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CISREF Version 1.11 May 1993
Copyright 1991-1993 JNGoodale. All Rights reserved.
_______
____|__ | (R) This program is shareware.
--| | |-------------------
| ____|__ | Association of Please see Appendix B for
| | |_| Shareware a description of sharware.
|__| o | Professionals See REGISTER.DOC for
-----| | |--------------------- registration form.
|___|___| MEMBER
TABLE OF CONTENTS
-----------------
1. General Description .......................... 1
2. Requirements ................................. 2
3. Files ........................................ 2
4. Getting Started .............................. 3
5. Operation .................................... 4
6. Search Criteria .............................. 4
7. Marking Files ................................ 5
8. End of Job ................................... 5
Appendicies:
A, File Formats
B. Shareware Definition/ASP Ombudsman
C. Registration Information
i
Page 1
GENERAL DESCRIPTION
-------------------
This program is a CompuServe forum library catalog viewing and
searching utility. The catalog to be viewed must be on YOUR
computer - it is not intended for online viewing. Online viewing
is very easy using the facilities available on CompuServe.
With CISREF, you can browse thru all the catalog entries, or search
based on file name, keywords, etc. You can "Mark" all files which
look interesting, and at the end get two listings:
1. A synopsis of all "Marked" items including estimated
time and cost to download. This is sorted by catalog
name (same as forum name), library, and file name to
be your organized list when ready to download - very
useful if you will be downloading quite a few files.
2. The full catalog entry information which appears on the
screen when viewing.
You can peruse these listings more carefully to make final decisions
on whether or not to download a file.
The listings are also sent to a file, and you have the option to
print/not print either one or both.
The first time you select a catalog for viewing, an index file is
created for that specific catalog to make searching faster. This
index will be used in all subsequent searches and sessions until
a new downloaded catalog replaces the old one. The index file will
have an extension of ".INX".
*IMPORTANT NOTE* - The program uses dates and file sizes to check
the validity of the index file for the catalog. Do not change the
file dates of the catalogs, or manipulate them in any way which
might change them. DOS COPY command is safe to use - it does not
change file dates.
Page 2
REQUIREMENTS
------------
IBM 100% Compatible
DOS 3.0 or above
Hard Drive
256 K Available Memory (minimum)
Lots more is much better
Color or Monocrome monitor
Printer - optional
Note: For monochrome monitors, start the program with:
CISREF/m
FILES
-----
Included in all versions:
CISREF.COM - executable program
CISREF.DOC - this file
CISREF.HLP - instructions used during program execution
README.TXT - short documentation file
WHATS.NEW - update history
Included in Shareware version only:
FILE_ID.DIZ - quick description
REGISTER.DOC - registration form
SAMP1.CAT - sample input file you may use to try CISREF
SAMP2.CAT - a second input file to try
Created
CISREF.CNF - a short configuration file
SAMP1.INX - index file for SAMP1.CAT (Shareware version)
SAMP2.INX - index file for SAMP2.CAT (Shareware version)
FORUMARK.TXT - header info for "marked" files
FORUMARK.DES - full description info for "marked" files
FORUMARK.CUR - not used by CISREF, but available for interfacing
to your own programs. Contains basic data on
"marked" files.
Page 3
GETTING STARTED
---------------
This catalog viewer is specifically for the LONG description
catalogs, in the format current as of Jan. 1992, available in
the CompuServe IBMNET. They are in library 0 of each IBMNET
forum and are named as follows:
Forum File Name Unzips to
IBMAPP IBMAPP.ZIP IBMAPP.CAT
IBMBBS IBMBBS.ZIP IBMBBS.CAT
IBMCOM IBMCOM.ZIP IBMCOM.CAT
IBMHW IBMHW.ZIP IBMHW.CAT
IBMNEW IBMNEW.ZIP IBMNEW.CAT
IBMPRO IBMPRO.ZIP IBMPRO.CAT
IBMSYS IBMSYS.ZIP IBMSYS.CAT
If other forums have catalogs with the same format, CISREF will
work for them as well.
One or more of these files must be downloaded and made available
to CISREF before you can effectively use the program for anything
except generating the message "No *.CAT files found on this directory".
