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DISK CATALOG SYSTEM (CATDISK) USER'S GUIDE Version 6.35 Jan 28, 1993 Copyright (C) 1986, 1993 By Rick Hillier All Rights Reserved. _______ ____|__ | (tm) --| | |------------------- | ____|__ | Association of | | |_| Shareware |__| o | Professionals -----| | |--------------------- |___|___| MEMBER T A B L E O F C O N T E N T S 1. INTRODUCTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Dedication . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Licensing And Distribution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 ASP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 2. GETTING STARTED . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 What You Should Have Received . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 System Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Initial Note On Archive Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Configuring CATDISK . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Excluding Certain Files From Being Cataloged . . . . . . . . . 11 Color Customization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 Default Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 Upgrading From V3.61 or Later . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 Saving Your Configuration Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 General Considerations When Configuring CATDISK . . . . . . . 14 Sample Configurations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 IMPORTANT NOTE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 Starting CATDISK . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 3. USING CATDISK . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 Using The Menus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 Selecting A Volume ID From A List . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 Option 1 - Set Drive For Cataloging . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 Option 2 - Set Current Catalog File . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 Option 3 - Settings And Toggles Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 1 - Set Drive For Cataloging . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 2 - Pauses On/Off . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 3 - Change Printer Report Type . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 4 - Report Totals On/Off . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 5 - File Comments On The Fly . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 F1 - Main Archive Comment Copy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 F2 - Extract 4DOS/NDOS Comments . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28 6 - Set Current Report Destination . . . . . . . . . . . 28 7 - Activating/Deactivating Two Sided Printer Reports . . 28 8 - Archive Extract Setting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 9 - Comments When ZIPS Not Extracted . . . . . . . . . . 29 0 - Aliases On/Off . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 F3 - Suggest Volume Label On/Off . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 ESC - Return To Main Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 Option 4 - Labeling A Disk . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31 Option 5 - Cataloging/Re-cataloging A Disk . . . . . . . . . 32 Option F1 - UnCataloging A Disk . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35 Option 6 - Change Comments By Volume ID . . . . . . . . . . . 36 Option 7 - Change Comments By Filespec . . . . . . . . . . . 38 Option 8 - Comment Files By Comment . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38 Option 9 - Import Comments From A Text File . . . . . . . . . 38 Disk Catalog System (CATDISK) V6.35 Copr (C) 1986, 1993 by Rick Hillier Page 1 Option 0 - Reports And Inquiries Menu . . . . . . . . . . . 41 Screen Based Reports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41 Printer Based Reports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42 Disk Based Reports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42 1 - Show Disk Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43 2 - Files For A Volume . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44 3 - Files For An Archive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46 4 - Files By Filespec . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48 5 - Files By Comment Text . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50 F1 - Files By Comment Keywords . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51 6 - Files By Comment/Filename Text . . . . . . . . . . . 52 7 - Sorted Full File Listings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52 8 - Unique Files Only . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53 9 - Duplicate Files Only . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53 0 - Volume Summary/Contents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54 Option <F2> - Shell To DOS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55 Option <drive_letter> - Show Disk Directory . . . . . . . . 56 Option ESC - Exit To DOS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56 Appendix A - The Scroll Bar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57 Appendix B - Archive Support . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58 Appendix C - CATLOOK Command Line Lookup Utility . . . . . . . . 60 Appendix D - CATMGR - CATDISK Catalog Manager . . . . . . . . . . 61 Appendix E - DISKFILL - Optimal Disk Fill Utility . . . . . . . . 65 Appendix F - Support And Updates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75 Attention Out of Town CATDISK Users . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76 Appendix G - Questions And Answers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77 Appendix H - CATDISK Companion Programs . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81 Appendix I - CATDISK PLUS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84 Appendix J - Other Products Available . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85 Disk Catalog System (CATDISK) V6.35 Copr (C) 1986, 1993 by Rick Hillier Page 2 1. I N T R O D U C T I O N DEDICATION This program is dedicated to the memory of my Grandfather, Earl Hillier (Jan 1, 1909 - May 2, 1989). OVERVIEW Overheard: "I know I have that file in an archive on a disk SOMEWHERE! If only I could FIND it!" Sound familiar? Many people I know are in this predicament. Enter CATDISK, the disk cataloging system. CATDISK can help you organize your disks in such a way that it is easy to find a file from within a large collection by creating a collective directory of all the files contained in your collection. See the FEATURES section below for a listing of CATDISK's capabilities. Disk Catalog System (CATDISK) V6.35 Copr (C) 1986, 1993 by Rick Hillier Page 3 FEATURES - CATDISK PROGRAM - Completely menu-driven and very easy to use. - Configuration utility allows customization of the main features. - All screen colors may be customized to your liking. - Command line options can be stored in the DOS environment area negating the need to memorize them. - Cataloging/Uncataloging/Re-cataloging functions are fully automated. - A disk volume label can be changed from within CATDISK. - CATDISK can suggest sequential volume labels for you to use. - You can catalog a disk under an alias instead of the volume label. - Supports up to 32,767 files or 2,000 disks per catalog, which can be. reduced through the config program to better optimize memory usage. - Supports multiple catalog files. - Supports up to 512 sub-directories PER DISK being cataloged. - Able to read the directory contents of ARC, ARJ, DWC, HYP, LBR, LZH, LZS,PAK, ZIP, and ZOO archive files. See the appendix on ARCHIVE SUPPORT in this user manual for further details. - Archive extraction is optional and can be set while in the program. - You can attach a 43 character comment to each file in the catalog, which can be done either while cataloging a disk, or at a later time. - Can import comments from an ASCII text file, such as a BBS listing. - Can read comments from ZIP, ZOO and DWC files. - Can extract resolution/color information from GIF (Graphics Interchange Format) files and include it as the default comment. - Can read 4DOS/NDOS directory comments and add them to your catalog. - Summary report shows disk capacity, space used and space free on each disk in the catalog to aid in optimization of disk usage. - Files can be viewed by DOS wildcards, Volume ID, ARCHIVE ID, or by keywords or phrases in the file comments. - Reports can be sent to screen, printer, or disk file. - Printer reports can be printed in a two-sided format to conserve paper (this is, quite possibly, the first environmentally friendly software product in terms of built-in reporting facilities). FEATURES - "CATLOOK" UTILITY - small size allows it to be used when available memory is restricted. - command line parameters allow any of CATDISK's reports to be created. - output may be re-directed to a file or printer. FEATURES - "CATMGR" UTILITY - can be used to split/merge complete or partial catalog files. - menu driven for ease of use. - point and shoot selection of individual cataloged volumes to move, copy or delete FEATURES - "DISKFILL" UTILITY - CATDISK's Optimal Disk Fill Utility automates offloading of files to floppies using point and shoot file selection, and uses a "best-fit" arrangement to minimize wasted disk space. As disks are filled with files, those disks can be cataloged as you go. This program can also recommend disks to use that have already been cataloged for "backfilling" of free space. - DISKFILL fully supports 4DOS/NDOS file descriptions. Disk Catalog System (CATDISK) V6.35 Copr (C) 1986, 1993 by Rick Hillier Page 4 LICENSING AND DISTRIBUTION CATDISK is copyright and has been released for distribution as SHAREWARE. Please note that a great deal of time and effort has been invested in the development of this program. You are granted a license to try CATDISK for a reasonable trial period without risk. If, after this time, you find the program useful and intend to use it in managing your disk collection, you are expected to register. The base registration fee is $25. This will entitle you to continue to use CATDISK beyond a reasonable trial period as well as entitle you to program support. The registration form, which should be included in the distribution package that you received outlines the procedures for registering your copy of the program. Should you decide that you would like the latest release (or a pending release if you already have the latest) appropriate information is contained on the same form. Please keep in mind that I must have a registration form on file for you before I can offer product support. Operators of electronic bulletin boards (Sysops) are encouraged to post CATDISK for downloading by their users. CATDISK may be uploaded to and downloaded from commercial systems such as CompuServe, the Source, and BIX, so long as the only charge paid by the subscriber is for on-line time and there is no charge for the program. Those copying, sharing, and/or electronically transmitting the program are required not to delete or modify the copyright notice and restrictive notices from the program or documentation; anyone doing so will be treated as a contributory copyright violator. If you are passing this program on to others, uploading it to a bulletin board system, or including it in a users group library, do not separate the files contained in the distribution archive - pass the entire archive on to the intended party. This ensures that those who receive the program will have all the correct configuration utilities and documentation necessary to get CATDISK up and running quickly. A listing of what files you should have and the purpose of each is listed later in this manual. The CATDISK documentation may not be modified by users. The program may not be separated from the documentation when distributed. Printed or Photocopies ("Xeroxed") copies of the CATDISK documentation (i.e., this manual) may not be distributed or sold without the written permission of the author. No other person other than the author, Rick Hillier, may accept payment or royalties for this program. This license to use CATDISK does NOT include the right to distribute or sell CATDISK. Distribution terms are detailed in the file VENDOR.DOC which is included with this package. Disk Catalog System (CATDISK) V6.35 Copr (C) 1986, 1993 by Rick Hillier Page 5 ASP This program is produced by a member of the Association of Shareware Professionals (ASP). ASP wants to make sure that the shareware principle works for you. If you are unable to resolve a shareware-related problem with an ASP member by contacting the member directly, ASP may be able to help. The ASP Ombudsman can help you resolve a dispute or problem with an ASP member, but does not provide technical support for members' products. Please write to the ASP Ombudsman at P.O. Box 5786, Bellevue, WA 98006 or send a Compuserve message via CompuServe mail to ASP Ombudsman 70007,3536 Disk Catalog System (CATDISK) V6.35 Copr (C) 1986, 1993 by Rick Hillier Page 6 2. G E T T I N G S T A R T E D WHAT YOU SHOULD HAVE RECEIVED CATDISK is distributed in the form of a self-extracting executable file created with Haruyasu Yokizaki's LHA utility. This file should contain three files which are as follows: README.1ST - Urgent program notes - IMPORTANT -- READ THIS FILE! CATPROGS.EXE - A self-extracting archive containing the CATDISK program files as follows: CATDISK.EXE - The CATDISK program file. CATLOOK.EXE - The CATDISK command line utility (lookup program). CATMGR.EXE - The CATDISK catalog file manager (split/merge/delete/ copy utility). DISKFILL.EXE - An optimal disk fill utility. CDISKCFG.EXE - The CATDISK configuration program. CDISKCVT.EXE - Conversion utility for converting old CATDISK files to the newest format - See the README.1ST file before running. CLEANCAT.EXE - Cleanup utility for catalog entries containing volume labels containing null characters - See the README.1ST file before running. CATDOCS.EXE - A self-extracting archive containing the CATDISK documentation files as follows: PRINTDOC.EXE - A utility program to print the various CATDISK documentation files. See README.1ST for details. CATDISK.DOC - The manual you are now reading. CATDISK.HST - Revision history for CATDISK since its initial release in October 1986. REGISTER.FRM - The registration form for this product. SITE.LIC - The site license registration form for this product. VENDOR.DOC - Vendors must read this agreement and use the attached form for obtaining permission to distribute CATDISK. To extract the files, just run CATPROGS.EXE and/or CATDOCS.EXE and the files will be automatically extracted to the current directory. SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS . IBM PC/XT/AT or PS/2 or true compatible computer. . DOS V2.00 or above. . At least one floppy disk drive (Hard Drive Highly Recommended). . 320K RAM - if more is available, CATDISK will have greater internal capacity for reading new files off of the disks being cataloged and will run more efficiently. INITIAL NOTE ON ARCHIVE FILES At various points in this user manual, references to ARCHIVE files are made. This is a collective term describing a file that actually contains more than one file. The contained files may or may not be compressed. Currently, this refers to ARC, ARJ, DWC, HYP, LBR, LZH, LZS, PAK, ZIP and ZOO files. Disk Catalog System (CATDISK) V6.35 Copr (C) 1986, 1993 by Rick Hillier Page 7 CONFIGURING CATDISK Many features of CATDISK may be permanently set from the configuration program, CDISKCFG.EXE. When you start this program, please make sure that the correct versions of the program files CATDISK.EXE, and CATLOOK.EXE are in the current drive and directory, otherwise you will get an error message. There are several utilities available that allow you to compress an executable file such that it remains executable, but takes up less room on your disk. Examples of such programs are PKLITE and LZEXE. If you use such programs on CATDISK.EXE and CATLOOK.EXE, CDISKCFG will not be able to find the configuration information in those two files. Once you've configured CATDISK to your liking, it's okay to compress the two files after making copies of the originals. Upon startup, the configuration program will read the current settings defined in "CATDISK.EXE", after which, the configuration screen will be presented. You may change any given item on this screen by using the <Cursor UP> and <Cursor DOWN> keys to highlight the title of the desired field. The bottom portion of the screen will contain any additional information as well as any instructions on how to change the selected item. A discussion of the 10 items on this list follows: 1) SCREEN UPDATE METHOD You may choose between having your screen updated by using your computer's built in BIOS routines, or by using a faster DIRECT screen update method. Using the BIOS is much slower than using direct access, but maintains compatibility with such operating environments as TopView, Desqview, and DoubleDOS. Choosing DIRECT screen access is much quicker, but will be incompatible with most multitasking programs such as the above mentioned due to the fact that they cannot handle "ill-behaved" programs that write directly to the screen. If you chose DIRECT screen access, a second test is made if you have a GRAPHICS display connected in your system. Some video adapters have the nasty side effect of producing static, or "snow" when the video memory is accessed directly. This test will do multiple direct access to the video ram on your graphics adapter. When you hit a key to stop the test, you will be asked if you saw static on the screen. If you answer "Y" to the prompt, CATDISK will check for horizontal retrace before writing to the display. This will result in a slightly slower screen response than normal, but it is almost negligible. If you are not running under a multitasking system, or are using DoubleDos in dual screen mode, I would recommend that you use DIRECT screen access, as it's much quicker. 2) COLOR OR B & W This option is self-explanatory. The appearance of the setup screen will depend on the setting of this field. Disk Catalog System (CATDISK) V6.35 Copr (C) 1986, 1993 by Rick Hillier Page 8 3) DISK CACHE SIZE This field will enable you to set the DISK CACHE size. Setting it to zero will disable the cache (i.e. turn the feature off). Setting it to a number greater then zero will turn it on and will enable CATDISK to keep the most recently read sectors of the CATALOG FILES in memory, resulting in much faster scans through the catalog file when looking for a group of files. Some hard disks use their own device driver, and are incompatible with this caching method. If this is the case, CATDISK will warn you of this condition if caching is enabled, but is incompatible with your hard disk. Under these circumstances, the caching feature will be turned off during that program run... use this configuration option to permanently disable the cache and eliminate the warning at each startup. If you already have a resident disk cache loaded in your system, DO NOT USE CATDISK'S BUILT IN CACHE!!! The two systems will conflict with each other and will probably cause damage to your catalog files. 