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PMCAT+
A Disk File Cataloging Program
by
Patrick Michaud
&
William C. Scott
8 July , 1990
_______
____|__ | (tm)
--| | |-------------------
| ____|__ | Association of
| | |_| Shareware
|__| o | Professionals
-----| | |---------------------
|___|___| MEMBER
Copyright 1989 by William C. Scott
Page 1
About Our Marketing Process ... (Shareware)
The term "shareware" has come to refer to a class of computer
software that is marketed, basically, on an honor system.
Hopefully you noticed the logo of ASP, the Association of
Shareware Professionals, on the cover sheet of this
documentation file. <ASP> is an organization that was formed
and is supported by software authors and businesses with an
interest in seeing shareware remain a viable means of
marketing high quality software at reasonable prices.
An author's membership in ASP guarantees the end user at least
some protection from the vagaries of earlier and present
'public domain' software. By becoming a member of ASP the
author has promised his/her intention to support the product
after licensing has taken place and already demostrated to ASP
the product does in fact do what it is advertised to do and is
a fully functional piece of software (not crippled or
restricted).
(See the file OMBUDSMAN.ASP for further info)
The end user benefits by being able to actually try the
software before paying for it. This ensures compatibility with
the system it is intended for use upon as well as the user.
Both the author and the consumer benefit from the fact that
neither has had to bear the burden of the enormous cost of
adequate advertising. The consumer benefits directly from the
lower cost of the software, the author somewhat more
indirectly in that he most likely would never have been able
to make the product widely available because of a lack of
capital. In many cases you will find the support offered by
ASP authors more comprehensive than would ever be possible
from a large company.
Finally, these ASP authors' products, like PmCat+, are not
public domain nor intended to be free. They are offered in
good faith that they are as good as their commercial
counterparts and the authors do expect to be paid for their
efforts.
Frankly, it is a difficult thing to offer one's work to others
with the understanding you will be compensated *only* when the
customer is convinced your product is worth purchasing.
Please realize that PmCat+ didn't just "happen". We have
spent a great deal of money for compilers, language tools and
hardware that is specifically dedicated to the development of
PmCat+. This does not to even begin considering the many
hours of sitting at the keyboard, tearing out hair trying to
figure out why the obviously simple, isn't! We must, at the
very least, recover our financial investment so that we can
continue to develop programs of this quality.
Page 2
Strictly speaking, if you do like and use PmCat+, we expect
you license the program after a reasonable trial period (about
30 - 45 days). We also realize there are those to whom the
$20 license fee would be a burden. For those persons, please
continue to use PmCat+ for as long as you wish, with our
blessing. Obviously, whether or not you can afford to license
PmCat+ is not a consideration we would be so bold as to
decide. We will trust that everyone is being honest with
themselves and us about that matter and will, to the best of
our ability, answer any questions by anyone who wishes to
inquire.
For $20.00 you will recieve:
1. A copy of the very latest version of PmCat PLUS on 360K
DS/DD 5.25" floppy disk.
2. A copy of PmDelDup, a utility for deleting duplicate or
multiple entries of the same filename in a PmCat
catalog.
3. A copy of PmConvert which will convert older PmCat files
to the new format used in release 5.2.
4. A copy of Labelle for making diskette labels and
inserts.
5. Access to the registered user conference on the Coalgate
BBS with access to the latest (registered) version of
PmCat PLUS
6. Placement on our mailing list to be notified of future
updates.
PLEASE NOTE:
We can provide PmCat+ on 3.5" inch double density or high
density disks as well. There is an additional $1 charge for
the 720K and $3.00 for the 1.44M because of the higher cost of
the 3.5" media.
When you wish to register PmCat+, please send check or Money
Order to the address below:
William C. Scott
P.O. Box 474
Coalgate, OK 74538
Ph: (405) 927-3840
See the file PM-ORDER.FRM for an invoice type order form.
I may be reached on Compuserve and GEnie:
CompuServe ID#: 71406,1251
GEnie address : WILLSCOTT
or: SYSOP - Coalgate BBS : (405) 927-2541
(USR HST14.4 24hrs)
Page 3
COPYRIGHT NOTICE
PmCat+, copyright 1987-90 by William C. Scott. PmCat+ is NOT
public domain software. You may use, copy and distribute it
freely, but you MAY NOT RESELL PmCat+. A modest fee for
copying may be charged, not to exceed $3.00 exclusive of the
cost of disk, mailer and postage. (See "About Our Marketing
Process" for more details)
DISCLAIMER:
By using this product, the user agrees that neither William C.
