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SKIP'S COMPUTER MISCELLANEA #3 (C) Copyright 1988 by C. F. "Skip" Mowery, Jr. Colonel, USAF (Ret.) 406 Van Reed Manor Drive Brandon FL 33511 813-689-4212 "Skip's Computer Miscellanea" is copyrighted material and remains the property of the author, who reserves all rights to its publication, reproduction and distribution, with the following single exception: it may be freely copied and distributed electronically via computer for personal non-commercial use, provided that the content is not modified, that it is not copied to or distributed on any form of print media and that it is not copied or distributed by or for any type of business endeavor without the prior written permission of the author. ********** Your comments about this material and questions about any aspect of computing are welcome. "Skip's Computer Miscellanea" originates on the Computer Archives BBS in Tampa, Florida, at 813-968-6220. Some of the content may have originally appeared in different form on other boards. ********** Prophylactics "For the Prevention of Disease Only" Safe computing, i.e. avoiding the dreaded "virus", requires some anti- viral precautionary measures. (Out of an abundance of caution, I don't use any of the available programs that purportedly will avoid or kill any virus. I prefer to rely on internal, common-sense techniques.) For example, I rarely do anything from my root directory. My current directory is virtually always my "Working" directory or one of its subdirectories. Also, when working with programs downloaded from a BBS, I regularly (often several times a day) run SYSMAP to see what programs are resident in memory and make sure that they are the ones that are supposed to be there. And sometimes after running a downloaded program I use Masterkey to look for hidden files in the current and root directories. (Using UNHIDE is another way to do that.) Sometimes, I use Masterkey to delve into a program and see if anything looks unusual (such as some text saying "I just erased your hard disk" or something like that). Also, if an archive includes copies of system files, such as COMMAND.COM, I delete them. (I have my own system files, thank you. Why should I risk using someone else's?) Finally, since COMMAND.COM has been reported to be the target of a virus, I periodically check its size and date to see that they haven't changed (although a smart virus probably couldn't be detected in this way). There are other precautions that I take less frequently, but with varying degrees of regularity. Every few months, for example, I take the time to reformat my hard disk, using the system files from the DOS distribution disks. The OMTI system for my hard disk is really easy and fast -- it's the restoration of the backup files that takes forever. Finally, there's another procedure that I use from time to time, usually after having tested numerous downloads. This procedure gives me a lot of confidence that my system files haven't been infected. Here's how it works: -- First, I re-boot from the DOS distribution disk and then format a floppy disk and install the system files on it, including COMMAND.COM, all from the distribution disk. (Any other files that you think might be the target of a virus could be included from the distribution disks.) -- Then I use Masterkey to remove the System and Hidden attributes from the IBMDOS.COM and IBMBIO.COM files on that floppy. (The system files in earlier versions of MS- DOS are MSDOS.SYS and IO.SYS.) This is the Master Disk that can be kept aside for when this procedure is used again later, thereby eliminating these first two steps for later checks. -- Then I re-boot from the hard disk and format another floppy and install the system files, using the current ones on my hard disk, and remove the attributes as described in the previous step. -- Finally, I put the Master Disk in drive A and the other disk in drive B and compare the files using COMP A:*.* B:*.