Share Gallery 1/share_gal_1.zip/share_gal_1/UT/UT130.ZIP/ALLEYCAT.ZIP/ALLEYCAT.DOC

Text File | 1990-10-04 | 36KB | 769 lines

              Copyright (C) 1990 BY JERSEY SHORE BRIDGE, INC.
                            All Rights Reserved

             JSB ALLEYCAT DISK FILE CATALOG SYSTEM FEATURES

UNDER DBASE IV - LIMITED ONLY BY CAPACITY OF SYSTEM USED ON

50 DIFFERENT CATALOG CAPACITY WITH ABILITY TO INTERCHANGE DATA

MAIN DISPLAY SCREEN DISPLAYS DATA IN THE CURRENTLY SELECTED CATALOG
16 RECORDS AT A TIME.

EXTREMELY FLEXIABLE DISPLAY OF DATA IN CATALOGS - VIEW (PAGE OR ARROW
THRU CATALOG) OR FIND INDIVIDUAL DISKS OR FILES --- IN DISK ID,
FILE, FILE EXTENSION, BYTES, DATE, CATEGORY OR LOCATION SEQUENCE... AND
SWITCH BETWEEN VIEW SEQUENCES. OPTIONAL ALPHA OR NUMERIC DISK SEQUENCE.
AND WORKS WITH NEAR.. IF YOU ENTER "F" IT FINDS FIRST DATA BEGINNING
WITH "F"

MANUALLY ENTER A NEW RECORD, EDIT EXISTING RECORDS, DELETE A FILE OR
DISK, SAVE USER SELECTED RECORDS TO AN OUTPUT DATABASE FOR FURTHER
PROCESSING.

UTILITIES FROM MAIN MENU
USER SELECTED EXCLUDE AND INCLUDE FILES FOR CATALOG PURGE, WITH
LASTLOOK SAFETY NET -- VIEW, SELECT & ADD BACK TO CATALOG
IMPORT ASCII OR DBASE FILES INTO THE CATALOG - CHECKS FOR DUP DISKS
MATCH ASCII OR DBASE FILES AND ADD DESC TO CATALOG IF NOT EXISTING
DEL CATALOG CONTENTS, MODIFY A DISKS CATEGORY OR LOCATION. FILENAME &
EXTENSION UTILITY ROUTINES TO JOIN & TAKE OUT SPACES, ECT.
COMPRESS & REINDEX CATALOG; OR RECALL ACCIDENTALLY DELETED RECORDS.

CATDISK FROM MAIN MENU
SOURCE SELECTABLE FROM START UP MENU, CATALOGS ALL SUBDIR, OPTIONALLY
EXTRACTS ARC, PAK & ZIP FILES AND LISTS FILE EXTRACTED FROM. SELECTABLE
DISK LABEL OPTIONS INCLUDING SKIP SELECTABLE AUTO ALPHA-NUMERIC
RELABELING. CHECKS FOR DUP DISKS AND ALLOWS UPDATE RETAINING FILE
DESCRIPTIONS. USER SELECTED FILES FOR LOCATION AND CATEGORY FOR RAPID
ENTRY. PRINTER SETUP ROUTINES.

OUTPUT FROM MAIN MENU
VIEW & PRINT OR EXPORT SELECTED OR SAVED DATA. SEVERAL ROUTINES TO
EXTRACT USER DEFINED CATALOG DATA TO VIEW, PRINT OR EXPORT TO TEXT OR
DBASE FILE IN DIFFERENT SORT SEQUENCES. DISK LIST IN ALPHA, NUMERIC OR
ALPHA-NUMERIC SEQUENCE. DISK LABELS (MAX 60 FILES), DISK JACKETS OR
INSERTS(MAX 280 FILES) WITH OPTIONS SUCH AS USER DEFINED TEXT OR
CATALOG DESCRIPTIONS AND SORT OPTIONS.









                         JSB YE OLE ALLEYCAT OVERVIEW

     THE SYSTEM WAS CREATED OUT OF SEVERAL ROUTINES THAT WERE INDIVIDUALLY RUN
UNDER DBASE TO CATALOG DISKS.  IT IS INTENDED THAT THE ALLEYCAT SYSTEM PERFORM
MANY OF THESE FUNCTIONS AND FEATURES FROM MENU'S.  ITS SIMPLE AND EASY TO
USE.... YOU ARE PROMPTED FOR ANSWERS ALONG THE WAY....  THE SIZE OF YOUR
CATALOGS IS LIMITED TO THE SIZE OF YOUR SYSTEM. THE NUMBER OF CATALOGS IS
RESTRICTED TO 50