Scott nor Patrick R. Michaud are severly or jointly liable for
any damages, direct or consequential, that might arise from
the use or misuse of PmCat+.
Page 4
TABLE OF CONTENTS
About Our Marketing - Shareware and ASP ............... 2
I. Introduction ...................................... 5
II. Getting Started
A. System requirements ............................. 6
B. Features of PmCat+
1. List of features .............................. 6
2. Explanation of features ....................... 7
C. Installation .................................... 8
D. THINK about these things .......................... 10
III. Cataloging functions
A. Create a new catalog ............................ 12
B. Add to existing catalog ......................... 12
C. Update an existing catalog ...................... 12
D. Save present catalog ............................ 12
IV. Browse functions
A. File information (InfoWindow) .................. 13
B. Read contents of cataloged files ............... 13
C. Volumes listing ................................. 13
D. Directories ..................................... 13
E. Search .......................................... 14
F. Sort ............................................ 14
G. Change catalogs ................................. 14
H. Masks ........................................... 14
V. Printing functions
A. Formatting output ............................... 14
B. Printing ........................................ 16
C. Printer set up string ........................... 16
D. Saving to ASCII disk file ....................... 16
VI. Misc functions
A. Delete volume ................................... 16
B. Erase (delete) file ............................. 16
C. Commenting ...................................... 17
D. Shell ........................................... 17
E. Change volume label ............................ 17
F. Using the .DEF file ............................ 17
G. Using disk numbering ............................ 17
H. Using categories ................................ 18
I. Using Wildcards in PmCat+ ....................... 19
J. Soundex searches ................................ 19
VII. BBS Access ......................................... 20
Page 5
INTRODUCTION
PmCat+ is a floppy and hard disk file cataloging and
browsing program intended for use on PC/XT/AT and compatible
systems.
PmCat+ is a direct descendent of PmCat which was a disk
file cataloging program intended for use only with floppy
disk files. So many users just naturally began using it to
catalog their hard drive files that many requests were made
for features that were obviously hard drive oriented. So, we
decided PmCat+ should accomodate hard drives gracefully.
The original PmCat was written by Patrick Michaud for my
personal use. Like so many others, I couldn't find a
cataloger that addressed my personal habits adequately
(simple, fast and useful were some of my prime requisites).
When Patrick first wrote PmCat, it was so good we
decided to pat it on the rear and send it out into the 'real
world' as a shareware product ... "as an experiment" we
decided ... just to see what happened.
Well, about three months later a phone call came to me
from Alfred Glossbrenner who was writing a book about PC
shareware products and wanted to include PmCat in his book
... which did occur when it was published. My thought at
this point was ... "here's a professional in the PC world
who thinks highly enough of PmCat to choose it over all
those others...gee whiz!" Both Patrick and I were deeply
flattered.
We soon realized our experiment had told us we had
something in PmCat. So we set about making the necessary
improvements to make it palatable and useful to as many
people as possible.
As it turned out, Patrick's studies kept him from doing
much more with PmCat except correcting and cleaning up my
early code as I learned to program in Turbo Pascal in order
to support PmCat.
Since late 1987, most of the changes made to PmCat have
been a result of my meanderings through Turbo Pascal and the
PmCat code in response to users requests for changes/fixes
and improvements.
So here it is, PmCat PLUS. I am calling it version 5.0
in deference to its PmCat heritage, but it has been
substantially rewritten in many ways, including the use of
overlays, but retains the familiar look of the original
PmCat.
Page 6
Minimum System Requirements:
IBM PC/XT/AT or compatible, 384K RAM, one floppy disk
drive. Hard drives and subdirectories are supported.
Suggested extra system features:
More Memory! - PmCat+ *will* run in only 384K but 512K or
640K is strongly recommended.
Color monitor - either CGA, EGA or VGA makes fuller use of
the different menu options easier.
Mouse - these rodents are down in price to about $30 on
the bottom line of pricing and make a lazy man's
use of a computer much more palatable.
