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Text File
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1993-06-17
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8KB
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165 lines
Documentation for SHOWDISK by Dwayne Melancon, 76417,600 (CIS).
As featured in "Compute!" magazine (April, 1990), and the book "DOS
PowerTools, Volume 6" (1993).
What does it do?
================
This program provides a quick, easy way to check the space usage for a hard
or floppy disk drive. It provides a "gas gauge" style usage graph (character
based) that you can read at a glance. It also provides byte figures (in
kilobytes or Megabytes, whichever is appropriate) on the space allocated and
the space available.
SYNTAX: SHO [drive letter] [/?] [/M] [/1] [/2]
If no drive letter is specified, the current drive will be used.
A colon is not necessary but it won't hurt anything, either.
Command line switches are as follows:
/? brings up a page of help information.
/M forces monochrome "colors" for better visibility on composite
monitors and laptops. Monochrome monitors are automatically
detected. Monochrome can also be forced by using the
command "SET SHO=M" from a DOS prompt or AUTOEXEC.BAT file.
/1 tells SHO to consider a megabyte to equal 1,024,000 bytes
when calculating statistics. This is the default value, and
can also be forced with the command "SET SHO=1" from a DOS
prompt or AUTOEXEC.BAT file.
/2 tells SHO to consider a megabyte to equal 1,000,000 bytes
when calculating statistics. This can also be forced with
the command "SET SHO=2" from a DOS prompt or AUTOEXEC.BAT
file.
Note: Environment variables (SET= commands) can be used to force any of
the command line switches above to be used as defaults. More than
one setting can be combined. For example, if you want to use
Monochrome attributes and 1,000,000 byte megabytes as your
default, you could put the command "SET SHO=M2" in your
AUTOEXEC.BAT file.
Why use it?
===========
I wrote this program because I was tired of waiting for CHKDSK to run when
all I wanted to do was get a quick check on how much of my disk was in use.
This utility will not give exactly the same readings as CHKDSK; the DOS
CHKDSK utility deals in exact bytes, while SHOWDSK deals in allocated
clusters. What's the difference? The bytes in CHKDSK indicate the number
bytes you would get if you added up the exact file sizes of all of the
files on your disk. My utility tells you how many bytes have been ALLOCATED
to those files. In other words, if you had a standard 30 Mb hard disk
using DOS 3.3 (512 bytes per sector, 4 sectors per cluster), CHKDSK would
tell you that you had 1 byte in 1 user file. While this is true, CHKDSK
DOESN'T tell you that DOS can only allocate space on this disk in blocks of
2048 bytes -- it makes you think you have 2047 more usable bytes than you
actually have. My utility would tell you that you had 2048 bytes allocated
on your disk -- more accurate, eh?
Using allocated clusters rather than actual file sizes not only gives a more
accurate indication of the space used on your drive, it makes the program
faster.
Why the two choices for megabyte values?
========================================
Previous versions of SHO used 1,024,000 bytes as the value for a
megabyte. This is more of a "purist" value, since it is closer to what
DOS actually considers a megabyte. However, some of my testers prefer
using 1,000,000 bytes for megabytes because it makes things look
"cleaner" when SHO summarizes the space usage in "xx.xx Mb"
Try 'em both, see which you like best. The only figures that will
change are the "Space in use" and "Space available" numbers just beneath
the bar graph.
Upgrading from earlier versions:
================================
The latest version of SHO is an EXE file. If you have a previous
version that was "SHO.COM", you must delete it for this one to run since
DOS will execute a COM file before an EXE if both exist in the same
directory.
DISCLAIMER!!!
=============
SHOWDISK has run successfully on everything I have tried it on. It does
not write to any disks. It reads things. HOWEVER, I have written this
program for the sake of convenience only and will not take
responsibility for any incompatibilities, damage, loss of data or hair,
or any damages, consequential or otherwise resulting from the use of
this program. When you use this program, you agree not to get mad at
me, say mean things about me, sue me or any other negative things, as I
am offering this program as a utility that has been useful to me that I
feel others may like as well.
Scary? Hey, this is a litigious society and I want to make it quite
clear that when you use this program, you do so at your own risk.
Please keep in mind, however, that the functions performed by this
program are quite tame and benign and that it has never been responsible
for any data loss that I know of. I use it daily, as do many of my
friends/testers.
***************************
REGISTRATION REQUIREMENTS:
==========================
This program is free. Distribute it as you wish. I only ask that you
keep this file (SHO.DOC) with the program when you give it away, and
that you send me a postcard from your city (with your city's name on
it). If you don't have one, go to your local Holiday Inn and acquire
one. Please include any comments you have about the program, and tell
me where you got the program from.
Dwayne A. Melancon
7528 Barringer Road
Baton Rouge, LA 70817
Remember - you DON'T have to pay to use this program (however, if you
want to send a few bucks, I'll gladly accept it), so I'd really
appreciate it if you'd take the time to send me a postcard.
Comments on the program are welcome. Updates will be done, but no promises
can be made as to when -- I do this stuff in my spare time, which has a
tendency to be allocated FOR me, rather than BY me.
Revision history (reverse order):
=================================
Version 2.6 - Added /1, /2, and /? command line switches, and variable
megabyte value.
Version 2.5 - Added support for environment variables
to define defaults.
Version 2.4 - Added /M (force monochrome) option.
Version 2.3d+- The "plus" is for a shadow I added behind the bar to make
the readout look kind of "3-D" (hence the "3d").
Version 2.3 - Back to an EXE, folks. I found a way to make it smaller
and a bit faster. The technique requires that the file
be an EXE because it doesn't work in Turbo C's Tiny
memory model.
Version 2.1 - Played around with "exploding" windows. This version was
only used by a few people to get a "user response". We
judged it to be "neat", but it makes the program seem
slower and makes it a little bit larger.
Version 2.0 - Switched windowing methods to make things a bit more
efficient space- and memory-wise.
Version 1.4 - Provisions made for very large hard drives and network
drives (special thanks to Randol Tigrett at PC
Magazine's LAN Labs for his help), and some diagnostic
routines were added.
Version 1.2 - Changed from EXE to COM file.
Version 1.1 - Added video mode detection functions to make display more
readable on monochrome monitors.
--- EOF ---