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************************ THE FINDER ************************ Copyright 1992 by Daniel M. Wallin jr. This document last edited on 05/11/92 All rights reserved. All program code, documents, and menus are copyrighted but may be freely copied and used according to the following conditions : 1. This document and all program files MUST be included in an unmodified form. 2. This program may only be distributed FREE OF CHARGE. This program may not be sold without the written permission of the author, and the only charges that may be requested for a copy of Finder are those for the cost of a blank disk. 3. The responsability for the use or misuse of this program rests soley with the user, and no responsability is assumed by the author as to the performance or applicability of the program. ***************** Finder version 1.2 **************** 1.0 What is Finder??? 2.0 How do I get started? 3.0 Things you must know to use The Finder 4.0 Ordering Information 5.0 About Finder 6.0 Planned Updates ***************************************************** 1.0 : What is Finder? Finder is a utility that remains resident in memory, and will locate files for the operating system that are misplaced or missing. It's secondary purpose is it's ability as a diagnostics tool for determining why programs fail to work. It is especially useful for SYSOP's using FOREM or TURBO or other BBS's who run doors games on their systems. When a program tries to open a file that isn't where it's supposed to be, often it simply crashes, giving no indication of what went wrong. With Finder, you can get information about exactly what file it was looking for, and where it was looking for it. Finder can also locate the file automatically for the program so that the program thinks it is where it is supposed to be. For example, suppose you are running a doors game and it is looking for GAME.DAT on drive F. If you only have drives A,B,C and D, it will normally crash or quit when it tries to load GAME.DAT. With Finder active, the program will automatically find it on drive A,B,C,D or wherever else you have instructed it to look for files. You can also relocate all of your data files to one folder, and have Finder locate them for you. In this way you don't need duplicate folders on all of your active drives. Another useful feature of Finder is it's ability to display error information. Suppose you download a file, UNARC it, only to find that when you run it, it doesn't work. You can load Finder with the DISPLAY ON, and then run the program. If any files are missing, Finder will display what files are missing and where they should be located. Another useful feature of Finder is it's ability to run programs from a Hard Drive that normally will only run on a floppy disk. A program may look for it's files only on Drives A or B, but with Finder active, the program will load it's files from any drives and paths that you specify. Best of all, Finder is intelligent. Once it finds the files a program needs to run, it remembers where they were located, and finds them instantly the next time... For instance, FOREM looks for an HOURLY.BAT file that can exist on any drive. FOREM will look for it on ALL active drives. With Finder active, it remebers where it is, and will cause FOREM to only look for it where it is, which can actually speed things up. Finder also remembers files that don't exist. That way Finder won't keep searching your disk for files that it already knows aren't there. Finder is very helpful when you want to know which files a program is looking for that are optional. With FOREM, for example, it looks for MANY files that are optional. Some of them are not documented. Finder saves a list on the disk that describes all of the files that were not found, and all the files that were relocated. This way you can print out the list and see exactly which batch files you aren't using, but are searched for. There are MANY more things that can be done with Finder and it has many features that are useful in certain applications. The amount of possibilities for Finder are virtually endless. Note that throughout this manual, you will notice the term, PATHNAMES. This refers to a complete drive and folder specification, such as C:\FOREM\DOORS\CONQUEST\ or just A:\ (in this case we are referring to the ROOT directory) Simply stated, a pathname is an area on a storage device where files may be located. 