* and see what happens. If they're not identical, COMP will let me know about it. COMP works really fast and is completely accurate. I tested the above procedure by changing a single letter in one of the error messages in COMMAND.COM on the disk to be compared. (I used Masterkey to make the change.) COMP reported the difference between the file on the master disk and the changed file being compared. On the other hand, worrying about a software virus is similar to worrying about getting hit by a car when you cross the street. You look both ways before proceeding, but you don't agonize over it and you don't take another route in order to avoid crossing the street. (Come to think of it, worrying about a software virus is probably more akin to worrying about a swordfish flying through your window and stabbing you to death -- a danger to which my father once alerted me.) ********** Getting Organized With a Floppy-Based System Disk Catalogue Programs In Issues #1 and #2, I discussed getting organized on a hard disk. Now it's the floppy's turn. Not everyone has the desire (or the cash) for a hard disk, and organization is probably even more important for users with large numbers of floppies with programs and data that are used regularly. Hard disk users get organized primarily by planning and setting up a reasonable directory structure and then finding a good file manager. The primary tool for floppy users is a good disk cataloging program. [The language purists among you will no doubt note my mixed use of the various forms of the word catalog or catalogue. Call it editorial license: I prefer "catalogue" for the noun but "cataloging" for the verb/participle/gerund form. Nobody's perfect.] A disk cataloging program is one that helps you keep track of which files are on which disks and helps you locate files. I've looked at several of them, and the ones described below would appear to be worth trying and comparing. (There may be other fine programs that I haven't seen. That's what the BBS public message board is for: you tell us about them.) They are in no particular order. Reviews of Disk Cataloging Programs CDISK370.ARC This archive contains version 3.7 of the disk cataloging program, CATDISK. One of its unique features is its ability to read and catalog the individual files within archives, including both archives with the .ARC extension and those with the .LBR extension. This is one of the easiest, most user-friendly and most professional catalogue programs that I've seen -- and I've seen several. I highly recommend that you give CATDISK a try. I ran it on my hard disk after only briefly reviewing the documen- tation, which is also excellent -- lucid and comprehensive, and I had no trouble at all understanding what to do. Even though the program can be run successfully without reading the documentation, there is information in there that must be read first by some floppy users. Don't skip it. Also, if you have a prior version of CATDISK, some portions of your files will be outdated and others can be converted for this version with an included conversion utility. Shown below are some of the screens produced when CATDISK looked at my hard disk. Here's the Main Menu: Diskettes Catalogued: 0 Diskette Space Remaining: 1000 Files Catalogued: 0 File Space Remaining: 16384 Catalogue Drive: C: Automatic ARC/LBR Extraction: ON ╔═══════════[ Active File: CATDISK ]════════[ Report Destination: SCREEN ]══╗ ║ ║ ║ * * * M A I N M E N U * * * ║ ║ ║ ║ ║ ║ 1 Set Disk Drive 6 Show Diskette Summary ║ ║ ║ ║ 2 Settings And Toggles Menu 7 Show Files For A Volume ║ ║ ║ ║ 3 Label A Diskette 8 Show Files For An ARC/LBR File ║ ║ ║ ║ 4 Catalog A Diskette 9 Show Selected Files ║ ║ ║ ║ 5 UnCatalog A Diskette 0 Show All Files ║ ║ ║ ║ F1 Add/Change File Comments F2 Show Files By Comment ║ ║ ║ ║ A-D Directory of Specified Drive Esc Exit To DOS ║ ║ ║ ║ Use Cursor Keys And <Ret> To Select or Hit The Key Beside The Desired Option ║ ╚══════════════════[ Free: 315120 ]═[ Cache: 0 K ]═══════════════════════════╝ DISKETTE CATALOG SYSTEM V3.70 COPYRIGHT (C) 1986, 1988 BY RICK HILLIER I selected the "Directory of Specified Drive" option and, after reading the disk and all its archives, and sorting the file names, CATDISK produced a multi-page catalogue of the files in alphabetical order. Here's what page 8 looked like: Diskettes Catalogued: 0 Diskette Space Remaining: 1000 Files Catalogued: 0 File Space Remaining: 16384 Catalogue Drive: C: Automatic ARC/LBR Extraction: ON ╔═══════════[ Active File: CATDISK ]════════[ Report Destination: SCREEN ]══╗ ║ Filename.Ext Disk Volume Arc/Lbr File Size D a t e T i m e Attr ║ T ║ ░ BOXES2 .BAS HARD DISK MY-PROGS 22,183 Jan 22,1988 6:12:24 *ARC ║ ░ BOXES2 .EXE HARD DISK ........ 