Disk caching - these programs are fairly common and many are
either public domain or shareware. This can
speed up PmCat+ because of its use of
overlays.
FEATURES
* Use categories to group your files
* Use numbering of disks through volume labels or a separate
disk number ... or both!
* Catalog contents of archived files
* View files, archived or not while in PmCat+!
* Context sensitive help
* Mouse support
* Include and/or exclude files (read/view/print)
* Delete individual files from catalog
* Delete volumes from catalog
* Find Free Space on cataloged diskettes
* Assign a DRIVE:\PATHNAME to be a VOLUME
* Read subdirectories and labels, too
* Comment each file with up to 80 characters
* "Rubber-stamp" for comments for duplicate files
* Sort catalog by filename, ext, size, path or date
* Supports WILDCARD ("*" and "?") searches files
and comments
* User configurable printer formatting
* Automatic update of catalog when disks are reread
* User customizing of color, catalog name, ASCII filename
* Relabel diskette if desired
* Create ASCII disk file with user-assigned name
* Multiple catalogs with your specified names
Page 7
Explanation of features:
The detailed explanation of each menu function is listed
in the later part of the catalog. This portion explains
the general use of the keyboard and/or mouse to access
those options.
The HELP function is toggled ON/OFF by pressing the 'H'
key on the keyboard or the right AND left buttons of the
mouse at the same time or <F1>. This function does not
toggle in the shareware distribution copy.
Each menu can be accessed through three functions, the
HOT KEY, the MENU BAR or the mouse.
On each menu item, one letter is capitalized. Pressing
that letter or character on the keyboard will select
that menu item and cause it to be executed.
On each menu, one item is indicated at a time by the bar
selector or MENU BAR. The MENU BAR is moved using the
RIGHT and LEFT keyboard arrow keys. When the bar is on a
item, pressing <ENTER> on the keyboard will select that
item and cause it to be executed.
Where appropriate the RT/LT, UP/DN arrows, PgUp/PgDn and
Home and End keys are active for the screen instead of in
the menu area, as well as functions available to do the
same things on the menu with the mouse.
The cursor within the menu area (which you will see if a
mouse is present) is the mouse cursor. Use your mouse
to select an item by placing the cursor on the item name
or within 1 space on either side and pressing the left
mouse button. If HELP is turned on, another click of
the left button is necessary to execute the function.
This was done to allow you to see what the operation
does before you execute it. When HELP is turned off,
the second click is not necessary.
Pressing the RIGHT mouse button is the same as pressing
the <ESC> key on the keyboard.
Page 8
INSTALLING PmCat+
Two files are required for PmCat+ to run, the
PMCP54DS.EXE file and the PMCP54DS.OVR file. The overlay
file, (.OVR extension) must be either in the same directory
from which PmCat+ is run or in a directory which is in your
DOS path definition.
You MUST retain the overlay filename of PMCP54DS.OVR.
The executable file of PMCP54DS.exe may be renamed as you
wish.
The following items are essential only to the browsing and
archive extraction functions of PmCat+.
The defaults installed in PmCat+ will look for the other
files it may require, in the current directory. (The
directory you are in when you run PmCat+). The defaults
referred to involve the following programs and locations.
1. Text viewer/editor - PMLIST.COM (which is really a
public domain program called R.COM)
( Note use of R.COM -> ) is included for simple viewing of
text files. You may be able to use
your favorite text viewer/editor in
place of this (such as LIST or ML)
2. ARC extractor - program for extracting the contents
of .ARC files. ARCE.COM is default.
3. ZIP extractor - program for extracting the contents
of .ZIP files. PKZIP.EXE is default.
4. ZOO extractor - program for extracting the contents
of .ZOO files. ZOO.EXE is default
5. PAK extractor - program for extracting the contents
of .PAK files. PAK.EXE is default
6. LZH extractor - program for extracting the contents
of .LZH files. LHARC.EXE is default.
7. Scratch path - a drive/directory path where the
files extracted from an archive will
(Choose carefully! .. the be written while you view them. You
extracted file will be cannot edit files from within an
deleted later..suggest a archive and update the archive with
'SCRATCH' directory) the changed file from PmCat+.
8. Target drive - This is the drive on which PmCat+ will
try to find the file chosen, using
the pathname information stored in
the PmCat+ catalog. The default is
drive 'A'.