files contained on distribution disk

ALLEYCAT.DBO   ALLEYCAT MAIN PROGRAM FILE
ALLEYCAT.DOC   ALLEYCAT DOCUMENT FILE AND OPERATIONS FEATURES MANUAL
ALLEYOOP.DBO   ALLEYCAT PROCEDURE FILE TO CATALOG DISKS
AUTO.MEM       ALLEYCAT SAVES LAST NUMBER USED IN AUTO LABEL & RESTORES
BOBCAT.DBF     ALLEYCAT CATALOG(THIS)
CAAT.DBF       ALLEYCAT DBASE OF CURRENT CATALOGS
CAAT.MDX       MULTIPLE INDEX FILE
CAT.BAT        ALLEYCAT BAT USED TO READ IN CURRENT CATALOGS
CAT.TXT        ALLEYCAT TEXT FILE DIRECTORY INFO FOR CURRENT CATALOGS
CATOUT.DBO     ALLEYCAT PROCEDURE FILE FOR SELECTED OUTPUT OF CATALOG DATA
CATPROC.DBO    ALLEYCAT PROCEDURE FILE FOR MAIN DISPLAY SCREEN FUNCTIONS
CATUTIL.DBO    ALLEYCAT PROCEDURE FILE FOR SELECTED UTILITIES
CONFIG.DB      DB4 STARTUP CONFIG FILE
DISK.BAT       ALLEYCAT BAT USED WHEN CATALOGING A DISK TO READ CURRENT LABEL
DISK.TXT       ALLEYCAT TEXT FILE USED IN READING DISK LABEL INFO INTO PROGRAM
ENTRY.DBF      ALLEYCAT DBASE STRUCTURED TO TAKE IN DIRECTORY FILE INFORMATION
EXCLUDE.DBF    ALLEYCAT DBASE OF USER SELECTED WILD CARDS TO DELETE FILE DATA
FBENTRY.DBF    ALLEYCAT DBASE STRUCTURED TO TAKE IN FASTBACK TEXT FILE INFO
FEATURES.CAT   ALLEYCAT DOCUMENT FILE OF FEATURES OF ALLEYCAT DISK FILE SYSTEM
IFL.COM        PUBLIC DOMAIN UTILITY USED TO READ IN ARC,PAK AND ZIP FILES
INCLUDE.DBF    ALLEYCAT DBASE OF USER SELECTED WILD CARDS TO RETAIN FILE DATA
INTERMED.DBF   ALLEYCAT DBASE - DATA FROM ENTRY, FURTHER PROCESSES & ADDS TO CATALOG
JSBAREA.DBF    ALLEYCAT DBASE OF USER SELECTED CATEGORIES
JSBOUT.DBF     ALLEYCAT DBASE OF USER SELECTED OR FOUND DATA TO VIEW OR OUTPUT
JSBOUT.MDX     MULTIPLE INDEX FILE
JSBWHSE.DBF    ALLEYCAT DBASE OF USER SELECTED DISK STORAGE LOCATIONS
LOOK.DBF       ALLEYCAT DBASE
LRSET.MEM      ALLEYCAT PRINTER SETUP ROUTINE SAVED AND RESTORED
MODEL.DBF      ALLEYCAT DBASE MODEL USED TO SET UP NEW CATALOGS - NO DATA
PLSET.MEM      ALLEYCAT PRINTER SETUP ROUTINE SAVED AND RESTORED
PRSET.MEM      ALLEYCAT PRINTER SETUP ROUTINE SAVED AND RESTORED
PURGE.DBF      ALLEYCAT DBASE OF RECORDS PURGED FROM CATALOG - USED WITH LASTLOOK
SET1.MEM       ALLEYCAT ENVIR SETUP SAVE AND RESTORED
SWEEP.COM      PUBLIC DOMAIN UTILITY USED TO READ ALL SUBDIR TO CATALOG A DISK
ZIPPER.MDX     MULTIPLE INDEX FILE
ZIPUP.BAT      ALLEYCAT BAT USED IN TAKING IN ARC,PAK & ZIP DATA INTO CATALOG
ZIPUP.DBF      ALLEYCAT DBASE USED IN TAKING IN ARC,PAK & ZIP FILES INTO CATALOG



operations guide

MAIN MENU

    {1} AFTER A BRIEF SETUP MENU (if no changes since last use hit page down)

    {2} ACTIVE CATALOGS IN ALLEYCAT SUBDIR ARE DISPLAYED, SELECT FROM THESE TO
        USE OR TYPE IN A NEW CAT NAME TO CREATE A NEW CATALOG

        start up checks are made to insure that a dbase catalog selected that
        is existing has the proper fields and proper indexes to function
        properly. (if another database is attempted to be used as a catalog)

    {3} SCREEN SHOWS SELECTABLE DISK SEQUENCE SCREEN FOR CURRENT CATALOG -
        SELECT ALPHA OR NUMERIC SEQUENCE FOR DISK DISPLAY SEQUENCE

        Databases are created and probably normally would be in alpha sequence
        for the display of disks. However, if strictly numbers are used then
        the numeric display would apply. Caution if numeric-alpha disk labels
        are used only the numbers up to the first alpha character will be
        recognized. ex 123456ENG, 123456ACCT --the alpha portion will be
        random. If any disk label contains any alpha characters before a
        number it will be sorted as a blank and all blanks appear at the
        beginning of the file. All non numeric data would be in somewhat
        random order at the beginning of the file but the disk number would be
        shown while the numeric data would appear after this in proper
        sequence. This applies only to viewing catalog data.

YOU ARE PLACED IN THE MAIN DISPLAY SCREEN.  WHERE YOU CAN BROWSE THRU (in
selected sequences or find data based on your selection of file, disk, date,
bytes, category or location) YOUR CATALOGED FILES AND PERFORM SEVERAL
FUNCTIONS (catalog disks, manual add, change, delete a file, delete a disk, or
save highlighted data to output database -- or go to utilities or output
modules for many more options) FROM A MENU AT THE BOTTOM OF THE SCREEN.

    Being able to view your cataloged data in several sequences should prove
to be helpful in tracking down files. The find option is exact or near. thus
if you select find a file and enter only the character F --the catalog will be
put in file order and the first file beginning with an F will be at the top of
the screen. If no files begin with an F then you will be told that selection
was not found. If looking for a database select extension and enter DBF. The
file is placed in ext then file order; so you will be placed at the uppermost
file with a DBF extension; at which point you can browse thru the files.
Similar for date.  Say that a special purpose file was created in 1988 and you
can't recall the name... You could select find date of 01/01/88. You will be
placed on a first alpha file for 1/1/88 or if this does not exist the next
date after this that a file exists for.

a note of explanation: when you catalog a disk you are brought to screens of
user selected descriptions for a disks category and location. (These can also
be changed from the utilities section - and optionally entered when importing
data) Consistency is important in entering this data if these sorts are to
properly function to your advantage. You might consider doing a print screen
after you have adjusted the selections to keep a copy of the listing
available. Changes in word order, spelling, abbrev, ect. will all sort in a
different order than might be intended.
***************************************************************************
***************************************************************************
WARNING THIS CATALOG IS DESIGNED TO BE FLEXIBLE AND IN BEING SO, OPENS LOOP
HOLES FOR POTENTIAL PROBLEMS THAT COULD CORRUPT THE CATALOG'S DATA.
BACK UP YOUR CATALOG DATA - THEN EXPERIMENT

DELETE A FILE, DISK OR THE CATALOG ALL COME WITH REQUIRED VERIFICATION

FOR EXAMPLE IN THE ABILITY TO CHANGE A RECORD -

OR ADD A MANUAL RECORD

THE ABILITY TO CHANGE A DISKS LABEL AND RE CATALOG THE DISK

OR UPDATE - (WHEN CATALOGING OR IMPORTING DISK DATA) A DISKS CONTENTS - TAKES
OUT EVERYTHING PREVIOUSLY CATALOGED UNDER THAT DISK NAME (SAVES AND RE ADDS
DESCRIPTIONS) AND CATALOGS THE NEW FILES. IF YOU HAD MANUALLY ADDED DUMMY FILE
UNDER THE EXACT SAME DISK NAME THIS WOULD BE WIPED OUT.