69,648 Jan 22,1988 6:20:26 A ║ ▒ BOXES2 .EXE HARD DISK MY-PROGS 69,648 Jan 22,1988 6:20:26 *ARC ║ ░ BROWSE .COM HARD DISK ........ 958 Jan 2,1986 3:54:20 ║ ░ BRUN20G .EXE HARD DISK ........ 67,878 Jan 16,1987 15:48:18 ║ ░ BRUN20G .LIB HARD DISK ........ 9,728 Jan 16,1987 15:49:28 ║ ░ C3-LOGO . HARD DISK ........ 1,381 Sep 23,1987 7:57:00 ║ ░ CACHE .COM HARD DISK ........ 7,168 Aug 15,1987 8:00:00 ║ ░ CAL .COM HARD DISK ........ 1,024 Jan 16,1988 9:48:32 ║ ░ CALC . HARD DISK ........ 0 Mar 7,1988 16:27:34 ║ ░ CALC .BAS HARD DISK MY-PROGS 542 Oct 26,1986 9:44:56 *ARC ║ ░ CALLIG1 .FY HARD DISK ........ 4,512 Jul 22,1985 23:44:06 ║ ░ CAMEO .FY HARD DISK ........ 8,784 Jul 22,1985 16:39:22 ║ ░ CARD .TXT HARD DISK ........ 822 Nov 27,1985 10:09:28 ║ ░ CASE .BAS HARD DISK MY-PROGS 324 Oct 26,1986 9:16:58 *ARC ║ B ║ ║ <PgDn>-Fwd <PgUp>-Bkwd <><>-Scroll Bar <S>-SubDirs <C>-Comments <Esc>-Menu ║ ╚═[ Page 8 ]════[ Free: 315120 ]═[ Cache: 0 K ]══[ Records Found: 640 ]╝ DISKETTE CATALOG SYSTEM V3.70 COPYRIGHT (C) 1986, 1988 BY RICK HILLIER Note that file attributes are shown and that files from archives are clearly identified together with the archive name. (See CASE.BAS above.) Also, the files with 0 file size are directory names. (See CALC above.) When I pressed S (subdirectories), the above display changed and was redisplayed as shown below (note that each file's directory name was then listed): Diskettes Catalogued: 0 Diskette Space Remaining: 1000 Files Catalogued: 0 File Space Remaining: 16384 Catalogue Drive: C: Automatic ARC/LBR Extraction: ON ╔═══════════[ Active File: CATDISK ]════════[ Report Destination: SCREEN ]══╗ ║-- P a t h -- Filename.Ext Disk Volume Arc/Lbr File Size D a t e T i m e║ T ║ ░\MY-PROGS BOXES2 .BAS HARD DISK MY-PROGS 22,183 Jan 22,1988 6:12:24║ ░\MY-PROGS BOXES2 .EXE HARD DISK ........ 69,648 Jan 22,1988 6:20:26║ ▒\MY-PROGS BOXES2 .EXE HARD DISK MY-PROGS 69,648 Jan 22,1988 6:20:26║ ░\BIN BROWSE .COM HARD DISK ........ 958 Jan 2,1986 3:54:20║ ░\COMPILER BRUN20G .EXE HARD DISK ........ 67,878 Jan 16,1987 15:48:18║ ░\COMPILER BRUN20G .LIB HARD DISK ........ 9,728 Jan 16,1987 15:49:28║ ░\FONTASY C3-LOGO . HARD DISK ........ 1,381 Sep 23,1987 7:57:00║ ░\MACE CACHE .COM HARD DISK ........ 7,168 Aug 15,1987 8:00:00║ ░\BIN CAL .COM HARD DISK ........ 1,024 Jan 16,1988 9:48:32║ ░\ CALC . HARD DISK ........ 0 Mar 7,1988 16:27:34║ ░\MY-PROGS CALC .BAS HARD DISK MY-PROGS 542 Oct 26,1986 9:44:56║ ░\FONTASY CALLIG1 .FY HARD DISK ........ 4,512 Jul 22,1985 23:44:06║ ░\FONTASY CAMEO .FY HARD DISK ........ 8,784 Jul 22,1985 16:39:22║ ░\FONTASY CARD .TXT HARD DISK ........ 822 Nov 27,1985 10:09:28║ ░\MY-PROGS CASE .BAS HARD DISK MY-PROGS 324 Oct 26,1986 9:16:58║ B ║ ║ <PgDn>-Fwd <PgUp>-Bkwd <><>-Scroll Bar <N>-Normal <C>-Comments <Esc>-Menu ║ ╚═[ Page 8 ]════[ Free: 315120 ]═[ Cache: 0 K ]══[ Records Found: 640 ]╝ DISKETTE CATALOG SYSTEM V3.70 COPYRIGHT (C) 1986, 1988 BY RICK HILLIER The program can be configured in several ways via a very easy to use configuration program that requires almost no prior explanation. This is a really fine program. ---------- DCS.ARC This archive contains the disk ctaloging program, DCS.COM, and 6 data files (plus a small batch file that appears not to pertain to this utility). There is no DOC file. The absence of a DOC file will be a problem to anyone unfamiliar with the purpose of a disk cataloging utility. Even if you have a pretty good idea of what this type of program is supposed to do, a certain amount of trial and error will be necessary before you can use it effectively. Two sample catalogues are included, presumably to help you learn how to use the program, but you will want to delete them before using the program for your own disks (which provides a further learning experience). The menu provides all the information that you need. I have included below the entire menu for your review. As you read it, keep in mind that the purpose is to maintain a catalogue or inventory of the files contained on your floppy disks. The catalogue is given a name and the disks covered by each catalogue are identified by numbers. You can have up to 20 catalogues with different names and each catalogue will be saved in a separate file named by the program. You can enter up to 1000 file