In order to retrieve a list of catalogs for viewing, CISREF expects the
catalog files to have an extension of ".CAT" and be located in the
current directory. There is a limit of 20 Catalogs per directory.
The program itself can be located in the current directory, or any
directory specified in your PATH.
Once you are in the directory with the *.CAT files, start the program
with:
CISREF
or
CISREF/m for a monochrome monitor
Limitations:
20 Catalog files per directory (that's a lot of stuff!)
10 Character FileNames are assumed within the Catalog
File descriptions. This is currently the case on the
IBMNET forums. That is, all file names are limited to
a max of "xxxxxx.xxx" in the libraries.
Page 4
OPERATION
---------
The program is directed with menu selection and various keys.
The applicable key definitions are displayed on the screen during
program execution for reference.
The Function Keys (and others) generally have the following effect:
[F1] - Display Instructions
[F2] - Mark this item (see "Marking", below)
[F3] - Continue with the same search criteria
[F8] - Go to Top Menu
[F9] - Exit the program
[ESC] - Back out of current activity/Interrupt search
[HOME] - Restart same search at beginning of file
[ENTER] - Select high-lighted menu item/Page forward
One note on [F9] and [ESC] - The [F9] key will go immediately to
the program exit. [ESC] will keep backing up, until finally you
back out the door to the program exit.
SEARCH CRITERIA
---------------
The search criteria will find a hit on any occurrance of the search
string you enter, within the field being searched. Therefore, if
your search field is "File Name", and your search string is "ZIP",
all of the following file names would be a "hit":
CISREF.ZIP
PKZIP.ARC
UNZIP.EXE
ZIP210.EXE
If your search string is ".ZIP", then only CISREF.ZIP would be found.
If you enter no search string, all records are displayed in turn.
If there is room in memory, the program uses an index file for the
search. If the index has not yet been created, it creates one. This
greatly speeds up searching. If there is not room in memory, the
search is sequential, and much slower.
The index file (*.INX) is saved to disk to be available for future
sessions. When you download a new Catalog description file to replace
the old one, the program detects that this is a new catalog file and
will generate a new associated index file.
Page 5
MARKING FILES
-------------
After finding something that looks interesting, you can "mark" the
item for later viewing or printing. [F2] will mark it, and at the end
of the program, all these items are gathered together into three files,
described next. Any number of catalogs can be searched during one
execution of the program. All marked items from every catalog visited
during the session will be saved.
If any items are marked, three files will be issued:
FORUMARK.TXT - a text (ASCII) file of header information.
FORUMARK.DES - a text file of the full description of the
item marked.
FORUMARK.CUR - a one record file containing an array of
all the header information for use by other
programs. See the documentation for a
description of the layout.
If no items are marked, only a zero length FORUMARK.DES file is issued.
Time and cost estimates for downloading are based on values in the
file CISREF.CNF, which is initialized to use 2400 Baud, 12.80/hour.
One minute is added to all time estimates for overhead. You can
change these by selecting the "Change Rates" option from the Main Menu.
END OF THE JOB
--------------
Before exiting, CISREF will give you the option to print the first
two files if any items were marked. The files will remain intact
but will be overwritten next run, whether or not you elect to print.
See Appendix A for samples of expected input and the format of all
files.
_________________________________________________________________
If you have problems or questions, contact the author:
JN Goodale
CIS ID 71116,302
Phone (704)-537-0329 (Your nickel!)
_________________________________________________________________
App A-1
FILE FORMATS and OTHER STUFF
----------------------------
INPUT FORMAT
------------
Sample taken from IBMCOM.CAT (right side is truncated to allow
for margins)
The *.CAT files look like this, and MUST be in this format:
______________________________________________________________________
[71141,1224] Lib: 1
ACL313.EXE/Bin Bytes: 42715, Count: 793, 07-Feb-91
Title : AUTOSIG Accounting Module, ACLS, Version 3.13
Keywords: ATO AUTOSIG ACLS ACCOUNTING MODULE RATES
AUTOSIG Accounting Module, ACLS, Version 3.13. Update includes supp
for CompuServe's new 9600 baud service, including a new RATES.ATO fi
Place in your directory with ATO, and type "ACLS", or select F9 from
main menu. Self-extracting archive. Documentation is file ATOADV.EX
[70327,135] Lib: 1
ATO.PIF/Bin Bytes: 545, Count: 1352, 21-Jun-90
Title : PIF file for Autosig
Keywords: WINDOWS AUTOSIG ATO PIF
Windows 3.0 PIF file for Autosig. Created for 386eh mode, but shoul
for all. Corrected to allow background operation, including
upload/download. Use the PIF editor to set the path and command lin
options to match your configuration.