4) NUMBER OF LINES PER PAGE The number of lines per page field will enable you to tell CATDISK the number of lines of data (EXCLUDING headings) that it should place on each page of printer or disk output. This may be any number between 0 and 255. Entering zero will disable page breaking and the output will be presented in a continuous stream with one title at the top. 5) PRINTER STARTUP STRING The printer start up string is a series of ASCII codes (entered here as their ASCII VALUES) that will tailor your reports to the format you desire. For example, I use an Epson printer and like to set it to 1/8" spacing and get 80 report lines per page. To do this, I send a startup string of "<Esc> <0>" to set this print mode. To enter this string in the configuration program, I would enter it as "027 048" without the quotes. The numbers are simply the ASCII values of the characters I wish to send. If you have a setup string entered here and wish to clear it, simply hit <Return> in response to the prompt in the bottom area of the screen. 6) PRINTER FINISHING STRING The printer finishing string is commonly used to reverse the startup string entered above and is entered in exactly the same way. In the example above, I would use "<Esc> <2>", which would be entered as "027 050" without the quotes. If you have a setup string entered here and wish to clear it, simple hit <Return> in response to the prompt in the bottom area of the screen. Disk Catalog System (CATDISK) V6.35 Copr (C) 1986, 1993 by Rick Hillier Page 9 7) DEFAULT ARCHIVE EXTRACT STATE This will control the way CATDISK handles any ARCHIVE files that it might encounter when cataloging your disks. If you set it to OFF, CATDISK will NOT extract any archive files that it finds on your disks. If you set it to ON, CATDISK will expand EVERY ARCHIVE file that it finds on your disks. If you set it to QUERY, CATDISK will ask you for permission to expand an ARCHIVE file each time it encounters one. This can be changed temporarily while running CATDISK. 8) DEFAULT CATALOG DRIVE The default catalog drive is the drive that CATDISK will assume you wish to use for labeling disks and reading them for cataloging purposes. This drive may still be changed at startup time (see STARTING CATDISK), or from the menu when catdisk is running. If you are running on single floppy based system, I would recommend that you set this drive to the same drive ID that CATDISK will be run from. CATDISK will prompt you to enter the appropriate disks at the appropriate time, and will eliminate potential problems with the disk caching feature if enabled (See the file README.1ST). 9) CATALOG FILE DIRECTORY The catalog file directory is the location in your system that CATDISK will look for and create its catalog files. This path may contain a drive designator, so that the catalog files may reside on a different drive than CATDISK itself, such as a ramdisk (in this case don't forget to copy the files to a real disk before you turn off or reboot your machine). If this field is blank, the default drive and directory will be used. 10) DISKS/FILES PER CATALOG The maximum number of disks and files per catalog is simply that. When CATDISK starts, it allocates its work space according to this setting. There are currently four possible settings; which one you pick is largely dependent upon the environment in which CATDISK is to be run. These settings are: DISKS # FILES 2000 32767 (32K) 1500 24576 (24K) 1000 16384 (16K) 500 8192 ( 8K) Disk Catalog System (CATDISK) V6.35 Copr (C) 1986, 1993 by Rick Hillier Page 10 EXCLUDING CERTAIN FILES FROM BEING CATALOGED There are circumstances where it is desirable to have CATDISK skip over certain files while reading in directory information for cataloging purposes. A good example of this may be a situation where the utility FILEINFO (from The Norton Utilities) may be used to maintain lists of file comments. This information is stored in each directory in a file called FILEINFO.FI, and, if you catalog many diskettes containing this file, you will end up with the same filename listed in your catalog many times. Another example would be many DOS system diskettes that contain IO.SYS, MSDOS.SYS, COMMAND.COM and AUTOEXEC.BAT. There is a place in the configuration program where you can give CATDISK a list of up to 20 wildcard specifications for files that you do not want included in cataloging operations. When CATDISK scans a disk to be cataloged, any files matching one of the specifications in the list will be ignored. One thing to note, though. If you instruct CATDISK to skip archive files, the directory information of those archives will still be examined and included in the cataloging operation if appropriate. The uses for this feature are quite broad. You can change the list of filespecs to skip over by pressing <F7> from the main configuration screen. You will then see a screen where you can fill in up to 20 filespecs that CATDISK should ignore when performing cataloging operations. To change a filespec, simply use the cursor keys to move to the desired filespec and type in the new information for that area. To clear out an existing spec, just fill the area with spaces. When you are finished modifying the list, press <Esc> to return to the main configuration screen. Disk Catalog System (CATDISK) V6.35 Copr (C) 1986, 1993 by Rick Hillier Page 11 COLOR CUSTOMIZATION If you would prefer a color scheme other than the default ones supplied with CATDISK, you may set your own from within the configuration program. To do so, simply hit <F9> from the configuration screen and follow the menus. Once you have selected this option, you will see a menu that will allow you to select some general colors such as screen background and border color (CGA type displays only - EGA and VGA have no effect), as well as an option to reset the author's (that's me!) colors should you really make a mess of the color scheme and wish to start over. The other options will bring up menus that pertain to the various screens that you might encounter in your usage of CATDISK. When you reach these, there will be an option available for each item that will change its foreground or background color. Selecting an option will step you through the possible color range for that particular item. On monochrome or black & white systems, you may have to press an option key several times to cycle through the available colors, as many of these colors may appear the same on these systems. Does this sound confusing? Try it for yourself... it's really quite easy. For starters, try setting everything to green on cyan <grin> (if you don't have a strong stomach, don't bother). Once you have set all the fields to your desired settings, you may instruct CDISKCFG to save the current settings by pressing <F10>. CATDISK will save the appropriate information in the CATDISK.EXE and CATLOOK.EXE program files and return to DOS. If you do not wish to save the changes you made, simply hit <Esc>, and you will be returned to DOS, while the previous configuration will remain unscathed. DEFAULT SETTINGS CATDISK is shipped with the following default settings: 1) Screen Update Method: BIOS 2) Color or B & W: B & W 3) Disk Caching: 0 K (Disabled) 4) Output Lines Per Page: 58 5) Printer Startup String: Nothing 6) Printer Finishing String: Nothing 7) Default ARCHIVE Extract State: ON 8) Catalog Drive: A: 9) Catalog File Directory: Default Drive and Directory 10) Maximum Disks/Files per Catalog: 1000/16384 11) Color Scheme: Authors Colors Disk Catalog System (CATDISK) V6.35 Copr (C) 1986, 1993 by Rick Hillier Page 12 UPGRADING FROM V3.61 OR LATER Before copying the new program files to your work disk, you might want to rename the executable file from the previous installation (CATDISK.COM or CATDISK.EXE) to another name. The configuration utility, CDISKCFG.EXE has the ability to read the configuration information from the release that you were using for easy installation into this release. This can save you some time in setting the program up for your preferences, particularly if you've customized all the screen colors. Example - Upgrading from V4.50 to this release: Procedure: 1) Rename your old CATDISK.EXE to CAT450.EXE (this file holds the configuration information from the last installation. 2) Run the configuration utility, CDISKCFG.EXE. 3) Hit <F8>. CDISKCFG will ask you for the file name of the old program file. Answer "CAT450.EXE" (without the quotes). CDISKCFG will search the given file for the appropriate configuration information. If successful, this information will be reflected in the configuration options as displayed on the screen. If you've selected the wrong file, you will get an error message, and the old settings will remain intact on the screen. 4) If successful, press <F10>, and the settings will be saved in the current CATDISK release. 5) Delete CAT450.EXE - it's no longer needed. SAVING YOUR CONFIGURATION SETTINGS When you have all of the configuration options set the way you want them, simply press <F10> to save those changes to the various CATDISK program files. Disk Catalog System (CATDISK) V6.35 Copr (C) 1986, 1993 by Rick Hillier Page 13 GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS WHEN CONFIGURING CATDISK When setting CATDISK up, there are a few things you should consider: If you have a hard disk, you should use it for maintaining your catalog files (i.e. set your catalog file directory to somewhere on your hard drive). If possible, set your video update method to DIRECT. CATDISK runs faster in this mode. If you are using a hard drive or a ram disk to hold your catalog files, you should NOT use CATDISK's caching feature. The cache built into CATDISK is meant to aid those with floppy disk based systems when doing multiple searches through the catalog file. Using the cache while updating a catalog files imposes additional overhead on the operation. It is negligible on floppy based systems, as the bottleneck in the operation is the disk itself - on hard drives, it is noticeable. If possible, using one of the commercially available disk caching systems is recommended, as they incorporate features into their programs such as being able to use extended and expanded memory and the like that are not feasible to include in CATDISK. When setting your printer up for printing reports, try to set the printer startup string such that the complete catalog listing (i.e. files, stats and comments) can be printed. The best setting for the default ARCHIVE extract state is QUERY. Many archives do not need to be fully extracted as the name of the archive filename itself is all that is necessary in order to identify what is on that particular disk. By using some discretion in deciding which archive files need be extracted, you can dramatically reduce the size of your catalog files (as well as the time needed to update and search them). Some however, need to be extracted (for example, MISC.ARC). This setting gives you the best of both worlds. When setting the default drive and directory for your catalog files, be sure and include it in your DOS PATH as well. Although this is not necessary, it will enable you to run CATDISK from anywhere in your system without having to change to that directory before running CATDISK. Setting the PATH for this is only beneficial to those using hard drives. When setting the maximum number of disks and files that can be maintained in a catalog file, the best setting should be the LOWEST one that will contain your largest catalog file. This will maximize the amount of free memory left over that CATDISK can use to store file information being read from disks being cataloged, sorting information, caching information, and the like. Keep in mind that, if you should have a catalog file grow to your set maximum, you can always re-configure CATDISK (memory permitting, of course) to accommodate a larger configuration, unless you are already at the highest setting. When you next run CATDISK after making these changes, your catalog file will then be able to grow to the new setting. If you are running on floppy drives, use the 8K setting for disks/files per catalog. Your files will never exceed this limitation. Disk Catalog System (CATDISK) V6.35 Copr (C) 1986, 1993 by Rick Hillier Page 14 SAMPLE CONFIGURATIONS Scenario: One Hard Disk (C:) and a floppy drive: Make a directory "C:\CATDISK" and copy the files CATDISK.EXE and CDISKCFG.EXE to it. Set the configuration to: 1) Screen Update Method: <your option> 2) Color or B & W: <your option> 3) Disk Caching: 0 K (Disabled) 4) Output Lines Per Page: <your option> 5) Printer Startup String: <your option> 6) Printer Finishing String: <your option> 7) Default ARCHIVE Extract State: <your option> 8) Catalog Drive: A: 9) Catalog File Directory: C:\CATDISK 10) Maximum Disks/Files per Catalog: <your option> 11) Color Scheme: <your option> Add C:\CATDISK to the DOS PATH and you will be able to call up CATDISK or CATLOOK from anywhere in your system. Scenario: Two floppy drives: Take a blank disk and copy the files CATDISK.EXE and CDISKCFG.EXE to it. This will be your CATDISK program disk. Set the configuration to: 1) Screen Update Method: <your option> 2) Color or B & W: <your option> 3) Disk Caching: <your option> 4) Output Lines Per Page: <your option> 5) Printer Startup String: <your option> 6) Printer Finishing String: <your option> 7) Default ARCHIVE Extract State: <your option> 8) Catalog Drive: A: 9) Catalog File Directory: B:\ 10) Maximum Disks/Files per Catalog: 500/8192 11) Color Scheme: <your option> When starting CATDISK for the first time, insert the program disk in drive A: and take a blank formatted disk and insert it in drive B:. This will be your data disk. When CATDISK has loaded and has displayed the title screen, you may remove the CATDISK program disk from the A: drive. This will now be the drive from which disks being cataloged will be read. Disk Catalog System (CATDISK) V6.35 Copr (C) 1986, 1993 by Rick Hillier Page 15 Scenario: One floppy drive: Take a blank disk and copy the files CATDISK.EXE and CDISKCFG.EXE to it. This will be your CATDISK program disk. Set the configuration to: 1) Screen Update Method: <your option> 2) Color or B & W: <your option> 3) Disk Caching: <your option> 4) Output Lines Per Page: <your option> 5) Printer Startup String: <your option> 6) Printer Finishing String: <your option> 7) Default ARCHIVE Extract State: <your option> 8) Catalog Drive: A: 9) Catalog File Directory: A:\ 10) Maximum Disks/Files per Catalog: 500/8192 11) Color Scheme: <your option> When starting CATDISK for the first time, insert the program disk in drive A: and start CATDISK. You will need to add the command line option /IP (initial pause - see later in this manual). Once CATDISK has loaded, it will pause and ask you to insert your data disk. If this is the first time you are running CATDISK, use a blank formatted disk. When you catalog a disk, you must first remove the data disk and insert the disk to be cataloged BEFORE activating the catalog function. When CATDISK is done reading the disk, it will ask you to re-insert the data disk. IMPORTANT NOTE If you are running CATDISK on a single drive system, I would recommend the above configuration for two reasons, even though DOS can make the one drive act like A: and B:. 1) Perhaps the most important reason; if you've activated the disk caching feature, is that failure to do so may cause a loss of data on disks other than your data disk, particularly when you label a disk. The reason being that the cache built into CATDISK references the PHYSICAL hardware, not the logical drive that DOS creates (i.e. A: and B: use the SAME piece of equipment). By setting CATDISK to the above configuration, it will be aware that the above situation exists and take the correct action when carrying out critical functions. 2) This will allow CATDISK to prompt you for the appropriate disks, thus avoiding the DOS prompt "Insert disk for drive B:" and the like. Disk Catalog System (CATDISK) V6.35 Copr (C) 1986, 1993 by Rick Hillier Page 16 STARTING CATDISK CATDISK is started from the DOS command line by issuing the following: CATDISK parameters - where parameters may include any of the following: /NP - Specifying this command line option will cause CATDISK to eliminate the pause after cataloging/ un-cataloging a disk. It will also eliminate the "Insert a disk in drive X:" prompt unless it is absolutely necessary. /NW - Under normal circumstances, when you catalog a disk containing a Volume ID that already exists in the current catalog, CATDISK will issue a warning to that effect, and will ask you for verification before proceeding to catalog that disk The reason behind this is that there is always the possibility of two different disks having the same Volume ID. Cataloging one would mean that the files from the other would be un-cataloged in the same process. If you specify the /NW option on the command line, this warning will be suppressed, and the disk will be cataloged without further delay. This option will also disable CATDISK's warning before creating any new catalog files when the current catalog file is changed via CATDISK's menus to a catalog set that does not exist. /NT - Suppress totals that CATDISK normally shows at the end of screen-based and printed reports. /NS - Suppress status indicators during processing. This speeds up processing time. Status indicators are there simply to indicate that the computer is actually doing something useful. Try it either way and set it to your liking. /AC - Turn the auto comment feature ON at startup. Normally, CATDISK, upon completion of cataloging a group of files from a disk will immediately return to the menu. Activating this feature from the command line (or from the menu) will cause CATDISK to proceed to the section where you may add/modify the file comments for the volume that you just cataloged. Disk Catalog System (CATDISK) V6.35 Copr (C) 1986, 1993 by Rick Hillier Page 17 /SD - CATDISK can display screen information for your catalog in four different formats. The default is to show the Filename, Volume ID, Arcive ID, size, date, time and attributes for each record. The second display format omits the file attributes, but shows the sub-directory that the file occupies on its disk. Setting this option will make the second format the starting report type. /CO - similar to above, but activates the third display format that shows Filename, Volume ID, Archive ID and file comments will be the starting report type. /SDCO - similar to above, but activates the fourth display format that shows a the Subdirectory, Filename, Volume ID, Archive ID and a slightly truncated variation of the file comments. - *** NOTE: If you specify multiple options of /SD, /CO and /SDCO at startup, the LAST one that you specified on the command line will take effect. /Ffilename - The default filename that CATDISK uses is "CATDISK" which may be overridden with this parameter. Note that there is no space between the /F and the filename. If you specify /F? on the command line, CATDISK will bring up a point and shoot selection menu of all of the catalogs it detected in your catalog file directory. If none are found, an error message will be displayed and you will be returned to DOS. Hitting the <Esc> key from within this list will also cause you to be returned immediately to DOS. /SF - this will set the default screen format of the disk summary report to be set to show the entries sorted in descending order of free disk space, rather