Monster Media 1996 #15

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F I L E D U D E version 5.3 "The final answer to the RG file management woes." Copyright (C) 1992-1996 by Edward Stangler An Edhanced Software Product All rights reserved. Operating Manual To Contact the Author: ________________________________________________________________ Edward Stangler Mr. Ed's Corner BBS P.O. Box 38553, Suite #247 1-713-447-6119 Houston, Texas 77238-8553 28800 bps U.S.A. SGA-Net 30:30/0 ________________________________________________________________ Internet mred@neosoft.com CompuServe 74620,2333 Fidonet 1:106/1076 ITCnet 85:842/105 Edhanced Software Home Page: http://www.neosoft.com/~mred/ C O N T E N T S ____________________________________________________________ Introduction 1 What Is Filedude? / 1 Is Filedude For You? / 1 Features / 2 Requirements / 3 ____________________________________________________________ Simple Usage 4 Installation / 4 Navigation / 5 Running Without Menus / 6 Automatic Mode / 6 Commandline Parameters / 7 Tasks / 7 Importing CD-ROM / 7 Importing FILES.BBS / 8 Fixing Descriptions / 9 Making a Filelist / 9 ____________________________________________________________ Advanced Usage 10 Menu Options / 10 File / 10 Open / 10 Save / 11 Save As / 11 Basic Configuration / 11 Config File Areas / 13 Create CD-ROM areas / 13 Archive Config / 15 CD-ROM formats / 15 Advanced Settings / 18 Fix / 20 Fix Size / 20 Fix Credits / 20 Fix Upload Date / 20 Fix Duplicates / 21 Delete Dups From Disk / 21 Fix Offline / 21 Delete Offline / 21 Check Versions / 21 Don't Delete Actual Files / 21 Desc / 22 Use FILE_ID.DIZ / 22 Wordwrap FILE_ID.DIZ / 22 Upload Every File In Sight / 23 Use CD-ROM/FILES.BBS list / 23 Don't Remove List / 23 Pack EXTENDED.DAT / 23 Filelist / 23 Make Filelist / 23 Compress Filelist / 24 Make Filelist As New / 24 Validated Filelist / 24 Only List New Files / 24 Misc / 24 Process New Areas / 25 Keep a Log File / 25 Update SYSOP.LOG / 25 Convert Archives / 25 Don't Remove Old / 25 Scan For Viruses / 25 No Decompression / 26 Set Hatch Flag / 26 Auto Virus Validate / 26 Don't Validate / 26 Go! / 26 Dos Shell / 26 Quit / 26 Template Files / 26 Mci Codes / 27 Formatting / 29 Swapping / 29 Multiple Configurations / 30 ____________________________________________________________ Miscellaneous 30 Contacting the Author / 31 Why You Should Register / 31 Legal Information / 32 FileDude 5.3 / Welcome! 1 INTRODUCTION WHAT IS FILEDUDE? FileDude is the ultimate file manager for Renegade BBS software. It combines the essential features found in smaller utilities into one professional package. FileDude also contains a rich set of features you will find nowhere else. These unique features will save you hundreds of hours of work. Though FileDude offers many options, it does not overwhelm you. FileDude contains an intuitive, pulldown menu system for easy access to all options. It is organized to keep things simple. But if you ever feel like diving into the advanced stuff, the menus do not become an obstacle. FileDude is also convenient. It offers a fully automated mode, perfect for nightly events. Just configure FileDude with the menu system, run it with the /NOMENU option, and wallaa! FileDude is fast and reliable. It was designed to handle the largest file section you can throw at it. But even if your system does not contain 100,000 files, FileDude will still provide you with outstanding performance. Above all else, FileDude helps you tremendously. You cannot find another file manager for Renegade BBS software that does as much or functions as efficiently as FileDude. FileDude is the final answer to the RG file management woes. IS FILEDUDE FOR YOU? If you have a file section, FileDude is for you. You will find FileDude extremely helpful if: => You own at least one CD-ROM disc. FileDude has been designed to handle any and every CD-ROM format. Pick from one of the many preconfigured types, or enter your own customized CD-ROM format. There's even a one-step process to add every file area on your CD-ROM to the BBS! FileDude 5.3 / Is Filedude For You? 2 => You receive .TIC files through a network. FileDude will import a FILES.BBS of any format, including ones generated from incoming .TIC files. FileDude even handles the strange Renegade-style FILES.BBS format! => Descriptions in your file areas are a mess. It will fix all those bad extended description pointers, eliminating mixed up descriptions once and for all. To ensure the descriptions are correct, FileDude can scan for FILE_ID.DIZ and DESC.SDI internal descriptions. Plus, FileDude can even pack the EXTENDED.DAT. => You've mastered simple file management techniques. FileDude offers much, much more. Make a filelist, created in the exact style you want. Convert all your archives to the same type. Scan your existing file base for viruses. Even look for old versions of programs and get rid of them. FileDude will help you do all of these things . . . and more! FEATURES CD-ROM importing - Supports all popular formats - Easily add new CD-ROM formats - One-step process to create CD-ROM file areas - Handles wildcard naming of description lists (i.e. DIR1.LST, DIR2.LST, or GAMES.DIR, DOORS.DIR) - Handles multiline descriptions FILES.BBS (created from .TICs) importing - Preconfigured with standard FILES.BBS format - Supports Renegade-style FILES.BBS (padded filenames) File entry fixing - Fixes offline status, file size, and credits - Fixes duplicate file entries - Fixes upload dates FileDude 5.3 / Features 3 Description handling - Fully supports FILE_ID.DIZ and