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______________________________________________________________ | | | - GEN - | |______________________________________________________________| Test Character Generating Utility Version 1.5 Released 07-30-91 COPYRIGHT 1989-1991 Phil Herron. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED Herron Software P.O. Box 1288 Battle Ground, Washington USA 98604 TABLE OF CONTENTS PAGE ________________________________________________________________ Preface.............................................. 0 New in this version.................................. 1 Introduction......................................... 1 Explanation.......................................... 2 System Requirements.................................. 2 Installing........................................... 3 Help................................................. 3 Syntax............................................... 3 Examples........................................... 4 Operating screen..................................... 5 Output Format in Character Mode...................... 5 Applications......................................... 6 User Notes........................................... 7 DOS ErrorLevel....................................... 7 Version History...................................... 8 Support............................................ A-1 Problem Resolution............................... A-1 Reporting A Problem.............................. A-1 Custom Modifications............................. A-2 Correspondence................................... A-2 0-1 __________________________________________ DISCLAIMER OF WARRANTY __________________________________________ THIS PRODUCT IS PROVIDED FOR EVALUATION, AS IS AND WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND. THE AUTHOR MAKES NO EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHOR BE LIABLE FOR LOSS OF PROFIT OR ANY OTHER COMMERCIAL DAMAGE ARISING FROM EITHER THE USE OF OR THE INABILITY TO USE THIS PRODUCT. ____________________________________________________________ EVALUATION PREFACE PAGE ____________________________________________________________ Shareware....................................... 0-1 License Terms................................. 0-2 Registration.................................. 0-2 Forms, Fees, Quantity discounts.............. 0-2 Evaluation Version.............................. 0-3 Distribution Authorization.................... 0-3 Evaluation Menu............................... 0-3 Virus Concerns................................ 0-3 - SHAREWARE - "Shareware" is a software distribution method which enables the potential user to obtain software at very low initial cost, for evaluation on a trial basis. You can evaluate the software in your own environment, on your own machine, with the programs and data that you normally use. You're not required to become a registered user unless the software meets your needs. Another benefit of Shareware is lower pricing. By minimizing the marketing and advertising expenses associated with more traditional software distribution methods, Shareware products can be priced lower. You don't pay for what you don't need or use. 0-2 - LICENSE TERMS - This product and its documentation are copyrighted and owned solely by the author, who reserves all rights to any benefits derived from it. It is distinctly separate from, and should not be confused with, those categories of software known as "public domain" or "freeware." You are granted the right to use the evaluation version of this software on a trial basis for a limited amount of time, to decide whether to continue using (and therefore whether to register) the product. You can share the evaluation version of this software with others, so long as the limitations set forth in the DISTRIBUTION AUTHORIZATION section below are followed. - REGISTRATION - When you send in the registration form and fee, you'll receive by return mail a diskette containing the latest REGISTERED VERSION of the program and documentation. It will NOT include the Evaluation Menu front end of this version. Thus it will be easier to use, from either the DOS prompt or from batch files, and will also be 12K-15K bytes smaller, for more efficient disk storage and faster loading. The registered version WILL include any new functions or enhancements made to date. As a registered user, you can upgrade to newer versions whenever they become available, for a total cost of 50 percent of the then-current registration fee. REGISTRATION FORM and FEES The registration form and a pre-addressed mailing cover can be printed from the "Forms Printing" selection of the Evaluation menu, discussed below. The single-quantity registration fee is displayed on the Evaluation Menu screen. Each registered copy will be licensed for operation at a single location (on a single terminal or computer) at any one time. To use the software on more than one terminal or computer at the same time, the appropriate number of registrations must be made. Multiple-quantity registration fees are displayed in the "QUANTITY DISCOUNT" section of the Evaluation menu. You can take advantage of quantity discounts by ordering multiple registrations of one program or of several different programs at the same time. You also save on shipping and handling charges by registering several products together. 