than the default, which is sorted by volume id. While in the summary report screen, you can toggle between the two sort methods by pressing the <Tab> key. /Rx - this will allow you to set the initial location that CATDISK will send a report. This location can still be changed from within the settings and toggles menu. x can be any of the following: 1 - Screen 2 - LPT1 3 - LPT2 4 - Disk File 5 - ASK (Prompt for location before each report) Disk Catalog System (CATDISK) V6.35 Copr (C) 1986, 1993 by Rick Hillier Page 18 /Px - Set printer output format to report type x, where x is in the range (0-3). x Value Report Type ------- ----------- 0 Show regular file statistics 1 Show file comments 2 Show subdirectory info and comments 3 Show file statistics and comments (selecting this report style assumes that your printer is set to produce 132 column reports) /2 - Turn on CATDISK's two-sided printer reports to cut down on paper consumption. See the Settings & Toggles menu for further details. /D: - Catalog files from drive D: where D: is one of [A - {last drive in your system}]. /IP - Initial Pause. This parameter will cause CATDISK to pause after it is loaded so that you may remove the program disk (not needed during the session) and insert the data disk. This option is only needed if you are running on a single drive system. /ALIAS - Adding this option to the command line will activate the "ALIAS" feature whereby you will be able to override the name under which a disk will be cataloged. Normally, CATDISK will catalog a disk under the volume label. This will enable you to optionally catalog the disk under a different name without changing the volume label on the disk being cataloged. /SV - Have CATDISK suggest sequential volume labels for you to use when adding a NEW volume label to a disk. /NC - Normally, when not instructed to read the directory contents of ZIP or ARJ files, CATDISK will attempt to read in the main comment from any ZIP or ARJ file that it encounters. Adding this option to the command line will allow you to turn this feature off at startup. Additionally, when CATDISK encounters a GIF file, it will attempt to read in the resolution/color information from it and place it in the comment field. This option will also disable this feature. /NCC - normally, at startup, CATDISK will enable a feature whereby any ZIP or ARJ files containing a main comment that get expanded will have that main comment inserted into the comment area of any file entry extracted from that ZIP/ARJ file that does not already have a comment. By adding this option to the command line, this feature will be turned off at program startup. Disk Catalog System (CATDISK) V6.35 Copr (C) 1986, 1993 by Rick Hillier Page 19 /N4 - Normally, support for this feature should be left on. 4DOs and Norton DOS (NDOS), command interpreter (i.e. COMMAND.COM) replacements which greatly enhance the functionality of DOS. One feature that is particularly handy is their ability to add comments to your directory entries at the DOS level using a command called DESCRIBE. If you copy or move a file from the command prompt, that comment goes right along with the file (the DISKFILL utility, discussed later in this user manual, can also do this). These comments are stored in a hidden file, DESCRIPT.ION in each subdirectory where file comments are contained. When CATDISK encounters such a file, the comments are automatically read into your catalog where applicable and the hidden file is cataloged with the comment "4DOS/NDOS File Descriptions." If you do not want this file cataloged at all, you can do so from the configuration utility, CDISKCFG. By adding this option to the command line when you start CATDISK, you can disable this feature if it is causing you any problems (such as having a file called DESCRIPT.ION from another application). /ND - shows dates in numeric format as YYYY-MM-DD. /DISKCOM - during normal re-cataloging operations, CATDISK will not override a file comment that already exists in the catalog file with one found on disk (eg. in a ZIP file, or in a 4DOS description). This is to protect any comment "massaging" that you may have done when that disk was previously cataloged. Overriding that comment would undo any editing that you may have done. By adding this option to the command line, you can cause CATDISK to override existing comments with those found on disk. This option may only be set at program startup - there is no option in the settings & toggles menu to change it. This option should be used with caution. /CATALOG - If this option is added to your command line, CATDISK will perform a catalog operation on the catalog drive (the setting from the CDISKCFG program may be overridden on the command line) and return to DOS when done. If you have the autocomments feature in CATDISK turned on, you will be taken to the comment entry screen first. When you exit from this screen, you will then be returned to DOS. This option makes it possible to catalog a disk from a batch file, or from within another application by shelling out to CATDISK with the correct parameters. When CATDISK exits, you will be returned to your application. NOTE: It is not advisable to put this option in the CATDISK environment variable, as it will make it impossible to get into CATDISK's other functions. Disk Catalog System (CATDISK) V6.35 Copr (C) 1986, 1993 by Rick Hillier Page 20 /QUIET - Silent operation. Supresses sound in CATDISK. /NOSHELL - disables the "Shell To Dos" function from all menus. This may be desirable when allowing others access to CATDISK from a menu system and you do not wish the user to be able to access the DOS prompt. If the user selects the option to shell out to DOS, and this option was present, a short beep will sound (unless you also added /QUIET to the command line) and no further action will take place. /EXITV - Normally, when you press the <Esc> key from the main menu, CATDISK will promptly exit to DOS. Under certain circumstances, you may find it beneficial to have CATDISK verify that you really want to exit from the program. By adding this option to the command line, CATDISK will give you a YES/NO prompt asking you if you really want to leave the program. The slash "/" may be substituted by either a dash "-" or a space " ". Examples: CATDISK /FGAMES/NS/AC/CO/P3/R5/ALIAS/B: or CATDISK A: - entering CATDISK ? will bring up a help message indicating the above. NOTE: You may also put the command line options in a CATDISK environment variable using the DOS "SET" command. This command (see examples below), may be placed in your AUTOEXEC.BAT file so that you will not need to remember which command line options to use to obtain your favorite setup, or for that matter, to type them! - example: SET CATDISK=/FGAMES/NS/AC/CO/P2/ALIAS/B: When you start CATDISK under these circumstances, simply type "CATDISK" <Enter> and the above options will automatically be invoked. Any options entered on the command line will be added to those specified in the CATDISK environment variable. This makes it possible to have a base set of options set in the DOS environment and have an optional set that you can specify at the time you run CATDISK. It is also possible to override some of the options as well (for example, the printed report format, the screen report format, the catalog file, and the catalog drive), as CATDISK will pay attention to the last option of a given type. For example, using the above environment example, entering the command CATDISK /A:/P1 will cause CATDISK to set the catalog drive to A: (overrides the B: option), and the printer report format to show comments (format #1) instead of statistics and comments (format #2). Once CATDISK has been successfully started, a title screen will appear. Hit any key to proceed to the main menu. Disk Catalog System (CATDISK) V6.35 Copr (C) 1986, 1993 by Rick Hillier Page 21 3. U S I N G C A T D I S K USING THE MENUS The major options available from CATDISK such as the main functions that you see in the opening menu after the title page disappears can be selected in two different ways. The first, and easiest is just to hit the indicated key beside the desired option. In response to a requests from registered users, we have also implemented a "point and shoot" method of selecting items from a menu. Simply use the cursor keys to position the flashing arrows in the inverse box that indicates the keystroke required to activate the desired option and hit <Return> or <Enter>. This will carry out the same function as if you had struck the key in the inverse box. One advantage that the second approach has to the first is that those of you who do not touch type numbers very well (or have a tendency to hit the key beside the one you are after) have another method to use to navigate through the menus of CATDISK. Another is that once you have activated a function such as cataloging a disk, you need only type <Return> to re-activate that function as CATDISK will remember the last option you activated (quite handy if you are cataloging multiple disks, as the <Return> key is larger than most... you aren't as apt to miss it). The menus in CATDISK currently consist of a main menu controlling the main functions of catalog maintenance, a settings & toggles menu containing functions that affect how CATDISK responds to certain situations, and a reports & inquiries menu from which all reports are accessed. Normally, to access the options available in the Settings & Toggles Menu, you have to go to that menu of options from the main menu in order to change any of the settings. We have provided shortcuts to the options in the Settings & Toggles Menus that are accessible from both the Main Menu and from the Reports & Inquiries Menu. To change any of the settings available in the settings and toggles menu directly from the either the main menu or the reports & inquiries menu, simply hold down the <Alt> key and press the number key (from the top row only, not the numeric keypad) or function key that you would normally hit if you were in the settings and toggles menu. CATDISK will act on that keystroke as if you had selected that option directly from the settings and toggles appropriate menu. Disk Catalog System (CATDISK) V6.35 Copr (C) 1986, 1993 by Rick Hillier Page 22 SELECTING A VOLUME NAME FROM A LIST Other than actually labeling a disk, there are three other locations in CATDISK where you will be prompted for a volume label: un-cataloging a disk; generating a report by volume id; and adding file comments by volume. If you know what volume label is desired at the prompt, you may enter it verbatim. Leaving it blank, however, will cause CATDISK to come up with a point-and-shoot list of all the volume names in the current catalog file. When this list first appears, you will notice that the first volume is highlighted. Selecting a volume from this list is merely a matter of moving the highlight bar to the desired volume and pressing <Enter>. The following options are available: <Cursor UP> - move up one line in the list. If you are already at the top of a column, the highlight bar will move to the bottom of the previous column if available. <Cursor DOWN> - move down one line in the list. If you are already at the bottom of a column, the highlight bar will move to the top of the next column if available. <PgUp> - move back 96 lines in the list. <PgDn> - move ahead 96 lines in the list. <Home> - move to the beginning of the list. <End> - move to the end of the list. <Grey Plus> - move forward in the list 1/15th of the total length of the list (see the appendix regarding the SCROLL BAR later in this manual). <Grey Minus> - move back in the list 1/15th of the total length of the list (see the appendix regarding the SCROLL BAR later in this manual). <Enter> - Select the highlighted volume for the prompt from the previous screen. <Esc> - return to the menu with no further action taken. Disk Catalog System (CATDISK) V6.35 Copr (C) 1986, 1993 by Rick Hillier Page 23 OPTION 1 - SET DRIVE FOR CATALOGING This function allows you to set the drive from which the files to be cataloged will be read. Simply select letter from (A - x) to select the drive with that DOS letter designation, where x is the last drive that CATDISK detected in your system configuration. The change will be noted immediately in the status area at the top of the screen. *** NOTE: If you are running with one floppy drive only and have turned the caching option on from the configuration utility, do not set this option to a drive other than the one on which the catalog files reside (probably A:). Failure to do so could cause loss of data on your disks. See the SAMPLE CONFIGURATIONS section covered earlier in this section. You have been warned! Users with a hard-disk, single floppy configuration, who are running CATDISK from the hard disk will NOT experience this problem and may proceed as normal. It's ONLY if the same PHYSICAL drive is being used for the CATDISK work files AND the disk to be cataloged that the above precautions must be taken. Disk Catalog System (CATDISK) V6.35 Copr (C) 1986, 1993 by Rick Hillier Page 24 OPTION 2 - SET CURRENT CATALOG FILE Although the catalog filename may be set upon starting up CATDISK, it may also be convenient to be able to change the current file from within a CATDISK session. Select option #3 from the main menu, and you will be prompted for a new catalog file to use. Any valid DOS filename will do. Be sure to specify the NAME portion only; do not include the file extension portion. If the name you specify is valid, it will then be used for all subsequent catalog updates and queries (This is reflected at the top of the screen). If not, an error message will be issued and no change will be made to the current catalog file name. If the catalog file set that you specify does not exist, CATDISK will automatically create a new catalog for you. Before doing so, however, CATDISK will indicate that the summary or catalog file does not exist and request your permission to create it before proceeding. If you specified /NW on the command line, this warning will not appear - CATDISK will simply proceed to create any necessary files for the specified catalog set. If you don't enter anything for the catalog filename, a list of all current catalog files in the catalog directory will be displayed on the screen. If the desired catalog is on a removable disk (i.e. floppy disks or removable hard drives), be sure and have that disk in the appropriate drive BEFORE you enter nothing to the prompt so the desired files will appear in the list. This method can be handy when you are not sure of exactly what you called a particular catalog file. To select a file from the list, simply move the highlight bar around the list of filenames with the cursor keys so that it rests on the desired catalog file. At this point, hit the <Enter> key, and that file will be selected as if you had typed it at the prompt. Hitting <Esc> in this screen will abort the operation as if you had pressed <Esc> at the prompt. If you are switching to a catalog that already exists, and it will not fit into the configuration you defined in the configuration program (maximum disks/files per catalog), you will get an error message and the catalog file setting will be left unchanged. Disk Catalog System (CATDISK) V6.35 Copr (C) 1986, 1993 by Rick Hillier Page 25 OPTION 3: SETTINGS AND TOGGLES MENU The options available in this sub-menu will allow you to control the behavior of some of the features of CATDISK. You can get to this menu by selecting option #2 from the main menu. The options available on this menu are: Sub-option 1 - Set Drive For Cataloging --------------------------------------- This is exactly the same for main menu option #1 and is included on the settings and toggles menu for convenience. Sub-option 2 - Pauses On/Off ---------------------------- Under normal circumstances, CATDISK will pause at strategic places, either to allow you to view what has just happened (cataloging and un-cataloging), or to prompt you to insert a disk in drive X: (labeling or reading directories, etc). If you turn this toggle off, CATDISK will only prompt you for a disk when absolutely necessary. In addition, there will be no pause at the end of a catalog update; you will immediately be returned to the main menu, or to the comment entry screen if you have the AUTO COMMENT feature turned on. Sub-option 3 - Change Printer Report Type ----------------------------------------- CATDISK currently supports three printer report styles, which are detailed here. The particular report style that you desire may be set with this toggle, and will be reflected in the toggles portion of the menu screen. STATISTICS: This is the default report style (unless overridden on the command line), which is to show the path, filename, volume id, archive id, as well as the size, date, time and DOS directory attributes of each file listed. This report style corresponds to the command line option /P0, and will fit on an 80 column printer. COMMENTS: This report style will show the filename, volume id, archive id and full comment for each file listed. This report style corresponds to the command line option /P1, and will fit on an 80 column printer. SUBDIRS: This report style will show the subdirectory, filename, volume id, archive id and a shortened comment for each file listed. This report style corresponds to the command line option /P1, and will fit on an 80 column printer. Disk Catalog System (CATDISK) V6.35 Copr (C) 1986, 1993 by Rick Hillier Page 26 ALL INFO: This report style will show all of the fields from the two above reports. Please note that it assumes that you either have a 132 column printer, or an 80 column printer set to compressed mode. It corresponds to the command line option /P3. Sub-option 4 - Report Totals On/Off ----------------------------------- When this setting is turned ON, CATDISK will display a line at the bottom of the screen-based reports showing the totals for the given report showing on the screen. In printed or disk-based reports, these totals will be shown at the end of a report. One consideration in paginated reports... if your last report page is quite full, there is a possibility that the total line may "bleed" over to the next page on your printer. The presence of a "/T" beside the printer report type in the status area of CATDISK's main screen indicates that this feature is currently turned on. Sub-option 5 - File Comments On The Fly --------------------------------------- If this toggle is turned OFF, CATDISK will proceed back to the main menu upon completion of the process of cataloging a disk. If you wish to add comments for some/all of the files that you have just cataloged, you may turn this toggle ON. When this is the case, CATDISK will catalog files in the normal manner, but upon completion, you will be taken to another screen that will allow you to scroll through the files you just cataloged and add/update the comments for each file shown. See Option F1 - Add/Change File Comments for details on how this section of the program works. Sub-option F1 - Main Archive Comment Copy ----------------------------------------- If this feature is turned on, CATDISK will take special action when expanding ZIP and ARJ files. If a main ZIP/ARJ file comment is found, any file entries extracted that do not have comments will have the main ZIP/ARJ file comment entry inserted instead. The presence of a "C" beside the