DESC.SDI - Has superb word wrapping - Packs the EXTENDED.DAT Filelisting - Creates a filelist in your own style using templates - Optionally compresses the filelist - Automatically uploads the filelist to your BBS - Inserts FILE_ID.DIZ into the archive Archive conversion - Converts all archives to a specified type - Preconfigured with support for all major archivers - Supports nodelist and network file naming (i.e. NODELIST.A32, or 00013333.Z64) Version checking - Finds old versions of programs and eliminates them - Optionally creates a list for a tape backup program - Finds old versions of nodelists and network files Virus scanning - Interfaces with your favorite virus scanner - Scans all internal archives REQUIREMENTS FileDude's hardware and software requirements are not much more than those of Renegade BBS software: - Renegade BBS software dated 04-05-96 or later. Versions of RG from 12-25-93 to 10-05-94 may work, provided that you set the "Maximum number of file description lines" in Advanced Settings to five (for RG 04-05-96 or later, it should be ten.) - IBM-compatible with an 80286 processor or higher. - 1 meg free hard drive space. Archive conversion will require at least 5 megs free, depending on the size of the archives being converted. FileDude 5.3 / Requirements 4 The following are optional things to improve performance: - Mouse. - RAM drive, for redirecting swap files. - Expanded memory (EMS) or Extended memory (XMS), for DOS shell swapping. SIMPLE USAGE INSTALLATION Good news--FileDude requires no major installation! Simply unarchive the FileDude package into its own directory. If you plan on running FileDude from anywhere on the hard drive, add this directory to your PATH. To setup FileDude, invoke the menu system by running: FILEDUDE The first time you run FileDude, it will automatically create the TEMPLATE subdirectory and move the default template files into it. FileDude will inform you of this action by quickly displaying several messages similar to: Moving FILENAME.EXT => TEMPLATE\FILENAME.EXT The Basic Configuration menu will soon pop up. Enter the path to your RENEGADE.DAT file in the first field. Only enter the path, not the filename. You may customize the other options now, or you may wait until you are more familiar with the program. The Basic Configuration menu is always available on the File menu off the pulldown bar. When you are finished, hit the "OK" button. FileDude 5.3 / Installation 5 NAVIGATION On the pulldown menu bar, the LEFT ARROW and RIGHT ARROW keys will allow you to move between menus. Hit DOWN ARROW to pull down a menu. On a pulled down menu, the UP ARROW and DOWN ARROW keys will allow you to move between menu choices. Pressing <ENTER> will select an option. If the option is a toggle button, a checkmark will appear next to the item, informing you that the option is turned on. If the option you chose is not a toggle button, a window will pop up. Several fields for text input will be available, perhaps along with a few toggle buttons. Use <TAB> and <SHIFT-TAB> to move between fields. <ENTER> will press the "OK" button, saving all changes and exiting. <ESC> will abort any changes you made and exit the window. If you see a red letter in the name of an item, you may hit the <ALT> key and that letter to jump to the item. In a window with an "OK" button, for example, you may hit <ALT-O> to press the "OK" button. Mouse users have a few special things available. In the upper-left corner of each window you will find a "terminate" button. Simply click on this little square, and it will act as if you pressed <ESC>, aborting any changes and exiting the window. Also, if a field contains more words than will fit on the screen, small arrows will appear on either side of the field. Hold the mouse button down on one of these arrows to scroll through the text in the field. When viewing a scrollable list of items, such as the list of file areas or the list of CD-ROM formats, you have additional keys available. <PgUp> will flip to the previous page, and <PgDn> will flip to the next page of items. <Home> will jump to the first page, and <End> will jump to the last page of items. Radio buttons may be toggled using the SPACEBAR. To select a CD-ROM format, for instance, several radio buttons appear on the menu. Just hit SPACEBAR, and the asterisk (*) will move to the current one that is highlighted. FileDude 5.3 / Navigation 6 RUNNING WITHOUT MENUS FileDude can be run in a fully automatic mode, free of all menus and interactive windows. This automatic mode is ideal for nightly events or other times when you want to call FileDude from a batch file. To use FileDude in automatic mode, run it with the /NOMENU commandline parameter: FILEDUDE /NOMENU FileDude will load configuration #1 by default. To load a different configuration, add the /CONFIG=# parameter, where '#' is the number of the configuration slot. The following commandline would run FileDude in automatic mode, loading configuration #2: FILEDUDE /NOMENU /CONFIG=2 For more information on having multiple configurations, refer to the "Multiple Configurations" section of this manual. AUTOMATIC MODE FileDude will take charge in automatic mode, but it will be be cautious so as to protect your files. Some features, such as version checking, normally ask the user whenever it wants to delete an actual file from disk. When in automatic mode, however, FileDude will be more cautious. Since you will not be there to answer the question, FileDude will not take any chances. Instead of deleting a file, it will create a list of files in DEL.LST, with their