[76703,750] Lib: 1
ATO68A.EXE/Bin Bytes: 131323, Count: 1410, 11-Aug-91
Title : AUTOSIG Ver. 6.8a; CIS communications program
Keywords: ATO AUTOSIG FORUM SIG AUTOMATIC MESSAGES FILES LIBRARIES
LIBRARY
AUTOSIG version 6.8A executable program file. See ATODOC.EXE for
main documentation, and ATOADV.EXE for documentation on advanced scr
PPN database functions. Please read ATO68A.REQ before downloading th
file. See WHATS.NEW for a summary of changes since prior version. Se
extracting file. Run from DOS prompt to extract. Free software.
______________________________________________________________________
App A-2
OUTPUT FORMAT
-------------
FORUMARK.TXT is an ASCII text file that looks like this:
______________________________________________________________________
Forum Catalog Libraries: Marked 03-16-1992/16:43:31 Page 1
Forum Lib File UserID Date Bytes Acc Time Cost Seq
IBMAPP 1 ADDCOL.COM [74025,514] 10-Jun-85 12544 232 1 22 1
IBMAPP 1 ADDLF.ARC [73300,517] 21-Dec-87 8260 145 1 22 2
IBMAPP 1 AMAC41.ZIP [76370,1073] 26-Aug-91 314765 23 24 528 3
IBMCOM 1 ATO68A.EXE [76703,750] 11-Aug-91 131323 1410 10 220 4
IBMCOM 1 ATOADV.EXE [70007,1212] 28-Mar-90 19760 3675 2 44 5
IBMSYS 1 BOOT13.ZIP [74365,1716] 18-Aug-90 3234 557 1 22 7
IBMSYS 9 DSKNDX.ZIP [71116,302] 29-Jul-91 34975 63 3 66 6
Total 7 42 924
----------------------------------------------------------------------
FORUMARK.DES is an ASCII text file that looks like this:
______________________________________________________________________
Forum Catalog Libraries: Marked 03-16-1992/16:43:31 Page 1
[74025,514] [ 1]
ADDCOL.COM/Bin Bytes: 12544, Count: 232, 10-Jun-85
Title :
Keywords: ADD COLUMN PROGRAM
This program will concatenate two files in a line by line fashion.
the uses could be to add columns of text from two files to make a
single file containing the two columns. You could add a column of
front of a second file to change the margin. Read ADDCOL.DOC for mo
information.
[73300,517] [ 2]
ADDLF.ARC/Bin Bytes: 8260, Count: 145, 21-Dec-87
Title : Convert text file CRs to LF/CR
Keywords: ASCII TEXT CR LF CONVERSION FILE LF-CR
This program converts ASCII text files with only CRs to those with
LF-CRs. It is written in Microsoft C and runs very quickly. Public
Uploaded by the author.
-------------------------
etc. .............
----------------------------------------------------------------------
App A-3
FORUMARK.CUR is a one record array of all the items in FORUMARK.TXT.
Each element of the array has the following format:
______________________________________________________________________
Position Data Type Description
-------- --------- -----------
1 - 8 ASCII Forum ID (Catalog base name)
9 - 10 " Library number
11 - 20 " File Name
21 - 22 " Reserved
23 - 35 " CIS User ID
36 - 44 " Date file was uploaded
45 - 50 " Reserved for download date
51 - 52 Integer Mark Sequence
53 - 56 Long integer File Size
57 - 58 Integer Number of accesses
59 - 60 Integer Estimated minutes to download
61 - 64 Long integer Estimated cost to download
----------------------------------------------------------------------
*.INX is an index file used to speed searching.
It is a one record array, containing pointers to header information
in the associated *.CAT file.