0-3 - EVALUATION VERSION - This software contains the complete and fully functional version of the program, the latest available at the time of this release. The program itself is identical to the REGISTERED version. For evaluation, a front end menu containing a documentation file viewer and forms printer have been added to ensure that: (a) Registration information and forms will not become separated from the program file. (b) Users who might be unfamiliar with the process of displaying a file's contents on the screen or printer will have no difficulty learning about, evaluating or registering this product. - DISTRIBUTION AUTHORIZATION - Shareware catalog/disk distributers, Online services, Bulletin Board systems, user groups and private individuals are authorized to distribute the evaluation version of this software by any convenient means, so long as the program, documentation and any associated files are distributed together and unaltered. - EVALUATION MENU - The program is invoked from the DOS prompt by typing its name and pressing the RETURN/ENTER key. An initial screen displays warranty and program information, then the Shareware Product EVALUATION MENU with the following functions: ESC - EXIT to DOS R - READ the documentation (THIS file) x - EVALUATE this program Q - QUANTITY Discount information F - FORMS printing menu - registration & mailer "R" displays this file one screen at a time, and prompts... <DownArrow> or Esc <DownArrow> indicates more is available, similar to the "MORE" prompt in other DOS utilities. Press a normal typing key such as the spacebar to continue, or the ESCape key to return to the Evaluation Menu. - VIRUS CONCERNS - If you'd like to evaluate this software but you're not sure where it's been, order a copy directly from the source. See the SHAREWARE PRODUCT CATALOG in the CATALOG.TXT file. GEN-1 - NEW IN THIS VERSION - Prior versions generated files character by character. This version adds a much faster File Mode for the rapid production of large disk files. - INTRODUCTION - There are a number of ways to produce disk files of some given size for testing or experimentation. The methods available vary in speed and ease of use. METHOD 1 - Text Editor This method is pure trial-and-error: using a word processor or text editor, type some random characters, save the result, then check on the size of the saved file. If it's not right, go back into the editor and add or subtract some characters. Repeat until the file size is right. METHOD 2 - DEBUG or SYMDEB utilities If one of these utilities is available, you can use a script like this to generate a 1024-byte file named OneK.Txt... C>debug -n OneK.Txt name the file -rcx set file size CX 0000 :400 hexadecimal file size (400h = 1024d) -f 0 L 500 2E fill space (400h +100h) with a char (2E hex for dots) -w write the file to disk Writing 0400 bytes -Q quit back to DOS This method works well for files up to FFFFh (65,535 decimal) bytes in length; for larger sizes, you must also set register BX, and go through some calculations to fill the space with known characters. The schemes above work for small files, but aren't always quick or easy to use. GEN removes all the bother. It generates files of any size from zero to over 2 gigabytes, and generates them much faster than you can type random characters into a text editor. Besides producing files on disk, Gen can send a specific number of characters directly to the console screen, printer or other DOS device. When finished, it displays elapsed time. GEN-2 - EXPLANATION - Gen has several operating modes; the mode used is determined by the destination and character arguments on the command line. CHARACTER MODE - for File or Device ___________________________________ Whenever a character argument is included on the command line, a specified number of that character is sent to the specified destination. The character can be given either literally or in Ascii decimal form. The final characters sent during each run depend upon the output size specified, and are either CR (carriage return) or CR LF (carriage return followed by linefeed). See the OUTPUT FORMAT section for additional information. The character count is displayed on screen every ten 1024- character blocks as an activity indicator. This count display is sent only to the screen, and does not become part of the output to a file or device. The ESCape key can be used to exit at any time. GEN terminates at the end of the block it was processing when the Escape key was detected. FILE MODE - for Files only __________________________ File Mode is used whenever no character is specified on the command line, and the destination is a disk file. For large files, this mode is much faster than Character Mode. Instead of being generated character by character, the file is "simulated" by simply setting up a new filename entry on disk, with the specified name and size. The file produced contains whatever was on the disk at the location(s) used by the new file--fragments of previously erased files, and/or initialized data left by the disk formatting process. - SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS - PC, XT, AT or compatible. DOS version 2.1 or later. 