descriptions in DEL.BBS. Later, you may review this list and delete files at your discretion. You can also achieve the above effect in menu mode by toggling "Don't Delete Actual Files" from the Fix menu. While in automatic mode, FileDude will never ask for you to press a key. Even if an error occurs, FileDude will simply exit and log the error in FILEDUDE.LOG. FileDude 5.3 / Automatic Mode 7 COMMANDLINE PARAMETERS With the exception of the /NOMENU parameter, all parameters can be used for both menu and automatic modes. The following commandline parameters are available: /NOMENU Runs FileDude in fully automatic mode, with no menu system, for nightly events, etc. /CONFIG=# Loads configuration slot '#' on startup /REGISTER Brings up a window to enter your registration information By default, FileDude will try to find the best place to swap to when shelling to DOS. The following parameters are for forcing FileDude to swap to a certain place: /SWAP_EMS Swap to Expanded memory (EMS) /SWAP_XMS Swap to Extended memory (XMS) /SWAP_DISK Swap to disk (Path defined in the Basic Configuration menu) /NOSWAP Disable swapping completely. For more information on FileDude's DOS shell swapping, refer to the "Swapping" section of this manual. TASKS Importing CD-ROM ================ 0. Insert the CD-ROM to import . . . 1. Create a file area for each directory you want to import from the CD-ROM. You can create the file areas inside Renegade, or you can use the "Create CD-ROM Areas" option in the File menu of FileDude. 2. Go to the CD-ROM Formats menu. 3. Locate your CD-ROM format. If it is not listed, you can easily add your own. FileDude 5.3 / Importing CD-ROM 8 4. Go to the Config File Areas menu. 5. Tag the file areas you wish to import. 6. For each area you tag, you will need to pick its CD-ROM format. When a file area name is highlighted, choose a CD-ROM format from the gray box on the right side of the menu. 7. Each area you tag also has a CD-ROM description list filename associated with it. Near the bottom of the menu you will find a field marked "Description list". Enter the filename of the description list here. If the description list file is not located in the directory to be uploaded, enter the full path. Wildcards are supported. A filename of DIR*.LST will pick up DIR1.LST or DIR2.LST, whichever is in that directory. 8. Hit "OK" when you are done. 9. Toggle "Use CD-ROM/FILES.BBS List" to ON in the Desc menu. 10. Hit "Go!" to process. Importing FILES.BBS =================== 0. You should already have a program which builds FILES.BBS lists from incoming .TIC files. 1. If you have not created a file area for each FILES.BBS list, do that now. Make sure the DOWNLOAD PATH is the directory containing the files to be uploaded. 2. Go to the Config File Areas menu. 3. Tag the file areas you wish to import. 4. Hit "OK" when you are done. 5. Toggle "Use CD-ROM/FILES.BBS List" to ON in the Desc menu. FileDude 5.3 / Importing FILES.BBS 9 6. Hit "Go!" to process. Fixing Descriptions =================== 0. FileDude will automatically fix things such as bad extended description pointers. 1. Toggle "Use CD-ROM/FILES.BBS List" to ON in the Desc menu. 2. Toggle "Use FILE_ID.DIZ" to ON in the Desc menu. If you wish to rescan files previously scanned for DIZ and SDI descriptions, delete the FILEDIZ.DAT file in your FileDude directory. 3. Hit "Go!" to process. Making a Filelist ================= 0. FileDude comes preconfigured with default template files. They are located in the TEMPLATE subdirectory. When first starting out with FileDude, you will probably want to use these default templates. Later, you may want edit them to reflect your own style. 1. Go to the Basic Configuration menu in the File menu. 2. Enter the full path and filename of the filelist to create in the appropriate field. If you want FileDude to automatically upload the filelist to your BBS, enter a path which will put it in one of your file areas. 3. There is a field marked "Archive format". If you plan on having FileDude compress the filelist, be sure that the archive format listed here is the one you want. 4. If this filelist will contain only new files uploaded in the past 'x' number of days, enter this number in the field labeled "Number of days..." 5. Hit "OK" when you are done. 6. Toggle "Make Filelist" to ON in the Filelist menu. FileDude 5.3 / Making a Filelist 10 7. If you want FileDude to compress the filelist, toggle "Compress Filelist" to ON in the Filelist menu. FileDude will automatically insert a FILE_ID.DIZ description, based on the FILE_ID.ASC template. 8. If you want the filelist to appear on everyone's newscan after every run, toggle the "Mark Filelist As New" to ON in the Filelist menu. 9. If you do not want resume or unvalidated files to appear on the filelist, toggle "Validated Filelist" to ON in the Filelist menu. 10. If this filelist will only contain new files uploaded in the past 'x' number of days, toggle "Only List New Files" to ON in the Filelist menu. 11. Hit "Go!" to process. ADVANCED USAGE MENU OPTIONS FILE ≡ │ File │ Fix Desc Filelist Misc Go! DOS Shell Quit ──│ └──────────────────┐────────────────────────────────── │ Open... │ │ Save │ │ Save as... │ │ │ │ Basic Configuration │ │ Config File Areas │ │ Create CD-ROM Areas │ │ │ │ Archive Config │ │ CD-ROM Formats │ │ │ │ Advanced Settings │ └─────────────────────────┘ Open Opens another configuration and loads it into memory. You are presented with a menu of existing configurations. FileDude 5.3 / Open 11 Save Saves the current configuration in its old slot. Save As Saves the current