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FILE: DMS.doc - AmigaDOS version 1.11 documentation - 7/1/91
*****************************************************************************
The DISK-Masher
Copyright (c) 1989-1991 SDS Software
*****************************************************************************
What is it?
The DISK-Masher (DMS) is a utility that allows users to compress and
archive floppy disks. Version 1.11 requires at least 512k of memory, and
AmigaDOS version 1.2 or later.
Why a disk archiver?
Many programs are available for archiving individual files and do a
relatively good job. However DMS was created for the purpose of archiving
whole disks. It is useful for archiving non-filing system disks which cannot
be done with standard file archivers, sending distribution disks, archiving
library collections, and many other uses. DMS takes much less time to
put a disk back together than with a file archiver and is less wear and
tear on your disk drives.
Why not use other disk archivers?
DMS has been tested against every other similar type programs and will
provide faster execution, greater compression, more support features, and
continuing user support. Once you try DMS you won't be satisfied with
anything else. Among other things DMS provides:
- Highly optimized compression routines offerring the utmost
in speed and compression. 4 different routines to choose from
to satisfy your needs.
- The ability to read and write to or from any AmigaDOS device conforming
to the standard 80 tracks , 512 bytes per block , 11 blocks per track,
2 sides, Ex: DF0:, DF1:, RAD:, etc.
- Extended Virus checking of the boot blocks. Other disk archivers
just show the boot block and do not check for viruses, this is
extremely stupid, most viruses do not come out and say "Look here,
I'm a virus!". Without actually checking the boot block you're
opening up a can of worms. Therefore DMS currently checks for over
60 different viruses and custom boot blocks and can automatically
install the disk. It is still Important that users monitor their
system periodically with a virus checker as there are many types
of viruses.
- Data Security. DMS has the option to encrypt archives with a user
selected password for security.
*****************************************************************************
Command Line Options and Usage
The general format for a DMS command is:
DMS command file[.DMS] [OPTIONS ...]
Everything in braces [] is optional. Everything else is required.
file[.DMS] is a user specified filename. The .DMS ending will
automatically be appended to the filename if you do not include it.
This is done to avoid confusion with other archiver formats.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
1.) READ
This command will read and compress a disk. The basic usage for this
command is:
DMS Read file[.DMS] [FROM Dev:] [TEXT filetext] [CMODE mode] [LOW lowtrack]
[HIGH hightrack] [NOVAL] [NOZERO] [ENCRYPT password]
file[.DMS]
- the output file which will contain the archived disk.
OPTIONS:
FROM Dev:
- Will read the disk from a different device. The default device is DF0:
(internal drive). You may choose any device as long as it has 80 tracks,
2 sides, 11 sectors/track, and 512 bytes per sector.
Examples: DF0:, DF1:, DF2:, DF3:, RAD:, FM0:, FF0:, etc.
TEXT filetext
- Causes DMS to read in the file 'filetext' and add it to the archive.
When the archive is extracted the text will be displayed before writing
the disk. This is useful for identifying disks or giving other
information about the archive.
CMODE mode
- Chooses the compression mode used. Mode is either NONE, HEAVY1, HEAVY2,
or BEST
The default mode is BEST
Available modes are:
NONE - No Compression is performed (Straight Read).
HEAVY1 - Heavy compression, good speed/compression ratio.
HEAVY2 - Best available compression. Only available with >1meg ram.
BEST - Chooses Best compression method for available memory.
LOW lowtrack
- Specifies the starting track to read from. The default is track 0.
Lowtrack must be a value from 0 to 79.
HIGH hightrack
- Specifies the ending track to stop at. The default is track 79.
Hightrack must be a value from 0 to 79.
NOVAL
- Stops DMS from inhibiting the disk validator when reading the disk.
NOZERO
- Normally DMS will read the AmigaDOS bitmap from the disk and archive
only sectors which are being used. If the disk is a non-filing system
disk or has a bad bitmap, DMS will automatically archive the whole disk.
In EXTREME cases DMS will make a wrong assumption about the type of
disk it is archiving. NOZERO will cause DMS to archive the whole disk
totally ignoring the disk bitmap. Generally you will rarely if ever
have to use this option.
