Simtel MSDOS 1992 June/SIMTEL_0692.cdr/msdos/filedocs/simtel35.arc/SIMTEL.MAN

Text File | 1989-12-13 | 14.1 KB | 309 lines

                     SIMTEL20 CATALOG VIEWER
                           Version 3.5

                               by
                      2LT Michael P. Kelly
                     U.S. Army Signal Corps
            Copyright (c) 1989, All Rights Reserved.


DISCLAIMER

     This software is copyrighted but public domain, pass it
around until your heart is content.  Just remember that it is
provided "AS IS" with no warranty, expressed or implied, blah,
blah, blah.  What is comes down to is this: by using this
software, you assume full responsibility for anything that
happens.

NEW FEATURES IN 3.5

     I added three things to this new version that will make the
program more useful to everyone.  In the past, I had been
reluctant to make the program work on monochrome systems.  This
was due in part to the method of development chosen and not out of
spitefulness or laziness.  Since the user interface has been
unchanged for many versions, I decided to solidify it as it is and
make adjustments for the two video systems.  Using the Video
command, you may change to either color or monochrome now, thus
pleasing everyone!  OK.  Now you can have it both ways!
     The next major addition was the inclusion of script files for
AutoFTP30.  If you do not already have a copy of this marvelous
automatic, in the background, SIMTEL20.ARPA downloader, you should
think about getting one.  I have used it many times and it is
great.  With my program and this utility, you can now examine the
catalog, make selections and then download them at your leisure.
This now frees you to do other things at home or work, like wash
the dishes or listen to your boss ramble on, etc.
     The third addition is minor league.  The file name prompt now
allows for a greater number of characters for path specification.

SOURCE CODE

     The source code was written in Clipper Summer '87 and
compiled on my PC/AT 10 mHz clone with 42 Meg Miniscribe 3650.  I
used no add-on libraries for the development and in this version
no development tools.
     The source code is available for anyone interested in
learning the operation of the program or wants to change it to
meet their personal needs.  You may not, of course, upload the
source code and pass it around though.  It consists of about 900
lines of Clipper.  The source is available for $25 if anyone is
interested.

EXTENDED/EXPANDED MEMORY

     One user reported problems running this program on his
machines that had large amounts of memory (over 2 MB).  I have
found from perusing the local Clipper/dBASE BBSs, that Clipper
sometimes has trouble utilizing this extra memory.  Normally,
Clipper code will detect and then use this extra memory for
indexing operations only.  Yet many developers seem to be having
problems with this.
     The common suggestion that seems to be floating around is to
issue the command SET CLIPPER=E000.  This tells Clipper programs
to ignore any extra memory over and above 640 K.  If you are
experiencing this sort of problem, please send me an Email letter
detailing your system and the situation.  I am entitled to a free
copy of Clipper 5.0 whenever they get around to releasing it and
hopefully this problem will go away.

NOTATIONS

     From here on in, the software listing in SIMIBM.IDX which
contains the data on each file archived on the SIMTEL20.ARPA
system will referred to as the 'catalog'.  Because that is
basically what it is.  A big IBM Public Domain and Shareware
catalog.  NODESCR.IDX is a catalog lacking the description
information but all other information is there.  You may
optionally load this file in as well.

2.   UPGRADING TO VERSION 3.5

     Upgrading is still simple.  Instead of telling you delete
this, rename that, let's start fresh.  Save a copy of SIMIBM.IDX
and NODESCR.IDX and delete everything else.  Then unarchive the
file SIMTEL30.ARC in the directory you were using.  The program
will create its own .DBF, .NTX and .DAT files by itself.  Then go
ahead and do an Update and you are all set.