configuration in a new slot. You are prompted for the new configuration name. Basic Configuration ╔═════════════════ Basic Configuration ════════════════════╗ ║ ║ ║ Path (not filename) of RENEGADE.DAT: C:\RENEGADE\ ║ ║ ║ ║ Temporary swap files path: C:\FILEDUDE\ ║ ║ Template file directory: C:\FILEDUDE\TEMPLATE ║ ║ ║ ║ Archive format to convert TO if conversion toggled: ZIP ║ ║ Number of days to include in "new files" filelists: 0 ║ ║ ║ ║ Filelist filename: FILELIST.ASC ║ ║ ║ ║ Virus scanner commandline (errorlevel 0=no virus): ║ ║ SCAN %I /ALL /SUB /NOMEM ║ ║ ║ ║ Default description for uploads: ║ ║ No description. Uploaded by FileDude. ║ ║ ║ ╚══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝ Path (not filename) of RENEGADE.DAT This is the path to your main Renegade directory. This directory should contain the RENEGADE.DAT file. The DATA subdirectory is where FileDude will look for your .DIR and EXTENDED.DAT files. Temporary swap files path This is the path where FileDude will store its temporary swap files. These swap files are not the DOS shell swap files, but rather much bigger ones which contain runtime data. You may want to change this path to a RAM drive to speed up performance. Make sure the RAM drive is at lease 256K in size. If you have a larger system (over 4,000 files), make sure your RAM drive is at least one megabyte in size. FileDude 5.3 / Basic Configuration 12 Template file directory This is the directory where the template files are located. The template files will be used to construct a filelist if the "Make Filelist" toggle is on. Each configuration may have its own set of template files in its own template directory. Archive format to convert TO if conversion toggled This is the desired format that FileDude will convert all archives to. When FileDude compresses a filelist, it will also use this format. Make sure that this format is defined in the Archive Config menu. Number of days to include in "new files" filelists This is the number which specifies the maximum age -- in days -- of the files to include in the filelist. Note that "Only List New Files" must be toggled ON in the Filelist menu in order to make use of this field. Filelist filename This is the path and filename to the filelist FileDude creates. If you want FileDude to automatically upload this filelist to your BBS, type in a path that puts it in one of your file areas. Virus scanner commandline (errorlevel 0=no virus) This is the commandline for FileDude running an external virus scanner. Enter the complete path, filename, and parameters to the virus scanner program. FileDude 5.3 / Basic Configuration 13 The virus scanner you use must return the following errorlevels: Errorlevel Why ========== ================================ 0 No virus. Everything's cool. ---------- -------------------------------- 1 Virus! Virus! ---------- -------------------------------- 2 Error during virus scanning; no or greater idea if there is a virus or not. ---------- -------------------------------- Default description for uploads This is the default description for uploads. FileDude will use this description if a description cannot be found in a FILE_ID.DIZ, in a DESC.SDI, or on a CD-ROM/FILES.BBS list. Config File Areas Here you select which file areas to process. This menu also contains CD-ROM/FILES.BBS setup information for each file area. Create CD-ROM Areas ╔════════════════════ Create CD-ROM Areas ══════════════════════╗ ║ ║ ║ Drive: E: [X] Only areas with FILES.BBS-type list ║ ║ [X] Recurse to find areas inside subdirs ║ ║ ║ ║ Archive Type (1..max, 0=none): 1 ║ ║ Comment Type (1..3, 0=none): 0 ║ ║ ║ ║ Prefix for .DIR filenames: ║ ║ Prefix for area descriptions: [CD-ROM] ║ ║ ║ ║ Path to DIR0/DIRINFO.ROM (optional): ║ ║ ║ ║ Access String: Download ACS: Upload ACS: ║ ║ s5 s5 s250 ║ ║ ║ ║ Upload Path (Blank=download path): ║ ║ ║ ╚═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝ FileDude 5.3 / Create CD-ROM areas 14 Drive This is the drive letter, plus colon (:), of your CD-ROM. [ ] Recurse to find areas inside subdirs This option tells FileDude to look inside subdirectories to see if there are any nested subdirectories which may be file areas. For example, with this option on, it would find /WINDOWS/TEXT/ after finding an area /WINDOWS/. This option considerably slows down FileDude. Since many CD-ROMs do not have nested subdirectories as file areas, turning this option off may be a viable way to speed up the search when finding file areas. [ ] Only areas with FILES.BBS-type list Toggle this option if you want FileDude to only create file areas for directories which contain FILES.BBS-type lists. Archive Type (1..max, 0=none) This field specifies which archive type in RG to use for the file areas created. This field corresponds exactly with the Archive Type field in the RG file area editor. Comment Type (1..3, 0=none) This field specifies which comment type in RG to use for the file areas created. This field corresponds exactly with the Comment Type field in the RG file area editor. Prefix for .DIR filenames: The text in this field will be placed before the .DIR filename determined for any given file area. If the text is specified as "PR", then every file area will have a .DIR filename of the form PRxxxxxx, where 'xxxxxx' is a string determined by FileDude. Prefix for area descriptions The text in this field will be placed before the description of each file area created. FileDude 5.3 / Create CD-ROM areas 15 Path to DIR0/DIRINFO.ROM (optional) If your CD-ROM contains a table of directories, in either DIRxx or DIRINFO.ROM format, place