Auto Comments setting in the status information at the top of the screen indicates that this feature is turned on. Disk Catalog System (CATDISK) V6.35 Copr (C) 1986, 1993 by Rick Hillier Page 27 Sub-option F2 - Extract 4DOS/NDOS Comments ------------------------------------------ This setting controls whether or not CATDISK will process directory comments created by JP Software's 4DOS or Symantec Software's Norton DOS (NDOS). If on, CATDISK, during a cataloging operation, will look for a hidden file in each subdirectory called "DESCRIPT.ION", which contains the text for these comments. Where applicable, these comments will be included in your catalog file automatically. If off, CATDISK will ignore these comments. The presence of a "4" beside the Auto Comments setting in the status information at the top of the screen indicates that this feature is turned on. Although not tested, Norton DOS (NDOS) is largely based on JP Software's 4DOS program, and should work in a similar manner to that product. Sub-option 6 - Set Current Report Destination ---------------------------------------------- Selecting this option will affect the report destination and whether or not CATDISK will ask you where the report should go. Each time you select option 1, CATDISK will run through a sequence of five possible locations (SCRN (Screen), LPT1, LPT2, Disk, or ASK). Selecting one of the first four will cause CATDISK to immediately generate a report to the selected destination IMMEDIATELY upon selecting it. You will not be prompted any further, unless you have selected DISK, in which case, you will be asked for a filename in which to place the report. If you select ASK, CATDISK will prompt you for a report location (one of the first four in the list) each time you ask it to generate a report. I usually leave this setting set to SCREEN as, most of the time, I browse through my catalog files on the screen. You, however, may find it handy to set this to ASK, especially if you jump to report locations frequently. If this is the case, you may, if you haven't already, add the command line option /ASK to your current list of options. This will override the default location of SCREEN at startup, negating the need to set it manually each time you start CATDISK. Sub-option 7 - Print On Both Sides of Page ------------------------------------------ Normally, CATDISK will print its hardcopy reports in a continuous stream to the printer. By turning this feature on, CATDISK will print your reports in a format such that the odd numbered pages will be printed first. CATDISK will then pause and ask you to re-insert the paper in your printer so that the even numbered pages will print on the back side of the odd numbered pages. This will cut paper consumption on your reports in half. You will know when this feature is activated when you see a "/2" beside the report location in the information at the top of the screen. Disk Catalog System (CATDISK) V6.35 Copr (C) 1986, 1993 by Rick Hillier Page 28 IMPORTANT NOTE: Re-inserting paper previously printed on back into some types of laser printers can cause damage to the internal mechanisms of those printers. Consult your printer manual or check with the manufacturer before using this option with your laser printer. Sub-option 8 - ARCHIVE Extract Setting -------------------------------------- Although this setting is permanently set from the CDISKCFG utility, it is sometimes be convenient to be able to change it during a CATDISK session. Selecting option 2 will run the Auto ARCHIVE Extract setting through three possibilities, OFF, ON, or QUERY. The current setting is shown near the top of the screen in the status area. If this feature is turned OFF, any file searches through the catalog, with the exception of OPTION #0 - Show All Files, will NOT show any files that reside in an archive file. The archive file's presence will still be shown in the listing. If this feature is turned ON, CATDISK will extract the archive directory of any archive it encounters in its search. If it is set to QUERY, CATDISK will prompt you as to whether it should extract the archive directory of any archive that it encounters in its search before proceeding to do so. Reports generated will act as if the feature is turned ON. Sub-option 9 - Comments When Arcs Not Extracted ----------------------------------------------- In the course of its normal operation, CATDISK, when not extracting the directory information from ZIP or ARJ files, will search each one it encounters for the comment of the ZIP/ARJ file itself. Under some circumstances, such as those where your particular collection of ZIP/ARJ files do not contain comments, or where the vast majority of them contain BBS advertisements (not really what they were intended for), this search can be both time consuming and meaningless. This toggle will turn this feature on or off. The presence of a "C" beside the Archive Extract setting in the status information at the top of the screen indicates that this feature is turned on. Although not related to ZIP/ARJ files, this feature will also control whether or not the graphic resolution and color information will be extracted from a GIF file to be included as the default comment for that particular file. Sub-option 0 - Aliases On/Off ----------------------------- Activating this option will enable you to override the name under which a disk will be cataloged. Normally, CATDISK will catalog a disk under the volume label. This will allow you to optionally catalog the disk under a different name without changing the volume label on the disk being cataloged. Keep in mind that if you re-catalog the disk at a later time, you must remember the new name that you gave to the disk in Disk Catalog System (CATDISK) V6.35 Copr (C) 1986, 1993 by Rick Hillier Page 29 your catalog, otherwise, duplication will occur in your catalog. The presence of a "ALS" beside the "VolLab:" setting in the status area of the screen indicates that this feature is turned on. Sub-option F3 - Suggest Volume Label On/Off ------------------------------------------- When this setting is turned ON, CATDISK will suggest a volume label to use when labeling a disk. You may, of course, change that label at the prompt if you wish. Depending on what has been done in CATDISK with regard to previous labeling operations, CATDISK will use the following criteria: 1) If the disk already has a volume label, CATDISK will suggest that label. If the disk does not have a volume label: 2) If you have previously labeled a disk during the current CATDISK session (i.e. you have not exited from the CATDISK program and have returned to it), CATDISK will examine the last entered volume label (entered at the prompt) to see if there is a numeric part of that volume label. A numeric sequence is considered by CATDISK to be a series of two or more digits in a row. That numeric part is then incremented by one and that new label becomes the suggested label. Examples: DISK001 would become DISK002 DISK001A would become DISK002A If two or more separate numerical sequences are present in the volume label, CATDISK will increment the rightmost one. Example: A001B002 would become A001B003 If there is no numerical part in the previous volume label, the volume label will be suggested verbatim. 3) If you have not previously labeled a disk during the current CATDISK session, CATDISK will examine your summary file. If you have previously cataloged disks with CATDISK, the last alphabetical entry in the summary file will be taken and treated as the suggestion in option 2. 4) If you have not previously labeled a disk during the current CATDISK session and have not previously cataloged any disks with CATDISK, nothing will be suggested. If this feature is activated, you will see an "SV" to the right of the slash in the "VolLab:" section of the status area of the screen. Sub-option <Esc> - Exit To Main Menu ------------------------------------ Exactly what it says. Disk Catalog System (CATDISK) V6.35 Copr (C) 1986, 1993 by Rick Hillier Page 30 OPTION 4: LABELING A DISK Selection of option #4 on the main menu will allow the VOLUME LABEL of a disk to be set or changed. Upon selection, CATDISK will attempt to read the current label of the disk. If none is present, you will be notified of this, and will be given the opportunity to create a volume label for that disk. See the DOS manual on volume labels for more information. If a label already exists on the disk, its name will be shown as a reminder, and you will be given an opportunity to change the label name. Just enter the new label name and hit <CR>. Note that if you have the volume label suggestion facility turned on, CATDISK will recommend a sequential volume label for any new disks being labeled. See the section of this manual dealing with "Suggest Volume Label" setting in the Settings & Toggles chapter for details on what CATDISK will recommend for a volume label under various circumstances. If the label name was valid, the change will be made, otherwise, an error message indicating such will be issued and you will return to the main menu. If you do not wish to enter or change the disk label, simply hit <ESC> at the volume label prompt and you will immediately return to the main menu with no changed made to the disk label. When the volume label has been successfully changed or created, CATDISK will check to see if the old label, if any was present, exists in the current catalog file. If so, you will be given an opportunity to have CATDISK automatically change the old volume id references to the newly entered one. If the disk that you re-labeled is one that actually is in the catalog, answer <Y>es to the prompt. CATDISK will take care of the rest. This feature can be a great time saver, as it eliminates the need to uncatalog the disk under the old volume id, and re-catalog it under the new name. If the disk is not in the catalog, answer <N>o to the prompt. Answering <Y>es under these circumstances will not damage the catalog file, but will cause confusion as to what disk the altered catalog records reside on. Disk Catalog System (CATDISK) V6.35 Copr (C) 1986, 1993 by Rick Hillier Page 31 OPTION 5: CATALOGING/RE-CATALOGING A DISK This selection will initiate cataloging or re-cataloging of the files on the selected catalog disk as shown in the status area at the top of the screen. The volume label will be read, and if it doesn't exist, you will be given an opportunity to enter a volume label for the disk. If you hit <ESC> at the label prompt, the operation will be aborted and you will be returned to the main menu without cataloging your disk. After entering the label name for that disk, you will be asked if you wish to write that label to disk. If you answer <Y>es, the disk will be labeled and cataloging will continue. If you answer <N>o, the label will not be written, but the disk will be cataloged under the name that you gave it. This will allow easy cataloging of write-protected disks. Please note that volume labels created by Peter Norton's "Volabel" utility may contain lower case characters. CATDISK will convert the labels to upper case before adding them to the catalog. This will enable you to manipulate and uncatalog any of these disks. The physical volume label on the disk will be left unchanged. There are volume label utilities on the market that allow the entry of illegal characters into the volume label. CATDISK will change these offending characters into spaces when it encounters them. This will not affect the physical label on the disk, but rather the way CATDISK stores them in its catalog files. If the label on the disk to be cataloged already exists in the catalog, you will be notified of this situation, and will be given an opportunity to abort the operation. This feature has been added as a safeguard against a situation where two disks of the same volume id may be overriding each other and clobbering the catalog contents of the other disk. If you specified the "/NW" option on at startup, this warning will not be issued. If you specified /ALIAS in your startup options, a screen will appear showing you what the current volume label is on the disk you are about to catalog. A prompt will appear below this asking you for a name under which you would like the disk to be cataloged. The current volume label will be displayed in this area, and you will be allowed to change it before the cataloging process takes place. This can be very handy in certain situations such as vendor disks that insist that the volume label remain unchanged, as the software uses the volume label to identify the disk. The volume label on the disk may not mean anything to you, and using an alias may be desirable in this case. As flexible as the ability to catalog under an alias can be, there are a couple of drawbacks that should be considered before you decide to make the name in the catalog different from the volume label on the disk. Firstly, if you go to re-catalog the disk at a later time and don't provide exactly the same alias that was used initially, you can wind up with duplicate entries in the catalog file, as CATDISK currently has no way of knowing that the disk has already been cataloged. Secondly, if at a later date, you use option #3 in CATDISK to change the volume label on a disk that has already been cataloged, CATDISK will have no way of knowing that it should give you the opportunity to change the entries in the catalog to reflect the new volume label, as the entries are not cataloged under the old volume label. Disk Catalog System (CATDISK) V6.35 Copr (C) 1986, 1993 by Rick Hillier Page 32 The best advice would be that if you never intend to re-catalog a disk in the future, then it would be ok to use an alias, otherwise, it's best to stick with a meaningful volume label. Once the name of the disk has been established for cataloging purposes, the directory and any archive or library entries (if the ARCHIVE auto extract feature option is turned on - it is by default) will be read (if the ARCHIVE auto extract is set to QUERY, you will be asked for verification before a given archive or Library will be read). This process will be repeated for each sub-directory on the disk as well. All existing levels of sub-directories will be searched. If the archive comment extract feature is turned on (see sub-option #0 in the settings & toggles menu), CATDISK will extract the graphic resolution and color information of any GIF files that it encounters during its operation and place this information in the comment field (if it is a new file, or an existing entry in the catalog file that is blank) as the default comment. For example, a picture contained in a GIF file that has a resolution of 640 by 480 pixels and contains 256 colors will appear as "640x480x256". If CATDISK encounters a ZIP, ARJ, ZOO or DWC file, any comments that may be stored in that file will be read and included in the catalog file, if that archive is expanded. If the operation is a re-cataloging operation and any extracted filenames already exist in the catalog file with comments attached, the comment from the archive file will be ignored. ZIP and ARJ files, in addition to supporting comment entries for each file contained, can also have a main comment for the ZIP/ARJ file itself. When CATDISK reads ZIP/ARJ files and finds a main comment, it will insert that main comment in the catalog file for any entries in the ZIP/ARJ file that do not already have comments. This feature of copying the main ZIP/ARJ file comment can be turned on and off via the settings and toggles menu as desired. If the 4DOS/NDOS comment extract feature is turned on (it is by default), CATDISK will attempt to find a file (that may be hidden) in each subdirectoy called "DESCRIPT.ION". This file will be present if you have used the 4DOS/NDOS "Describe" command to add file descriptions to your directory entries. If CATDISK is able to locate this file, it will automatically add any matching comments to your catalog entries where appropriate. Upon completion of this, the catalog summary file and master catalog will be updated to reflect the current directory/directories of the disk. If any files have been added, they will be added to the catalog; if any files have been changed, they will be updated; if any files have been deleted, they will be removed from the catalog. If, while reading the disk, CATDISK cannot find any files there, it will ask you if you would like to add that disk to the catalog anyway. Why would you want to add such a disk to the catalog? The answer to this question can best be explained by an example. Disk Catalog System (CATDISK) V6.35 Copr (C) 1986, 1993 by Rick Hillier Page 33 You're maintaining a collection of disks for a computer users group. One day, you decide to clean up your collection, eliminating any duplicates that may have crept into the collection. While you're eliminating the duplicates, several of the disks in the sequence become completely empty. In this case, it is desirable to have the disk showing in the summary file as having its capacity completely available to accept new files. Additionally, all the files that were eliminated from that disk will be un-cataloged by CATDISK through its normal function. If the disk has never been cataloged before, this method represents a way to "pre-allocate" the disks to the collection and initialize their entries in the catalog file. If you would like to have the blank disk included in the catalog, answer YES to the prompt, otherwise, answer NO. If you elect not to include the disk in the catalog file, and it has already been cataloged before, it would be advisable to remove that volume listing from the catalog file using option #5. Keep in mind, that deletion of an archive file will cause any files existing within that archive file to be uncataloged. Also, turning the Auto Archive Extraction feature OFF, or answering <No> to a Extract Archive prompt to a cataloged Archive will cause any files in an Archive file on that disk to be uncataloged as well. Should the disk become full when the cataloging process is underway, the process will be aborted with an error message. The old catalog file will remain intact (i.e. no changes made), but the summary file will reflect either the presence of the new disk, or the current status of that disk if it already existed in the catalog. This means that the catalog file will not be accurate as to what's on the disk that you attempted to catalog. If this error is encountered, you should either try to free up some space on disk on which the catalog file exists, or move the .DTA and .SUM files to another disk (see CONFIGURING CATDISK for details on how to access catalog files on other drives and directories) and retry the operation. The cataloging operation is completely automatic and does not require any further input from the operator once started, unless, of course, the ARCHIVE extract state is set to QUERY. If you have turned on the auto-comment feature either from the command line or from the toggles menu, you will be taken to a section of the program that will allow you to add/update file comments for the group of files that CATDISK just added to or updated in your catalog. See the discussion on "OPTION 7 - CHANGE COMMENTS BY VOLUME ID" for a discussion on how the comment editor works. Please keep in mind that CATDISK has an internal limitation of being able to read in only the first 5000 files of the disk being cataloged, if available