OR IF YOU ACCIDENTALLY USED THE SAME DISK LABEL ID AND SELECTED UPDATE
AND REMOVED A LOT OF CRITICAL DATA. STOP ....ESCAPE...RIGHT NOW

ONE THOUGHT OF SOME CONSEQUENCE --- DELETED RECORDS REMAIN IN THE DATABASE
UNTIL THE DATABASE IS PACKED UNDER VARIOUS PHASES OF THE PROGRAM.

THERE IS A UTILITY OPTION THAT ALLOWS DELETED RECORDS TO BE RECALLED
BUT USE WITH EXTREME CAUTION AS IT CAN CORRUPT THE DATABASE BY RECALLING
UNWANTED RECORDS.

IF THE WRONG INFORMATION WERE ACCIDENTALLY DELETED IT WOULD PROBABLY BE SAFEST
TO: EXIT FROM THE ALLEYCAT; GO TO THE DBASE PROMPT; SET STATUS ON; SET DELETED
OFF; USE WHATEVER DBASE CATALOG; SET ORDER TO DISK2 OR FILE2 DEPENDING ON
DESIRED DISK OR FILE SEQUENCE; BROWSE; USING F10 YOU CAN SEARCH FOR DESIRED
DATA; THE STATUS BAR WILL INDICATE IF HIGHLIGHTED RECORD IS DELETED; IF RECORD
IS DELETED A CONTROL U WILL CHANGE STATUS TO ACTIVE.
MORE ADVANCED USERS COULD ALTERNATIVELY ISSUE A RECALL COMMAND

******************************************************************************


THINGS THAT SLOW YOU DOWN.........  ESPECIALLY THE LARGER THE FILE

     OPTIMIZE YOUR HARD DRIVE SPLINTERED FILE LOCATIONS COST TIME
     IN ACCESSING.












WHERE'S THE BEEF....... THERE ARE CERTAIN ASPECTS OF THE FILE THAT WE HAVE
CHOSEN NOT TO REGARD AS THEY SEEM OF LITTLE OVER ALL VALUE.

                       FILE TIME IS NOT IN THIS CATALOG
      Little use is made of this in our experience

          SUB DIRECTORY LOCATION OF THE FILES IS NOT IN THIS CATALOG
      The alleycat tracks the disk, then use a file find utility to pinpoint
      desired file subdir location. Our analysis of floppy disk structures was
      90% had files all files in the root dir. 8% had 1 subdir level. Note:
      this system "d o e s" catalog the files in all of these sub directories,
      it just doesn't maintain which sub directory that they are located in.

      DISK SPACE - USED OR OPEN ON CATALOGED DISKS IS NOT IN THE CATALOG
      Floppy disks are more and more a 'canister' to store data until you need
      it. In many cases floppies are updated and since the filenames did not
      change the catalog is not always up dated. When I am working with a
      floppy I run a chkdsk or dir at that time.

                        DISK COUNT - IS NOT MAINTAINED

     these are areas that could be changed if there were a pressing concern

*************************************************************************
CATALOG A DISK

STEP THRU

WHEN A DISK (OR BATCH OF DISKS) ARE READ AND THE FILES ARE TO BE ADDED TO THE
CATALOG.

AN OPTION SCREEN ALLOWS YOU TO TEMPORARILY DELETE TWO OF THE THREE CATALOG
INDEX KEYS, THE INDEXES ARE REPLACED WHEN THE CATALOGING OPERATION IS EXITED.
    In the cataloging sequence data is read into a entry database, and then
    into an intermediate database for further processing and then into the
    current catalog. If there are several thousand files in the catalog this
    can get slow with 3 indexes functioning. The trade off would be if you are
    only cataloging 1 or 2 disks. Also you can do something else while the
    indexes are being replaced.

THE PROGRAM FIRST LOOKS FOR THE DOS DISK LABEL.  and displays it

THEN YOU ARE GIVEN FOUR CHOICES AS TO THE DOS DISK LABEL ID.

1.)CATALOG IT USING THE DOS DISK LABEL AS IT EXISTS
2.)MAKE UP A NEW DISK LABEL NAME AND CHANGE DOS DISK LABEL
3.)AUTO (alpha-numeric) NUMBERING SEQUENCE AND CHANGE DOS DISK LABEL
   has selectable skip to allow holes in numbering for future disks
4.)USE A "TEMPORARY" DISK LABEL FOR CATALOGING PURPOSES ONLY AND DON'T CHANGE
THE DOS DISK LABEL. (if disk can not be relabeled)
ALL SUBDIRECTORIES AND FILES ARE ACCESSED... EXCEPT HIDDEN DIRECTORIES AND
FILES. (note: if backup system such as fastback is used and the data imported
in the utilities this type data may also be cataloged)



THE PROGRAM CHECKS THE JUST IMPORTED DATA FOR ARC,PAK OR ZIP FILES. IF FOUND
YOU ARE GIVEN THE OPTION OF CATALOGING THE COMPRESSED FILES AS THEY ARE OR TO
EXTRACT THE INDIVIDUALLY CATALOGED FILES. WHEN THE FILES ARE EXTRACTED THE
FILE NAME THAT THEY ARE CONTAINED IN IS WRITTEN TO THE FIRST POSITION IN THE
DESCRIPTION AND FOLLOWED BY**

THE PROGRAM THEN CHECKS TO SEE IF THIS DISK HAS BEEN PREVIOUSLY CATALOGED.
IF SO IT CAN UPDATE THE CATALOG (TAKE EXISTING INFORMATION OUT OF THE CATALOG
AND RE-ENTER THE INFORMATION ON THE CATALOGED DRIVE.  FILE DESCRIPTIONS ARE
RETAINED AND MATCHED TO FILES BEING RE-ENTERED.  IF AN EXTRACTED FILE THEN
DESCRIPTION STATED AT SPACE 11. ELSE THE DISK CAN BE REIDENTIFIED AND
CATALOGED .

YOU WILL BE TAKEN TO THE DISK CATEGORY SELECTION MENU, WHICH IS ITSELF A
CHANGEABLE DATABASE OF YOUR INDIVIDUAL REQUIREMENTS.  THIS WILL ALLOW A
CATEGORY TO BE ASSIGNED TO THE DISK.