Page 9
NOTE: NO decompressing code is in the PmCat+ program. It is
assumed if you have files stored with a compression
program, that program can be excuted from the DOS
command line and thereby used to extract files.
PmCat+ just acts as a messenger between you and the
archiving program by sending the filename to extract
to the program you have said will extract it.
If you don't know how to configure your system using
PATH and don't want to deal with it (for whatever reason),
just place copies of the appropriate programs from the
above list in the same directory as your PmCat+ files and
catalog.
Page 10
Things to consider BEFORE you start building your catalog:
The new features added to PmCat have made a great deal
of flexibility in structuring your catalog possible.
These very same features will likely confuse you if you
decide to use them without proper consideration. They
CAN be ignored and everything done as always with PmCat,
but they are there if you want or need them.
The features most likely to offer confusion are the DISK
number and CATEGORY function.
As of version 5.3, these are NOT written to the disk in
any manner. They are a form of notation to aid you in
keeping track of things with your disk collection.
CATEGORIES - these are assigned to the volume when you catalog
it. All files on the volume will have the same category
in your PmCat data file. You may Edit the categories of
Files or Volumes once cataloged by using the Edit
function in PmCat. Presently, if you update the volume,
you will lose those Edited cate- gories and the category
will once again be whatever you assign to the volume.
This will be fixed in a future release..but be aware it
is a limitation of sorts just now.
Assigning a category - when you Update a volume, there
is a menu choice of CATEGORY. Select this and pick one
of the existing categories or use the Update key to
create a new category. DON'T FORGET to save the new
definitions to your .DEF file if you use CATEGORIES
other than the defaults!
DISK NUMBERING - in the early stages of testing, this seemed to
create the greatest confusion. Actually, it is a rather
easy and powerful feature once you understand what it
does.
There are three modes for Disk Numbering, OFF, MANual,
and AUTOmatic and these are reflected on the Update
Screen window. They are changed by selecting Numbering
from the menu and using the arrow keys to select the one
you want.
If you select OFF, a number of '0' will be assigned as a
placeholder in the data file and otherwise ignored.
If you select MANual, the number that is shown above the
window as Disk # will be assigned to the disk when it is
cataloged. You may assign a new or different number just
by typing it in.
If you select AUTOmatic the number you set is
automatically incremented each time a disk is cataloged.
You may set the starting number in the same way as for
MANual ... just type it in.
Page 11
There is also an option called Duplicate Disk Numbers Allowed
which is a YES/NO choice. It WILL NOT PREVENT
duplicates, it merely checks for them as an aid to you.
If this is set to YES, the option is essentially
inactive... since YES indicates you want to allow
duplicates.
OK, when YES and when NO? Let's take, for example, a
situation where you want to store your disks in strict
numerical order (as many do). Each disk has a small
sticker or other marking indicating its numeric order
in your catalog. In such a case, every number is likely
to be unique and you would NOT want to allow duplicate
Disk Numbers.
Alternatively, perhaps you have your disks stored or
referenced alphabetically by categories, such as GAMES,
BASIC, etc. In this case you can catalog your disks
using CATEGORIES and AUTOmatic numbering with duplicate
disk numbers allowed. You might catalog 5 games disks,
as GAMES 1 thru GAMES 5 and your BASIC disks in the same
manner. As the categories grow, it is a simple matter
to add GAMES 6, GAMES 7 and so on to your library. PmCat
will allow you to view only the GAMES category disks if
you like by selecting the <L>imit option in the <V>iew
window. Just place the cursor on a file with the category
you want to limit your viewing to, and press <L>. The
catalog will be searched an only the GAMES (?) will be
displayed. (If you print at this point, only the selected
category will be printed, as well)
Page 12
CATALOGING FUNCTIONS
CREATE A NEW CATALOG: <R>ead, <W>rite on MENU 1 and MENU 2
Any time PmCat+ <R>eads a catalog from disk, you are shown
the current catalog name and prompted for a catalog name. If
you wish to use the catalog name shown, just press <ENTER>.
If using a mouse, place the mouse cursor on the ENTER menu
item and press the right button.
To specify a name of your choosing just start typing it in
and press <ENTER> or press the left mouse button when
complete. A filename with wildcards is acceptable and will
place you in the 'pick list' with the appropriate files to
choose from.