64K free memory. GEN-3 - INSTALLING - The program can be run from diskette or from hard disk. No installation is necessary, other than copying the files to a drive and directory of your choosing. To run the program from other than its resident drive or directory, specify its location with the DOS PATH statement. - HELP - Can't remember the command line syntax? Issue the program's name without any parameters; it will display a help screen, then return to the DOS prompt. - SYNTAX - GEN [dest] [/size] [/char] [/APPEND] Where: [dest] is a destination FILESPEC or DEVICE. If omitted, terminates with error message. FILESPEC The file specification needed to reference a file; can also be given as [d:][path][filename.ext]. The minimum filespec needed is filename.ext. If the file is to be generated in another directory and/or on another drive, the drive name and/or pathname must also be given. The complete filespec for a file named TestFile.Txt residing in drive A: in a subdirectory named TestSub is A:\TestSub\TestFile.Txt For further information on filespecs, see your DOS manual. DEVICE Refers to a particular DOS device: CON output to CONsole monitor screen PRN, LPT1, etc. - output to specified printer AUX, COM1, etc. - output to serial port NUL - output is discarded [/size] is a positive number, 0 through 2,147,483,647 with no embedded punctuation. GEN-4 - SYNTAX - continued Where: [/char] is the Ascii character to be used. If specified, or if the destination is a DOS device, then the slower Character Mode will be used. The character can be entered either literally or in Ascii decimal form. The default character if "/" is included but no character is specified is Ascii NUL, #0. /* Asterisk char, literal /#42 Asterisk char, Ascii decimal form /#7 BEL char Ascii decimal form (rings bell) /#205 Double-line text graphic char /#0 Ascii NUL char / Ascii NUL char [/APPEND] is the command to append output to the end of the specified file. Case is ignored; can be shortened to the first three letters, "/app". - EXAMPLES - GEN con /100 /* Sends 100 characters to screen: 98 asterisks, CR, LF. GEN con /100 /#219 Sends extended-Ascii text graphic block characters to screen. GEN prn /100 /* Sends 100 characters to printer: 98 asterisks, CR, LF. GEN a.a These all create a zero-byte GEN a.a / file named A.A GEN a.a /0 on current drive, GEN a.a / / in current subdirectory. GEN a.a / /a GEN b:\test\b.b /1024 / Creates 1Kbyte file on drive B: in subdirectory \test. File contains NULs (Ascii #0). GEN c.c /250000 /* 250,000 char. file in slow Char- acter mode. File contains mostly asterisk characters. GEN c.c /250000 250,000 char. file in fast File mode. File contains whatever was on disk. GEN d.d /25 / 25-char. file containing 23 NULs, CR, LF. GEN d.d /75 /* /app Appends 75 more characters to existing file D.D, for total size of 100 bytes. GEN-5 - OPERATING SCREEN - The operating screen appears whenever "GEN" is issued from the DOS prompt (or from a batch file) with a destination; in this example, the complete command line is: Gen Dummy.Txt /56789 /#46 which will generate a file containing periods (Ascii value 46 decimal). Since a character is specified, the slower Character mode will be used. The screen displays: __Gen_________________________ |______________________________| Generating 56789 characters Kbytes completed: nn \ Running size count in 10K steps 7.69 seconds elapsed C:\TEST\DUMMY.TXT 56789 bytes Upon completion (or when ESC is pressed to terminate early), elapsed time and actual file size are displayed. In the next example, a disk file is specified larger than the space available on a 360K diskette. No character is specified, so Fast mode is used. Gen A:Dummy.Txt /400000 __Gen_________________________ |______________________________| Space not available for size specified Simulating 362496 bytes A:\DUMMY.TXT 362496 bytes - OUTPUT FORMAT in Character Mode - GEN generates the specified number of characters by blocks of 1024 (if any), followed by any remaining characters needed to make up the required size. Each block consists of 1022 specified characters, followed by CR (ASCII 0D hex) and LF (ASCII 0A hex). GEN-6 - OUTPUT FORMAT in Character Mode - continued Sizes in excess of even multiples of the basic 1024-character block are generated as shown below: Size Characters sent ------------ ------------------- 1 CR 2 CR LF 3 1 char, CR LF 4 2 chars, CR LF . . . . 1023 1021 chars, CR LF Example: Output length of Will Contain ---------------- ---------------------- 1 CR 1024 1022 chars, CR LF (basic 1K block) 1025 One 1K block plus CR 1026 One 1K block plus CR LF 1027 One 1K block plus 1 char, CR LF 2049 Two 1K blocks plus CR 10241 Ten 1K blocks plus CR It should be noted that when generating to the console, CON, the number of characters appearing on the screen will be fewer than specified in the length parameter. A length of 1 or 2 will show no characters; 3 or higher will show two fewer characters than specified, since the CR and LF are not explicitly displayed on the screen. However, the correct file length will always be generated when output is to a file or device. - APPLICATIONS - GENerated files can be used for: Printer speed tests Printer buffer capacity tests Print Spooler tests Disk file copying speed tests Disk capacity tests RAMdisk tests Dummy files for any purpose. Marker files for separating file groups on a floppy disk. With a size of zero bytes, such files don't take up any disk space outside that of the directory entry. Example: GEN A:--------.