ENCRPYT password
- Causes DMS to encrypt the input from the disk using the password
supplied. 'password' is any alphanumeric word you desire.
Examples: Joe, Fred, ABC1234, ONLY-FOR-ME, etc.
EXAMPLES:
DMS read disk1
- Will compress a disk from drive DF0: using the default compression mode
and store the results in the file 'disk1.DMS'
DMS read stuff.DMS lowtrack 20
- Will compress only tracks 20 to 79 into file 'stuff.DMS'
DMS read stuff lowtrack 40 hightrack 40
- Will compress only track 40 into file 'stuff.DMS'
DMS read stuff from df1: cmode heavy1 noval nozero text RAM:intro
- Will compress a disk from drive DF1: using compression mode HEAVY1, not
inhibiting the disk validator, not using the disk bitmap and adding
the text from file 'RAM:intro' to the file 'stuff.DMS'
DMS read stuff.DMS from RAD: encrypt JOESTUFF1
- Will compress a disk from ram drive RAD: and encrypting the output
with the password 'JOESTUFF1' to file 'stuff.DMS'
DMS read stuff.DMS text CON:0/0/640/200/window
- Will compress a disk and allow you to quickly add text to the archive.
A console window will open up and you can then type any text you
want. To finish type CTRL \ to close the window and continue.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
2.) WRITE
This command will uncompress and write a disk. The basic usage for this
command is:
DMS Write file[.DMS],,, [TO Dev:] [LOW lowtrack] [HIGH hightrack]
[NOVAL] [NOTEXT] [NOPAUSE] [DECRYPT password]
file[.DMS],,,
- One or more input files to be extracted. Standard AmigaDOS wildcards
are supported.
OPTIONS:
TO Dev:
- Will write the output to device Dev: (the default is drive DF0:)
The device must follows the same rules as in the READ command.
LOW lowtrack
- Specifies the starting track to write from. Tracks before lowtrack
will be ignored. Default is track 0
HIGH hightrack
- Specifies the ending track to write from. Tracks after hightrack
will be ignored. Default is track 79
NOVAL
- Stops DMS from inhibiting the disk validator when writing a disk.
NOTEXT
- Causes DMS to ignore any text to be displayed from the archive.
NOPAUSE
- Stops DMS from pausing after displaying any text from the archive.
DECRPYT password
- Causes DMS to decrypt the archive with the password 'password'.
This is only used if the archive was previously encrypted. 'password'
must be the EXACT same one used when encrypting the file otherwise
the archive will not be processed correctly.
EXAMPLES:
DMS write stuff
- Will extract the archive stuff.DMS to drive DF0:
DMS write part1 part2.dms TO DF2: NOTEXT
- Will extract the archives part1.DMS and part2.DMS to drive DF2: ,
ignoring any banner text in the archives
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
3.) REPACK
This command allows you to recompress an older DMS archive. It can also
be used as a simple split utility. The basic usage for this
command is:
DMS Repack file[.DMS] [TO file2[.DMS]] [LOW lowtrack] [HIGH hightrack]
[CMODE mode]
file[.DMS]
- The input file to be recompressed.
OPTIONS:
TO file2[.DMS]
- Causes DMS to store the results in file2.DMS , otherwise the results
are automatically stored in a file TEMP.DMS
LOW lowtrack
- Specifies lowtrack to start recompression. Tracks before lowtrack
will be ignored. Default is track 0.
HIGH hightrack
- Specifies hightrack to end recompression. Tracks after hightrack
will be ignored. Default is track 79.
CMODE mode
- Chooses the compression mode to use. Same as in the READ command.
EXAMPLES:
DMS repack stuff low 20 high 40 cmode NONE
- Will extract tracks 20 through 40 from the archive stuff.DMS ,
recompress them using no compression and store the results
in the file TEMP.DMS .
DMS repack old.dms TO new.dms
- Will recompress the archive old.DMS using the default compression mode
and store the results in the file new.DMS
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
4.) VIEW
This command will view information about a DMS archive. The basic usage
for this command is:
DMS View file[.DMS],,, [FULL]
file[.DMS],,,
- One or more input files to be viewed. Standard AmigaDOS wildcards
are supported.