To select a catalog from the files on disk, select or type
the asterisk ('*') and press <ENTER>. This will present
you with a 'pick list' from which to choose.
This sequence of events first occurs when you run PmCat+. It
also happens each time you <R>ead from or <W>rite to the
disk.
ADD FILES/UPDATE CATALOG: <U>pdate menu option on MENU 1
<U>pdate appears only on the first menu (MENU 1) you
encounter in PmCat+. Choosing this option takes you to a
window where you may
1) Read files from a drive which you specify by pressing
the appropriate letter on the keyboard or choosing it
from the menu ... or
2) Change the volume label of a disk drive by using the
'#' symbol on the menu or from the keyboard.
SAVE CURRENT CATALOG TO DISK: <W>rite on MENU 1 or MENU 2
<W>rite will save the current catalog to disk from
either MENU 1 or MENU 2.
Page 13
BROWSE FUNCTIONS: <I>nfo, <V>olumes, <D>ir, <SPACE> on MENU 2
These are the functions you will use to find files and view their
statistics, comments and contents of the actual file if desired.
<V> menu selection from MENU 2 will cause a list of volumes
contained within the current catalog to be displayed. The
volumes may be sorted just as though they were filenames (which
really is what a DOS volume label is ... with the appropriate
attribute set).
<D> on MENU 2 will show the list of files contained within that
directory-type object. If it is a directory then the files are
shown. If it is a compressed file then the contents of the
archive are shown if you cataloged the disk with archive reading
turned on.
<SPACE> - pressing the spacebar will allow you to view the
contents of the file that is currently being pointed to by the
selector bar in the window. Check to make sure the file is
located on the drive indicated on the line just above the menu.
If it needs to be changed, just press the appropriate key to
select the right drive and then press <ENTER>. What happens at
this point is partly dependent on which program you have chosen
to run (the text viewer/editor you specified or accepted in the
Set Defaults area).
Page 14
SEARCH: <F>ind, <N>ext on MENU 2
These functions are used to find files by filename, an entry in
the Comments field and they are also used to find free space on
a volume when the list of volumes is displayed. SEE NOTE ON PAGE
16 ABOUT SOUNDEX SEARCHES.
<F>ind will first prompt you to select whether you wish to
search for a file based on filename, comments or free
space. The free space choice is an invalid choice if a list
of volumes is not being displayed.
<N>ext will find the next entry matching the search
criterion you provided for the <F>ind command.
SORT: <S>ort on MENU 2
<S>ort can be selected from only MENU 2 while PmCat+ is
running. However, turning autoSort ON while setting default
filenames and paths will cause a sort by filename when you
move from MENU 1 to MENU 2 to occur automatically.
After selecting <S>ort from MENU 2, you will be prompted to
choose among filename, ext, size, date and path as the
options on which to sort. Select one..
Then you will be prompted for sort order - ascending or
descending. Descending puts the largest value first whick
would be appropriate for volume free space (that's the Size
of volumes) but not for alphabetically arranged data.
CHANGE CATALOGS: <R>ead on MENU 1
This procedure is identical to the initial reading of a
catalog when you enter PmCat. It first clears the memory
of the existing catalog and then prompts you for a new
catalog name which you may enter using the keybored or pick
list function.
MASKS: <M>ask-set on MENU 1a3 (arrow keys disabled in menu)
The Mask function consists of two portions, Include and
Exclude and act as a filter. It works on those files you
wish to View, Print or Catalog using PmCat+ when either of
its actions are turned ON.
Include and Exclude may be toggled ON or OFF independently
of each other by selecting them from MENU 1a3.
Page 15
If both are selected, Include takes precedence. Remember,
if you turn both ON, NOTHING will be INCLUDED, except what
you specify and the same goes for EXCLUDE. This can be
tricky until you get used to it.
The menu (1a3) for changing the MASK functions is buried
with the set colors, set print formatting and set default
paths, all of which are accessed thru the <S>et defaults
option of MENU 1.
At MENU 1a3:
Exclude - toggles the exclude list ON/OFF
Include - toggles the include list ON/OFF
Clear - clears the item pointed to by the bar cursor
<ENTER> - allows you to input a new or change the old item.