2.0 : How do I get started? Finder should have included the following files : FIND120.ACC - The Finder accessory program FIND120.RSC - The resource file for Finder PATHFIND.DEF - A sample list of paths for Finder to work with CREATE.DEF - Contains pathname to create 'uncreatable' files in FIND120.DOC - This document Optionally, there might be : NOTFOUND.DEF - A list of files that don't exist FOUND.DEF - A list of files already located by Finder ** NOTE ** When installed with the KEY, the additional file may appear in the directory. CONFIG.DEF - Contains info about how to configure Finder The first 4 files are essential for the operation of Finder. When you boot the system with Finder in the root directory, it loads PATHFIND.DEF. This file MUST be in the root directory with FIND110.ACC and FIND110.RSC BEFORE you boot the system with Finder. The PATHFIND.DEF file is a list of pathnames for Finder to search for files in the event that a program requests a file that isn't where it's supposed to be. An example of a typical PATHFIND.DEF file is : C:\ C:\FOREM\ C:\FOREM\DOORS\ C:\FOREM\DOORS\LOST\ D:\ D:\SYSTEM\ D:\SYSTEM\DATA\ E:\MISC\ A:\ B:\ @ (Note the '@' MUST be located at the end of the file) When Finder intercepts a failed file request, it will look for it in the pathnames listed above. First it will search the root directory of C, then in the FOREM folder, then inside the DOORS folder, etc.. It will sequentially search all of the pathnames until it finds the file. If it is found, it will load it as if nothing was wrong, and add the name of the file to the FOUND.DEF list. If it was not found, it will return to the program. (and optionally display an error message describing what went wrong.) Note in this example, A:\ and B:\ were listed last, that way Finder will only look on the Floppy Drives for the file if it isn't found in the other places first.. This is faster since searching on the Floppies is much slower than on the Hard Drive. Before installing the Finder accessory on your root directory, you should edit or create the PATHFIND.DEF file for your system. Be sure not to have any pathnames in the file that do not exist on your system, as this can cause erroneous information to be included in the FOUND.DEF file. A sample PATHFIND.DEF file has been included so that the program will not crash for anxious users who try the program before reading the documentation. However, for correct operation of Finder, you must configure it for the pathnames you wish it to search on your system. You do not need to include ALL of the folders on your system, only those that you wish Finder to search. It is always a good idea to include the root directory of each active drive, and to enter the most commonly used directories first, and the least used, or the slowest (like the floppies) last. *** NOTE : *** You must use a text editor that allows you to save text without control codes. Some editors have an option to SAVE AS ASCII, while others do not use control characters at all. If control characters get saved into the file, strange things may happen, including a system error which may lockup the machine. That is why it is very important that you allow no control characters or extra blank lines in any of the *.DEF files. 2.1 : CREATE.DEF description : This file contains one pathname. Here is a sample CREATE.DEF file. D:\MISC ** NOTE ** there must be at least one blank line AFTER the pathname or else strange things may happen. This pathname tells Finder where to create a file in the event that it is uncreatable. Suppose a program tried to create Z:\TEST.DAT If you don't have a drive Z, then the program will usually crash or fail to work. Finder will recognize this, and create D:\MISC\TEST.DAT The next time the program tries to load Z:\TEST.DAT, Finder will redirect it to D:\MISC\TEST.DAT In this way, Finder will allow the program to work, which normally would be impossible. 2.2 : FOUND.DEF description : The FOUND.DEF file contains a list of the files that have been searched for by Finder previously, and were located. Each entry contains actually contains two PATHNAMES. The first is WHAT was being looked for. The second is where it actually resides. For instance a typical FOUND.DEF file might look like this : A:\DATA\TEST.DAT C:\PROGRAMS\DATA\TEST.DAT A:\FONT.DAT D:\FOREM\GRAPHICS\FONT.DAT @ (Note, the '@' must be located at the end of the file!) The first line, A:\DATA\TEST.DAT describes where a program was expecting TEST.DAT to reside. The next line, C:\PROGRAMS\DATA\TEST.DAT describes exactly where it was located at. Note that the listing is double spaced between entry pairs, and that after the first blank line, there is a '@'. This is an end of file marker, and must be included for Finder to work properly. 2.3 NOTFOUND.DEF description : The NOTFOUND.DEF file is essentially the same as the FOUND.DEF file, except that each entry is only ONE pathname, which contains the location where the program was expecting the file to reside. A typical NOTFOUND.DEF file looks like this : A:\DATA\QUICK.HLP C:\FOREM\HOURLY.BAT D:\TEST.INF @ Each entry in this file describes a file that does not exist. Note, if you add a file to the system that isn't exactly where it's supposed to be, AND it's name is in the NOTFOUND.DEF file, then Finder will not locate it for you. To remedy this, simply delete the entry in the NOTFOUND.DEF file, being sure to keep the spacing between entries the same, and a '@' after the last blank line in the file. 3.0 : Things you must know to use Finder Finder will lose all of it's accumulated knowledge when you turn the computer