memory permits. Disk Catalog System (CATDISK) V6.35 Copr (C) 1986, 1993 by Rick Hillier Page 34 OPTION F1: UNCATALOGING A DISK There may be times when you will wish to remove a disk's files from the catalog. Select option <F1> from the main menu, and you will be asked to enter the VOLUME NAME of the disk to be uncataloged. Enter it and hit <Enter>. If the volume label doesn't exist in the catalog, then you will be notified and returned to the main menu. Optionally, you can leave the volume ID blank at the prompt. CATDISK will bring up a point-and-shoot menu from which you can select a volume id from those in your current catalog. See the section entitled "Selecting A Volume Name From A List" previously discussed in this user manual. If the volume label is found in the catalog, its entry will be deleted along with all the file names under it. If you do not wish to carry out this operation, hit <Esc> at the volume label prompt and no action will be taken. Should the disk become full during the catalog update process, the process will be aborted with an error message, and the old catalog file will remain intact. Typically, this error should not occur, unless you have added more files to the disk, or another program has used up more disk space (such as a database expanding a file). Should this error occur, the summary file will no longer contain a reference to the diskette that was uncataloged, but the catalog file will still contain references to that diskette. Should this be the case, you should either free up some space on the disk, or copy the .SUM and .DTA files to another disk (see CONFIGURING CATDISK for details on accessing catalog files on other drives and directories), catalog the diskette in question, and uncatalog it again. This will remove any references to that disk from the catalog file. If you do not have access to that disk any more (you may have erased it), simply take a blank diskette, add one file to it, and label it the same as the diskette you wish to uncatalog. Carry out the above procedure, and you will obtain the same results. In practice, this should not happen, as you would have needed sufficient disk space to create the catalog file in the first place. Disk Catalog System (CATDISK) V6.35 Copr (C) 1986, 1993 by Rick Hillier Page 35 OPTION 6: CHANGE COMMENTS BY VOLUME ID There are two basic places from where CATDISK's comment editor may be invoked: 1) At the end of a cataloging operation when AUTOCOMMENTS is turned on; and 2) As a result of option #6, option #7, option #8 or option #9 from the main menu. The actual functionality of the comment editor will be discussed later on in this section. If you select this option #7 from the main menu, you will be asked to specify a disk volume. Upon entry of such, CATDISK will go through the catalog and bring a group of files into the comment editor that currently reside on that disk volume. Optionally, you can leave the volume ID blank at the prompt. CATDISK will bring up a point-and-shoot menu from which you can select a volume id from those in your current catalog. See the section entitled "Selecting A Volume Name From A List" previously discussed in this user manual. Here's how the comment editor works: Once CATDISK has found a group of files for commenting, they will appear on the screen in a format similar to the "COMMENT" screen output format, the main difference being that one of the comments (or blanks) are highlighted in an inverse field. To change a comment, simply move the highlight to the file that you wish to comment, and start typing. When you are done, hit the <Return> key. Other editing keys are as follows: <Left Arrow> - move cursor one character to the left. <Right Arrow> - move cursor one key to the right. <Home> - move cursor to the beginning of the line (once you have started typing). <End> - move cursor to the end of the line (once you have started typing). <Ctrl>-<End> - erase from the cursor to the end of the line. <Del> - delete the character at the cursor and shift the characters on the right to the left. <Backspace> - delete the character before the cursor and shift the characters on the right to the left. <Ins> - toggle insert/overstrike mode - in insert mode the cursor will be slightly fatter than the one in overstrike mode. <Esc> - cancel the changes and restore the line to its original contents. Disk Catalog System (CATDISK) V6.35 Copr (C) 1986, 1993 by Rick Hillier Page 36 In some (and probably most) cases, the file list will be too large to fit on the screen. The list may be browsed through by using the keys on the cursor keypad. Their functions: <UP> & <DOWN> will move the highlight bar up or down one file. If you at a screen margin, and there are still more files to be browsed, the listing on the screen will scroll in the appropriate direction. If you can't move any more, you will hear a short beep. <PgUp> & <PgDn> will move you 15 files forward or backward in the list If you can't move any more, you will hear a short beep. <Home> & <End> will move you to the beginning or end of the group of files respectively. <F2> will repeat the comment on which the highlight bar currently rests to all entries in the list of files. If the currently highlighted comment is blank, a short beep will sound and no further action will be taken. This option provides a quick way to enter a single comment for all files on an entire disk... just enter the first one, re-highlight it and press <F5> to duplicate it to each entry for that disk. This option is not shown at the bottom of the screen due to lack of room on the instruction line. <F9> will repeat the Last Entered Comment. This is handy if you want to repeat a single comment at different places in the list where <F10> (see below) won't suffice, as the comment desired is not directly above the current position. If no comment was previously entered, or the last entered comment was blank, no action will be taken. <F10> will "Ditto": Pressing this key will copy the comment from the entry above. It is handy if you want to copy a comment down a consecutive list of files, or one that was already previously entered at an earlier time, if it is directly above the current position. If the comment above is blank, or you are at the top of the list, no action will be taken. <Grey Plus> move down through the list 1/15th of the total length of the list (see the appendix regarding the SCROLL BAR later in this manual). <Grey Minus> move up through the list 1/15th of the total length of the list (see the appendix regarding the SCROLL BAR later in this manual). <Tab> This will toggle the information shown on the left of the comment area between three different formats, each of which show different file information that may be necessary to derive the desired comment. This option is not shown at the bottom of the screen due to lack of room on the instruction line. <Esc> Return to the main menu when you are done. Disk Catalog System (CATDISK) V6.35 Copr (C) 1986, 1993 by Rick Hillier Page 37 OPTION 7: ADD/UPDATE COMMENTS BY FILESPEC If you select option #7 from the main menu, you will be asked for a filespec on which to base the search. This filespec can be a based on CATDISK's enhancements to the DOS wildcard specifications (See option #0 (Reports And Inquiries), sub-option #4 (Show Files By Filespec) for a discussion of wildcard searching. Once the catalog records are loaded into the comment editor according to your criteria, the same options that apply to option #6 apply here (see it for details). OPTION 8: SEARCH/EDIT FILES BY COMMENT If you select option #8 from the main menu, CATDISK will ask you for a comment spec on which to base the search. Simply enter the sub-string for which you wish to search. A discussion on how CATDISK matches comments can be found in the discussion on option #0 (Reports And Inquiries), sub-option #5 (Files by comment). Once the catalog records are loaded into the comment editor according to your criteria, the same options that apply to option #6 apply here (see it for details). OPTION 9: IMPORT COMMENTS FROM A TEXT FILE Option #9, "Import Comments From A Text File", will allow you to bring in file comments from an external source, be it a BBS listing that you've either downloaded or captured with your communications package, or any file that contains plain text. This file can contain anything: filesizes, dates, times, etc. The only limitations are that the file contain no tabs, and that each line be no longer than 255 characters. Many utilities such as Norton's fileinfo (FI) utility can re-direct their output to a text file simply by appending ">TEXTFILE" (without the quotes) to the command. Using Norton's FI utility as an example, you could use "FI A: /C/L >TEXTFILE" to produce a file called TEXTFILE that would contain comments for many of the files on a floppy disk. Please refer to your Norton Utilities manual for details on how to maintain those comments with FI. Once you select option #9, a screen containing the controlling settings for the expected text file will appear. These settings can be stored in a setup file (profile) for later retrieval. To avoid disk clutter, profiles are stored in the same directory as your catalog files. This eliminates the need for having to remember the settings for, say, the file dump from Norton's FI as described earlier on. You can enter the settings once, save them to a profile and be able to recall them later on. The first item on the screen indicates what file the current settings came from. The second item is the filename of the textfile from which the comments will be read. The next 8 settings will depend on the characteristics of the file being read. The pre-filled numbers assume that you are reading comments from CATDISK's own report printed to disk showing both statistics and comments. Disk Catalog System (CATDISK) V6.35 Copr (C) 1986, 1993 by Rick Hillier Page 38 The first setting is the beginning and ending character positions of the filename as it appears on each line. These settings are critical for CATDISK to be able to identify where to put each comment, and must contain a value greater than zero. The second setting is the beginning and ending character positions of the subdirectory, if it exists in the text file. If the text file contains the subdirectory in which each file resides, you may include it with these settings, or if either the file does not contain subdirectory information, or you do not wish to use it, you may set the beginning and ending positions to zero. CATDISK will then ignore them. The third setting is the beginning and ending character positions of the volume id, if it exists in the text file. If the text file contains the volume id for the disk on which each file resides, you may include it with these settings, or if either the file does not contain this information, or you do not wish to use it, you may set the beginning and ending positions to zero. CATDISK will then ignore them. Finally, the last setting is the starting and ending character positions of the file comment. These values must also be set to something that is greater than zero, as CATDISK needs a comment to insert for each file that it finds in your catalog file. The easiest way to determine the appropriate settings for the text file you will be importing is to first load it into your favorite text editor. Place the cursor on the beginning and ending characters of the various items discussed above, and note what column the editor indicates that the current cursor position is. These will be the values that you will fill in to the control screen. Here are a few important notes regarding the text file. There is really no need to edit blank lines and headings out of the file before processing, as the chances of CATDISK matching a filename, subdirectory and volume id found in the appropriate character positions in a heading with a file entry in the catalog file are quite slim. It is important that each data line (not the headings) in the file be structured the same way (i.e. all the columns line up as in a report). If this is not the case, chaos in the comments fields in the affected files will result. Lastly, CATDISK has an internal limitation of being able to read in only the first 32,767 non-blank lines in the file. The rest will be ignored. All this said, changing the settings is a matter of using the <Up> and <Down> arrow keys to highlight the desired setting, typing the new information for that setting and hitting <Enter>. Pressing <Esc> when not editing a setting will return you to the menu with no further action taken. Retrieving and saving profiles is a simple matter of typing in the desired filename on the first line of the screen. When you do so, you will be asked if you would like to read settings in from that file, or save the current ones to that file. If you attempt to read in a profile that does not exist, you will be given an error message and no settings will be changed. If, however, the file does exist and either a disk read error occurs or it is determined that the file is not a valid profile, the default settings (that which were supplied the first time you used this feature) will be brought in. Disk Catalog System (CATDISK) V6.35 Copr (C) 1986, 1993 by Rick Hillier Page 39 If you wish to save the current settings to disk, CATDISK will first check to see if the file already exists. If so, you will be given a warning to enable you to abandon the operation before you accidentally over-write a valuable program or data file. Any changes made in the settings during an import session will automatically be saved to the current profile on exit from the settings modification screen (via <Esc> or <F10>). Again, if the file named in the first line exists, you will be given an overwrite warning in case you don't actually want to overwrite the current saved settings with the new ones (i.e. the import operation is a one-time shot in this case). Once you have all the desired settings ready, press <F10> to initiate the insertion of comments in the catalog file. Here's what CATDISK does to accomplish this. First, it will read and sort all the entries in the text file. If CATDISK cannot find the text file, if there is an error in reading the text file, or there is an error in sorting the entries, the process will be aborted. If the sort is successful, CATDISK will scan your current catalog file for matching entries from the text file. For each match that CATDISK finds, it will determine if the comment field from the catalog file is blank (CATDISK will not overwrite previously entered comments for the sake of integrity). If so, the first 30 characters of the comment from the text file will be inserted into the comment field for that file in the catalog file. Once this process has completed, a list of the modified entries will be brought into the comment editor for "massaging" if you would like to clean up any entries. It is highly recommended that you at least go through the list just to make sure that everything went ok. See the discussion for option #7 - ADD/UPDATE COMMENTS BY FILESPEC for details on how the comment editor works. Disk Catalog System (CATDISK) V6.35 Copr (C) 1986, 1993 by Rick Hillier Page 40 OPTION 0: REPORTS & INQUIRIES MENU This menu outlines the complete range of screen or printer-based reports that CATDISK is capable of generating. Selection of an option from this menu is by conventional means as outlined in the section "Using The Menus" earlier on in this user manual. Note that if you have the Report Totals setting turned on, CATDISK will show totals for various items on screen reports, and at the end of disk-based and printer-based reports. Screen-based reports -------------------- When viewing a report on your screen, there will be several options available to you. The following are available in ALL screen based reports: <Cursor UP> - move up one line in the report. The screen contents will scroll down to make room for the new line appearing at the top. <Cursor DOWN> - move down one line in the report. The screen contents will scroll up to make room for the new line appearing at the bottom. <PgUp> - move up one page (15 lines) in the report. <PgDn> - move down one page (15 lines) in the report. <Home> - move to the beginning of the report. <End> - move to the end of the report. <Grey Plus> - move down through the report 1/15th of the total length of the report (see the appendix regarding the SCROLL BAR later in this manual). <Grey Minus> - move up through the report 1/15th of the total length of the report (see the appendix regarding the SCROLL BAR later in this manual). <Esc> - return to the menu. <Tab> - switch between four different screen report formats as follows: 1) The default format shows Filename, Volume ID, Arcive ID, Size, Date, Time and Dos File Attributes. 2) Shows Subdirectory, Filename, Volume ID, Arcive ID, Size, Date, and Time. This corresponds to the /SD option when starting CATDISK. 3) Shows Filename, Volume ID, Archive ID and File comments. This corresponds to the /CO option. 