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PC-KAT (TM) The Easy, Practical, Super Capacity Diskette Cataloger INSTALLATION FOR NEW COMPUTER USERS by R.H. Martin Applied Foresight (TM) P.O. Box 20607 Bloomington, Minn. 55420 January 17, 1986 Version 1.2 Copyright 1986 by R.H. Martin All Rights Reserved A DB-SHARE Software Product A limited license is hereby granted to copy and distribute wholly unmodified copies of the PC-KAT Software Diskette which contains this manual (Read the manual, "THE DB-SHARE PROGRAM" for full details about this limited license) Trademark Pending NOVICE INSTALL MANUAL Copyright 1986 R.H. Martin Page 2 ABOUT THIS MANUAL ----------------- A section is designated by a centered and underlined heading. Centered but NOT underlined headings are referred to as a subsection. Absolutely, do not use PC-KAT prior to thoroughly following the installation instructions, including restarting your computer after following the installation instructions. INSTALLATION ------------ OVERVIEW Installation requires that you configure your operating system environment to satisfactorily accomodate database management processing and that you install the PC-KAT software on your hard disk. If you are already familiar with PC-DOS or MS-DOS, please follow the two page install instructions in the PC-KAT general manual. These instructions are for those persons unfamiliar with PC-DOS and MS-DOS. This manual only substitutes for the two page install instructions in the general PC-KAT manual. Prior to using this manual, you should printout the general manual first and read its section on "Hardware Requirements." After you follow the install instructions given for novices below, read the general manual sections which follow its condensed install instructions. At the end of your installation, you'll end up with some install files that don't need to be on your hard disk. To delete these files and the print process from your hard disk, position your cursor in the same directory on your hard disk where you installed PC-KAT and type: DEL KATDB.* and press ENTER. DEL USQ.* and press ENTER. DEL KATBOOK*.* and press ENTER. DEL *.OQT and press ENTER. DEL READ.ME and press ENTER. NOVICE INSTALL MANUAL Copyright 1986 R.H. Martin Page 3 INSTALLATION INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE DOS 2.0+ NOVICE USER Installation requires the following specific acts. It is assumed that your floppy disk drive used is drive A and that your fixed hard disk drive is drive C. Read each step through before you actually following the instructions given during that step. 1. You should make a backup copy of your PC-KAT diskette for archival purposes. You can do this either using the DOS DISKCOPY followed by the DOS DISKCOMP programs, or by using the DOS COPY command. From a technical standpoint, you may run into more problems using the DISKCOPY/DISKCOMP method, so shown here is the DOS COPY method when used on a hard disk. First, and you only need to do this once on your computer, you should make a temporary file holding area on your hard disk. What you will be instructed to do is to copy your source diskette (eg, your original PC-KAT diskette) to this temporary holding area on your hard disk. Then you will remove the diskette in drive A and insert a formatted floppy in your drive A, will be the target diskette to hold your backup copy of PC-KAT. Type: MD C:\FLOPPY and press the ENTER key. This creates a directory on your hard disk, called "\FLOPPY". Insert your original PC-KAT diskette in drive A. Type: COPY A:*.* C:\FLOPPY/V and press the ENTER key. This copies everything from drive A to your directory, \FLOPPY. The "/V" causes a verify function to occur throughout the COPY process. Remove your original PC-KAT diskette from drive A. Insert a formatted diskette in drive A. If you don't know what "formatted" means, refer to your DOS GUIDE TO OPERATIONS manual and look up what the FORMAT command does. Just in case, you are using a previously used diskette with files on it that you don't care about anymore, you should delete these files before using the diskette again. Type: DEL A:*.* and press the ENTER key. You will be asked by the operating system if "Are you sure (Y/N)?". If you are sure that you want these files deleted, type: Y and press the ENTER key. If you didn't have any files on this diskette, you'll receive the message "file not found". Don't worry about this message. You are now ready to put the PC-KAT software on this backup diskette. Type: COPY C:\FLOPPY A:/V and press the ENTER key. Remove the floppy diskette in drive A and label it appropriately. 