OPTIONS:
FULL
- Causes DMS to display information about every track in the archive.
Otherwise only the information header will be displayed.
EXAMPLES:
DMS view file1 part#? full
- Will display full information about the archives file1.DMS and
the files part#?.DMS
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
5.) TEST
This command will test the integrity of a DMS archive. The basic usage
for this command is:
DMS Test file[.DMS],,,
file[.DMS],,,
- One or more input files to be tested. Standard AmigaDOS wildcards
are supported.
EXAMPLES:
DMS test file1 part#?
- Will test the archives file1.DMS and the files part#?.DMS
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
6.) TEXT
This command will display any banner text in a DMS archive. This is
used to quickly find out information about an archive without having
to extract it. The basic usage for this command is:
DMS Text file[.DMS],,,
file[.DMS],,,
- One or more input files to display text. Standard AmigaDOS wildcards
are supported.
EXAMPLES:
DMS text file1 part#?
- Will display any banner text from the archives file1.DMS and the files
part#?.DMS
*****************************************************************************
General Information
DMS has been over a year in the making, the compression routines
are proprietary and we have taken great care to make sure they are the
very best. There is no other program even close to DMS as far as versatility,
performance, and ease of use. We urge users to register with us so that we
continue to provide the best and continuing support of the product.
This program is NOT Shareware or Public Domain, it is Copyright 1989-91
by SDS Software. We have taken a different approach in distributing this
program than most people. There will always be a version of DMS available
to the general public free of charge. However, we are offerring as an
incentive to register, many other programs that will not be available to
the general public. We feel that you should get what you pay for and pay
for what you use. Therefore if you seldom use DMS then the public version
is fine for you and we thank you for using it. If you use DMS on a regular
basis you are asked to register with SDS Software. Registering will enable
you to receive future updates and other programs not available to the
general public. Updates will be provided to users on a first-come,
first-serve basis before public releases. Please make sure that this program
remains the very best by registering with us.
There are 2 levels of registration to choose from:
Regular:
-------
For $30 you will be mailed the latest versions of DMS on disk,
and will also receive:
DMSWin - an Intuition version of DMS with full windowing, gadgets
and graphical display.
and other Public Domain SDS Software programs.
Professional:
------------
For $50 you will receive the same privileges as above but will also
receive:
Convert - a Warp-to-DMS converter to convert old .WRP files to the
new .DMS format.
ViewDMS - a small utility to view the contents of a DMS archive.
TestDMS - a small utility to test the contents of a DMS archive.
Convert.EXE - MS-DOS versions of the above programs. for people
ViewDMS.EXE storing files on MS-DOS machines.
TestDMS.EXE
You will also receive free updates for a year, and any other DMS
related programs that are developed or received by SDS Software.
Send a Check or Money Order for the amount of registration you choose,
along with your full name, address, phone number, and computer configuration
to:
SDS Software
Suite 126
4885-A Mcknight Rd.
Pittsburgh, PA 15237
It is our sincere hope that we can continue to service the Amiga
community with new and innovative programs. Please allow us to do so by
supporting our products which you use. Thank you.
If you have any suggestions, complaints, questions, or bug reports,
please write to the above address and be sure to include your full name,
address, phone number, and computer configuration. For any correspondance
requiring a reply, please included a SASE.
The DISK-Masher (DMS) is Copyright (c) 1989-1991 by SDS Software.
It is NOT Public Domain. The CLI/Shell GENERIC version is freely
distributable provided the following rules:
1. No charge excepting reasonable media costs may be charged.
2. The program and documentation may not be modified in any way.
3. Only the self-extracting archive DMSxxx.EXE may be distributed
SDS Software will be in no way liable for damages, incidental, or
consequential, arising from the use or misuse of The DISK-Masher or for
any other claim by any other party. Use this program at your own risk.
No warranty is given, either expressed or implied. Terms of registration
are subject to change without notice.
*****************************************************************************
Amiga and AmigaDOS are trademarks of Commodore-Amiga, Inc.
MS-DOS is a trademark of Microsoft.