3.   CATALOG FILES, SIZE AND SPEED

     The file SIMIBM.IDX is the main catalog file.  NODESCR.IDX is
similar except that it lacks the descriptions of the programs.  It
is a much smaller file and usually a good idea to load it in with
the main catalog file when Updating.
     The last catalog file I used had over 4000 records.  That is
a lot of records to manipulate and hence the time required to
process them is lengthy.  The larger the catalog grows, the longer
the Updating function will need to perform its task.  You should
expect this.  I have tried my best to make it work as fast as
possible, but this is as fast as Clipper can handle it.
     Luckily, you only have to Update once for each new catalog.
You no longer have to sit and wait for it to finish after that
first time.  I do not think it is all that bad either!
     I have tried various disk-caching utilities and none of them
seem to help the Updating task.  Some even lengthened the time by
a few seconds, probably due to the extra CPU and memory to memory
transfers.  They did seem to help during the Examine option
though.  The choice is yours.  Your best bet is a RAM disk!

4.   MENUS

     The menus are straight forward.  Choose your selection by
positioning the lite-bar over your selection with the arrow keys
and hitting return.  You may also type the first letter of your
choice without return, which is much faster.  This also explains
the somewhat badly named menu selections, since I wanted to keep
uniqueness in the first character of each.
     I moved the menu over to the right and made it vertical
instead of vertical.  The reason was twofold.  First, it gave it a
new look.  Second, there was not enough room for all the commands
to fit horizontally on one line.
     Please note that some on some of the command names I was
really reaching to get a unique first character.  This was
important since many power users prefer to hit the first character
or hot key instead of moving the lite-bar.

5.   FIRST - LAST - NEXT - BACK

     These are self-explanatory.  They move you to the first or
last file in the catalog.  You can also move to the next or
previous file.  These options are dependent on the current viewing
order.  Next and Back are convenient in that their hot keys are
located right next to each other on the keyboard.  I personally
find this very handy.

6.   UPDATE

     When you update, you are merely replacing the current
database with a new one made up of the file you requested.  You
should note that the current database is erased and then the new
one loaded in.  So if you make a mistake and select a file other
than the Simtel20 catalog file, you are out of luck!  So always
keep a backup around just in case.
     You may now optionally load in the NODESCR.IDX catalog file
that lacks file descriptions.  If you do not want to load it in,
simply hit ESC instead of selecting the file from the pop-up menu.
     Updating will take some time, so be prepared for a wait.  All
the internal processing and setup is done at this time.
     Please note that the *.IDX files must be in MS-DOS <cr/lf>
format.  A few people notified me that they had problems when
trying to perform the Update on the SIMIBM.IDX file when they had
it in UNIX <lf> form.  The *.IDX files are distributed in <cr/lf>
format so unless you did anything with them on your UNIX system,
you should not have to worry.
     If you attempt to load in a file that is not one of the *.IDX
files format, the program will do its best to load in whatever you
tell it.  It will take much longer due to the necessary conversion
time and may seem to make your system hang.  A LONG time may pass
before you get to find out that you have only one entry because
the file you specified was not of the right format.  CTRL-ALT-DEL
if you do not feel like waiting.  I hate to wait!

7.   TOPIC

     When you enter a topic, you are basically filtering out all
the records that do not contain the topic (string) in the file
description, file name or directory name.  Again, narrowing a
database using a filter will slow it down.  In this case, with
4000 or so records, we are talking snails, or grass growing!  I
added this function basically for reporting purposes and not
really for heavy duty poking around.  But you can just browse or
skip around.  Of course, expect to wait some too.  When you are
done printing the reports, clear the topic so that you can resume
normal speed.  A topic is similar to GREPing the file description
for the topic entered.
     As note earlier, disk-caching programs may help somewhat
during this operation.  But you must try it for yourself and
determine if there are any speed benefits to be had.

8.   CLEAR

     This option merely clears the current topic back to no topic
and speeds up the program to normal speed.

9.   SEARCH

     You may search the database for a file name.  Say you are
looking for the file ZMODEM.ARC.  Enter ZMODEM.ARC to find it, if
it exists.  If you are not sure of the name, you can enter ZMOD*,
for instance, and you will be placed at the first file that meets
that specification.
     Please note:  you may not use the ? wildcard or place the *
wildcard anywhere other than the end of the file specification.
In other words ZMOD* is acceptable, while ZMOD*.ARC is not.
Sorry, but Clipper has no true wildcard searching.  This is sort
of a work around and it gives you pseudo-wildcard file searching.
It is better than nothing though.