2. You can now move the PC-KAT software in your temporary holding area on your hard disk to your root directory. NOVICE INSTALL MANUAL Copyright 1986 R.H. Martin Page 4 Type: COPY C:\FLOPPY C:\/V and press the ENTER key. This will copy the files from the temporary holding area to your root directory. Don't do this command before completing step 1 above, as doing these commands out of sequence will foul you up. You can now delete the files left residing in the temporary holding area, \FLOPPY. Type: DEL C:\FLOPPY and press the ENTER key. You will be asked by the operating system if "Are you sure (Y/N)?". Type: Y and press the ENTER key. 3. You now need to ensure that everytime you power on, that your system comes up with the right date and time, with its computer environment in tune to your root directory, and that it can handle the extra demands put on it by multi-file processing. In this step, we'll handle the CONFIG.SYS file, which addresses these extra demands. With your prompt positioned on the hard disk, type: CD \ and press the ENTER key. This moves you to the root directory, if you are not already there. You may or may not have a CONFIG.SYS file. Type: DIR CONFIG.SYS and press the ENTER key. A)If you get the message "File not found", type the following lines: Type: ECHO FILES=20 > CONFIG.SYS and press the ENTER key. Type: ECHO BUFFERS=15 >> CONFIG.SYS and press the ENTER key. Type: TYPE CONFIG.SYS and press the ENTER key. You should see the below: FILES=20 BUFFERS=15 If you have an IBM AT, you can substitute BUFFERS=25 instead. If you don't see, the above, redo the two ECHO lines, and don't forget one greater-than sign on the first line and two greater- than signs on the second line. Go to step 4 now. B) If you got a display with the bottom line starting out as "1 file(s)...", type: TYPE CONFIG.SYS and press the ENTER key. If you don't see any lines that start out with "FILES=" and "BUFFERS=", type the following lines: Type: COPY CONFIG.SYS CONFIG.SAV and press the ENTER key. Type: ECHO FILES=20 >> CONFIG.SYS and press the ENTER key. NOVICE INSTALL MANUAL Copyright 1986 R.H. Martin Page 5 Type: ECHO BUFFERS=15 >> CONFIG.SYS and press the ENTER key. Type: TYPE CONFIG.SYS and press the ENTER key. You should see the below [you may see other lines than the below in your CONFIG.SYS file]: FILES=20 BUFFERS=15 If you have an IBM AT, you can substitute BUFFERS=25 instead. If you don't see the two new lines, perform the following recovery steps: Type: COPY CONFIG.SAV CONFIG.SYS and press the ENTER key. Now redo the above ECHO commands followed by the TYPE command. Don't forget to use two greater-than signs for each ECHO command line. You can erase your backed up CONFIG.SYS file, type: DEL CONFIG.SAV and press the ENTER key. Now go to step 4. C) If you did see either or both lines that start out with "FILES=" and "BUFFERS=", you'll have to use an editor of some sort which can work with plain ASCII files. If you don't understand this last, sentence, then just follow the instructions here. We'll use the DOS freebie editor, EDLIN.COM. Make sure you have copied this program onto your hard disk from your original DOS diskette. Study the sample editing session shown on the next page before being given specific instructions: NOVICE INSTALL MANUAL Copyright 1986 R.H. Martin Page 6 =============================================================== ACTUAL COMPUTER INPUT/OUTPUT Ref Line # ----------------------------------------------- ---------- >COPY CONFIG.SYS CONFIG.SAV A 1 File(s) copied >TYPE CONFIG.SYS B BREAK=ON FILES=20 DEVICE=ANSI.SYS BUFFERS=25 DEVICE=SPEEDISK.SYS - K75: >EDLIN CONFIG.SYS C End of input file *L D 1:*BREAK=ON 2: FILES=10 3: DEVICE=ANSI.SYS 4: BUFFERS=25 5: DEVICE=SPEEDISK.SYS - K75: 6: *2 D E *L F 1: BREAK=ON 2:*DEVICE=ANSI.SYS 3: BUFFERS=25 4: DEVICE=SPEEDISK.SYS - K75: 5: *3 D G *L H 1: BREAK=ON 2: DEVICE=ANSI.SYS 3:*DEVICE=SPEEDISK.SYS - K75: 4: *I I 3:*FILES=20 J 4:*BUFFERS=15 K 5:*^Z L *E M >TYPE CONFIG.SYS N BREAK=ON DEVICE=ANSI.SYS FILES=20 BUFFERS=15 DEVICE=SPEEDISK.SYS - K75: >DEL CONFIG.SAV O ============================================================== Because your CONFIG.SYS file may have a different number of NOVICE INSTALL MANUAL Copyright 1986 R.H. Martin Page 7 lines in it than the one shown, you'll have to modify it following the principles documented here, rather than blindly following instructions. To aid you, you'll be given an overview of what occurred above. Line A shows the user typing the entire line following the prompt symbol ">". This is done for backup, safety purposes. You should perform this line as shown. Line B shows the user looking at the CONFIG.SYS file prior to entering into an EDLIN editor session. You can do this also if you want to. Line C shows the user invoking the EDLIN editor program against the file