Frostbyte's 1980s DOS Shareware Collection/floppyshareware.zip/floppyshareware/BUERG/DD113.ZIP/DD.DOC

Text File | 1990-09-08 | 13.9 KB | 260 lines

DD - a disk directory utility - Version 1.13
Copyright (c) 1990 D & D Software Inc.  All rights reserved

This program provides a variety of information about files on MS-DOS
media.

The author makes no warranties concerning this program nor requests any
donation for its use.

Only non-commercial use and distribution is authorized. Inclusion within
a commercial software or hardware distribution or promotion are
expressly prohibited without prior written approval.

WHY DD WAS WRITTEN

Over the past few years I've found myself using a variety of directory
programs because no single product included all the features I wanted.
DD was written primarily to consolidate these features I find of value
into one "all purpose" program.  Other options, not found in any
directory program I am familiar with, were also added.

USE

The easiest way to explain how dd should be used is to present and
discuss the help screen.  The screen below can be generated by
executing dd with the help option ("dd /h<ret>").


Dennis' Directory Utility            Ver. 1.13   09/08/90
Copyright (C) 1990  D & D Software Inc.  Lindenhurst, NY

Usage: dd [-options] [pathspec] [/options] [pathspec] [>file or >prn]
Options:                   (d) = default
         FILES TO SHOW               6  file name only
R  regular & read only files  (d)              TOGGLES
A  reg/ro/hidden/sys/dir files       L  use lower case for file names
D  subdirectories                    P  turn off pause between screens
          SORT ORDER                 C  turn on clear screen
F  file name  (d)                    I  invert time/size sort (high to low)
S  file size                         K  file size based on clusters taken
T  file time & date                  J  just show archive files
X  file extension                    *  no attributes in 4 colum mode
N  no sort - show in DOS order              MISCELLANEOUS
       COLUMNS DISPLAYED             M  modify DD.EXE to cmd line options
1  use with >file for bat files      O  restore original option values
2  full time, date, attributes       H  show this help screen
4  name & size in Kbytes  (d)
The /d & /k options used together will show size of directories.

pathspec = [d:][\path\]filename  Wildcards OK (defaults to *.*)
A ∙ next to a file's size in 4 column mode means it hasn't been archived,
while a * means the file is marked hidden or system.


The Usage line gives the syntax of a command:

dd [-options] [pathspec] [/options] [pathspec] [>file or >prn]

Brackets [] enclose optional parameters, thus the easiest way to use dd
is to simply execute the program as "dd<ret>", as all the parameters
are optional.  The parameters indicate that options, if specified,
should be preceded with either a "-" or "/" character to differentiate
them from a pathspec.  A pathspec can be explicit, ambiguous or
non-existent.  For instance to list the files in the current directory,
"dd<ret>" is enough.  The pathspec "\currentdirectory\*.*" is implied.
If you wanted to see all  files in another directory, named utility,
"dd \utility<ret>" would accomplish the task and implies the pathspec
\utility\*.*.  To see just one type of file in the utility directory,
say .exe files, the full pathspec is required (i.e. "dd
\utility\*.exe<ret>").

The reason the usage line indicates more than one pathspec is because
more than one pathspec can be listed during one execution of dd.  If
you wished to list all files in the current directory, the utility
directory and on drive A, the command would be "dd *.* \utility
a:<ret>".

The final parameter on the usage line [>file or >prn] is meant to
indicate that the listing can be redirected under DOS's normal
facilities to a file or the printer on your system.  If you want to
create a file of the current directory's .exe files you would say "dd
*.exe >myfile<ret>".  When redirection is in effect screen pause is
always turned off.

Options can be interspersed between the pathspec's on the command line.
DD comes configured to show regular and read only files, sorted on file
name in a four column layout.  Options enable you to change these
defaults for the current execution of the program or permanently with
the (m)odify option.  Most of the options are self explanatory but a
few points should be stressed.  The program recognizes stringed options
after the / or - character.  Thus /asl is equivalent to /a/s/l or /a /s
/l.  Options must always precede any pathspec they are to be applied
against.  Thus "dd *.com /asl<ret>" is invalid and must be executed as
"dd /asl *.com<ret>".  Options apply to all following pathspecs unless
changed.  Thus "dd /l *.com \utility" will show all com files in the
current directory and all files in the utility directory in lower case.
"dd /s *.com /f \utility<ret>" will show all com files in the current
directory sorted by size and then all files in the utility directory
sorted by filename.

