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                                     FF.COM                                   

             Size (recs) CRC   Version    Author/Latest Issue      Disk
               4k (25)   AB21  1.9        Carson Wilson 3/89       Z3COM3 

  1- Syntax  2- Notes                                                         


   FF is a File-Find utility derived from FINDF version 2.6.   A configuration 
word at the beginning of the code contains a byte for each possible drive in a 
system.   When the user has not indicated a specific drive to scan, each drive 
is checked against this table and skipped if the bit is not set.   This allows 
FF to work in systems with holes (e.g.,  drives A, B, and F) in which the BIOS 
hangs when a drive is accessed that does not exist or has no disk. 

:1

   Syntax:  FF [D: or DIR:]afn[,afn].. [d..][o/..]

  Options:  (d) before slash:
            list of drivers to scan

  Options:  (o) after slash:
            E - Exact (no auto wildcarding)
            P - No Paging
            S - Include SYS files
  
   Error flag is set if no files are found.  Number of files are put in REG 0.
   Auto-scanned drives are: ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOP.

   Output  can  be paged a line at a time by hitting the space bar or  can be 
aborted at a page break by hitting CTRL-C.

   All file specs are ambiguous (FF A = FF A*.*, FF A.B = FF A*.B*, etc.). 
:2


FF Notes:

   a. A program error flag is  set if no files  are found  and  cleared if the
      files are found.   The  nr of  files found  is stored in  a configurable 
      user register.  If the nr is more than 255, the value 255 is stored.

   b. Version 1.8  corrects  check  against  MAXDRV  byte in  the  environment
      descriptor.   Previous code  allowed  one drive beyond MAXDRV.  Extracts
      new MASK routine from INIT so  that it  can  be  called  after any drive
      options are processed.   This enforces  the valid drive vector  from the
      environment descriptor regardless of the setting of the MAXDRV byte.
  
   c. Version 1.7  fixes  bug  which  caused 'FF /' command to list all files.
      Only  'FF'  or  'FF,<one or more spaces>//' (exactly)  now  gives  help.
      'FF /' or 'FF // ' are intrepreted as filespecs.



FF Notes (cont'd):

   d. Version 1.6  changes  page  prompt  to reflect multiple abort keys (says
      'RETURN=page' instead  of 'OTHER=page').  Help is no longer generated by
      a single slash as  a parameter,  allowing files beginning with '/' to be
      searched for.

   e. Version 1.5 adds REG# ASCII pointer to  the patch byte controlling which
      register is used to store the number of matches found.   The  default is
      zero.  Register is changed by substituting a BINARY value from 1 to 9 at
      this storage location.

   f. Version 1.4  allows  abort  with ^c, c, C, ^k, k, K, ^x, x, or X between
      pages of paged output.  System valid drive vector is now logically ANDed
      with the table in the program.

   g. Version 1.3 exits with BIOS, then BDOS drive-select.



FF Notes:

   h. Version 1.2 adds extended environment valid-drive vector.

   i. Version 1.1  adds  compatibility  with  CPM/3  and  DosDisk.    Converts 
      directory searches to BDOS  calls,  for  compatibility with DosDisk  and
      other BDOS emulators.   Removes IX register use,  for compatibility with
      BIOS/DOS systems that mistakenly fail  to preserve Z80 registers.   Adds
      check  for presence  of external environment.   Uses full TPA  if CCP is
      protected.   Search  every  valid  BIOS  drive  whose bit  is set in the 
      DRVTBL (previous versions aborted on first invalid drive).
