searching. The search begins with the next position
after the current position in the file. Once a sequence of bytes is
specified, the program "remembers" it the next time the <Ctrl-F> hot-key is
used, so you can find successive occurrences of the same sequence by
repeatedly pressing <Ctrl-F> followed by <Ret>. The search is
case-sensitive so upper- and lower-case alphabetic characters are distinct.
Use <Alt-H> to specify the length of a "Header" at the start of a file.
Once a non-zero header length is specified, the program will skip over the
specified number of bytes at the start of a file and start counting record
beginning with the byte after the "header". To move back into the header
area, use <Alt-H> again to change the header length back to zero.
Use <Alt-O> to specify the "Offset" within a record [0..RecLen-1] that the
program will use to start displaying a record. Bytes starting at that
offset will appear at the upper-left corner of the display. This is useful
for reposition the display after a successful search. (Using the <Home> and
<End> commands will also reset the record offset to zero.)
Record-edit mode:
-----------------
When in record-edit mode, you may use the down arrow key to "cursor down" to
the hex level and edit characters by their hex codes. The <Tab> key will
take you quickly to the ends of the rows. To save your changes after
editing, press the <Ret> key. You will be prompted for comfirmation. Use
the <Esc> key to abort changes made without saving them.
Editing of read-only files is allowed. After editing such a file, the file
attributes are left unchanged from before, except that the archive bit is
always set.
Program background:
===================
This program has evolved starting from my CP/M days, when I took over the
work of another programmer in maintaining a system of interpreted BASIC
programs which made extensive use of random-record data files.
The original version of this program was written in Pascal because it seemed
the best tool for the job at the time. As I progressed through different
languages, I rewrote this utility a number of times, each with little or no
reference to previous source code. Each resulting program thus had a flavor
of its own. The current series is written in JPI TopSpeed Modula-2.
--
Raymond T. Kaya
P. O. Box 1436
Honolulu, HI 96806
CompuServe: 71230,2500
GEnie : R.KAYA1