Each element of the array has the following format:
______________________________________________________________________
Field Position Data Type Description
----- -------- --------- -----------
1 1 - 13 ASCII CIS User ID
2 14 - 23 " File Name
3 24 - 25 " Reserved
4 26 - 27 " Library number
5 28 - 94 " First line of Keywords
6 95 - 96 Integer File age in Weeks
7 97 - 100 Long integer File size
8 101 - 102 Integer Number of File accesses
9 103 - 104 Integer Length of Catalog File description
10 105 - 108 Long integer Start position in Catalog File
The first array element contains information on the associated *.CAT
file and is used to validate the use of the *.INX file.
Field Contents
----- --------
1 Date/Time stamp of the *.CAT file creation (YYMMDDHHMMSS)
9 Number of items in the array
10 File size of the associated *.CAT file
This element is used to check the validity of the associated *.INX
and *.CAT files, and to reserve room in memory for the *.INX file.
If the *.INX and *.CAT files don't match, a new *.INX is created.
App A-4
When the *.INX is created, the program tells you how many elements
can be stored in memory (Max Entries) for THAT PARTICULAR machine
and boot configuration.
600K available memory will hold an array of about 5,000 elements,
which handles the IBMSYS.CAT file (1,800,000 + bytes).
256K available memory will hold an array of about 1,000 elements.
If there isn't room to create the index (or read it in), the
program does a "sequential" search, which is much slower. It works,
but if the item you're looking for doesn't find a match till deep
into the file, it takes much longer than an "indexed" search.
CISREF.CNF
----------
Contains baud rates and costs for estimating download costs. Can
be updated within the program with the "Change Rates" option. The
file contains one record which is a five element array. The format
of each element is:
Field Position Data Type Description
----- -------- --------- -----------
1 1 ASCII Letter ID
2 2 - 12 " Label
3 13 - 16 Long integer Bytes/Min transfer rate
4 17 - 20 Long integer CIS Hourly charge
These elements are initialized as follows:
Element # ID Label Bytes/Min CIS $/Hour
--------- -- --------- --------- ----------
1 A Baud=300 1695 630
2 B Baud=1200 6780 1280
3 C Baud=2400 13560 1280 - default
4 D Baud=9600 54240 2280
5 E User Define 1695 0
App B
SHAREWARE CONCEPT
-----------------
Shareware distribution gives users a chance to try software
before buying it. If you try a Shareware program and continue
using it, you are expected to register.
Shareware is a distribution method, not a type of software. You
should find software that suits your needs and pocketbook, whether
it's commercial or Shareware. The Shareware system makes fitting
your needs easier, because you can try before you buy. And because
the overhead is low, prices are low also. Shareware has the
ultimate money-back guarantee -- if you don't use the product,
you don't pay for it!
OMBUDSMAN
---------
Association Of Shareware Professionals Ombudsman
This program is produced by a member of the Association of
Shareware Professionals (ASP). ASP wants to make sure that the
shareware principle works for you. If you are unable to resolve a
shareware-related problem with an ASP member by contacting the
member directly, ASP may be able to help. The ASP Ombudsman can
help you resolve a dispute or problem with an ASP member, but does
not provide technical support for members' products. Please write
to the ASP Ombudsman at P.O. Box 5786, Bellevue, WA 98006 or send
a Compuserve message via easyplex to ASP Ombudsman 70007,3536.
App C
REGISTRATION INFORMATION
------------------------
You can register within the program by selecting the
"REGISTER" option, or you can print REGISTER.DOC to
fill out manually.
When you register CISREF you will recieve the following:
A copy of the latest version of the Registered program.
Notification of upgrades for 12 months.
Upgrades (if requested) for only the cost of
shipping and handling - around $3.00
Free support by mail, phone (your nickle), or CIS
E-Mail for six months.
Your choice of the complete IBMNET catalogs, up to as
many as will fit on the diskette you select.
The catalog(s) will be no more than 90 days
old as of the day I send your disk. See list
on the Registration Form, App D.
If you find this program useful, please register and support the
Shareware industry.
Feel free to give copies to anyone, but assure that ALL distribution
files are included.
Registration is $15, plus $1 for 720K or 1.2M diskette, or
$2 for 1.4M diskette. Send registration to:
JN Goodale
7826 Littlejohn Court
Charlotte, NC 28227