The options under FILES TO SHOW, SORT ORDER and COLUMNS DISPLAYED are
choices.  Only one of each can be specified for each block of options
entered.  The options listed under TOGGLES are not mutually exclusive
and any combination can be specified within an option block.  They are
called toggles because invoking them twice reverses what they do.  For
example: "dd /l *.com /l \utility<ret>" will show the com files in the
current directory in lower case and all files in the utility directory
in upper case.

Some of the options are not as clear as possible due to space
limitations on the help screen.

Under FILES TO SHOW, the /d option will list just subdirectories.  If
this option is executed for a directory other than the default
directory, it should be specified as: "dd /d \utility\<ret>" to see any
subdirectories under the \utility directory.  The trailing "\" is
required in this case, otherwise dd thinks you wish to see if there is
a subdirectory called \utility under the current directory.  A
combination of the /d and /k options (/dk) will show the size of each
directory.  The size will include space taken by any files or
directories below that directory.

The /a option will list all files, including any hidden or system
files, followed by any subdirectories.

Under COLUMNS DISPLAYED, the /1 option will produce a listing similar to
the following:

C:\UTILITY\DD.EXE
C:\UTILITY\ERA.EXE
C:\UTILITY\CAT.EXE

The purpose of the option is to create a skeleton of a bat file so it
should be run with redirection to a filename:
         "dd /1 pathspec >xxx.bat<ret>".
Once the xxx.bat file is created with just the files you wish to do
something to, use an editor to complete the task.

Under TOGGLES, the /I option will cause sorts in time/date or size order
to list with the most recent date or largest file size first rather
than the normal order of earliest date or smallest file first.  The /K
option will show file sizes in terms of the actual space they occupy on
your disk rather than the exact number of bytes according to DOS.  The
discrepancy is due to the way DOS works when allocating space for
files.  It allocates space for files in blocks called clusters.  A
cluster is normally between 1024 and 8192 bytes, depending on how your
disk is set up.  So if you have a tiny file that shows 12 bytes under
the dir command, the file will really take up at least 1024 bytes on
the disk.  The /J option will show only files that have not been backed
up, helpful in locating files that need backing up when there are a lot
of files in a directory.  See the discussion of the four column display
below for discussion of the /* option.

Under MISCELLANEOUS, the /O option simply cancels any changes you've
made to the defaults and executes the program with the original
defaults.  The /M option is used to permanently modify the default
options.  Say you wish to normally use lower case and the 2 column
format.  Typing "dd /2l" every time you run dd gets old fast.  So you
would execute dd as: "dd /2lm<ret>" to permanently change the defaults
to your preferences.  If you later decide to go back to the original
defaults, a "dd /om<ret>" will do the trick.  If you are running DOS
3.0 or above, the /m option will work regardless of where dd.exe is
located and regardless of what you may have renamed dd.exe to.  Under
earlier versions of DOS, the /m option will only work when dd.exe
resides in the directory you execute dd from and only if the file
retains the name dd.exe (all other options will work normally as long
as dd's directory is on your path).

LISTING ORDER

Files are listed in "page based" order, exactly the way words are
listed in a dictionary.  Any time the number of files exceeds one
screen full, the files will be split based on the sort order.  So if
you are listing in file name order and the listing requires two
screens, all files starting with the letter A through possibly N will
be listed on the first screen, followed by files starting with O
through Z on the second screen.

DISPLAY DIFFERENCES

The following listings illustrate the differences between the various
column options.

The heading is almost the same under each option.  The first line
consists of any volume name on the drive, followed by a colon and the
drive letter and path and the current date and time.  The second line
shows:

    Total Bytes - cumulative bytes for files shown,
    Total Files - obvious
    Free - free space remaining on the drive
    Used - total space used on the drive

Below is the listing obtained with the /2 option.  All file size
information is in bytes, file dates and times are shown and the 4
column block between the file size and date shows how the file's
attribute byte is set.  The block can contain one or more of the
letters RSHA, standing for Read only, System, Hidden and Archive.  A
file with none of these attributes set simply shows four dashes at that
location.  Any file of 10,000,000 or more bytes will show +10M in place
of the actual file size, due to a lack of space.