4) Shows Subdirectory, Filename, Volume ID, Archive ID and a slightly truncated file comment. This corresponds to the /SDCO option. Disk Catalog System (CATDISK) V6.35 Copr (C) 1986, 1993 by Rick Hillier Page 41 Printer-Based Reports --------------------- If your report is going to a printer (LPT1 or LPT2), and you have activated the two-sided report feature of CATDISK, the odd numbered pages will be printed first, followed by a pause enabling you to reload the paper such that the even numbered pages will print on the back side of the odd numbered pages, followed by the even numbered pages. As the report is printed, the filenames or disk volumes (as appropriate to the report) will be echoed to your screen to keep you informed as to CATDISK's progress. While a report is being printed, you may press <Esc> to abandon the report and return you to the previous menu. Disk-Based Reports ------------------ Disk reports are treated the same as printer reports, with the exception that the two-sided report feature does not apply. A listing in the same format as the hardcopy report will be produced in a diskette file. The default name for this file is one with the same name as the current catalog filename with an extension of ".LST". This may be overridden at the time that the report is generated. Hitting <Esc> at any time during the generation of the report will abort it and return to the previous menu. Disk Catalog System (CATDISK) V6.35 Copr (C) 1986, 1993 by Rick Hillier Page 42 Sub-Option #1: Disk Summary --------------------------- Selection of sub-option #1 from the reports menu will cause CATDISK to display an alphabetical list of VOLUME NAMES and some pertinent statistical information for each. This option is handy if, say, you have a bunch of utility disks and want to add a 14K utility program to one of them. This report can be quite useful in making efficient use of existing working diskettes. All the statistical items shown should be self-explanatory, except one; that is, the Slack % factor. The disks on which DOS stores it files are divided into allocation units called clusters. The size of each cluster varies with the type and size of disk. When DOS allocates space on a disk for a file, it is allotted in one cluster units to the file. Some common cluster sizes are 512 bytes on 160-180K diskettes, and 1024 bytes on 320-360K diskettes. Some hard disks have larger cluster sizes. Anyway, let's say, for example, that you have a file of 256 bytes. On a 360K diskette, DOS will allocate 1024 bytes to the file, even though it is only 256 bytes long. This means that three-quarters of that cluster is unused, or that you have 75% slack for that file. The figure that you see on the summary report is the overall slack percentage of all the files on the disk. Depending on where you have set your output destination, the following options are applicable: NOTE: If you select a printer or disk-based report from CATDISK, you will be asked if you would like the report to be sorted on volume ID or by descending free disk space. Simply hit <V> for the volume ID sort, or hit <F> for the descending free disk space report. Hitting <Esc> at this prompt will cause the report to be aborted. NOTE: The <Tab> key has a slightly different function in this report than in the others. By pressing <Tab> key, you can switch the sorted order of the report between alphabetical volume ID and descending free disk space. The starting order in which the report will appear can be controlled with the /SF command line option at startup. Disk Catalog System (CATDISK) V6.35 Copr (C) 1986, 1993 by Rick Hillier Page 43 Sub-option #2: Files For A Volume --------------------------------- Selecting sub-option #2 will cause CATDISK to display an alphabetical list of files for a particular disk. If you have the report destination set to "ASK", you will be asked for a report location. After the report destination is established, you will be asked for a volume ID. Simply enter it and hit <Return>, or hit <Esc> to return to the menu without producing a report. Once the report location has been determined, CATDISK will ask you for the volume name to match for the report. You can either enter the exact volume name to match, or a wild-card entry to match for the report. If you enter an exact entry, CATDISK will first find it in the summary file. If it does not exist, you will be notified, and the catalog scan will not even take place. If you want to obtain a report for a group of volumes, here's how the wildcard matching works: As CATDISK scans your catalog for matches, it does a character by character comparison of the pattern that you specified and the volume name for each entry in your catalog. As soon as a mismatch occurs, the catalog entry is not included in the report. Two characters have a special meaning in these comparisons. The question mark (?) will match any character in the position which the question mark occupies. The asterisk (*) will match any characters to either the end of the volume name, or the next non-asterisk character in the pattern, if there are any. As a result of this logic, any characters between two asterisks that may occur in the search pattern are ignored. One special case with the asterisk feature is when a pattern is placed in between two asterisks. CATDISK will then match any volume that contains the pattern anywhere in the name. To better illustrate, here are some examples: Pattern Volume ID Match? ----------- ----------- ------ VOLUME 1 VOLUME 1 YES VOLUME 1 VOLUME 2 NO - not an exact match VOL????? VOLUME 1 YES - any 8 char name beginning with "VOL" VOL????2 VOLUME 2 YES - any 8 char name beginning with "VOL" that ends with "2" VOL*1 VOLUME 1 YES - any name beginning with "VOL" and ending in "1" (any number of chars) VOL*1 VOLUME 2 NO - doesn't end in "1" *1 VOLUME 1 YES - any name ending in "1" (any number of chars) *1 VOLUME 2 NO - doesn't end in "1" ???????? VOLUME 1 YES - any 8 char volume name ????????? VOLUME 2 NO - volume ID is not 9 characters long * ANYVOLUME YES - any volume ID, any number of chars AB*CD*EF ABEF YES - "CD" in the middle ignored *MISC* CATMISC1 YES - Contains "MISC" in the volume name. Disk Catalog System (CATDISK) V6.35 Copr (C) 1986, 1993 by Rick Hillier Page 44 Note that in the last example, the presence of a leading and trailing asterisk will cause CATDISK to search for the characters enclosed between them as they appear literally. Wildcard characters must not appear between these delimiters, as they cannot exist in a valid DOS filename (i.e. the volume id) and therefore will not be matched. For example," *DI?K*" will cause CATDISK to search for "DI?K" in the volume id. The question mark is not a valid character in a DOS filename, therefore no matches will be found. Optionally, you can leave the volume ID blank. CATDISK will bring up a point-and-shoot menu from which you can select a volume id from those in your current catalog. See the section entitled "Selecting A Volume Name From A List" previously discussed in this user manual. Disk Catalog System (CATDISK) V6.35 Copr (C) 1986, 1993 by Rick Hillier Page 45 Sub-option #3: Files For An Archive ----------------------------------- Selecting sub-option #3 will cause CATDISK to display an alphabetical list of files for a particular archive. If you have the report destination set to "ASK", you will be asked for a report location. After the report destination is established, you will be asked for a Archive to list. Simply enter it and hit <Return>, or hit <Esc> to return to the menu without producing a report. If you wish to obtain a report for a group of similarly named archives, you may use wildcards in your search spec. Here's how they work: As CATDISK scans your catalog for matches, it does a character by character comparison of the pattern that you specified and the volume name for each entry in your catalog. As soon as a mismatch occurs, the catalog entry is not included in the report. Two characters have a special meaning in these comparisons. The question mark (?) will match any character in the position which the question mark occupies. The asterisk (*) will match any characters to either the end of the volume name, or the next non-asterisk character in the pattern, if there are any. As a result of this logic, any characters between two asterisks that may occur in the search pattern are ignored. One special case with the asterisk feature is when a pattern is placed in between two asterisks. CATDISK will then match any archive that contains the pattern anywhere in the name. Under normal circumstances, any files that are not contained in archive files will not appear in this report. You must specifically ask for "........" (without the quotes) to get a listing of files that did not come from archives (i.e. Archive ID is "........" in the listing). To better illustrate, here are some examples: Pattern Archive ID Match? -------- ---------- ------ MISC1 MISC1 YES MISC1 MISC2 NO - not an exact match MI??? MISC1 YES - any 5 char name beginning with "MI" MI??2 MISC2 YES - any 5 char name beginning with "MI" that ends with "1" MI*1 MISC1 YES - any name beginning with "MI" and ending in "1" (any number of chars) MI*1 MISC2 NO - doesn't end in "1" *1 MISC1 YES - any name ending in "1" (any # of chars) *1 MISC2 NO - doesn't end in "1" ????? MISC1 YES - any 5 char volume name ???????? MISC2 NO - archive ID is not 8 characters long * ANYARCH YES - any archive ID, any number of chars AB*CD*EF ABEF YES - "CD" in the middle ignored *GAME* AGAME001 YES - Contains "GAME" in the archive name Disk Catalog System (CATDISK) V6.35 Copr (C) 1986, 1993 by Rick Hillier Page 46 Note that in the last example, the presence of a leading and trailing asterisk will cause CATDISK to search for the characters enclosed between them as they appear literally. Wildcard characters must not appear between these delimiters, as they cannot exist in a valid DOS filename (i.e. the archive id) and therefore will not be matched. For example," *DI?K*" will cause CATDISK to search for "DI?K" in the archive id. The question mark is not a valid character in a DOS filename, therefore no matches will be found. Disk Catalog System (CATDISK) V6.35 Copr (C) 1986, 1993 by Rick Hillier Page 47 Sub-option #4: Files By Filespec -------------------------------- Selecting sub-option #4 will cause CATDISK to display an alphabetical list of files for a DOS or a CATDISK enhanced wildcard spec. If you have the report destination set to "ASK", you will be asked for a report location. After the report destination is established, you will be asked for a filespec. This filespec follows the conventional DOS filespec search conventions including wildcard searches. Hit <Esc> to return to the menus without generating a report. Examples: *.* - search for everything * - same as *.* *. - search for files with no extension CATDISK*.* - search for files starting with CATDISK and having any file extension CATDISK* - same as CATDISK*.* CATDISK*. - search for files starting with CATDISK and having no file extension *.COM - search for files ending in .COM A*.EXE - search for files starting with A and ending in .EXE CATDISK.EXE - search specifically for CATDISK.EXE *.?Q? - search for files with an extension containing Q as its second character ??.DOC - search for files with two letters as it filename and .DOC as its extension Please refer to the DOS manual for further information on file searching patterns. In addition to the standard DOS wildcard matching specifications, CATDISK adds capabilities similar to the pattern matching discussed earlier in the manual under volume name matching and archive id matching. To apply it to a filename, simply split the filename into its two sections (the part before the period is referred to as the name, and the part after the period is the extension), and apply the principals to each part. A couple of examples would be: *D.* - match any filename whose name ends in "D" and has any extension. C?T*.EXE - match any filename whose name has a "C" in the first position, any character in the second position, a "T" in the third position, and has an extension of ".EXE". *.*M - match any file with any extension that ends in "M". C*K.* - match any file with any extension whose name starts with "C" and ends with "K". *DISK*.* - match any file whose name contains the characters "DISK". Note that in the last example, the presence of a leading and trailing asterisk will cause CATDISK to search for the characters enclosed between them as they appear literally. Wildcard characters must not appear between these delimiters, as they cannot exist in a valid DOS filename and therefore will not be matched. For example," *DI?K*.*" will cause CATDISK to search for "DI?K" in the files name. The question mark is not a valid character in a DOS filename, therefore no matches will be found. Disk Catalog System (CATDISK) V6.35 Copr (C) 1986, 1993 by Rick Hillier Page 48 Although this is a slight departure from the DOS standard for file pattern matching, I'm sure that you will find that these extensions add a little more flexibility and power to CATDISK's reporting capabilities. Disk Catalog System (CATDISK) V6.35 Copr (C) 1986, 1993 by Rick Hillier Page 49 Sub-option #5: Files By Comment Text ------------------------------------ Selecting sub-option #5 will cause CATDISK to display a list of files in accordance with a comment search spec that you supply. Although CATDISK supports comments of 43 characters in length, the search spec is currently limited to 35 characters, which should suffice for all options. After selecting a report destination, you will be asked for a comment search spec that you wish the report to be based on. Just enter the string that you want to search for in the catalog's comments section and hit <Enter>, or hit <Esc> to abort the process without generating a report. Here's how the comments are sourced for your search spec. You enter a "phrase" or "substring" that you want to search for in the file comments. The "phrase" may be an entire comment that you want, it can be just one word, or even just one letter. When catdisk compares your "phrase" to a comment, it checks to see if that "phrase" is contained anywhere in that comment. If it does, that file will appear in your report. Example: "SOURCE" would match: CATDISK V4.13 source code CATDISK V4.13 Source code CATDISK V4.13 SOURCE CODE Source ... etc ... Leaving the comment entry blank will produce a report containing only the catalog entries that have no comment. Please note: Several users have asked for wild cards in the comment search (eg. they might not know whether they had "Word Processor" or "Word Proc" for a comment). This is not really necessary in this case, as, in the above case, entering "PROC" would match both comments. Disk Catalog System (CATDISK) V6.35 Copr (C) 1986, 1993 by Rick Hillier Page 50 Sub-option F1: Files By Comment Keywords ----------------------------------------- Upon selecting <F1> from the reports menu, CATDISK will ask you for one or more keywords to match when generating the report. All keywords are entered on one line, each separated by a space. The maximum length of this line is 35 characters. Unlike the "Files By Comment Text" report mentioned earlier in this manual, the keyword report will scan through your file comments and look for whole words instead of looking for the text anywhere in the comment. For example, entering "PROCESS" for a keyword would cause a match in the comment "PROCESS CONTROL", but would not cause a match in the comment "WORD PROCESSOR" due to the fact that the "PROCESS" in "PROCESSOR" is not a stand alone word. You can have CATDISK perform the matching operations on multiple keywords by entering them all on the specification line, each separated by a space. If CATDISK detects that you are looking for more than one keyword, you have two choices on how those keywords will be processed when evaluating a match with a file comment. You will see the prompt: Match Just <O>ne of These Keywords or <A>ll of Them? <O/A> By answering: O) You can have CATDISK assume a match if any one of the keywords are found in the comment. You may also press the <1> key (instead of the first letter of the word ONE). eg. Keywords: CATDISK SUMMARY Comment : CATDISK Summary File For Games - Match! Comment : Summary of Monthly Sales - Match! Comment : 3.. 2.. 1.. Blastoff! - No Match A) You can tell CATDISK to include a file in the report only if ALL keywords are found in the comment. If one or more keywords are not present in the comment, the file will not appear in the report. Using the examples from the previous choice will show the difference in how the comments are evaluated. eg. Keywords: CATDISK SUMMARY Comment : CATDISK Summary File For Games - Match! Comment : Summary of Monthly Sales - No Match Comment : 3.. 2.. 1.. Blastoff! - No Match The second comment does not match under the second criteria due to the fact that the word Summary is present, but the word CATDISK is not. Having both a comment text report and a separate keyword-based report gives you full flexibility in searching for files by comment. Disk Catalog System (CATDISK) V6.35 Copr (C) 1986, 1993 by Rick Hillier Page 51 Sub-option #6: Files By Comment/Filename Text ---------------------------------------------- This report is very similar to the Files By Comment Text report except that the filename is also searched for any occurrences of the search spec. See details on the "Files By Comment Text" report in this user manual for details on how text is compared to determine whether or not a given file should appear in the report. Sub-option #7: Sorted Full File Listings ----------------------------------------- This option, if viewed on the screen will product a report in the same manner as sub-option #4, except that ALL files in the catalog will be included in the list. It is similar to choosing sub-option #4 and searching for "*.*". If you have the report destination set to "ASK", you will be asked for a report location before any further action takes place. You may sort the full list on various criteria. Currently, you can sort by filename, file extension, subdirectory, volume id, archive id, comment, file date/time (descending order), or file size (descending or ascending order). To select a criteria, simply hit the number beside it, or select it from the menu using CATDISK's menu selection methods. The rest is automatic. If, during the sorting phase, which occurs for each option, with the exception of option #1, an error occurs, the process will be aborted and no report will be generated. Disk Catalog System (CATDISK) V6.35 Copr (C) 1986, 1993 by Rick Hillier Page 52 Sub-option #8: Unique Files Only & Sub-option #9: Duplicate Files Only ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Selecting sub-option #8 will cause CATDISK to display a listing of files in your catalog that exist only once. Selecting sub-option #9 will cause CATDISK to display a listing of files that occur more than once in your catalog. The criteria for these two reports is based solely on the filename, and optionally, on the file size (you will be asked whether or not you want it to be included before the catalog scan takes place), and not other items such as subdirectory, file date or file size. you will be given the option to include or not to include the file size as a criteria in determining a file's uniqueness when you initiate one of these two sub-options. When either of these reports is generated, a full scan will be made through the catalog file to determine which files should be included in the report. The reason for this is due to the method that CATDISK uses in comparing filenames to determine whether they are duplicate or unique. If, during the scanning process, CATDISK runs into a disk problem, the report will be aborted. Due to the method by which CATDISK scans the catalog, there is a possibility that duplicate files may appear in the unique file reports and vice versa when file size is used as a criteria if the given entries being compared are not right together in the catalog file. An example may make this clearer: Filename.Ext Volume ID File Size TEST .GIF GIF0001 123,456 TEST .GIF GIF0002 123,789 TEST .GIF GIF0003 123,456 In the unique file report, for example, if the file size is omitted from the search criteria, the report will show none of the above three files, which would be correct. If, however, the file size is included, all three of the files will show up due to the fact that the second entry in the file list has a different file size. The first file is compared to the second one, and the second one is compared to the third during the sequential search of the catalog. Due to the possibility that there can be many files of the same name occurring in the catalog file, this cannot be currently circumvented. A similar situation can happen in the duplicate files report. Leaving the file size out of the criteria will yield the correct results. Including it may cause all three files to be left out of the report for the same reasons as in the unique file report. Disk Catalog System (CATDISK) V6.35 Copr (C) 1986, 1993 by Rick Hillier Page 53 Sub-option #0: Volume Summary/Contents -------------------------------------- This report is like combining the summary report with a full file listing. CATDISK will print each line from your summary report, followed by a complete listing of files contained on that disk. Due to the nature of this report and the methodology that CATDISK uses to generate it, it is not possible to view this report on your screen. A printer location or a disk file must be selected in order to produce this report. If you instruct CATDISK to send this report to the screen, you will get an error message informing you of the above requirements. Sub-option <Esc>: Return To Main Menu ------------------------------------- Hitting <Esc> will return you to CATDISK's main menu. Disk Catalog System (CATDISK) V6.35 Copr (C) 1986, 1993 by Rick Hillier Page 54 OPTION <F4> - TEMPORARILY EXIT TO DOS ------------------------------------- This option, although not really necessary, has been added in response to the numerous requests that I have had for this feature (shows that I am really paying attention to those suggestions, eh?). By selecting this option, CATDISK will be temporarily suspended and you will be returned to the DOS prompt. You may carry out any normal function that you would ordinarily be able to carry out from DOS, provided that there is enough memory remaining in which to run your desired program. Please note that if you have the disk cache active at the time you use this function, the contents of the cache will be flushed and cleared before calling DOS. This will not affect any data already on disk. When you are finished with DOS, and wish to return to CATDISK, simply type "EXIT" and hit <Return> to return to CATDISK. Please be sure and replace any disks that you had in your drives before returning to CATDISK. Note that although the <F4> option does not appear on any of CATDISK's other menus (settings & toggles, reports & inquiries, or the report destination selection menu), you may press <F4> from any of these menus to temporarily exit to DOS. When you return from DOS, you will be returned to the particular menu from which you shelled out to DOS. Possible errors that you may encounter when you use can vary greatly. Possibilities are: 1) There is not enough memory to load a second copy of the command interpreter (usually COMMAND.COM), or that memory has been corrupted by a resident program. 