CONFIG.SYS. You should perform this line as well as Line D as shown. Line D lists the file to the screen. The output is the same as that of Line B, except that line numbers appear now. You should note the first line number alongside either the "FILES=" or "BUFFERS=" statement. You may have only one of the two appearing. Whatever, pick the lowest numbered line first. Line E shows the user deleting the old entry for one of the above two statements. Using the appropriate line number, you should do this as well. Line F shows the user relisting the edited file. Note the re-arranging of the line numbers. Line G shows the user deleting the old entry for the other of the above two statements. Using the appropriate line number, you should do this as well. Line H shows the user relisting the edited file. Line I shows the user preparing to insert the two statements with the prescribed values. If you have an IBM AT, you could substitute "BUFFERS=25" instead. Lines J and K show the actual insertion lines. Line L shows the user ending the insertion process by pressing the F6 function key followed by an ENTER key. You'll have to do this as well. Line M shows the user ending the EDLIN editor session, which saves his changes to the disk and exits him back to the DOS level. Line N shows the user retyping the CONFIG.SYS file back to the screen. This confirms that the file was edited correctly. Line O shows the user deleting the unused backup file. 4. You still need to ensure that everytime you power on, that your system comes up with the right date and time, with its computer environment in tune to your root directory. Similarly to how we handled the CONFIG.SYS file, we'll now handle the AUTOEXEC.BAT file, which can be made to ensure all these things. First, you are recommended to read the section in your DOS manual about "PATH". NOVICE INSTALL MANUAL Copyright 1986 R.H. Martin Page 8 Regardless of whether you have a system clock, which you'll have if you have an IBM AT, you'll be recommended to include in your AUTOEXEC.BAT file DATE and TIME statements. This is because your clock can get off for several reasons, and being reminded of the current date and time upon each power-up is good practice. For sure, your clock will be off when you change to/from daylight savings time or when your clock battery gets weak. In addition, although it is not required, since it is a nice enough feature to include, you'll be shown a way to modify your system prompt to always remind you of where are are at on the hard disk. The PROMPT $P$G line will change your system prompt from a ">" to a "C:\>" instead. If you happen to be in a created directory that you might have for some other purpose, such as \WP (for your word processor), you'll see your prompt like this: "C:\WP>". You may or may not have a AUTOEXEC.BAT file. Type: DIR AUTOEXEC.BAT and press the ENTER key. A) If you get the message "File not found", type the following lines: Type: ECHO PATH=C:\ > AUTOEXEC.BAT and press the ENTER key. Type: ECHO DATE >> AUTOEXEC.BAT and press the ENTER key. Type: ECHO TIME >> AUTOEXEC.BAT and press the ENTER key. Type: ECHO PROMPT $P$G >> AUTOEXEC.BAT and press the ENTER key. Type: TYPE AUTOEXEC.BAT and press the ENTER key. You should see the below: PATH=C:\ DATE TIME PROMPT $P$G If you don't see the above, redo the four ECHO lines, and don't forget one greater-than sign on the first line and two greater- than signs on the following lines. Go to step 5 now. B) If you got a display with the bottom line starting out as "1 file(s)...", type: TYPE AUTOEXEC.BAT and press the ENTER key. If you don't see any lines that start out with "PATH", "DATE", "TIME" and "PROMPT", type the following lines: Type: COPY AUTOEXEC.BAT AUTOEXEC.SAV and press the ENTER key. Type: ECHO PATH=C:\ >> AUTOEXEC.BAT and press the ENTER key. Type: ECHO DATE >> AUTOEXEC.BAT and press the ENTER key. Type: ECHO TIME >> AUTOEXEC.BAT and press the ENTER key. Type: ECHO PROMPT $P$G >> AUTOEXEC.BAT and press the ENTER key. NOVICE INSTALL MANUAL Copyright 1986 R.H. Martin Page 9 Type: TYPE AUTOEXEC.BAT and press the ENTER key. You should see the below [you may see other lines than the below in your AUTOEXEC.BAT file]: PATH=C:\ DATE TIME PROMPT $P$G If you don't see the new lines, perform the following recovery steps: Type: COPY AUTOEXEC.SAV AUTOEXEC.BAT and press the ENTER key. Now redo the above ECHO commands followed by the TYPE command. Don't forget to use two greater-than signs for each ECHO command line. You can erase your backed up AUTOEXEC.BAT file, type: DEL AUTOEXEC.SAV and press the ENTER key. Now go to step 5. C) If you did see lines that start out with "PATH", "DATE", "TIME", or "PROMPT", you may have to use an editor of some