names into each catalogue manually or have the program do it automatically by identifying the drive. The program appears to be able to read any drive that you specify and to store the catalogue on any drive that you specify. Later, you can add or delete file names and/or catalogues. Here's the menu: IMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM; 3 Disk Cataloging System Version 1.01 3 3 (C) Copyright 1986, 1987 Raymond M. Buti 3 HMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM< IMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM; 3 Catalog Name.......: Total Disks Entered..: 0 3 3 Read Disks from....: A: Total File Names.....: 0 3 3 Store Catalogs on..: C: Entries Remaining....: 1000 3 HMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM< IMMMM[ Main Options ]MMMMM; IMMMM[ Toggles ]MMMM; IMMMM[ Edit Options ]MMMMM; 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 1-Display/Load Catalog 3 3 Disk I.D. 1 3 3 A-Path Change 3 3 2-Display Free Space 3 3 Manual Off 3 3 C-Delete Catalog 3 3 3-Search/Find 3 3 Selective Off 3 3 D-Disk I.D. Change 3 3 4-Catalog a Disk 3 3 List w/Pause On 3 3 F-Delete a Filename 3 3 5-Sort Current Catalog 3 3 Print Complete 3 3 I-Delete a Disk I.D. 3 3 6-List Current Catalog 3 3 Write Volume Off 3 3 L-List with Pause Toggle3 3 7-Print Current Catalog 3 HMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM< 3 M-Manual Entry Toggle 3 3 8-View a Disk on B: 3 IMMMM[ Choices ]MMMM; 3 P-Print Toggle 3 3 9-Save Current Catalog 3 3 1 2 3 ? A C D 3 3 R-Rename a Catalog 3 3 0-Quit/Return to DOS 3 3 4 5 6 7 F I L M 3 3 S-Selective Entry Toggle3 3 3 3 8 9 0 P R S W 3 3 W-Write Volume Toggle 3 HMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM< HMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM< HMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM< Note the question mark in the "Choices" box. That question mark moves up and down between the three lines in that box until you enter a proper choice -- a nice touch for calling your attention to the fact that one of those choices must be entered. The program always comes up with drive A: as the default drive to be read for new file names and drive C: as the default for the catalogue location. Everything seems to work properly and swiftly and, once you get the hang of it, it's easy to use. By the way, the opening screen, which displays the title and information about the requested $10 registration fee, remains on the screen for a full 15 seconds before the DCS menu (see above) appears. You can avoid that delay by pressing the space bar (or any other key I presume). ---------- PC-DISK.ARC This is a file cataloging utility from 1985. There is no DOC file, but there is a help screen (see below). See my review above for DCS.ARC -- almost everything mentioned in that review pertains to this program also. The only thing I would add is that the menus in this program overlap each other and it's possible to have 4 or 5 overlapped menus on the screen at once (although only one is active, of course), making for a rather messy looking display sometimes. Here's what the Help Screen looks like: U[ Help Screen ]MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM8 3 PCDISK is adapted from John Friel IIIs Disk cataloger. If you find it 3 3 of value please send your contribution to him at: 3 3 The Forbin Project, 715 Walnut Street, Cedar Falls, Iowa 50613. 3 3 3 3 L)oad: T)ree - loads or creates TREELIB.CAT on current drive 3 3 F)loppy - loads or creates FLOPLIB.CAT on specified drive 3 3 D)irectory - loads or creates a catalog named "dirname".CAT 3 3 U)pdate - presents existing file descriptions for editing or addition 3 3 F)ilenames - Lists only the filenames in the catalog 3 3 R)eview - search for a string (in filenames or memos) 3 3 A)dd - create or change a volume label on the current drive 3 3 E)rase - removes the specified volume from memory 3 3 P)rint - writes the catalog to either a text file or printer 3 3 W)rite - creates .DTA, .INX, and .HDR files for use with PC-FILE 3 3 3 3 Editing keys used in entering data into Memo field: 3 3 Tab, End - end of line Backtab, Home - beginning of line 3 3 Ins, Ctrl-V - insert a space Del, Ctrl-G - delete character 3 3 LftArrow, Ctrl-S - character left RtArrow, Ctrl-D - character right 3 3 Esc - erases current line BackSpace, Ctrl-H - delete char left 3 3 3 3 PCDISK can be invoked with a drive designator as a parameter. 