the filename of the table in this field. A table of directories in DIRxx format should look like: File Area Name DIR1 Another File Area DIR2 The Final File Area DIR3 Access String This is the access string (ACS) which determines who can see these file areas. Download ACS This is the access string (ACS) which determines who can download files from these file areas. Upload ACS This is the access string (ACS) which determines who can upload files to these file areas. Upload Path (Blank=download path) This is the path to the directory which will hold user uploads to these file areas. Please note that specifying a directory here will considerably increase FileDude's scanning time on the CD-ROM file areas, since it will check both the download (CD-ROM) path and the upload (hard drive) path. Archive Config This menu contains setup information for archivers. FileDude comes preconfigured for use with all major archivers. CD-ROM Formats Here is where you set up your CD-ROM formats. FileDude 5.3 / CD-ROM formats 16 When adding your own format, be sure to have a printout of a sample filelist on your CD-ROM. You will need to know the basic structure of an entry. For example: ╔════════════════════════════════════════════════╗ ║ Name of format: ║ ║ Standard Tick (FILES.BBS) ║ ║ ║ ║ Default filename of description list: ║ ║ FILES.BBS ║ ║ ║ ║ Description starts on nth word: ║ ║ 2 ║ ║ ║ ║ Description starts on nth letter of word: ║ ║ 1 ║ ║ ║ ║ String preceeding extended description lines: ║ ║ | ║ ╚════════════════════════════════════════════════╝ The above format configuration would be for a list file with entries that look like this: WHATDONE.ZIP These are pseudo-docs. | Many years in the making, it | makes a great paperweight when | printed. If the entry looked like this: WHATDONE.ZIP 01-01-99 These are pseudo-docs. $Many years in the making, this $file is really cool. FileDude 5.3 / CD-ROM formats 17 Then the format configuration could be: ╔════════════════════════════════════════════════╗ ║ Name of format: ║ ║ The Strange CD-ROM Format ║ ║ ║ ║ Default filename of description list: ║ ║ DIR*.LST ║ ║ ║ ║ Description starts on nth word: ║ ║ 3 ║ ║ ║ ║ Description starts on nth letter of word: ║ ║ 1 ║ ║ ║ ║ String preceeding extended description lines: ║ ║ $ ║ ╚════════════════════════════════════════════════╝ The format configuration contains the default filename for the description list. This is the filename that appears on the bottom of the the Config File Areas menu. Notice that wildcards can be used. The format configuration also contains the "nth" word and "nth" letter the description starts on. FileDude considers a space character to be what separates two words. The "n" in "nth" starts with the number 1 and is a positive integer only. Finally, the configuration has a place for what string preceeds an extended description line. If your list has no distinctive string of characters preceeding an extended description line, set this string to a single space character. Normally, this field is set to a single pipe character (|) followed by a space character. FileDude 5.3 / CD-ROM formats 18 Advanced Settings ╔════════════════════ Advanced Settings ═══════════════════╗ ║ ║ ║ Path and filename of command interpreter: ║ ║ C:\COMMAND.COM ║ ║ ║ ║ Wordwrap length for first line of description: 50 ║ ║ Wordwrap length for extended description lines: 50 ║ ║ Maximum number of file description lines: 10 ║ ║ ║ ║ Uploader Name: Sysop ║ ║ ║ ║ -Below options do not take effect until you restart- ║ ║ ║ ║ FileDude backdrop color (back * 16 + front): 113 ║ ║ FileDude backdrop message (no color codes): ║ ║ ░ ║ ║ ║ ║ [ ] Start FileDude in 43/50 line text mode ║ ║ [ ] FileDude will be run inside a window ║ ║ ║ ╚══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝ Path and filename of command interpreter This is the path and filename to your command interpreter. For MS-DOS systems, this is COMMAND.COM. Other interpreters, such as 4-DOS, can be entered here. Wordwrap length for first line of description This is the maximum length of the first line of a description before FileDude wraps it. The default is 50, the maximum characters visible during a [L]ist command in the file areas in RG. Renegade allows 60 characters max on the first line of a description. Keep in mind that the official maximum width of a FILE_ID.DIZ is 45 characters. Wordwrap length for extended description lines This is the maximum length of the any line after the first line of a description. The default is 50, the maximum characters visible during a [L]ist command in the file areas in RG. FileDude 5.3 / Advanced Settings 19 Renegade allows 50 characters max on each of the extended description lines. Keep in mind that the official maximum width of a FILE_ID.DIZ is 45 characters. Maximum number of file description lines The is the total number of lines in a file description. In RG 04-05-96 and later, this number should be set to ten (unless a new version increases this number.) In versions prior to 04-05, this number should be set to five. Note that this number is found by taking the maximum number of extended description lines in EXTENDED.DAT (nine in RG 04-05) plus one. FileDude backdrop color (back * 16 + front) This is the color of the backdrop FileDude uses on the menu interface. To create the color number, take your background color, multiply it by 16, and add your foreground color. The following are valid color numbers (before you do the multiply thing): 0 - Black 8 - Dark Gray 1 - Blue 9 - Light Blue 2 - Green 10 - Light Green 3 - Cyan (Kinda Blue) 11 - Light Cyan 4 - Red 12 - Light Red 5 - Magenta (Purple) 13 - Light Magenta 6 - Brown 14 - Yellow 7 - Light Gray 15 - White FileDude backdrop message (no color codes) This is the message or string of characters that FileDude will tile as its menu backdrop. There should be no color codes in this string. [ ] Start FileDude in 43/50 line text mode This toggle is for telling FileDude to automatically start in 43/50 line EGA/VGA mode. When FileDude exits, it will switch back to the original mode that was active before FileDude was loaded. FileDude 5.3 / Advanced Settings 20 [ ] FileDude will be run inside a window This toggle tells FileDude that it will be run in a half-screen (or less) window. FileDude will then do extra cursor positioning to try to keep the point of focus in the visible part of the window at all times. FIX ≡ File │ Fix │ Desc Filelist Misc Go! DOS Shell Quit ─────────│ └──────────────────────────────┐──────────────── │ ( ) Fix Size │ │ ( ) Fix Credits │ │ ( ) Fix Upload Date │ │ │ │ ( ) Fix Duplicates │ │ ( ) Delete Dups From Disk │ │ │ │ ( ) Fix Offline │ │ ( ) Delete Offline │ │ │ │ ( ) Check Versions │ │ ( ) Don't Delete Actual Files │ └────────────────────────────────────┘ Fix Size Fixes file sizes, to the nearest byte. Fix Credits Fixes the numbers of credits a file is worth. The size (kilobytes) per one credit is automatically read from your Renegade configuration (RENEGADE.DAT). If you have "File Credit System" turned ON in Renegade and a file calculates to be worth 0 credits, FileDude will make it worth 1 credit. Nothing is free! Fix Upload Date If a file's date is more recent than the .DIR entry's upload date, it will be stamped with "today's" date. If you receive an update of a file through a network, for example, this option will cause it to reappear on everyone's newscan. FileDude 5.3 / Fix Upload Date 21 Also, this option fixes entries who's dates are beyond the current date. For example, file entries dated 01/01/99 will be set to the current date if FileDude is run prior to 1999. Fix Duplicates Deletes duplicate filenames from the .DIRs and asks you whether to delete the actual file from disk. Delete Dups From Disk Duplicate files will be automatically deleted from the hard drive, regardless of the "Don't Delete Actual Files" toggle. Fix Offline Checks to see whether a file really exists on the hard drive or not. It adjust the entry's "Request" flag accordingly. Delete Offline Deletes a file entry if the file does not exist. If both the "Fix Offline" and "Delete Offline" toggles are ON, the "Delete Offline" toggle takes precedence. Check Versions Finds old versions of programs and eliminates them. If you have PROG20.XXX, for example, it will delete PROG10.XXX. Whenever an old file is found, FileDude will ask you whether to delete it. Don't Delete Actual Files Instead of deleting files, FileDude will create a list called DEL.LST, with their descriptions in DEL.BBS. With this option toggled on, FileDude will not ask you whether to delete a file. The only times FileDude deletes files is when "Check Versions" or "Fix Duplicates" is toggled on. FileDude 5.3 / Don't Delete Actual Files 22 You can review the DEL.LST at a later time. Perhaps have your favorite tape backup program use this list to put old versions in offline storage. Or, you can show no mercy and delete the files immediately. DESC ≡ File Fix │ Desc │ Filelist Misc Go! DOS Shell Quit ───────────────│ └──────────────────────────────┐───────── │ ( ) Use FILE_ID.DIZ │ │ ( ) Wordwrap FILE_ID.DIZ │ │ ( ) Upload Every File in Sight │ │ │ │ ( ) Use CD-ROM/FILES.BBS List │ │ ( ) Don't Remove List │ │ │ │ ( ) Pack EXTENDED.DAT │ └─────────────────────────────────────┘ Use FILE_ID.DIZ Searches archives for FILE_ID.DIZ and DESC.SDI description files. If you wish to rescan files which FileDude has previously scanned for DIZ and SDI descriptions, delete the FILEDIZ.DAT file from the FileDude directory. FileDude supports the official FILE_ID.DIZ standard of 45 characters per line, 10 lines max. Renegade, however, only support a total of 5 lines in its file entry structures. So, when your descriptions get cut off, it's not FileDude's fault; it's Renegade's doing. Wordwrap FILE_ID.DIZ Word wraps imported FILE_ID.DIZ descriptions. Upload Every File in Sight Uploads every file not already listed on a .DIR. Even if no description is found, FileDude still uploads the file. FileDude 5.3 / Upload Every File In Sight 23 If a file does not have a description, the default description -- set in the Basic Configuration menu -- is used. Use CD-ROM/FILES.BBS list Finds CD-ROM/FILES.BBS list files and uses them for descriptions. The list file is deleted after use unless it is located on a CD-ROM. FileDude automatically recognizes padded filenames inside CD-ROM/FILES.BBS list files, such as those produced by Renegade. Don't Remove List Prevents FileDude from deleting CD-ROM/FILES.BBS list files after using them. FileDude never attempts to delete a CD-ROM/FILES.BBS list file from a CD-ROM, regardless of this setting. Pack EXTENDED.DAT Packs the EXTENDED.DAT file. All file areas must be selected to use this option. Also, the "Use FILE_ID.DIZ" and "Use CD-ROM/FILES.BBS List" options must be toggled on. FILELIST ≡ File Fix Desc │ Filelist │ Misc Go! DOS Shell Quit ──────────────────────│ └───────────────────┐───────── │ ( ) Make Filelist │ │ ( ) Compress Filelist │ │ │ │ ( ) Mark Filelist As New │ │ ( ) Validated Filelist │ │ │ │ ( ) Only List New Files │ └──────────────────────────────┘ Make Filelist Makes a list of files using the templates found in the TEMPLATES