YOU WILL BE PROMPTED FOR A STORAGE LOCATION OF THE DISK; THIS FUNCTIONS
SIMILAR TO CATEGORY.

**SUBDIRECTORY LOCATION OF FILES INFORMATION IS NOT MAINTAINED JUST FILE
INFORMATION AND DISK IDENTIFICATION **

***************************************************************************

UTILITIES MENU

A.) VIEW AND MODIFY EXCLUDE.  THIS IS THE SELECTION CRITERIA TO TAKE UNWANTED
INFORMATION OUT OF THE CATALOG. COMPLETE OR PARTIAL WILD CARD ENTRIES MAY BE
MADE.

B.) VIEW AND MODIFY INCLUDE. THIS IS THE SELECTION CRITERIA TO KEEP
INFORMATION IN THE CATALOG THAT MAY POSSIBLY BE TAKEN OUT BY THE EXCLUDE
OPTIONS.  COMPLETE OR PARTIAL WILD CARD ENTRIES MAY BE MADE.

C.) RUN PURGE.  THIS OPERATION IS DESIGNED TO SEARCH THE ENTIRE CURRENT
CATALOG AND TAKE OUT UNWANTED DATA. FIRST THE EXCLUDE DATABASE IS RUN AGAINST
THE CURRENT CATALOG AND FILES MEETING CRITERIA DELETED, THEN INCLUDE DATABASE
IS RUN AGAINST THE CURRENT CATALOG AND FILES MEETING CRITERIA ARE RECALLED.
ANY REMAINING DELETED RECORDS ARE MOVED INTO THE LASTLOOK DATABASE.

D.)LASTLOOK IS A SAFETY NET TO INSURE THAT RECORDS DELETED FROM THE DATABASE
ARE THE ONES THAT YOU WANT TO BE DELETED AND NOT VALID DATA PICKED UP BY
WILDCARD DELETIONS. BASED ON WHAT IS FOUND HERE YOU CAN ADJUST THE EXCLUDE AND
INCLUDE DATABASES TO MEET YOUR NEEDS. YOU CAN PAGE THRU THESE RECORDS AND SAVE
THE DESIRED RECORDS BACK TO THE CURRENT CATALOG.  AFTER REVIEWING YOU CAN
DELETE THOSE REMAINING RECORDS OR THE NEXT TIME ANY CATALOG RUNS THE PURGE
OPTION THIS FILE WILL BE OVER WRITTEN.

**CAUTION....THE PURGE DATABASE DOES NOT KNOW WHAT CATALOG ITS DATA COMES
FROM.  IT IS LEFT UNTIL YOU GET TIME TO REVIEW THE DATA IN IT...BUT IF YOU
SWITCH CATALOGS DATA CAN BE SAVED BACK TO THE WRONG CATALOG

NOTE: HIGHLIGHTED RECORDS CAN ALSO BE INDIVIDUALLY DELETED FROM THE CURRENT
      CATALOG AND THIS MAY BE THE METHOD OF PREFERENCE

E.) IMPORT DATA INTO CURRENT CATALOG FROM ASCII FILE SOURCE. EXPLAINS HOW TO
    DO IMPORT SET UPS ON SEQUENTIAL SCREENS.

F.) IMPORT DATA INTO CURRENT CATALOG FROM ANOTHER DBASE OR ALLEYCAT CATALOG.
    EXPLAINS HOW TO DO IMPORT SETUPS ON SEQUENTIAL SCREENS

BOTH IMPORT OPTIONS HAVE SEVERAL CHECKS ON DATA
    IF NO DISK NUMBER ON IMPORTED DATA USER CAN ASSIGN A DISK NUMBER OR
    A TEMP DISK NUMBER BASED ON SYSTEM DATE AND TIME WILL BE ASSIGNED
    (this can later be changed under utilities)

    DISK NAMES ARE CHECKED AGAINST CURRENT CATALOG - IF DISK IS ALREADY USED
    BY CATALOG - CATALOG CAN BE UPDATED WITH NEW FILES FOR THIS DISK NUMBER
    WHILE SAVING AND REMATCHING FILE DESCRIPTIONS OR A NEW DISK NUMBER CAN BE
    ASSIGNED. THE NEW NUMBER WILL ALSO BE CHECKED.

G. & H.) EXPLAINS HOW TO PREPARE DATA ON SEQUENTIAL SCREENS.  IF FILE NAME IN
   CURRENT CATALOG MATCHES FILENAME FROM OTHER SOURCE AND IF CATALOG DOES NOT
   ALREADY HAVE A CATALOG DESC (IF CATALOG FILENAME IS EXTRACTED FROM A
   COMPRESSED FILE NEW DESCRIPTION STARTS AT 11) DESCRIPTION IS REPLACED IN
   THE CATALOG.

   ****USE BACKED UP DATA ONLY DESTRUCTIVE SETUP DESTROYS ALL RECORDS FROM
   SOURCE THAT DO NOT HAVE A FILENAME OR DESCRIPTION, TO REDUCE MATCH TIMES.

I.) DELETES ALL RECORDS IN CURRENT CATALOG. DOES NOT DELETE EMPTY CATALOG
    3 VERIFICATIONS REQUIRED

J.) COMPRESS CATALOG. PERMANENTLY TAKES OUT DELETED RECORDS AND REINDEXES
    CURRENT CATALOG. NOTE: THE RECORD COUNT ON THE MAIN DISPLAY SCREEN IS
    BASED ON THE CURRENT DBASE RECORD COUNT WHICH INCLUDES DELETED FILES.
    IF YOU HAVE DELETED SEVERAL DISKS, OR UPDATED SEVERAL DISKS YOU SHOULD
    CONSIDER RUNNING THIS OPTION TO IMPROVE OVERALL PERFORMANCE AND FREE UP
    DISK SPACE.

K.) RECALLS ALL DELETED FILES -----USE WITH EXTREME CAUTION FOR EMERGENCY ONLY
    THIS WILL RECALL ALL DELETED FILES SINCE THE LAST TIME THAT THE SYSTEM WAS
    COMPRESSED/PACKED. YOU MAY ACCIDENTALLY DELETE A DISK, OR ACCIDENTALLY
    RECATALOG A DISK USING UPDATE THAT WAS NOT ACTUALLY AN UPDATED DISK BUT A
    DIFFERENT DISK WITH THE SAME NUMBER.???????????HOWEVER, THIS WILL ALSO
    RECALL OTHER DATA THAT YOU DO NOT WANT RECALLED; AND IN DOING SO CORRUPT
    THE CATALOG

L.) MODIFY A CATEGORY AND OR LOCATION FOR A DISK IN THE CURRENT CATALOG.
    TRY TO USE LIST SO THAT THE EXACT WORDING OF THESE CHOICES REMAINS THE
    SAME ON VARIOUS DISKS. ELSE SORTS FOR THESE WILL BE CORRUPTED.