3 TMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM> Here's what the Main Menu looks like (overlapped above four other menus used previously): UMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM8 3 PC-Disk Version 3.0B 3 3 (c) The Forbin Project - revised by G.G. 20 April 1985 3 TMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM> U[ Main Menu ]MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM8 3 3 3 L)oad Catalog R)eview Catalog in Memory 3 3 U)pdate Catalog in Memory A)dd/Change Volume Label 3 3 S)ave Catalog to Disk E)rase a Volume from Memory 3 3 D)isk Directory P)rint Catalog 3 3 C)hange Current Directory W)rite to Pc-File 3 3 N)ew Drive F)ilenames in Catalog 3 3 H)elp Screen Q)uit PC-Disk 3 3 3 3 Your choice: 3 TMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM> 3U[3 Current drive is: C: 3HARD DISK 3 3 33 3 Enter new drive: C: 3is WORKING 3 3 33 3 Done. 3om file C:\TREELIB.CAT 3 3 33 TMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM>ries loaded, 1000 empty. 3 3 33 30 volume entries loaded, 100 empty. 3 3 3TMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM3 3 3 3 TMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM> 3 TMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM> ---------- DIR405.ARC This archive includes the COM and PAS versions of DIR4, a disk catalo- ging program, but there is no documentation file and no on-screen help. (Dadratted...ratzerfrazzen...jazzypegaloomer!) Entering DIR4 brings up the following menu of choices: [F]ind a File. [A]dd File(s) to the Data Record. [P]rint or List the Data Record. [D]elete File(s) from the Data Record. [L]ist a Disk Directory (Data or Real). [W]rite a Diskette Label. [B]ackup the Data Record File. [C]onfigure DIR4. [Esc]ape Back to DOS. Configuration (8th item) consists of setting the colors, entering your printer's compressed print code, and setting the default drive. The next step is to "Add Files to the Data Record". You can do so manually (which is dumb, but at least it's available) or have the program read the drive/directory of your choice, after you first assign a "Disk Number" to it. After that, your choices (see above) are fairly obvious. You can work with the saved catalogue list that the program put together with your help, or you can designate a "real" drive/directory to work with. You can search for selected files (to see if they exist and/or to find out which disk they're on), print a disk label, or list all files on the screen or on your printer. The list can be sorted by file name or by disk number. On the printer, up to 350 files can be listed on one page, thanks to compressed printing, in seven columns of 50 files each, showing the file name and the disk number. I can imagine some uses for this on a hard disk, but its obvious value is for floppy disk organization, given the fact that it maintains the catalogue by disk number and not by directory. It works. ---------- PMCAT22.ARC At first I thought this was another file manager for hard disk users. I was well into reading the documentation before I realized that this is a completely different breed of cat (pun intended). Intended primarily for cataloging your collection of floppies, it also has some interesting uses for a hard disk, if you use a little imagination. I recommend that you take a look at it. The bottom-line function of PMCAT is to create and maintain a catalogue file that contains a listing of all of your files, together with optional comments (up to 80 characters) for each file in the listing. It works via easy-to-understand menus and prompts (once you read the documentation). In fact, it's fairly easy to learn by simply getting into the program and experimenting (my favorite method). The catalogue file is built on a volume-by-volume basis. In other words, for floppy disks, you have PMCAT read each of your disks and assign a volume label (which can be written to the disk being read). For a hard disk, you can either have the entire disk read as one volume or consider each directory (or one directory and its subdirectories) as a separate volume -- as if it were a separate disk (but you wouldn't write the volume label to disk, of course). Once the catalogue file has been built (for a hard