subdirectory. FileDude 5.3 / Make Filelist 24 Compress Filelist Compresses the filelist made and inserts a FILE_ID.DIZ based on the FILE_ID.ASC template file. The compression format is determined by the one you specified in the Basic Configuration menu. Make Filelist As New The filelist will show up on everyone's newscan each time a new filelist is compiled. Validated Filelist Prevents resume and unvalidated files from showing up on the filelist. Only List New Files The filelist will contain only new files uploaded in the past 'x' number of days, where 'x' is defined in the "Basic Configuration" menu. MISC ≡ File Fix Desc Filelist │ Misc │ Go! DOS Shell Quit ─────────────────────────────────│ └───────────────────┐── │ ( ) Process New Areas │ │ │ │ ( ) Keep a Log File │ │ ( ) Update SYSOP.LOG │ │ │ │ ( ) Convert Archives │ │ ( ) Don't Remove Old │ │ │ │ ( ) Scan for Viruses │ │ ( ) No Decompression │ │ │ │ ( ) Set Hatch Flag │ │ ( ) Auto Virus Validate │ │ │ │ ( ) Don't Validate │ └──────────────────────────┘ Process New Areas Instructs FileDude to automatically place a check mark next to any new areas it encounters. This in effect allows FileDude to process areas you added inside RG -- but forgot to mark for processing inside FileDude. FileDude 5.3 / Process New Areas 25 Keep a Log File Logs important screen information to FILEDUDE.LOG. Update SYSOP.LOG Logs end-of-process statistics at the end of Renegade's SYSOP.LOG. Information such as how many files were processed, how many conversions took place, etc., will be included. Convert Archives Converts all archives to the format specified in the Basic Configuration menu. FileDude automatically handles nodelist and network file naming. NODELIST.Z32, for example, would be handled like a ZIP file. What about NODELIST.A32, though? Is it ARJ or ARC? FileDude will go down the list in the Archive Config menu. It will try all archivers whose 3-letter extension begins with 'A'. Once FileDude finds one that works, it will proceed to the next step in the conversion process. Don't Remove Old Prevents FileDude from deleting the original archives after the conversion process. The original archives will have the extension .BAK. Scan for Viruses Scans archives for viruses, using the commandline set in the Basic Configuration menu. FileDude automatically scans archives within archives. To prevent rescanning files, FileDude maintains a VIRSCAN.DAT file. If a file is changed in the slightest way, however, FileDude will rescan it. FileDude 5.3 / Scan For Viruses 26 No Decompression FileDude will skip the decompression step of the virus scan. This is useful if you have another utility which already unpacks the archive in question, before FileDude processes it. Set Hatch Flag Files uploaded from a FILES.BBS will have their hatch flags set. Auto Virus Validate Automatically virus validate files which have the hatch flag set to on. This in effect tricks FileDude into thinking it already virus scanned incoming archives. This option is useful if you have another utility, such as a .TIC -> FILES.BBS converter, that already virus scans the incoming archives. Don't Validate Marks ALL files uploaded as not validated. Other Options on the Pulldown Bar --------------------------------- Go! Instructs FileDude to begin processing. DOS Shell Shells to the command interpreter. Quit Exits FileDude. TEMPLATE FILES The template files FileDude uses to contruct the filelist are: HEADER.ASC At the beginning of the filelist. PREBODY.ASC Before a file area. ERROR.ASC Shows up if FileDude cannot process a certain file area (i.e. when there is no SHARE permission.) FileDude 5.3 / Template Files 27 BODY.ASC Each entry in the file area. EXTBODYx.ASC For entry with 'x' number of extended description lines, where 'x' ranges 1 to 9. BODYINFO.ASC Extra information for a file entry, such as the number of credits, downloads, etc. POSTBODY.ASC After a file area. FOOTER.ASC At the end of the filelist. FILE_ID.ASC If FileDude compresses your filelist, it will insert a FILE_ID.DIZ in the archive using this file as a template. MCI CODES The below MCI codes are valid in only certain template files. MCI SIZE TEMPLATE DESCRIPTION --- ---- ------------ ---------------------------------- %DA 8 HEADER.ASC date of the filelist in format: FOOTER.ASC xx/xx/xx FILE_ID.ASC %BN 40 HEADER.ASC BBS name FOOTER.ASC FILE_ID.ASC %BP 12 HEADER.ASC BBS phone number in format: FOOTER.ASC xxx-xxx-xxx FILE_ID.ASC %SN 30 HEADER.ASC Sysop's name FOOTER.ASC FILE_ID.ASC %FB 40 <any> Full name of the current file area %F1 13 FOOTER.ASC Total bytes in all areas shown FILE_ID.ASC %F1K 13 FOOTER.ASC Total kilobytes in all areas shown FILE_ID.ASC %F2 13 FOOTER.ASC Total files in all areas shown FILE_ID.ASC %F3 6 FOOTER.ASC Total directories shown FILE_ID.ASC FileDude 5.3 / Mci Codes 28 %F4 13 POSTBODY.ASC Total bytes in current file area %F4K 13 POSTBODY.ASC Total kilobytes in current file area %F5 6 POSTBODY.ASC Total files processed in the current file area %F6 12 BODY.ASC Name of current file %F7 7 BODY.ASC Size of current file ("k" on end) %F8 60 BODY.ASC Main (line 1) description of current file %FEx 50 EXTBODYx.ASC For entry with 'x' number of extended description lines, where 'x' ranges 1 to 9. %FC 6 BODYINFO.ASC Number of credits required for file %FD 8 BODYINFO.ASC Date of file entry BODY.ASC EXTBODYx.ASC %F9 6 BODYINFO.ASC Number of downloads of a file In addition FileDude can choose between a single and plural form of a word. The syntax is: %[singular/plural] The following would choose between "directory" and "directories", depending on the value of %F3 (number of directories processed): %F3 %[directory/directories] The value on which the decision is based must be a numeral value, such as 1 or 42, not "one" or "forty-two". FileDude 5.3 / Mci Codes 29 FORMATTING After an MCI code, the following formatting options are available: #x -- Sets the width to 'x'. If the MCI string is not long enough to fill the width, it is padded with spaces to 'x' length. 