2) If you get an error after returning from DOS, it usually means that you've loaded a resident program while out in DOS. You should refrain from doing so. 3) Generally, this means that CATDISK was unable to find COMMAND.COM on the drive and directory defined by the SET COMSPEC= environment string (see the DOS manual for details on the SET command). This is usually set to the location from which COMMAND.COM was loaded when the system was booted. If COMMAND.COM was not found at the boot location, the root directory of the current drive is attempted. Disk Catalog System (CATDISK) V6.35 Copr (C) 1986, 1993 by Rick Hillier Page 55 OPTION <drive_letter>: SHOW DISK DIRECTORY To activate this feature, simply type the drive letter of the disk whose directory you wish to view. If you haven't included the /NW option in your command line when you started CATDISK,you will be prompted to insert a disk for drive D where D is the drive letter that you typed. You will then be asked for a filespec to match. This is the same as the filespec prompt in OPTION #0, Sub-option #4 - SHOW SELECTED FILES. Upon doing this, the label and directory contents will be read just like they would if they were about to be cataloged, but instead of adding them to your catalog, they will be shown directly on the screen in the same format as option #0, Sub-option #2 - Show Files For A Volume. The archive scanning feature functions as normal throughout the program. Upon entering the search spec, scanning of the catalog will commence. If you have status indicators turned on, a counter will increment each time a matching file is found. If at the and of the search, no files were found, an error message will be issued and you will be returned to the main menu. When the search has completed successfully, the file names will be shown alphabetically, along with the volume name, archive name, and other directory information for that file. For a list of options available, please see the section entitled "SCREEN REPORT OPTIONS AVAILABLE" in this manual. OPTION ESC: EXIT TO DOS Select this option when you are finished with CATDISK to terminate its operation. Upon exit, you will be returned to the DOS prompt. Disk Catalog System (CATDISK) V6.35 Copr (C) 1986, 1993 by Rick Hillier Page 56 APPENDIX A - THE SCROLL BAR When bringing up a screen report, you may have noticed a hatched bar on the left border of the screen with an inverse 'T' at the top of it and an inverse 'B' at the bottom. This is a scroll bar, which indicates roughly where you are located along the full length of the current report. Additionally, this feature will allow you to roughly position yourself in the report by hitting the <Grey Plus> and <Grey Minus> keys. These keys will move you forward and backward respectively along this scroll bar. These moves correspond to a move of one fifteenth of the total length of the report in the selected direction, as will be reflected in the page number which will be automatically set. The scroll bar position will also wrap from the top to the bottom if you are at the top and hit the <Grey Minus> key. The reverse is also true for the <Grey Plus> key. In a long report, this represents a much nicer way of getting to, say, the files beginning with "R" without having to hit the <PgDn> key a hundred times. Remember... the scroll bar is used to ROUGHLY position yourself among a group of files in a screen report. This scroll bar will appear in the point-and-shoot volume id selection screen as well. Its functionality is much the same as that discussed above for reports. Disk Catalog System (CATDISK) V6.35 Copr (C) 1986, 1993 by Rick Hillier Page 57 APPENDIX B - ARCHIVE SUPPORT This version of CATDISK currently supports the archive utilities from System Enhancement Associates and PKWare, PAK files (similar to ARC files) created by the PAK utility from NoGate Consulting, ZIP files created by PKWare's PKZIP utilities, LZH files created by the LHARC utility from Haruyasu Yoshizaki, LZS files created by the LARC utility from K. Miki, DWC files created by the DWC utility from Dean W. Cooper, and the public domain Library Utility (LU). CATDISK can extract directory information from archives created with SEAWARE'S ARC utility, version 5.30 or earlier, PKWare's PKPAK version 3.61 or earlier, or any compatible archive generating program. These files commonly have a file extension of .ARC, and any files with this extension will be examined by CATDISK to see if it is a valid archive. If so, the directory information of each file in the archive will be extracted and added to the catalog if the Auto Archive Extraction feature is turned ON. Files extracted from an ARC file will have a file attribute of "*ARC". Similar to the above, any files with a .PAK extension will be examined, and if appropriate, the directory information will be extracted from the file in question. Files extracted from a PAK file will have a file attribute of "*PAK". ARC or PAK files created with utilities other than the ones listed above should work with CATDISK, but are not guaranteed. Files created with PKWare's PKZIP family of utilities are fully supported. These files usually have an extension of .ZIP, and any file found with this extension will be examined by CATDISK to see if it is a valid ZIP file. If this is so, and the Auto Archive Extraction Feature is turned ON, the directory information of each file in the library will be extracted and added to the catalog. Files extracted from a ZIP file will have a file attribute of "*ZIP". If the ZIP file contains comments, the first 30 characters will be extracted and included in your catalog file. ZIP files, in addition to supporting comment entries for each file contained, can also have a main comment for the ZIP file itself. When CATDISK reads ZIP files and finds a main comment, it will insert that main comment in the catalog file for any entries in the ZIP file that do not already have comments. Although ZIP files can contain subdirectory information, this is not the subdirectory that will appear in the catalog listing. The reason for this is due to the fact that the primary purpose of CATDISK is to be able to locate a given file. In order to be able to do so, the subdirectory of the ZIP file itself is shown. The destination of the file when being UNZIPPED is not relevant. Files created by the ARJ utility by Robert K. Jung that have a file extension of .ARJ are fully supported in the same manner as ZIP files. Such files have a file extension of .ARJ and any catalog entries that came from an ARJ file will have a file attribute of "*ARJ". Disk Catalog System (CATDISK) V6.35 Copr (C) 1986, 1993 by Rick Hillier Page 58 Files created with Haruyasu Yoshizaki's LHA utility (formerly called LHARC) are fully supported. These files commonly end with a .LZH extension. Any files with this extension will be examined by CATDISK to see if it is a valid LHARC file. If so, and you wish the directory contents to be extracted (via the program setting), the process will be carried out. Files extracted from a LZH file will have a file attribute of "*LZH". Files created by the LARC utility from K. Miki are supported in the same way as those created by the LHARC utility mentioned above. Files extracted from these files will have a file attribute of "*LZS". Files with a .ZOO extension will be examined to determine whether they are a valid ZOO file. If so, and Archive extraction is enabled, the directory contents of the file will be read and included in the catalog file. Files extracted from ZOO files will have the attribute "*ZOO". If the ZOO file contains comments, the first 30 characters will be extracted and included in your catalog file. Files with a .DWC extension will be checked to determine whether they are a valid DWC file. If so,and archive extraction is enabled, the directory contents of the file will be read and included in the catalog file. Files extracted from DWC files will have the attribute "*DWC". If the DWC file contains comments, the first 30 characters will be extracted and included in your catalog file. Files created by the archive utility HYPER, having a file extension of .HYP will be examined. If they are a valid HYPER archive file, the directory contents from this file will be included in the catalog file. Files extracted from HYPER archives will have the attribute "*HYP". Files created by the Library Utility (LU) and conform to the fifth revision of the formal definition of the library file format are also fully supported. These files commonly have a file extension of .LBR, and any files with this extension will be examined by CATDISK to see if they are valid .LBR files. If this is so, and the Auto ARCHIVE Extraction Feature is turned ON, the directory information of each file in the library will be extracted and added to the catalog. Files extracted from a LBR file will have an attribute of "*LBR". Although not an archive file in the formal sense of the word, a GIF file (stands for Graphics Interchange Format) is a special file format that was developed by CompuServe in order to allow many different types of computers to be able to view a graphics image without having to modify the file itself. GIF viewers are available on a wide variety of hardware platforms to allow you to look at the images contained within a GIF file. These files can come in a very wide variety of resolutions and color combinations. CATDISK can look into a GIF file and extract this resolution and color information and include it as a default comment for that GIF file. For example, a picture that may be 640 by 480 pixels with 256 colors would have a comment entry of "1024x768x256". Currently, the GIF87a and GIF89a are supported. Disk Catalog System (CATDISK) V6.35 Copr (C) 1986, 1993 by Rick Hillier Page 59 APPENDIX C - CATLOOK - COMMAND LINE LOOKUP UTILITY CATLOOK is a stand alone reporting utility provided with CATDISK. It can come in handy on occasions when you either need to generate a quick and dirty report without having to run CATDISK itself, or when you need to generate a report after shelling out to DOS from within an application and there is not enough free memory left over to run CATDISK itself. CATLOOK will run in 64K of free memory. A summary of the usage of CATLOOK follows: CATLOOK parameters (each must be separated by a slash or a space) /Ffilename - Use this file for the catalog (Default is CATDISK). NOTE: No space is allowed between the filename and the /F. /Rx - Use report format x, where x is: 0 - Filenames+Statistics 1 - Filenames+Comments 2 - Subdirs+Filenames+Comments 3 - All Catalog Info. /S - Show a summary report. /Vvolume - Show files for a volume report for the volume label specified. /Aarchive - Show files for an archive report for the archive specified. /Wpattern - Show files for a DOS wildcard spec based on the pattern given. /Ccomment - Show files containing the comment substring specified. /U - Show all files that are unique in the catalog file. /D - Show all files that have duplicates in the catalog file. /SIZE - Use file size as an additional criteria in generating the unique/duplicate file reports. /NT - supress the totals that are normally printed at the end of CATLOOK's reports. /Ex - Show everything sorted by x, where x is: 0 - File Name 1 - File Extension 2 - Subdirectory 3 - Volume Name 4 - Archive ID 5 - Comment 6 - Date/Time Due to the simplicity of this utility, the reports generated by CATLOOK are not paginated, but rather produced with one heading at the top of the report followed by the appropriate listings (equivalent to setting the number of lines per page equal to 0 in the configuration utility). If you are using report format 3 and are directing output to the printer, you must first have your printer set to compressed mode and that this mode must support at least 132 columns of output. The output from CATLOOK can be redirected to a printer or disk file by using the standard DOS method if I/O redirection. For example: "CATLOOK /S >PRN" (without the quotes) - this will send a summary report to your printer. "CATLOOK /S >LISTING.TXT" - this will send the summary report to a disk file called "LISTING.TXT". Disk Catalog System (CATDISK) V6.35 Copr (C) 1986, 1993 by Rick Hillier Page 60 APPENDIX D - CATMGR: CATDISK CATALOG MANAGER Before we even get into discussing this utility, we would like to stress that there is a possibility that a catalog file could get out of synch with the summary file under certain circumstances, particularly if a disk error or a disk-full condition occurs during certain operations. IF YOU USE THIS UTILITY, IT IS A GOOD IDEA TO MAKE A COPY OF YOUR DATA FILES BEFORE PROCEEDING. In response to requests from the many users of CATDISK, we have developed a simple utility that will allow you to manipulate catalog entries among your various catalog files without having to uncatalog disks from one catalog and re-catalog them in another. With CATMGR, you can copy records from one catalog to another (including a brand new catalog), move records from one catalog to another, delete multiple disks from a catalog in one pass and to change a disks volume id in the catalog file without affecting the volume label on the disk. CATMGR can have two catalog files loaded at one time. The startup command for CATMGR is as follows: CATMGR CatalogFile1 CatalogFile2 - where CatalogFile1 is the catalog file that you wish to be loaded on on the left side of the screen and CatalogFile2 is the catalog file that you wish to be loaded on the right side of the screen. Both of these parameters are optional and you can specify one, both or none of them on the command line. The CATMGR screen is divided into three regions. The upper left and right portions show information from the summary files from the two active catalog files, and the lower area makes up the instruction and message area. The general strategy with this utility is to tag the entries that you wish to copy, move or delete and then select the appropriate operation to perform. For copying or moving catalog entries, the side of the screen on which the highlight bar resides is considered the source side, while the other side is considered the destination side. You can tag entries in one of two ways. The first way is to highlight the desired entries by using the cursor keys and by pressing the <Space Bar>. CATMGR will indicate that an entry is tagged when there is an arrow to the left of its volume name on the screen. Disk Catalog System (CATDISK) V6.35 Copr (C) 1986, 1993 by Rick Hillier Page 61 You can move the highlight bar around the screen by using the following keys: <Up Arrow> - Moves the highlight bar up one line if possible. <Down Arrow> - Moves the highlight bar down one line if possible. <Left Arrow> - Moves the highlight bar over to the last position on the left side of the screen. <Right Arrow> - Moves the highlight bar over to the last position on the right side of the screen. <PgUp> - Moves the highlight bar up one screenful (16 lines) if possible. <PgDn> - Moves the highlight bar down one screenful (16 lines) if possible. <Home> - Moves the highlight bar to the top of the list. <End> - Moves the highlight bar to the end of the list. The other way to tag entries is to do so in groups. To bring up a list of tagging functions available, hit the <T> key at the main menu. CATMGR will bring up a list with the following functions that will operate on the side of the screen where the highlight bar currently resides: <A> - This will tag ALL of the entries. <C> - This will clear the tags of ALL of the entries. <S> - You will be prompted for a wildcard specification for all of the entries that you would like to be tagged. - You will be prompted for a wildcard specification for all of the entries that you would like tags cleared. - This will "flip" the tagged status of all entries. This is useful if, for example, you wish to copy all but five of the entries of a large catalog file to be copied to a new one. Simply tag the five that you do not wish to copy and then select this option to quickly tag the entries that you do wish to copy. <Esc> - Will return you to the main menu with no further action taken. Please note that for any of the tagging operations in any method, you cannot tag a volume name that exists on the other side of the screen because a copy or move operation will result in a duplicate volume showing in the target catalog. When tagging an individual entry with the <Space Bar>, CATMGR will warn you of this. When performing a group tagging function with the <T> options, all appropriate entries will be tagged with duplicates ignored. There is no warning issued in this case. Given this, it is advisable to load only one catalog file into memory if the only operations to be performed are deletions. To load a different or new catalog file into either half of the screen, just move the highlight bar to the desired side and press the <L> (Load New File) key. CATMGR will ask you for the catalog file to be loaded, at which point you may enter the name portion of the catalog file only. Do not specify a file extension in this name; CATMGR will supply the necessary information at the appropriate time. By hitting the <Esc> key, CATMGR will return you to the main menu with no further action taken. Disk Catalog System (CATDISK) V6.35 Copr (C) 1986, 1993 by Rick Hillier Page 62 Upon successful entry of a catalog name, CATMGR will attempt to load the summary file for that catalog into memory. If successful, those entries will immediately be displayed on your screen, and the catalog name will appear in the title area on its particular side of the screen. Any previous tags that may have been set on that side of the screen will be cleared. If CATMGR is unable to find the catalog file, that side of the screen will be cleared, and it will be