PRINTING: <P>rint on MENU 2, <P>rint on MENU 1a4, <D>isk from print
FORMATTING OUTPUT: (arrow keys disabled in menu)
<P>rint selected from MENU 1a4 opens a window to allow the
format parameters for your printed catalog.
Start-col is the column of the printed page on which the
field will begin.
Width is how many characters the field will occupy on
the printed document. This can be any width you desire,
but if it is less than required for any field except
comments, it will be truncated (chopped off).
Comments will print on the next line at the same start
col for the width you specify and repeat until all
actual comments for that file are printed. Then it
will begin printing the next entry. Comments are left
justified.
Filename is a 12 character field consisting of the
filename, a period and the file extension. It is right
justified.
Size is a number that will occupy 10 spaces. It is right
justified.
Date will occupy 10 spaces, MM/DD/YY format.
Path can be up to 65 characters and is the path to the
file on its particular volume.
Volume is the volume name from which the file was read.
It may be up to 11 chars and is left justified.
Page 16
PRINTING: <P>rint on MENU 2
PRINTER SET UP STRING: <*> on Print window menu
<*> - will prompt you for a new string of characters
which will be sent to your printer before printing
of the catalog starts.
Each character must be in decimal form and
preceded by a '#' and followed by a space.
e.g., #27 #15
Up to 20 characters may be used here.
ASCII DISK FILE: <D> on Print window menu
<D> - will cause the output which would normally go to
your printer, to be sent to the disk as a file with the
name you specify in ASCII format. It can be easily
edited and/or printed at a later time.
MISC FUNCTIONS:
DELETE VOLUME:
<D> - chosen at MENU 1 will open a window with all the
volumes in your current catalog. To delete a volume, use
the UP/DN arrow keys and select it with the bar and press
<ENTER>. You will still be given an opportunity to abort
the operation at this point by answering Y/N on the menu.
Obviously this operation is not final till you save the
modified catalog to disk...but at that point, it is
permanent.
ERASE FILE:
<K>ill a file from MENU 2. It is the same process as
deleting a volume from MENU 1. The difference in the two
operations is, when you Erase a file, the slot it occupied
on the screen is shown >>DELETED<< instead of removed
altogether. As with volume deletion, the operation is not
final until you save the modified catalog to disk.
Page 17
COMMENTING FILE:
<C>omments may be added to files *and* volumes. To comment a
volume you just select the <V>olume list from MENU 2 and
select <C> from the menu. A small editor aids you in the
input of your comments. A 40x2 window accepts your comments.
The UP/DN arrow keys will move between the lines, the HOME/END
keys are active and INSERT is the standard mode (there is NO
overstrike mode). DELETE works as well. PgUp/PgDn will accept
your comments and immediately place you in the comments field
of the preceding or succeeding file, ready to type more
comments.
OPERATING SYSTEM (Shell):
<O> - from MENU 2 will execute a call to create a temporary
shell in DOS so you can copy, delete, inspect and otherwise
wreak havoc on your poor unsuspecting system. If enough
memory is not available, this feature will refuse to work.
CHANGING VOLUME LABEL:
<#> - chosen when in the <U>pdate section, will read the
present disk label, tell you what it is and ask you if you
wish to change it. You MUST have a drive selected for this
feature to function.
USING THE .DEF FILE:
This option, frankly can be tricky if you want a different name
than PMCAT.DEF. PmCat+ will *always* look for 'PMCAT.DEF'
when it is run, if it isn't found the internal defaults are
used. The option of providing the alternative .DEF files was
to cover the possibility that someone might want an
alternative color set or other defaults on occassion.
Frankly, I use PMCAT every day and never use this option, but
it was an option that was so simple to offer and doesn't get
in the way of anything else, that it was put in.
USING DISK NUMBERING
There are three aspects to using the disk numbering feature of
PmCat PLUS. First, what number to assign the disk and second,
how to assign that number. Finally, you decide whether to
allow duplicate disk numbers or not.
Also, the disk numbering feature is separate from the
sequential numbering of the Volume Labels from within PmCat
PLUS. These numbers are part of the catalog record but are
NOT written to the disk.
When you catalog a disk with disk numbering active and have
decided NOT to allow duplicates , PmCat PLUS will check for
the existence of both that disk number and the volume label
with which it is associated and issue a warning when it finds
duplication of either.