'x' can be any integer between -32,767 to 32,767, inclusive. A positive width is for RIGHT JUSTIFICATION. A negative width is for LEFT JUSTIFICATION. :x -- Set the precision to 'x'. If the MCI string is longer than the precision, the string is truncated to 'x' length. 'x' can be any positive integer up to 32,767. Here are some examples (with tab marks every 5 spaces to help): ORIGINAL STRING MCI CODING OUTPUT --------------- ---------------- ----|----|----|----| 10/29/94 Today is %DA#10! Today is 10/29/94! Mr. Ed's Corner BBS: %BN#10:5 BBS: Mr. E 12:04:06 Time: %TI#-7:5am Time: 12:04 am SWAPPING FileDude does two types of swapping: 1) DOS Shell swapping. FileDude uses the SPAWNO routines by Ralf Brown to minimize memory use while shelling to DOS and running other programs. By default, these routines will attempt to find the best place to swap. If you wish to force them to swap to a certain place, you can use one of FileDude's commandline parameters. (See the "Commandline Parameters" section of this manual.) FileDude 5.3 / Swapping 30 2) Runtime data swap files. Because FileDude must remember a lot of information while running, it must use disk storage as memory storage for some functions. For smaller systems, this "memory" information is quite small. For large systems, however, FileDude cannot possibly fit this information into base memory RAM. By default, FileDude will put these data swap files in the same directory as FILEDUDE.EXE. You can redirect the data swap files, however, by setting a path in the Basic Configuration menu. This new location for data swap files can be a RAM drive or another hard drive (or a floppy, if you're adventurous.) There must be at least 256K free space in this new location. For larger systems (with more than 4,000 files), you will need at least one megabyte of free space. MULTIPLE CONFIGURATIONS FileDude has the ability to store multiple configurations. Whenever you choose "Save As..." from the File menu, you are saving the current configuration in a new slot. You can then reload this configuration at a later time by using the "Open..." option from the File menu. If you're running FileDude in automatic mode -- without menus -- you can specify which configuration FileDude should start up with. Simply add /CONFIG=# to the commandline. The '#' is the number of the slot of the configuration. When you choose "Open..." from the File menu, the first configuration you see on the list is slot #1. The second configuration is slot #2, etc. Multiple configurations allow you to run several different processes from a single copy of FileDude. MISCELLANEOUS FileDude 5.3 / Miscellaneous 31 CONTACTING THE AUTHOR The author, Edward Stangler, can be reached at his BBS: Mr. Ed's Corner 1-713-447-6119 28800 bps 24 hours You can also reach the author at the following addresses: Edward Stangler CompuServe 74620,2333 P.O. Box 38553, Suite #247 Fidonet 1:106/1076 Houston, Texas 77238-8553 ITCnet 85:842/105 U.S.A. SGA-Net 30:30/0 Internet e-mail: mred@neosoft.com Edhanced Software Home Page: http://www.neosoft.com/~mred/ WHY YOU SHOULD REGISTER o The "UNREGISTERED" announcement screen is removed. o The following features are available: o Ability to change "Uploader" and "Default Description" o Archive conversion and virus scanning o Version checking o Packing of EXTENDED.DAT o You will be supporting the shareware concept. FileDude 5.3 has taken many months and hundreds of hours of programming to develop this far. If you find FileDude useful, please register. See REGISTER.FRM for the details. Thank you for trying FileDude! FileDude 5.3 / Why You Should Register 32 LEGAL INFORMATION This software and documentation are protected under U.S. and international copyright laws and treaties. You are free to make copies of the shareware version of this software and documentation. However, all materials relating to this license statement, software, documentation, order information, copyright and trademark statement must remain intact as supplied in the original shareware package. You may not distribute, rent, sublicense, integrate or lease the software or the documentation. You may not alter, modify, or adapt the software or documentation, including but not limited to translating, decompiling, reverse assembling, or creating derivative works. The author disclaims all warranties, either express or implied, including but not limited to implied warranties of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose, with respect to the software and any accompanying written materials. In no event shall the author be liable for any damages whatsoever (including, without limitation, damages for loss of business profits, business interruption, loss of business information, or other pecuniary loss) arising out of the use and/or misuse of this product, even if the author has been advised of the possibility of such damages. Because some states do not allow the exclusion or limitation of liability for consequential or incidental damages, the above limitations may not apply to you. All brand and product names referenced in this document are trademarks, registered trademarks, or copyrighted works of their respective holders.