off. When installed with the KEY, Finder will automatically configure itself upon reset, and load in the saved lists, which will reload all of the information it learned about where your files are, or aren't located. In order for Finder to be able to load in it's list, it has to be saved first. You must save any lists or setup info from the desktop. (trying to do so from inside of some gem programs can cause strange things to happen) For BBS owners, the best way to do this is to let the BBS run for a while, and then take the board down, and from the desktop, select the save list option. All of Finder's data will be transferred into two files in the root directory. The next time Finder is restarted, it will retain all of the information it has compiled. Generally, the best time to save the lists is when the program has run long enough to not have any messages flash upon the screen. If messages occasionally flash on the screen that means that Finder has not learned the status of every file that the BBS might search for. Eventually, no error messages will be displayed unless new programs are installed (like doors games). *** NOTE *** On an unregistered version of Finder, saving the lists is only valuable for seeing what files were relocated, and which files do not exist that are being searched for. The list may be printed out. With the KEY installed, saving the lists is how Finder stores what it has learned. That way when you reboot the system, Finder does not have to relearn anything. This version of Finder works fine, until you turn the machine off. After that, Finder will have to relearn all of the information that was lost by turning off the power. The main advantage of being able to reload all of it's information upon system reboot, is that no time is wasted relocating misplace files. The first time Finder has to locate a file, it will cause the system to slow down a little while it searches the pathnames for the file. After it has learned where everything is, and where it isn't, then Finder will not slow a BBS down at all. This version of Finder is intended to show the way it works, and how useful it can be, but does not include some of the important features of the registered version. Since this version of Finder is free, I only get support for the registered version. This way users who like the program and are serious about using it, can see how useful the program is, and instead of paying for something that is already 'free', you can pay for additional features that make it even more useful. You do this by ordering a KEY that turns this unregistered version into a registered, updated version. See the chapter on Ordering for more information. When used properly, Finder makes BBS's run more smoothly, and allows many programs to run that might otherwise cause problems. Finder is an 'intelligent' program that remembers where files are, and where they aren't. However, there are limits to what Finder can do with the information it is given by the operating system. One specific problem deals with using the desktop. Finder MUST be disabled while doing file copies or creating folders. Generally, you will want to disable Finder while using the desktop, and some command shells, to be sure that Finder does not try to locate files that are not supposed to exist. For example, suppose you are copying TEST.DAT from drive A onto drive D. With Finder active, an error message will appear saying, TRYING TO OPEN > D:\TEST.DAT. The desktop always tries to open the destination file before creating it, so there is no way for Finder to know that the operating system is merely checking to see if the file exists. This can cause one of two things to happen. Either the system will crash, or it will copy the file over itself. Hopefully, a future version of Finder will automatically disable itself when the desktop is active. 3.1 : About the PATHFIND.DEF file NOTE: You MUST have a PATHFIND.DEF file in the same directory as the FINDER accessory, or else the program may fail or crash. One other thing you might notice is that you cannot change the PATHFIND.DEF file if the FINDER accessory is loaded into memory. I am not sure exactly which versions of TOS this happens with. I can only assume it happens with all versions 1.62 or higher. Apparently when the operating system loads a file before the desktop is started, it remains in a protected mode, and the operating system will not allow it to be modified or deleted. To avoid this, you must rename FIND110.ACC to FIND110.ACX and reboot the system. Then you can modify the PATHFIND.DEF file. Be sure to rename the FINDER accessory to it's original name, and then reboot the system. Finder will not work if you change it's name, so be sure to restore the name exactly to what it was before you changed it. Normally, the PATHFIND.DEF file does not need to be changed very often, so it does not normally present a problem. ** NOTE ** This problem may be corrected in this version of Finder, however, since I do not have access to ALL versions of the