Page 18
How To Number:
OFF - means ignore the function. A number of '0' is assigned
in this case.
MAN - manual entry of the number. You do this by simply
beginning to type the number desired for the disk
immediately prior to cataloging that disk. When you
make the first keystroke, a small text line will appear
on the screen one line above the menu. If you wish to
abort the process, just press <ESC> and the old number
will be left unchanged. Remember, in this mode you
MUST ENTER THE NUMBER for it to be assigned.
AUT - in this mode, each time a disk is read, the number that
will be assigned to the next disk is generated auto-
matically by incrementing the prior disk number by one.
This feature may be overridden by manual entry of the
number as described above, for any disk. Upon entry
to PmCat PLUS, the number is set to zero, unless it
has been saved in the DEF file.
USING CATEGORIES
A category may be assigned at the same time the disk number
above is assigned, though neither is dependent on the use
of the other.
The category list is accessed by choosing either <C>ategory
from the Update window menu or <E>dit from the View window
menu.
In either case, to set a category for the item of interest,
just place the cursor bar on the category you wish and
press <ENTER>. The list of CATEGORIES will automatically
be sorted. They will be saved to your .DEF file when you
exit PmCat PLUS.
If you wish to have different categories than those in the
defaults, just select <U>pdate from the menu while viewing
the category window and type in the new category. A
category name is limited to 10 characters.
When a category is assigned to a volume before it is read,
all files on that volume are assigned the same category by
default.
The category of any file or volume may be changed by
choosing the <E>dit function in the View window menu.
In order to limit your viewing or printing of files based on
their category, just place the cursor on a file that has
the category you want and select <L>imit from the View
window menu.
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USING WILDCARDS:
PmCat+'s wildcards are a bit more flexible than DOS's.
E.g., if you type *ca*.* with DOS's dir command, it will
show ALL files. It sees the first '*' and then looks for
the '.' and extension wildcard. If you used that same
wildcard in PmCat+ it would find all files with 'ca'
anywhere in their filename (not extension).
When searching for a string in Comments, don't forget to
precede it with a '*' unless you are certain the first
character of the comments you want will match the first
character of the string you search for.
Where '*' assumes ALL characters match, '?' assumes the
match of only a SINGLE character.
SOUNDEX SEARCHES:
When you chose the <F>ind option from MENU 2, you will see
four options; filename, comments, size and soundex. The
soundex search functions only on filenames and from the
first character. With those limitations in mind, you can
type in a key that simply 'sounds' like the one you want,
and PmCat PLUS will locate that file for you.
To find a string of characters within a string you must
use the wildcards as described above.
Soundex searches work in a very unique manner. The first
character (alphabetic) and a numeric code for the rest of
the search string, which is generated by the Soundex routines
based upon phonetic approximations, are combined into the
patter which is searched for. You will find it matches
things you don't expect and doesn't on some things you
expect. A bit of experience in using it can make it a
useful tool, however.
Basically, type in the word you wish to find, or the closest
spelling you can imagine. The Soundex search may well
suprise you with its effectiveness.
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PmCat PLUS and COALGATE BBS :
On the first of February, 1990 the Coalgate BBS will officially go
on-line.
Purchase of a 9600 baud US Robotics HST modem is under way and
should be on-line no later than 15 February.
The Coalgate BBS is a free access board, primarily dedicated to
providing information to the disabled/handicapped.
Approximately 20-25 megabytes will be dedicated to downloadable
files for MSDOS computers. These will be the best of the public
domain and shareware programs from my library of about 80 megs.
Until the board becomes busy, there is no practical limit on
access time (the system won't grant more than 255 minutes a day
by design).
Once a registered user calls, he/she will be given access to the
registered user conference and have access to the latest version
of PmCat PLUS (registered). So, if you plan to get the updates,
it would be good planning to call and just leave a quick note to
let me know you want to be given access. I'll do so for you as
quickly as possible.
Even on your first call, you have unlimited download privileges,
so don't hesitate to give a ring.
All the files may not be commented, but TPBoard allows the user to
look into and read files within archives...even download the docs
of a program without getting the whole thing! ... and you *can*
browse the contents of any archived file while on line.
Registered PmCat users will have other benefits on the Coalgate
BBS. Unregistered users are more than welcome, but will come
under 'normal' restrictions.