10.  EXAMINE

     This function will allow you to observe the catalog file in a
full-screen mode.  Since more data is contained for a file than
will fit on a line, you can scroll left and right past the
physical boundaries of the window.  You may also PgUp and PgDn for
quick movement through the catalog.
     The search option is also available within the Examine option
by hitting the F3 key.  This only works inside the Examine option,
the F3 key is disabled outside it.

11.  ORDER

     How do you want to examine the files available on SIMTEL20?
You have 3 choices.  You may view them in order by file name,
directory (default) or chronologically.  The last one is great for
checking out the most recent additions to the SIMTEL20 archives.
The current file viewing order is displayed on the screen at all
times.
     The point was brought up to me, "Why three indexes?"  The
answer is simply this, so that you can look at the files in the
order that you chose.  Not the order that I have pre-determined
for you in the code.  Sure, the .NTX files take up extra room on
your hard drive, but you can erase them after each session if you
like since they will be re-created automatically next time you run
the program.


12.  REPORT

     You can print a report in either 80 column or 132 column
format to your printer.  The 132 column report will allow more
information to be displayed about each file.  You can also send
the 132 column report to a disk file by choosing that option and
entering a file name.  The report is affected by the current topic
and order settings.

13.  MANUAL

     This allows you to read the manual while using the program.

14.  ADD F1

     This option is also triggered by the F1 key at any time
during the program.  This will send some of the file information
to the specified disk output file for later manipulation by you.
The output file must be open for this to work, otherwise no
writing will take place and you will get a beep.

15.  DISK F2

     This option allows you to open an output file for the above
function given the file name you specify.  You may invoke this via
the F2 key at any point in the program.  Specifying a new file for
output will automatically close the old one.  This is an ASCII
text file that will contain the important pieces of information on
each line for each file that you select with Add F1.

16.  JUMP

     This allows you to view the possible directories in the
SIMTEL20 archives and optionally jump directly to the directory
that you choose via the pop-up menu.  The catalog is placed in the
directory order after selecting a directory to jump to, regardless
of the previous order setting.


17.  INCLUDE F3

     This will take the currently viewed file and place it into a
script file array.  After making at least one include, you may
dump your selections to disk in AutoFTP script file format using
the Generate command.  You are allowed up to 100 entries in the
script file array.  All entries after that will be ignored.

18.  GENERATE F4

     This command will prompt you for a file name and then dump
your file selections from the script array to the disk file in
AutoFTP script file format.  See the AutoFTP documentation README
file for more information on this program.  For each file it will
change to the needed directory on SIMTEL20 and then download that
file using the -t (tenex) command.  If you want to change local
directory or any of the other more fancy commands, you must edit
the file and introduce those commands yourself.  As it stands now,
you may make 100 file selections with the F3 key and then dump
them to the disk in, say, INFILE.  I simply upload it to my UNIX
system using Kermit in Procomm (takes a split second) and then run
AutoFTP in the background using the following command line:

     % sh autoftp30.sh infile &

You may then proceed to do your other work or logout (might need
nohup, varies on each system).  You files will be retrieved from
SIMTEL20.ARPA quietly and in the background.  My downloading from
the SIMTEL20 system is that easy!  A friend passed me a copy of
the AutoFTP package.  Check around your system for someone who has
it!

19.  HOW TO CONTACT THE AUTHOR

     If you like the program and actually use it, let me know by
Email at [e-mail].  Send me any comments,
suggestions, hate mail, etc.  I will be leaving for Fort Hood, TX
on 20 DEC 89 and cannot confirm whether or not I will be able to
get an account there.  I can ALWAYS be reached on CompuServe at
73747,420 though.


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