M.) CHANGE A DISKNAME FOR A CURRENTLY CATALOGED DISK

N.) FILE EXTENSION UTILITY. TO MODIFY DIFFERENT FILE / EXTENSIONS ON DATA FROM
    VARIOUS SOURCES TO ALLOW IT TO BE USED BY THE ALLEYCAT.





OUTPUT MENU

A.) FIND USER DEFINED SEARCH CRITERIA FOR DATA IN CURRENT CATALOG BASED ON
      [A] ALL, PORTIONS OR INCLUDED IN A DISK OR FILENAME
      [B] INFORMATION CONTAINED IN A DESCRIPTION
      [C] CHAR DATA IN FILENAME, DISKNAME, CATEGORY, LOCATION OR DESCRIPTION

      FOUND DATA BASED ON ABOVE CRITERIA WILL BE PLACED IN THE OUTPUT DATABASE
      THAT CAN BE VIEWED UNDER OUTPUT OPTION B OR PRINTER UNDER OUTPUT E

B.) VIEW AND EDIT SELECTED OR FOUND RECORDS
      MAY CONTAIN DATA OF INDIVIDUALLY SAVED RECORDS FROM MAIN DISPLAY OR
      FOUND DATA USING OPTION A FROM OUTPUT MENU.

      VIEW AND EDIT THE DATA BEFORE PRINTING OR EXPORTING

C.) PRINT FLOPPY DISK LABELS
      HEADER LISTS DISK, CATEGORY, DATE AND FILE SEQUENCE

      1 TO 15      FILE, DATE, BYTES AND DESCRIPTION
                                OR
                   FILE, DATE, BYTES AND BLOCK USER DEFINED TEXT

      16 T0 30     2 COLUMN
                   FILE, DATE AND BYTES

      30 TO 60     4 COLUMN
                   FILE ONLY

      SORT SEQUENCES ARE OPTIONAL

      ALL COLUMNS IN ORDER TOP TO BOTTOM - NOT ACROSS


D.)   PRINT FLOPPY DISK JACKETS OR INSERTS

      HEADER LISTS DISK, CATEGORY

      SUBHEADER HAS 350 CHAR BLOCK OF USER DEFINED TEXT, LISTS DATE AND
      VIEWING SEQUENCE

      1  TO  40    FILE, DATE, BYTES AND DESCRIPTION
                             OR
                   FILE, DATE, BYTES AND ADD'L BLOCK OF USER DEFINED TEXT

      40 TO  120   3 COLUMN
                   FILE, DATE AND BYTES

      120 TO 280   7 COLUMN
                   FILE

      280 TO 2800  PRINT UP TO 10 PAGES OF DISK INSERTS FOR A DISK WITH
                   EACH PAGE CONTAINING 280 FILES



E.) PRINT OR EXPORT SELECTED DATA CONTAINED IN THE JSBOUT FILE WITH
    OPTIONS AS TO OUTPUT SEQUENCE

F.) PRINT OR EXPORT ENTIRE CONTENTS OF CATALOG WITH OPTIONS AS TO
    OUTPUT SEQUENCE :DISK, FILE, CATEGORY OR LOCATION.

G.) PRINT A LISTING OF DISKS CONTAINED IN THE CATALOG WITH LOCATION AND
    CATEGORY IN ALPHA SEQUENCE, NUMERIC SEQUENCE OR ALPHA-NUMERIC SEQUENCE
    AS SET UP BY AUTO NUMBERING FEATURE WHEN CATALOGING DISKS.

I.) PRINTER SETUP ROUTINES

***************************************************************************

System Requirements

DBASE IV

DOS 3 or higher.  ON IBM PC COMPATABLES (4.01 USED IN SETTING UP)
a hard  disk is REQUIRED

OPERATIONAL SYSTEM DATA AND TIME

ALLEYCAT SETUP IN ITS OWN SUBDIRECTORY
CHECK CONFIG.SYS
CHECK CONFIG.DB
CHECK AUTOEXEC.BAT FOR PATH TO INCLUDE DOS PROGRAMS, DB4 PROGRAMS AND
                       ALLEYCAT SUBDIRECTORIES

640 K RAM REQUIRED

avoid running  memory resident programs such as Sidekick at the same time.

INSTALLATION IS RELATIVELY SIMPLE :
COPY ALL ABOVE FILES SUPPLIED ON DISK TO YOUR ALLEYCAT SUBDIRECTORY

***********************************************************************
ALLEYCAT TIPS

IF YOU WANT TO CATALOG YOUR HARD DRIVE JUST CHANGE THE TO BE CATALOGED DRIVE
TO C: OR D OR WHAT EVER.  THIS WILL CHECK FOR DISK NUMBER AND CATALOG OR
UPGRADE THE CATALOG.  THIS IS THE EASIEST WAY OVER TRYING TO FOOL A TAPE DRIVE
OR READ IN FASTBACK LIKE DATA.

THERE IS THE OPERATORS TIME AND THE MACHINES TIME ... BOTH SHOULD BE TAKEN
PROPER ADVANTAGE OF FOR EXAMPLE THE PURGE OPERATION SHOULD BE RUN DURING A NON
PEAK PERIOD AS IT CAN CONCEIVABLE TAKE HOURS BASED ON THE NUMBER OF EXCLUDE,
INCLUDE OPTIONS AND THE SIZE OF THE DATABASE.

If you have any queries which you cannot solve, please write to the author.
The address is given  below.

Requests to amend this software to suit your specific needs can also be
considered.






PERMISSION TO COPY
You  are allowed  to  copy this  program and  share  it with  associates or
friends.  You  do not,  however,  become  owner of  the  program  under any
circumstance and have no rights to it in any  way. Privileges, if any, may
be withdrawn by the author without notice.