disk read as one volume, this takes only a few moments), you have a searcheable cata- logue of your entire collection of disks/files, together with complete information as to each file (path location, size, date, etc.) and any comments applicable to each. Searches can be accomplished for file names using wildcards. Searches for comments can also be made and these searches are "in-string" searches. In other words, if you search for "sic" in the comments, PMCAT will find not only "sic" but also words such as "Basic" and "sick" (if they exist in the comments, of course). File name sorting can be done by name, extension, path, size or date -- in ascending or descending order. Volume catalogue lists may then be sent to the printer. Several features, including colors, can be easily re-configured. For a hard disk, treating the entire disk as one volume (normally, you would probably want to treat each directory as a separate volume) gives you an interesting view of your files. Seeing all files presented together, without directory/subdirectory organization, is a little unnerving at first. But it has some interesting possibilities. For example, I noticed immediately that I had some identically-named files in different directories that I forgot to delete. As you move the highlight bar down the list of files, separate windows tell you where the file is (path) and provide the size and other information and comments for it. In other words, PMCAT can help you look at on your hard disk from a different perspective. It's not a file manager, but it does an excellent job as a file cataloguer. Try it. (By the way, the program requires about 44K memory plus whatever is required to have the entire catalogue in memory -- which for my hard disk was about another 50K.) ---------- My comments above about using PMCAT on a hard disk apply equally to the other programs, of course. It's just that those thoughts didn't occur to me until I was testing PMCAT. (So, maybe they don't apply equally to the others -- hmmm.) Each of the above disk cataloging programs is a little different, but all do a good job. Your final decision will have to be based on which one is more comfortable for your needs -- the old "look and feel" criterion. On the other hand, if you have a massive floppy library, maybe it's time you started thinking seriously about getting a hard disk. ********** Getting Organized Generally Program Menu Systems I've looked at several menu programs. Each involves setting up and customizing a menu to enable one-key access to all your applications and utilities, including DOS commands. Some include password protec- tion for certain applications or commands. Sometimes these programs are referred to as DOS shells. I personally have no use for them, and you might want to keep that in mind as you read the following discus- sion of some of the menu programs I've looked at. Reviews of Menu Programs PC-MENU PC-MENU is fairly easy to set up. You run a menu-driven COM program that allows you to enter the names/descriptions of your programs and the DOS commands/parameters necessary to run them. You can also set up your choice of menu colors. Then that program creates a control batch file and either creates an Autoexec.Bat file or allows you to edit your current one to include MENU as the last entry. When I tried it, the last step that creates the control batch file incurred an error and aborted the program. I have a couple of ideas as to why that happened and it may not happen to you, but I'm not going to spend further time on it because there are newer and better programs available that do the same things or more and that don't have errors. ---------- MENU-II.ARC This is the simplest, easiest to use menu program I've seen. Neverthe- less, despite having a DOC file to guide me, it took a while to figure out how the program works, thanks to the poor quality of the writing. What you do is create a text file that includes both the commands required to customize the menu display to your personal tastes and all of the program names with their "drive:\path\filename parameters" specifications. Here's what the default menu that comes with the archive looks like: Time: 8:50:29 am Saturday March 19, 1988 IMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM; : IMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM Brian's_Great_Menu MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM; : : : IMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM; : : : : : : : : : : : F1 Turbo Pascal 3.0 F2 Turbo C : : : : : : : : : : : : F3 Turbo Prolog F4 Turbo Basic : : : : : : : : : : : : F5 MS MASM F6 Lisp : : : : : : : : : : : : F7 Ada F8 Turbo Pascal 4.0 : : : : : : : : : : : : F9 Black Book F10 Disk Check : : : : : : : : : : : HMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM< : : : HMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM< : HMMMMALT-X : ExitsMMMMMMMPGUP : Prev MenuMMMMMMMMMPGDN : Next MenuMMM< The profile file used to create that menu is called MENU.PRO and contains the following lines: SET BAR1 OFF SET NAMES COLOR 12 SET PFKEY COLOR 10 SET BAR3 COLOR 13 SET BAR2 COLOR 14 SET TIME COLOR 9 SET DATE COLOR 12 SET KEYS COLOR 9 SET TITLE COLOR 14 SET TIME ON 1 SET DATE ON 1 SET TITLE ON 3 MENU Brian's_Great_Menu Turbo Pascal 3.0 c:\langs\pascal\Turbo.com Turbo C c:\langs\c\TC.EXE Turbo Prolog c:\langs\tprolog\Prolog.exe Turbo Basic c:\langs\basic\TB.exe MS MASM c:\langs\Masm\MASM.EXEom Lisp c:\langs\lisp\LISP.EXE Ada c:\langs\ada\ADA.EXE Turbo Pascal 4.0 c:\langs\turbo4\turbo.EXE Black Book c:\utility\tools\BLCKBOOK.EXE Disk Check c:\utility\tools\DSKCHK.EXE As you can see, you can control the number of frames (bars) around the menu items and their color. You can also control the existence, placement and color of other items (time, date, menu title) and the color of the remaining items (program names, key designations, etc.). It's not clear in the DOC file whether there's a maximum number of menu items that can be included (and accessed with PgDn and PgUp), but the sample profiles include up to 30 and you can have profiles with different names. If you like the idea of having menu access to your programs, this one is certainly easy to set up if you have available a copy of the command formats when you create your profile file. ---------- LILMENU.ARC This is a public domain program (no registration, no guilt) to set up a program menu system. It does not use color. The DOC file has a perfect description: "LILMENU.ARC is a simple, but useful menu system for hard disks. Patterned after WordPerfect's (tm) `Libra- ry', it's an easy to use, easy to configure, no surpri- ses, no frills menu for those who have no need for bells and whistles and all the headaches that accompany them." As with all menu programs, this one allows you to call a program from the menu by pressing one key and also permits you to make the menu entry a description instead of the program name. For example, item A on the menu could be "Run Text Editor" and, to run your text editor, all you'd have to do is press A. Set-up is simple: you just include the program, MENU.EXE, and the included MENU.DAT file in your root directory, include MENU as the last line in your Autoexec.Bat file, and make sure that FORMAT, CHKDSK and DISKCOPY can be located by the PATH statement in your Autoexec.Bat file (because those three functions are already included as items on the program menu). Then add your programs to the menu. Adding, changing and deleting menu items are very simple. To add an entry, you follow a menu and type in the item description, the program's filename, and the name of the directory where it resides. This is the easiest hard disk menu system I've seen that has no extra features. The only drawback is that you can't include parameters when you call the program. In other words, you can't include a file name for editing when you call your text editor in the example above. As I've said before, I see no real practicality in using a program menu, as opposed to using batch files and an appropriately complete PATH statement in your Autoexec.Bat file. Menu systems usually operate as DOS shells, i.e. something between you and DOS, and I find it unnerving, if you exit to the DOS level, that you have to type EXIT to return to the menu. In a DOS shell, I feel like a dog on a leash: I can do anything I want as long as I don't try to stray beyond the end of the leash. Also, when a shell is active, I can't use SYSMAP to see the list of memory-resident programs. (Try it. I don't know why, but there's no way to do it.) By the way, while testing SYSMAP via the DOS option on the menu, I noted that this program