--- GEN-7 - USER NOTES - Device destinations Before generating characters to a device, make sure it exists; writing to a nonexistent device may hang the system. CON and NUL are always present, as is PRN on most systems. Speed If a character is specified when generating disk files, GEN uses Character mode. This can be very slow for large files; to use the much faster File mode, press the ESCAPE key to exit, then rerun without specifying a character. Below are some average output rates measured while generating 360Kb files on a 4.77 Mhz PC/XT compatible system, using Character mode: Bytes per Bytes per Destination Second Minute ----------- --------- ---------- Floppy disk 2.3Kb 135.9Kb Hard disk 10.0Kb 601.8Kb NUL device 22.8Kb 1.37Mb - DOS ERRORLEVEL - Upon termination, the program returns a DOS ErrorLevel value which indicates how the program ended, and which can be used for subsequent operations in a batch file. For further information, see the "IF ERRORLEVEL" batch command in your DOS manual. ErrorLevel list: 0 - Successful completion. 1 - No parameters specified on command line. 2 - <arg> - range must be within 0..255 A character was specified in Ascii decimal form but the decimal value was out of the permissible range. 3 - <arg> - non-numeric at position <n> An illegal character (non-decimal or punctuation) was found at position n. This error also occurs whenever size is greater than 2,147,483,647. 4 - Illegal drive 5 - Dest missing GEN-8 - DOS ERRORLEVEL - continued ErrorLevel list: continued 6 - Delimiter missing/misplaced in param <arg> 7 - Output to device requires size>0 & char 8 - Append requires an existing file - Append requires size & char params - Append requires size >0 - Append requires char param 9 - Cannot open <dest> Specified file cannot be opened. Occurs occurs when GEN is issued with a filespec containing DOS wildcard characters, such as GEN *.* or GEN ?.? 10 - Write failure Usually indicates error writing to a device, such as when generating to "PRN" with the printer not ready. 27 - Early termination; ESCape key pressed. - VERSION HISTORY - 1.00 Initial release. 1.01 Early termination via the ESCAPE key. 1.1 DOS ErrorLevels added. 1.2 Modified to correct elapsed time when midnight occurs during a run. 1.3 Syntax changed for easier use without Dos redirection. Available disk space is checked before run. 1.4 Max size increased to over 2 Gbytes. Character blocks now consist of 1024 bytes: 1022 chars, then CR and LF. Character used can now be specified on the command line. 1.5 Added File mode for much faster large disk files. A-1 - SUPPORT - The first user to document and report a problem that we agree needs attention, will be sent a free upgrade with the correction when it's been made. Registered users will receive an upgraded registered version; unregistered evaluators receive an upgraded evaluation version. - PROBLEM RESOLUTION - Things to try prior to reporting a problem: 1 - Reread the documentation to make sure you understand what we thought we understood when we wrote it. 2 - If the system reports "Bad command or file name" when you attempt to run the program, its executable file (or at least the file name you specified) was not found. First, make sure no typos or misspellings have crept into your command line; next, try changing your PATH setting, or make the drive & directory where the program resides the "current" drive & directory. 3 - If the program is being run from a batch file, try deleting lines previous to the line that actually invokes the program, to see if some prior activity is causing the problem. 4 - If you have any memory-resident or "TSR" utilities installed (pop-up calculators/note pads, keyboard enhancements, etc.), try removing them from memory and running the program again to see if the problem reoccurs. - REPORTING A PROBLEM - If the problem persists, please document it as thoroughly as possible; we have to be able to duplicate it before we can begin to resolve it. Include at least the following: 1 - Problem program's name and version number. 2 - Where and how you obtained the problem program. 3 - Address and/or phone number where you can be contacted. 4 - Version of DOS you are using. 5 - Machine type, drives, memory, etc. 6 - Programs executed prior to the problem. 7 - Anything that might relate to the problem; for example, listings of your AUTOEXEC.BAT and CONFIG.SYS files, or any batch files used to run the program. 8 - Any relevant printouts. A-2 - REPORTING A PROBLEM - continued NOTE: Registered users receive the utility UserResp.Exe on the distribution diskette; it can be used to print a pre-addressed mailer and a problem report. - CUSTOM MODIFICATIONS - If custom modifications to this software are needed for your particular application, please write to the below address with complete details of your requirements. - CORRESPONDENCE - We welcome any comments or suggestions you might have concerning improvements and future enhancements to this product. Send all correspondence and orders to: Phil Herron P.O. Box 1288 Battle Ground, Washington USA 98604