This permission to copy is further subject to the following conditions:
- There may be no financial gain of any kind and only private use of
  the program must be intended.
- No fees or monies may be charged. An exception are bona fide computer
  clubs or distributors of public domain software. They are permitted to
  charge for the cost of the disks only, subject to a per disk maximum of
  USA $10-00 or the equivalent in another currency.
- All relevant program files must be kept and distributed together.
- This program may not changed or amended in any way.
- The source code is proprietary. Uncompiled programming code / passwords
  of whatever kind, if any, may not be passed to others.

Contributions from users towards this program are always appreciated.
You will also receive a free upgrade to the latest or next version if your
contribution to the author is USA $ 29.00 or equivalent from another country.
Furthermore,  you gain membership to the author's client list for releases /
of all new programs.  Previously  registered users may receive an upgrade for
$10.00  No charge if you are the first to report a significant bug.
Please include the version number when registering or reporting bugs.

Here is the address:

JERSEY SHORE BRIDGE, INC.
  ATTN: BOB HUNGERFORD
227 OLIVER ST.
JERSEY SHORE, PA.  17740

PHONE [phone]
FAX [phone]

COPYRIGHTS
The program's author is BOB HUNGERFORD. Its copyrights are internationally
binding in terms of the Berne convention. All rights are hereby expressly
reserved. It is the exclusive property and copyright of JERSEY SHORE
BRIDGE, INC., 227 OLIVER ST., JERSEY SHORE, PA.

TRADEMARKS
IBM and PC-DOS are registered trademarks of International Business Machines
Corporation.
dBASE, dBASE III PLUS and dBASE IV are trademarks of Ashton-Tate, Inc.

Some of the trademarks of other companies mentioned in the documentation or
program appear for identification purposes only.  Product names mentioned
but not listed are trademarks of their respective companies.

DISCLAIMER
Although the author believes this software to be of good quality in all
respects, it is issued entirely without responsibility and must be used at
the user's own risk, if any.  Jersey Shore Bridge, Inc. disclaims any and all
warranties of accuracy, or fitness for any purpose.
EFFECT
By using this software you agree to be bound by all conditions.

Note to shareware vendors: Distribute this disk under the guidelines
of the Association of Shareware Professionals (ASP) vendor policies.

Bulletin board operators are authorized to make this program available for
down loading.

In any case, you are encouraged to pass unmodified copies of the complete
distribution package on to other users.  This program is supplied without any
warranty, whether you are registered or not.

              Copyright (C) 1990 BY JERSEY SHORE BRIDGE, INC.
                            All Rights Reserved




             THE JSB YE OLE ALLEYCAT DISK / FILE CATALOG SYSTEM

IS A SYSTEM FOR CONTROLLING (BY CATALOGING) YOUR COMPUTER DATA WITH MANY
FACETS INVOLVED

LARGE COMPANIES HAVE DATA PROCESSING MANAGERS.... A LARGE PERCENTAGE OF
SMALL CONCERNS AND INDIVIDUALS HAVE BEEN USING PC COMPUTERS FOR A FEW YEARS
NOW AND MANY HAVE CREATED A CONSIDERABLE AMOUNT OF DATA - BUT DON'T HAVE
THE AVAILABILITY OF EXPERIENCED DATA PROCESSING PEOPLE TO MANAGE THIS
ACQUIRED DATA.  MY EXPERIENCE WITH MOST COMPUTER SALES FIRMS IS THAT THEY
DON'T WANT TO GET INVOLVED WITH HOW YOU USE THEIR PRODUCTS....  BUT IF YOU
NEED MORE OR THE LATEST VERSION ???.  SO US SMALL GUYS USUALLY LEARN AT THE
SCHOOL OF HARD KNOCKS.

MANY - MANY INDIVIDUALS AND FIRMS SPEND A GOOD DEAL OF TIME, EFFORT AND
MONEY GATHERING DATA.  BUT EXTEND LITTLE EFFORT IN CONTROLLING THIS DATA.
MANY BACKUP WITH DOS OR AN ADD ON SPORADICALLY.  WHATS WHERE

THIS SYSTEM WAS DEVELOPED TO MEET OUR BUSINESS NEEDS

                      AS A BUSINESS OPERATOR - TO KNOW

WHAT IS BACKED UP AND WHERE
TO BE ABLE TO LOCATE SPECIFIC INFORMATION IN A TIMELY MANNER

                       AS A CONSULTANT TO OTHER FIRMS

AVOID PITFALLS OF CREATING DATA AND NOT MANAGING IT

         PERSONALLY AS A SHAREWARE COLLECTOR WITH A VOLUME OF DISKS

TO KNOW WHAT IS BACKED UP AND WHERE IT IS STORED

TO FIND INFORMATION OR PROGRAMS THAT YOU HAVE STORED, ALLOWS YOU TO BOTH
CATEGORIZE AND DESCRIBE WHAT FILES / PROGRAMS DO. SO THAT YOU CAN LOCATE
VITAL INFORMATION.

FURTHER YOU CAN PUT DUMMY INFORMATION IN THE ALLEYCAT AND RETRIVE IT LATER
AS A CLEARINGHOUSE FOR COMPUTER DATA..... SAY A PROGRAM HAS SEVERAL CERTAIN
FUNCTIONS THAT YOU WANT TO USE AS THE OCCASION ARISES TO DO A SPECIFIC JOB.
****(THIS MIGHT BE CRITICAL AS A CRUTCH FOR NEW OR OCCASIONAL USERS)*****
HOW DO I DO WHAT ..... AND FOR THIS MULTI FUNCTION PROGRAM ..... BUT AND
ALL OF THE DATA FUNCTIONS WON'T FIT ON THE SINGLE LINE DESCRIPTION.  AND
YOU WANT TO BE ABLE TO CALL THIS UP AT A LATER DATE USE THE MANUAL ADD
.....AND RE ENTER THE FILE INFORMATION AND ADD THE DESCRIPTIONS.