uses over 120K of memory. However, LILMENU also has an option allowing you to exit uncondi- tionally to the DOS level, i.e. it can unload itself from memory if you want it to. That's a good feature. If you want a menu system, this is a simple one that's easy to set up. ---------- QMENU21.ARC This is another program menu system, but this one does not remain memory-resident. It's based on batch-file operation. The documenta- tion indicates that it is a "follow-on product to FastMenu", which I tested some time ago (FSTMNU43.ARC) and had trouble with. I had no trouble getting this program to operate, but I did find it rather complicated to understand. The documentation is summary in nature and assumes that you know about batch files and other DOS features. The sample entries on the distribution menu and sample batch files included in the archive will be of significant help in trying to get your menus set up. Here's a portion of the documentation: "Like FastMenu it is extremely fast and does not remain in memory when your application program is executing. Quick Menu is easier to use and does not require separate configu- ration files. Options can be added, modified or deleted `on the fly'. Any changes made during a session are automatical- ly saved upon exit from the menu. You may change colors/at- tributes, two lines of titles, up to 26 menu options and the commands that are executed for each option. You can make as many copies of the menu program as you wish (each with a different name) and transfer freely from one to another. This will allow you to nest menus to any depth and immediate- ly return to the top level at any time." QMENU works and is fast and colorful. But, if you're not comfortable with batch files, you may want to skip this program. On the other hand, if you enjoy the challenge of trying to make something work, with very little documentation to help you along, this one is for you. It's not for me -- and, besides, I don't like/want/need a program menu system. ---------- MS33B.ARC MS creates a password-protected menu system for one or several users. The documentation file tells you how to set up the system, but all other, context-sensitive instructions are accessed as pop-ups from within the program, via the F9 key. Since I have a tendancy to skim through instructions, I had a little trouble getting through the password procedures. If you print out the one-page DOC file and follow it, then use F9 a lot until you get used to the program, you probably won't have the same problem. MS appears to be quite similar (not "look and feel" mind you, just quite similar) to one I read about for $69.95 in the Selective Software catalogue. (MS includes a calendar and reminder function that isn't mentioned for the catalogue program.) Menu programs can make computers more user-friendly, particularly for users unfamiliar with how things are supposed to work. And password protection can provide some (but not complete) assurance that a novice or unauthorized person won't somehow destroy a data base, access private files, or otherwise make a mess of things. If you have a need along those lines, this program is recommended. It works fine, is easy to use (once you get it set up properly) and has lots of flexibility. On the other hand, there's nothing in this program (or others like it) to prevent a user from exiting to DOS. Once at the DOS level, of course, the user has access to the entire data base. Also, MS's (and others') ability to run a program identified by a single key-press can be duplicated and made even easier by simply renaming programs with one-letter names. For example, if you rename your Basic Interpreter as B.EXE and include in your PATH specification the directory where Basic resides, you will be able to access it from any directory by pressing B and will have no need to enter a menu program first. There are other reasons why, except for the novice and multiple-user situations mentioned, a menu program serves little purpose that can't be duplicated or made easier by other means, particularly by an efficient directory or file-manager program. (MS has no file-manage- ment functions other than locating and running a program.) Those negative comments to the contrary notwithstanding (huh?), if you are looking for a menu program, this one looks like a winner. **********