F:\MSC\DD\                                                  Wed  9/05/90  14:16
Total Bytes: 188,357  Total Files: 21  Free: 21,458,944  Used: 11,976,704
───────────────────────────────────────┬───────────────────────────────────────
50      .COM    109 ----  7/08/89 13:58│LOOK    .OBJ   1194 ----  2/03/90 16:13
DD      .BAK  12556 ---A  9/05/90 14:07│MAKEFILE        372 ----  2/03/90 13:36
DD      .C    22871 ----  2/14/90 20:19│READ    .BAK    550 ----  5/10/90 21:08
DD      .DOC  12880 ---A  9/05/90 14:16│READ    .ME    1022 ----  5/10/90 21:17
DD      .EXE  20177 ----  2/14/90 20:19│SSD     .COM   3584 ----  6/29/84  7:03
DD      .H     2281 ----  2/03/90 16:06│UNTAG   .BAK    602 ----  5/10/90 21:20
DD      .OBJ   9508 ----  2/14/90 20:19│UNTAG   .C      729 ----  5/10/90 21:23
DDCOLOR .ARC  54920 ----  9/01/89 15:54│UNTAG   .EXE   7617 ----  5/10/90 21:02
DDSORT  .C    12487 ----  2/14/90 20:12│UNTAG   .LZH  13577 ----  5/10/90 21:23
DDSORT  .OBJ   6931 ----  2/14/90 20:16│UNTAG   .OBJ    574 ----  5/10/90 21:02
LOOK    .C     3816 ----  2/03/90 16:13│

The four column (default) listing below shows that all sizes are in
Kbytes, allowing for a simpler and usually adequate display as well as
allowing for more columns.  A Kbyte is 1024 bytes, calculated by
dividing the files size in bytes by 1024.  Any remainder is rounded up,
thus a file listed with a size of 1 could be between 1 and 1024 bytes.

The dot shown after some of the file sizes indicates that the archive
bit is set.  No indication of read only status is indicated with this
display, although such files will be flagged if the /A option is
specified.  An asterisk character denotes the hidden and/or system bit
is set.  The dot takes precedence over the asterisk.  The dots and
asterisks can be replaced with a simple 'k' to indicate the sizes are
in kbytes by using the /* command line option.

F:\MSC\DD\                                                  Wed  9/05/90  14:19
Total Bytes: 186K  Total Files: 22  Free: 20,954K  Used: 11,698K
──────────────────┬───────────────────┬───────────────────┬───────────────────
50      .COM    1 │ DD      .OBJ   10 │ MAKEFILE        1 │ UNTAG   .BAK    1
DD      .BAK   13∙│ DDCOLOR .ARC   54 │ READ    .BAK    1 │ UNTAG   .C      1
DD      .C     23 │ DDSORT  .C     13 │ READ    .ME     1 │ UNTAG   .EXE    8
DD      .DOC   13∙│ DDSORT  .OBJ    7 │ SCREEN  .CUT    2∙│ UNTAG   .LZH   14
DD      .EXE   20 │ LOOK    .C      4 │ SSD     .COM    4 │ UNTAG   .OBJ    1
DD      .H      3 │ LOOK    .OBJ    2 │

The six column display is intended to simply show the maximum number of
files in the smallest amount of screen space.

F:\MSC\DD\                                                  Wed  9/05/90  14:19
Total Bytes: 190,673  Total Files: 22  Free: 21,456,896  Used: 11,978,752
────────────┬────────────┬────────────┬────────────┬────────────┬────────────
50      .COM│DD      .EXE│DDSORT  .C  │MAKEFILE    │SSD     .COM│UNTAG   .EXE
DD      .BAK│DD      .H  │DDSORT  .OBJ│READ    .BAK│UNTAG   .BAK│UNTAG   .LZH
DD      .C  │DD      .OBJ│LOOK    .C  │READ    .ME │UNTAG   .C  │UNTAG   .OBJ
DD      .DOC│DDCOLOR .ARC│LOOK    .OBJ│SCREEN  .CUT│


I hope you get as much use out of DD as I have and welcome any comments
you may have.


Dennis Vallianos
Compuserve ID 70406,1163