(CRIB SHEETS ANYONE ..... OR THOSE CRITICIAL LITTLE NOTES TO INSPIRE YOU TO
DO THINGS THE CORRECT WAY. THE ALLEYCAT PRINTS DISK LABELS AND JACKETS THAT
ALLOW USER DEFINED TEXT BLOCKS .... TO AID YOU IN USING THE FILES ON THAT
DISK AT A LATER DATE OR BY ANOTHER PERSON. )

YOU GET IN NEW SHAREWARE.... AND YOU READ THE DOCUMENTATION AND RUN IT.
MANY TIMES IT DOES SOMETHING USEFUL OR BETTER IF THE RIGHT SITUATION COMES
UP.  AND IT DOES THE JOB MUCH BETTER THAN THE COMMERCIAL PROGRAM THAT WE
ARE PRESENTLY USING. BUT WHEN THE RIGHT SITUATION COMES UP WHAT WAS ITS
NAME, ECT.  (((BACK FROM THE FLOPPY ONLY DAYS, WE HAD DISK LABELS AND
JACKETS,  BUT THEY JUST WEREN'T SET UP TO SAY WHAT REALLY WAS ON THE FILES.
SO I CATEGORIZED AND RE-ORGANIZED ALL DISKS BY CATEGORY. AND THIS HELPED AS
LONG AS I COULD REMEMBER WHAT I WAS LOOKING FOR AND HOW IT WORKED.
THIS ALSO LED TO TWO DOWNFALLS.  I RE PURCHASED SOFTWARE THAT I ALREADY HAD
OR WOULD DO THE SAME JOB .OR. I COULDN'T LOCATE THE SOFTWARE *THAT I
ALREADY HAD*  TO DO THE JOB AND ENDED UP DOING IT MANUALLY.

I TRIED SOME OF THE DISK CATALOG PROGRAMS AVAILABLE BUT RAN INTO PROBLEMS.
LIMITED NUMBER OF DISKS OR FILES THAT THEY COULD HANDLE.  I COULDN'T SEARCH
THE DATABASE FOR INFORMATION.  I COULDN'T VIEW THE DATA BASED ON OPTIONAL
MULTIPLE SORTS. I COULDN'T ENTER MANUAL RECORDS, I COULDN'T MAKE MANUAL
CHANGES.  THEY TOOK IN ALL OF THE GARBAGE FILE INFORMATION AND RETAINED IT
OR ON OTHERS YOU COULD TAKE OUT FILE GARBAGE WITH WILD CARDS ...BUT THEN
THIS WIPED OUT OTHER GOOD FILES.  SOME RAN SO SLOW THAT AFTER A FEW HUNDRED
DISKS IT TOOK A HALF HOUR TO ENTER A DISK.

I WROTE SOME DBASE ROUTINES FOR MYSELF AND MADE UP MY OWN CATALOGING
PROGRAMS; USING SOME ROUTINES FOR ABOUT 3 YEARS.  NOW I HAVE COMBINED THEM
INTO A RAG TAG PROGRAM ....... ROUGH AS AN ALLEY CAT.  BUT IT GETS our JOB
DONE WAY BEYOND WHERE THE OTHERS LEFT OFF.))))

SO NOW WHILE ITS FRESH IN YOUR MIND YOU ADD THE INFORMATION TO THE
ALLEYCAT CATALOG OF CHOICE.

DIFFERENT DEPARTMENTS CAN MAINTAIN THEIR OWN INDIVIDUAL CATALOGS AND THEN
THE DATA CAN BE IMPORTED INTO ANOTHER MASTER CATALOG FROM WITHIN THE
ALLEYCAT.


OPERATORS NEED A DOCUMENTED SYSTEM OF WHAT TO BACK UP, WHEN AND HOW.

WHEN THERE IS A PROBLEM HOW DO I GET BACK IN OPERATION AS FAST AS POSSIBLE
WITH AS LITTLE DATA LOSS AS POSSIBLE. DON'T DELAY THINKING ABOUT THIS UNTIL
ITS TOO LATE.  A REGEMENTED BACK UP AND CATALOGING SYSTEM IS JUST LIKE
PAYING AN INSURANCE PREMIUM.  MOST COMPUTER OPERATORS WHO HAVE SOME KIND OF
A BACKUP SYSTEM STORE THE BACKUPS IN A BOX RIGHT NEXT TO THE COMPUTER.

LIKE MANY I FELT SURE THAT THIS WAS ADEQUATE. THEN ALONG CAME A FREEK
DAYTIME FLASH FIRE ---- AND THE OFFICE AND ALL DATA WAS GONE IN AN HOUR.
MURPHY'S LAW WAS REALLY ON SCHEDULE.  IT WAS JANUARY AND WE WERE IN THE
PROCESS OF PRINTING W2 'S. ON THE DAY OF THE FIRE.  NOT ONLY DID WE LOOSE
EVERYTHING IN THE FIRE, BUT IT TOOK US A YEAR WITH EXTRA PEOPLE TO
RECONSTRUCT THE DATA.  UNCLE DOESN'T CARE HE WANTS HIS ON TIME.

WE LOST A $700,000 PENN DOT JOB THAT WE WERE LOW BIDDER ON BECAUSE WE
DIDN'T RETURN THE DOCUMENTS ON TIME. IT WAS NO EXCUSE THAT THEY BURNED IN
THE FIRE.  MY TODO SCHEDULE WENT TO..........

WHAT TO BACK UP WHEN.......  MAKE A WRITTEN PLAN AND THEN WORK YOUR PLAN

ACCOUNTING DATA THAT IS CHANGED DAILY IS BACKED UP DAILY. IN TOTAL
...  USING A DIFFERENT SET OF DISKS EACH DAY. 5 SETS LABELED MONDAY THRU
FRIDAY. ARE MADE UP.  EACH DAY THE SET OF BACKUP DISKS FOR THE DAY
CONTAINING A WEEK'S OLD DATA ARE BROUGHT IN, AND AT THE END OF THE DAY THE
CURRENT DATA IS BACKED UP TO THIS DISK AND STORED OFF SITE.
LOTS OF CHEAP INSURANCE.  WITH ADDED BENIFITS....  WHEN THERE WAS A PROBLEM
WITH THE ACCOUNTING SYSTEM DUE TO OPERATOR ERROR, ECT.  INSTEAD OF GOING
THRU THE TEDIUS PROCESS OF CORRECTING THE VARIOUS ASPECTS OF THE SYSTEM
THAT NOW HAD FAULTY DATA ENTERED... IT WAS EASIER TO BRING BACK YESTERDAYS
SYSTEM AND DATA AND OVER WRITE THE SYSTEM AND CORRECTLY RE ENTER THE DATA.