sort which can work with plain ASCII files. If you don't understand this last, sentence, then just follow the instructions here. We'll use the DOS freebie editor, EDLIN.COM. Make sure you have copied this program onto your hard disk from your original DOS diskette. Study the sample editing session shown on the next page before being given specific instructions: NOVICE INSTALL MANUAL Copyright 1986 R.H. Martin Page 10 ============================================================== ACTUAL COMPUTER INPUT/OUTPUT Ref Line # ------------------------------------------------ ---------- >COPY AUTOEXEC.BAT AUTOEXEC.SAV A 1 File(s) copied >TYPE AUTOEXEC.BAT B PATH=C:\DOS VERIFY ON CHKDSK SPOOL -8 >EDLIN AUTOEXEC.BAT C End of input file *L D 1:*VERIFY ON 2: PATH=C:\DOS 3: CHKDSK 4: SPOOL -8 5: *2 D E *L F 1: VERIFY ON 2:*CHKDSK 3: SPOOL -8 4: *I G 2:*PATH=C:\;C:\DOS H 3:*DATE I 4:*TIME J 5:*PROMPT $P$G K 6:*^Z L *E M >TYPE AUTOEXEC.BAT N VERIFY ON PATH=C:\;C:\DOS DATE TIME PROMPT $P$G CHKDSK SPOOL -8 >DEL AUTOEXEC.SAV O ============================================================== Because your AUTOEXEC.BAT file may have a different number of lines in it than the one shown, you'll have to modify it following the principles documented here, rather than blindly following instructions. To aid you, you'll be given an overview of what occurred above. NOVICE INSTALL MANUAL Copyright 1986 R.H. Martin Page 11 You should first be forewarned that you might have an AUTOEXEC.BAT which "chains" to other ".BAT" files. If so, then it is very important that you have an experienced DOS user modify your AUTOEXEC.BAT correctly. Chances are that your AUTOEXEC.BAT file is not engaged in chaining operations, and the below instructions should suit you adequately. If you are curious whether a particular line is a command to chain to another .BAT file, you can verify your hunch in the following manner. Pretend a line in your AUTOEXEC.BAT file reads "MENU". To find out if this is a command to chain to a .BAT file or if it is invoking a program, type: CHKDSK/V | FIND "MENU." and press the ENTER key. If all you see in response (which might be 2-3 minutes) is something like this, "C:\UTIL\MENU.BAT", you can bet that AUTOEXEC.BAT will do a chain operation when this line is executed, meaning that no entries following this line will be executed if the chain line is executed. Again, if you suspect chaining to another .BAT file occurs in your AUTOEXEC.BAT file, you are recommended to seek the help of an experienced DOS user to modify your AUTOEXEC.BAT correctly. Line A shows the user typing the entire line following the prompt symbol ">". This is done for backup, safety purposes. You should perform this line as shown. Line B shows the user looking at the AUTOEXEC.BAT file prior to entering into an EDLIN editor session. You can do this also if you want to. Looking at this AUTOEXEC.BAT file, one can see that is lacks a "DATE", "TIME", and "PROMPT" statement. However, this AUTOEXEC.BAT does have some nice safety features in it. Notice that it does a CHKDSK for the user automatically upon power up. It also causes the DOS COPY VERIFY function to always work, regardless of using the "/V" on the DOS COPY command. You may also want to consider adding these two AUTOEXEC.BAT commands as well. You aren't required to by PC- KAT though, just as you aren't required to use a special PROMPT. It's just that using these features can make your hard disk operations cleaner. The "PATH" line shown under Line B is inadequate for the only directory pointed to in it is the directory called "C:\DOS". If the line read "PATH=C:\;C:\DOS", "PATH=\;\DOS", "PATH=\;C:\DOS", "PATH=C:\;\DOS", "PATH=\DOS;\", "PATH=\DOS;C:\" or "PATH=C:\DOS;\" the "PATH" line would be correct. One does not need the "=" sign, in place of it could be a blank space. One can also have a semicolon ";" at the end of the line with no harm. What is wrong about the "PATH" statement shown by Line B's action is that the root directory "\" or "C:\" is not in the PATH. The literal "C:\DOS" refers to the subdirectory "\DOS". NOVICE INSTALL MANUAL Copyright 1986 R.H. Martin Page 12 If everything looks correct in your AUTOEXEC.BAT, you can proceed to Step 5 now. Line C shows the user invoking the EDLIN editor program against the file AUTOEXEC.BAT. You should perform this line as well as Line D as shown. Line D lists the file to the screen. The output is the same as that of Line B, except that line numbers appear now. You should note the first line number alongside the "PATH" statement. If you see a "PROMPT" statement, then you already know enough about it to have it already tailored to your needs and you might as well leave it as you already have it. If you see a "DATE" or "TIME" statement, then you don't need to delete it and then re-enter it. Leave these two statements where they lay. Line E shows the user deleting the old entry for the "PATH" statement. Using the appropriate line number, you should do this as well. Line F shows the user relisting the edited file. Note the re-arranging of the line numbers. Line G shows the user preparing to insert the lacking statements. If you already have a "PATH" line, but it doesn't include reference to the root directory, then retype a "PATH" line like the old, but with reference to the root directory in it, as shown in this example. Lines H through K show the actual insertion lines. Line L shows the user ending the insertion process by pressing the F6 function key followed by an ENTER key. You'll have to do this as well. Line M shows the user ending the EDLIN editor session, which saves his changes to the disk and exits him back to the DOS level. Line N shows the user retyping the AUTOEXEC.BAT file back to the screen. This confirms that the file was edited correctly. Line O shows the user deleting the unused backup file. 5. You should restart your computer now. You will now benefit from the changes made above. 6. Make sure that you have the following DOS programs loaded onto your hard disk: FORMAT, SORT and MORE. These three programs are DOS programs which PC-KAT expects to be able to run, if you choose the option which uses them. (Don't worry about the FORMAT command and your hard disk. PC-KAT only allows you to FORMAT drive A or drive B.) If you don't have these programs on your hard disk, insert your original DOS diskette in drive A: and type the following commands: COPY A:FORMAT.* C:\ /V and press ENTER. COPY A:SORT.* C:\ /V and press ENTER. COPY A:MORE.* C:\ /V and press ENTER. NOVICE INSTALL MANUAL Copyright 1986 R.H. Martin Page 13 7. Hopefully you have done this before this, but to be safe, we will verify that your equipment meets the recommended requirements listed under the "HARDWARE REQUIREMENTS" section. First, you should have an IBM or compatible type personal computer. This product was developed on a COMPAQ PLUS, so it definitely runs on an IBM compatible type computer. Next, you need to have the correct version of either the PC-DOS or the MS-DOS operating system. Type: VER and press the ENTER key. The N.NN number which appears on the far right hand side of the displayed line should be greater than or equal to 2.00. If it is, and you either see the phrase "PC-DOS" or "MS-DOS", then you have a supported operating system environment. Next, you need to know about your hard disk and available user memory. Type: CHKDSK C: and press the ENTER key. If you get the message "Bad command or file name", you should put your original DOS diskette in drive A and type: A:CHKDSK C: and press the ENTER key. If the program asks you for a "Y" or "N", go ahead and answer "N" for the time being. When you get the prompt back, you might want read up in your DOS manual about the CHKDSK program. Then you should consider rerunning the command in the following manner. Type: CHKDSK C:/F and press the ENTER key. When given the "Y" or "N" prompt, answer "Y" this time. Then you might want to type out the files, "C:\FILE0???.CHK". You should seek expert advice about what these file displays mean. Once satisfied, you could then delete these files "C:\FILE0???.CHK". The number that appears alongside the CHKDSK phrase "bytes total disk space" should be at least a 7 or higher digit number, indicating that you intend to run your software either on a high capacity 1.2MB floppy or, preferrably, on a hard disk (in which case, you'll have a 8 or higher digit number). The number that appears alongside the CHKDSK phrase "bytes available on disk" should indicate at least 500,000 (or 0.5 MB), for with the software and even a small PC-KAT database (after a month's usage), you'll be using up at least this much disk space. Covering 500 diskettes and 10,050 filenames, will require about 925,000 bytes (or 0.925 MB). This 0.925 MB figure includes the PC-KAT software space requirements. Make sure you have adequate disk space before doing PC-KAT install. The number that appears alongside the CHKDSK phrase "bytes free" indicates available user memory (RAM available). You are advised to have at least 196,608 bytes of RAM or 192K RAM free before running PC-KAT. PC-KAT may run slightly under that amount of RAM free space, but you do so at your own risk. NOVICE INSTALL MANUAL Copyright 1986 R.H. Martin Page 14 8. Go to paragraph 7 in the USER MANUAL, under the subsection entitled "SHORT INSTALLATION INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE DOS 2.0+ EXPERIENCED USER", in the section on "INSTALLATION."