operating system, I have included the above for those who have experienced problems modifying the PATHFIND.DEF file. 3.2 : Error Messages Error messages will only appear if the display mode is set to on. There are 2 error messages. One is for opening files, the other for creating files. The open files error display will allow you to insert another disk into the drive to search for the file. It will only work if you have the floppy drive specified in the PATHFIND.DEF file. It just retries the entire FIND routine, so if drive A was never specified, inserting a new disk will have no effect. The create files message display simply shows what file the operating system was unable to create. (** NOTE **, after displaying the create error message, the file will be created in the pathname specified in the CREATE.DEF file... If the display OFF option has been selected, then no error messages will appear.) 3.3 : Finder Options From the main menu, you will notice several options, two of which should be highlighted in blue. These are the default settings. On the left side, you will see the display options. The ON option will cause error messages to be displayed if something goes wrong. I strongly recommend using this option until you get the hang of how Finder works, and what it is doing. It however requires the user to be present to inform the Finder program to continue. That is why the Display OFF option was included. It will not request any input from the user if errors occur. For instance, suppose you run the Finder program with the Display ON option. While running Forem, the operating system will eventually try to run a DAILY.BAT file. It is not necessary for the operation of Forem. With the error display ON, you will have to enter a keypress the first time it tries to load the DAILY.BAT file. With the Display OFF, the program will act as if nothing out of the ordinary occurred, and the Finder program will simply update the NOTFOUND.DEF list. The other display option is very important. It is the INACTIVE mode. This simply turns off Finder, and makes sure that no file redirection takes place. You will want to use this feature whenever you are moving files around with the desktop, or creating or deleting files or folders. On the right side of the menu, you will see the search options. The List mode, will cause Finder only to act upon files that are in one of it's lists. This means that Finder will not learn where any new files are, and will only respond to requests to locate files that it already knows where they exist. Normal file requests are not modified in any way with this option, so as long as a file is where it is supposed to be, it doesn't matter which search option Finder is in. The Search mode causes Finder to ignore it's lists, and to search for each file, no matter whether or not it knows if it exists, or if it isn't supposed to exist. This mode is the slowest, since it will search each path listed in the PATHFIND.DEF file everytime a file is requested that is not where it is supposed to be. The final option, List and Search, is the normal option. It will check it's lists first to see if it knows anything about the whereabouts, or nonexistance of the file, and if nothing is known about it, then Finder will search for it. This is the option that will be used the most often, as it employes all of Finder's knowledge to locate a file. The other options are self explanatory, or not available in this version of Finder. The info option simply displays the program credits, and ordering information. The other options are for configuring Finder. The list size option allows you to change the amount of memory reserved by Finder. The Save Options button will save all options into a configuration file which will be read upon system reboot. This way BBS owners in particular can have their system automatically reboot upon power failure with Finder already installed. This is particulary important, since some doors programs may not run at all without Finder active, and a reboot without automatically loading Finder could cause those programs to lock up the computer when they are run. 3.4 : Memory Management This version of Finder has it's memory requirements already determined. This means that each of it's 3 lists has 10k of memory allocated. An additional 32k of memory is used for saving screen data, and another 20k or so is used by the program. This means that Finder can use around 100k, which is no big deal on a 4 megabyte system, but on a 512k system, it could cause problems with some programs that use all of the available memory. With a KEY installed version, you can configure the amount of memory reserved for each of Finder's lists. In this version, you can have upto 10k of data in each file, which is actually quite a lot. However, should you start to approach or exceed this amount of memory, which is very unlikely, then strange things might begin to happen, so be sure to occasionally check on the size of the files. (NOTFOUND.DEF, FOUND.DEF, PATHFIND.DEF) 4.0 : Ordering Information Finder is a shareware program. That means you can use it as much as you like, but if you like it, you should become a registered user. This has two effects. First, you get a KEY which installs additional options into the Finder program, and Second, you help to fund additional updates. With the KEY installed, you also have the following features : It will automatically install itself on reset or power up with whatever options active that you choose. It remebers whatever it has previously learned, so once you have let Finder figure out where everything is, you will not even notice that it is installed. It will quitely redirect file input/output without any speed decrease at all. It includes the ability to control how much memory is assigned to Finder. A KEY for Finder is available for only $15 !!! To order a KEY for Finder version 1.2, send $15, or more, cash or money orders only, to : F I N D E R P.O. Box 5011, Aloha Oregon 97006-0011 *** NOTE : *** Money orders MUST be made payable to Daniel M. Wallin jr. Also, please be sure to clearly PRINT your name and address on a seperate piece of paper. NOTE : Those users who send in $20 or more, will be placed first upon the mailing list. This means that they will be the first ones to receive their key, and future updates. ***** YOU MUST INCLUDE THE NODE NUMBER, OR NAME OF THE BBS THAT YOU WANT THE KEY FILE TO BE EMAILED TO ***** This is the fastest, and easiest way to get a registered version, as you can receive the KEY over the CROSSNET network within a week, sometimes only a couple of days!!! Feel free to include any comments or suggestions about what features you would like to see in the future. Also, while not necessary, it would be nice if you could include the system type you are using (ST, STE, Mega STE, TT) and the version of the operating system you are using. IF you need to contact me, for update information, suggestions, or whatever, you can reach me at Puddle City, 503-289-9429. Puddle City is NODE # 670. Please address mail to Dan Wallin. 5.0 : About Finder Finder was originally developed because of the problems created by many doors programs which refuse to run correctly or cause various problems on some BBS systems. With Finder active, the installation and use of many doors programs is greatly simplified. Some doors programs simply would not run without Finder active. Developing Finder was slow and tedious and required many months of debugging, testing, optimization and modifications. It was written entirely in assembly language for the maximum amount of speed in the least amount of memory. Finder was designed to increase the ability of the operating system without any sacrifice in speed. Later, an option was added for floppy based systems that allowed disk changes for files that are not found. That way programs that are so big they normally only run on Hard Drives will run on floppies, as long as there are no files that are larger than can be stored on a floppy. While Finder may seem like a small program, it took months of research and testing, and is an incredibly complicated extension of the operating system. Finder causes all TOS commands to be channeled through Finder, where they are examined, and processed accordingly. Finder should work fine with all programs, with the following two exceptions. Finder can eat upto 100k, in an unregistered version. Programs that require most of the available memory may not work with Finder in memory. This is particulary bothersome for 520ST users with only half a megabyte of memory. This is why the free memory display was included in the menu. This should give you a rough idea of how much memory is available to the operating system. The only other conflict might be with programs that use the TRAP #00 vector. This should not be a problem, since it is not used by the operating system, and I have not found any programs that use it. I hope you find this program useful, and if so, please order the updated version, since I only get financial support for KEY files which are sent to registered users. Also when ordering, please include any comments or suggestions on features you would like to see. 6.0 Planned Updates : MANY more things are planned for the future of Finder. In the works right now is VIRUS PROTECTION! This will work in the background all the time. It will keep files on your harddisk from being corrupted, and it also will allow you to install anti-viruses to keep things from being infected. Unlike other programs which only check to see if you have already been infected, this virus protection keeps viruses, trojans, and worms from modifying any of your files! Also, online editing of the lists seems like the next logical step. The amount of things that can be added to Finder are limitless, since it is an extension of the operating system, and causes all TOS commands to be channeled through itself. If you have an idea for an update or modification to Finder, please include it in your order for a KEY, or send email to me at Puddle City.