AT THE END OF THE MONTH, MAKE 2 BACKUP SETS AND STORE OFF SITE.  SHOULD YOU
NEED TO GO BACK AND DETERMINE WHY WHAT WAS DONE WHEN ... THERE IT IS.
ALL OF THE INDIVIDUAL FILES DO NOT HAVE TO BE CATALOGED FROM A BACKUP. A
MANUAL ENTRY CAN BE ADDED OR CHANGED FOR THE FILE.

WHERE TO STORE THIS BACKED UP DATA.....

WILL THE FUTURE BRING DATA STORAGE BANKS..... SOMETHING THAT YOU AUTO MODEM
TO EVERY NIGHT ON AN AUTOMATED PROCESS.... AND IF YOU HAVE A PROBLEM YOU
ARE DOWNLOADED IN A JIFFY...

IN THE MEAN TIME GET A DUST PROOF CONTAINER...  AND TAKE THEM TO A COMPANY
MANAGEMENT APPROVED OFF SITE STORAGE.  (AND NOTE THE LOCATION IN THE
ALLEYCAT FILE )

DATA IS CRITICAL AND STORED ON AN EXTREMELY FRAJILE MEDIUM
DON'T RELY ON A SINGLE BACKUP - DISKS GO BAD ---AT THE WORST POSSIBLE TIME.
IF ITS CRITICAL MAKE SEVERAL - IT ONLY TAKES A LITTLE TIME.  IF YOU WORK
FOR MONTHS TO CONSTRUCT A CRITICAL BUSINESS FILE, SUCH AS SAY A CUSTOMER
DATABASE. AND YOU HAVE ONLY ONE COMPUTER WITH A HARD DRIVE. ONE BACKUP IS
JUST NOT SUFFICIENT.  MAKE 4 OR 5 COPIES ---- PUT THEM IN DIFFERENT
LOCATIONS.   AND WHEN FOR WHAT EVER REASON YOU USE THAT THIRD COPY....JUST
SMILE TO YOURSELF AND BE AMAZED.
OR..... YOU COULD RE ENTER ALL OF THAT DATA AGAIN.

I AM NOT A FAN OF BACKING UP ONLY THE DATA THAT HAS CHANGED....

I WANT PROGRAMS AND FILES BACKED UP AS A UNIT SO THAT THEY CAN BE RESTORED
AS A UNIT. SO THAT THEY SHOULD WORK AS THEY DID BEFORE... WITHOUT HAVING TO
GO THRU A FRUSTRATING PROCESS OF FINDING OUT ABOUT FILES THAT SLIPPED THRU
THE CRACKS OR SYSTEM CHANGES THAT WON'T ALLOW THE NEW FILES TO WORK UNTIL
THE SYSTEM IS MODIFIED ACCORDINGLY, ECT.  WHEN I PLUG IT IN I WANT IT TO
WORK ....RIGHT NOW.

IT WOULD PROBABLY BE A GOOD IDEA TO REVIEW YOUR HARD DISK ONCE A MONTH AND
BACK IT ALL UP. ONCE THAT'S DONE YOU WOULD PROBABLY WANT TO PROCEED WITH
OPTIMIZING YOUR HARD DRIVE, TO IMPROVE OVERALL SYSTEM PERFORMANCE.

START UP - SET UP - MODIFICATION

WHAT TO DO WHEN THE HARD DISK FAILS.....  AND THAT YOUR ONLY FLOPPY BACKUP
HAS GONE BAD. (TRY THE NORTON UTILITIES DISK DOCTOR - IT MAY JUST SAVE YOUR
TAIL)

LOOK IN THE PC COMPUTER PUBLICATIONS --- THERE ARE LOTS OF OUTFITS OUT
THERE THAT WILL ATTEMPT TO RECOVER DATA FROM YOUR CRASHED (AND NOT BACKED
UP HARD DRIVE).  WHAT DATA CAN BE RECOVERED AND WHEN IS UNCERTAIN.  YOU MAY
ONLY RECOVER PORTIONS OF FILES AND HAVE A RECONSTRUCTION NIGHTMARE, WITH
PROGRAMS MALFUNCTIONING LATER WHEN THEY ATTEMPT TO ACCESS PORTIONS THAT ARE
DISTORTED OR GONE.

OR.... PICTURE THIS. YOU MAKE A FEW CALLS, DRIVE TO A LOCAL STORE OR TO THE
NEAREST LARGE CITY AND RETURN WITH A REPLACEMENT HARD DRIVE. YOU UNPLUG THE
OLD AND PLUG IN THE NEW.  YOU DO A LOW LEVEL AND STANDARD FORMAT WITH THE
SOFTWARE PROVIDED WITH THE HARD DISK AND YOUR DOS SYSTEM DISK.  YOU MAKE
YOUR DOS AND FASTBACK.. OR WHATEVER SUBDIRECTORIES ..... AND COPY THE FILES
TO THESE DIRECTORIES FROM YOUR ORIGIONALS OR (LEGAL) COPIES OF THESE
ORIGIONAL PROGRAMS.  NEXT MAKE A DIRECTORY AND RESTORE YOUR ALLEYCAT
SYSTEM. NOW FROM YOUR STORED DATA OUTLINE (ON ALLEYCAT) OF WHAT DATA IS
BACKED UP AND WHERE THE BACKUP IS LOCATED - YOU CAN RESTORE THE REQUIRED
DATA TO YOUR HARD DRIVE.  IF YOU HAVE THOROUGHLY THOUGHT OUT AND UPDATED
FOR SYSTEM CHANGES OR ADDITIONS AND FOLLOWED YOUR ESTABLISHED BACKUP
ROUTINE......... YOUR INSURANCE PREMIUMS JUST PAID OFF.

MANY OPERATORS OR COMPANIES LOOK INTO THIS .... SOMEWHAT.
MANY OPERATORS NOT MONITORED DROP THE BACKUP ROUTINE BY THE WAYSIDE.
SO IN EFFECT THEY MAKE A MANAGEMENT DECISION TO LET THE INSURANCE POLICY
LAPSE. FLOPPY OR HARD DRIVES ARE GOING TO FAIL .... ITS JUST A QUESTION OF
WHEN.  HOPEFULLY, YOUR INSURANCE POLICY IS "FULLY" IN EFFECT WHEN THIS
HAPPENS.  AND A DISASTER IS TURNED INTO LITTLE MORE THAN A single DAYS LOST
TIME.  ......... HAD I ONLY BEEN AWARE OF THIS ONLY FIVE YEARS AGO.


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