indicated that a new catalog file will be created in the event of a copy or move operation with that side as the destination side. If you do not perform a copy or move operation into that catalog file, no catalog will be created for that name. Once you have a grouping of catalog entries tagged for an operation, here are the three that you can perform: <C>opy - hit the <C> key to activate this function. All tagged catalog entries will be copied from the source catalog to the destination catalog. If an error occurs during this phase, you will get an error message and the operation will be aborted. By far, the most common error will occur when your disk becomes full. During the copy process, CATMGR will read information from both catalog files and merge them together in a temporary new file. At the end of the process, all three files will exist at the same time, after which the old file is deleted and the new one renamed. The net result of this is that you need free disk space equal to the size of the target catalog file plus the cumulative size of the number of records that will be copied from the source catalog. Once this operation is successful, the summary entries from the source catalog will be copied into the destination summary file. This operation is done in memory, after which the new summary file is written to disk. As a general rule, if there was enough room to update the catalog file, there will certainly be enough room to create a new summary file. If an error does occur, it was probably due to a physical disk error. If this does happen, your summary file will be out of synch with its catalog file, and it is probably best that you exit from CATMGR and restore a backup copy of the target catalog set. <D>elete - This operation will delete tagged entries from the source catalog file in a bulk operation, enabling you to perform an efficient cleanup operation on your catalog file in one pass, rather than the un-cataloging the entries one at a time in the CATDISK program itself. To perform the deletion(s), CATMGR will read through the source file and build a new catalog file, minus the tagged entries, of course. If an error occurs while the new catalog file is being built, CATMGR will abandon the deletion operation and leave the original catalog file intact. Disk Catalog System (CATDISK) V6.35 Copr (C) 1986, 1993 by Rick Hillier Page 63 As in the copy operation, the most common error will be a disk full error for the similar reasons as the copy operation. Once the deletion operation on the catalog file is complete, the summary file will be updated to reflect the deletions. Again, the same considerations to a summary file update apply to the summary update operation for deletions. If you get an error while the summary file is being updated, it is advisable that you restore a backup copy of that catalog file. <M>ove - this operation will move the entries from the source catalog to the destination catalog. It basically combines a copy operation from source to destination, followed by a deletion of the entries from the source. The move operation is the most convenient way to "split" a large catalog file into two smaller ones, or to "merge" two smaller catalogs into one large one. The last two options available are: <V> - The <V> option on the main screen will allow you to change the volume id of the highlighted entry to one that you specify without having to insert that disk in a drive and re-catalog it under a different name. Due to the way that the disk list is maintained in CATMGR, you may only perform this operation if none of the files on the current side of the screen have been tagged. If you have any entries tagged, you will get an error message. Once you have activated this operation, you will be prompted for a new volume id for the current entry. If you enter a name that already exists in the current catalog file, you will get an error message. If you enter the same name for the volume id as it had before, no action will take place. Once a valid volume id has been entered, the rest is automatic. If you inadvertantly activated this option and do not wish to carry out any operation, hit <Esc> at the prompt and you will be returned to the main menu with no action taken. <Esc> - Finally, the last option available to you from the main menu is to exit from CATMGR to DOS. This is done by pressing the <Esc> key. Disk Catalog System (CATDISK) V6.35 Copr (C) 1986, 1993 by Rick Hillier Page 64 APPENDIX E - DISKFILL: CATDISK'S OPTIMAL DISK FILL UTILITY While CATDISK provides a way to manage the information that you have stored in a disk library, that still doesn't give us the excuse to waste disk space. Unfortunately, copying files one at a time to a floppy and using our eyes to read the amount of free space left on the target disk and using our minds to scan the list of files to be offloaded and find the best file to fit that "hole" is tedious at best, especially if the list of files to be offloaded is large. We have developed a companion program to CATDISK called DISKFILL, which is included with CATDISK that addresses this problem. In a nutshell, DISKFILL has the ability to offload selected files from a single subdirectory at a time to a collection of disks (DISKFILL is primarily meant for use with floppies), and copying the files to them in such an order that the least amount of target disk space is wasted. DISKFILL also has the ability to move files (as opposed to copy files), and to delete groups of files as well. Details on all three operations are discussed in their own sections in this appendix. As each disk is filled with files, DISKFILL can optionally call upon the CATDISK program to automatically catalog your disks as you go. DISKFILL can compare the files in your directory to those in an existing catalog to facilitate weeding out duplicate files BEFORE they get copied into your collection of files. 4DOS/NDOS file descriptions are copied to the target disk with the files. We strongly recommend that you use either 4DOS or NDOS to maintain comments right in the directory itself when you create or obtain the files that make up that directory. That way, when you offload the files to diskettes and catalog them, there will be no guesswork in entering the file comments, as CATDISK will read them in as the disk gets cataloged. DISKFILL can also compare the list of files to be offloaded against a CATDISK catalog to allow intelligent recommendations of previously cataloged disks so that you may fill up those empty "holes" that may exist in your disk collection. DISKFILL can take one or more optional parameters as follows: DISKFILL parameters pattern where parameters may be one or more of the following: /Ffilename - filename is the name of the catalog file that you wish DISKFILL to use for recommendations of previously cataloged disks when offloading files to another media. NOTE that there is no space between the /F and the filename. When specifying the filename, do NOT include a path or file extension - DISKFILL will know where to look. Disk Catalog System (CATDISK) V6.35 Copr (C) 1986, 1993 by Rick Hillier Page 65 /NOTAGALL - Normally, DISKFILL automatically tags all files when reading in a new subdirectory, as offloading all files is the most common operation to perform. By adding this parameter to your command line when you start DISKFILL, you can supress this feature. /QUIET - Silent operation. Supresses sound in DISKFILL. /NO4DOS - Disables support for 4DOS's file descriptions. If this option is NOT specified, DISKFILL will copy the 4DOS file description over to the target diskette for each file that has one, and any file called DESCRIPT.ION will not be processed. /NONDOS - same as the /NO4DOS option outlined above. 4DOS and NDOS file comments are handled in the same manner. NOTE that with these parameters shown above that, unlike the CATDISK program itself, they MUST be preceded by a slash. This is due to the fact that the pattern mentioned below may contain a dash in its specification. pattern - you may specify a wildcard filespec that you wish to be included in a directory scan. This filespec may be a CATDISK enhanced filespec as documented in sub-option #4 of the reports and inquiries section of this user manual. If no filespec is included on the command line, the default, "*.*" is used. NOTE that there is no slash or dash preceding the pattern. You may also put commonly used command line options in a DISKFILL environment variable using the DOS "SET" command. This command (see examples below), may be placed in your AUTOEXEC.BAT file so that you will not need to remember which command line options to use to obtain your favorite setup, or for that matter, to type them! - example: SET DISKFILL=/FCATDISK/NOTAGALL/QUIET You may run DISKFILL from any directory on your system. That directory will be the initial subdirectory scanned on startup. The subdirectory and filespec to match may be changed from within the program. DISKFILL has a capacity to hold 8000 files from a subdirectory. Once DISKFILL has loaded, it will scan the current directory and present a list of files that match the filespec given. The procedure here is to tag the files that you wish to be manipulated and select an operation to perform on them. As the initial or new directory is scanned, DISKFILL automatically selects ALL files for manipulation, unless you specified /NOTAGALL when you started DISKFILL, as this selection will undoubtedly be the most common. You can tag files in one of two ways. The first way is to highlight the desired file by using the cursor keys and by pressing the <Space Bar>. DISKFILL will indicate that a file is tagged when there is an arrow to the left of its filename name on the screen. Disk Catalog System (CATDISK) V6.35 Copr (C) 1986, 1993 by Rick Hillier Page 66 You can move the highlight bar around the screen by using the following keys: <Up Arrow> - Moves the highlight bar up one line if possible. <Down Arrow> - Moves the highlight bar down one line if possible. <PgUp> - Moves the highlight bar up one screenful (14 lines) if possible. <PgDn> - Moves the highlight bar down one screenful (14 lines) if possible. <Home> - Moves the highlight bar to the top of the list. <End> - Moves the highlight bar to the end of the list. The other way to tag entries is to do so in groups. To bring up a list of tagging functions available, hit the <T> key at the main menu. DISKFILL will bring up a list with the following functions: <A> - This will tag ALL of the files. <C> - This will clear the tags of ALL of the files. <S> - You will be prompted for a wildcard specification for all of the files that you would like to be tagged. - You will be prompted for a wildcard specification for all of the files that you would like the tags cleared. - This will "flip" the tagged status of all files. This is useful if, for example, you wish to copy all but five of the files if a long list to be offloaded. Simply tag the five that you do not wish to copy and then select this option to quickly tag the entries that you do wish to copy. <F> - This will flip the tagged status of any files that DISKFILL finds as duplicates in the selected catalog file. Normally, when offloading files to floppies and then cataloging them, you run a good risk of having duplicate files in your collection. Although CATDISK itself can point them out to you, it is still best to eliminate them before they get into your collection. Here are two strategies that you can use to "pre-process" a directory before offloading files "<M>ove" or "<C>opy": 1) By activating this option with NO FILES FLAGGED, you can then see which files are indeed duplicates, upon which you can activate the <D>elete files option from the main menu. Presto! No more duplicate files. 2) By activating this option with the files that you intend to offload already flagged, you can have DISKFILL "un-tag" the duplicate files that it finds. You may then offload the remaining files and examine the duplicate files left over. In order to use this option, you must have selected a catalog file to use either from the command line when you started DISKFILL, or from the main menu by using "<N>ew Catalog File". Disk Catalog System (CATDISK) V6.35 Copr (C) 1986, 1993 by Rick Hillier Page 67 In order to determine whether or not a file is a duplicate, DISKFILL will use the filename and filesize. When you hit <F> to activate this feature, DISKFILL will ask you if it should use the file date as an additional criteria. You may answer <Y>es or <N>o to the prompt, or you may press <Esc> to abandon the operation. Once you have determined the criteria for DISKFILL to use, it will make a pass through your catalog file and compare the contents of the catalog file to the contents of the currently selected directory. Each file that it finds as duplicate will have its flagged status flipped. When the operation is complete, you will be returned to the file list. <Esc> - Will return you to the main menu with no further action taken. Other options available from the main menu are: - Change Pattern: DISKFILL will prompt you for a new filespec to match when scanning the directory. This is handy if you only wish to have a grouping of files from the current subdirectory to be included in the point and shoot list. Note that after the directory has been re-scanned, ALL files will be tagged for manipulation. <S> - Change Subdirectory: DISKFILL will prompt you for a new subdirectory to be scanned (the current pattern as noted at the top of the screen will be used). Note that after the directory has been scanned, ALL files will be tagged for manipulation. <N> - New Catalog File: DISKFILL will prompt you for a new catalog to be used in recommending disks from an existing catalog for backfilling of files. Do not specify a path or file extension - DISKFILL will know where to look. Hit <Esc> at the prompt to leave the existing (or lack of) catalog unchanged. If you do enter a name, DISKFILL will attempt to load that catalog. If a problem occurs (eg. file not found or error reading it), the setting will be cleared (i.e. no catalog will be used). If successful, that catalog will be used in all recommendations and cataloging operations. <Enter> - If the highlight bar is currently pointing to a subdirectory accessible directly from the current directory, you may press <Enter> to switch to that subdirectory. If you are pointing to <PARENT DIR> and hit <Enter>, you will move down one level in the disk's subdirectory tree. By traversing the directory tree in this manner, it is possible to quickly move from one directory to another in a point and shoot manner. It may be quicker to use the <S> option to move directly to a subdirectory that you enter at a prompt in some circumstances. If you wish to switch to another disk drive, you must use the <S> option. Disk Catalog System (CATDISK) V6.35 Copr (C) 1986, 1993 by Rick Hillier Page 68 DISKFILL currently has three operations that you can perform on the tagged files: <C> - Copy: When this option is selected, DISKFILL will ask you for the drive of the target disk(s) that will received the tagged files. Typically, this will be drive A: or drive B:, but we have allowed any available drive letter in your system due to the fact that there may be an external floppy disk using a device driver that is available. Hit <Esc> to abandon the operation. Once you have selected the target drive, DISKFILL will ask you if you would like to catalog each disk after it has received more files. This prompt requires a simple YES or NO answer, which can be indicated by pressing "Y" for YES or "N" for NO. You may press <Esc> at this prompt to abandon the operation. DISKFILL will then prompt you to insert a disk in the target drive. If you do not wish to continue with the operation, hit <Esc> to return to the main menu. You may also press the <S> key at the prompt to shell out to DOS. This is handy if you need to check something outside of the DISKFILL program before proceeding. If you have instructed DISKFILL to use a catalog file for the purposes of recommending disks for "backfilling" previously cataloged disks, you may press <R> at this prompt. DISKFILL will then compare the list of files that need to be copied or moved with the entries in the selected catalog and will recommend a disk to use for accepting more files. The program will attempt to recommend disks such that the ones with the least amount of free space (those are the most difficult to fill later) are used first. If you have a catalog containing mixed media (hard drives, two different floppy drive sizes on the A: and B: drives, etc.), DISKFILL is currently not able to differentiate between them, so it may be possible for it to suggest a 5-1/4" diskette when you are copying to 3.5" diskettes, or even you hard drive. You may also have cataloged program disks that you have purchased, to which you do not necessarily want to copy files. If DISKFILL recommends such a disk, sit the <S> key at the recommendation prompt to "Squelch" that disk and not use it for any further recommendations. DISKFILL will then recommend another disk for use. NOTE: If you need to "re-activate" those disks that have been "squelched" for another copy process, simply load that summary file from the main menu before performing any other copy or move operations. Disk Catalog System (CATDISK) V6.35 Copr (C) 1986, 1993 by Rick Hillier Page 69 Once you have the desired disk inserted, and are ready to copy files to it, hit any other key to proceed. The prompt containing all the above mentioned options will appear before each disk necessary to complete the operation is to be inserted. Before DISKFILL begins to copy files to each disk, it will examine the disk to determine capacity and to check to see if any files or sub-directories are present on the disk. If a disk error occurs at this stage, DISKFILL will assume that the disk is not formatted and will bring up a message indicating that it thinks that the disk is not formatted. You have three options at this point: 1) You may hit <S> to shell out to DOS to either examine the disk, or to invoke your favorite program to facilitate formatting that diskette. We have not built in the facility to load any particular disk formatting software, as there are many alternatives to the DOS format command, and the selection of a given program is a matter of personal preference. This also leaves open the possibility of using a disk formatting program that has the ability to format more capacity on a disk than normal. When you are ready to continue with the copy operation after shelling out to DOS, type "EXIT" and hit <Enter> to return back to the prompt. 2) You may hit <Esc> to abort the copy operation and return to the main menu. 3) You may hit any other key to try a new diskette, at which time the disk determination will be repeated. If the target disk has files on it, you will be presented with another set of options that will allow you to make a decision on what to do next: 1) You may hit <V> to view the directory of the target disk to verify that it is the one that you intended to insert in the drive. The DOS "DIR/P" command will be issued. 2) You may hit <S> to shell to DOS. This option is available to allow you to examine the situation more closely, perhaps to examine the directory of the disk and see if you have inserted the correct diskette. When you return from the DOS shell, you will be left at this prompt from which you may take appropriate action. Disk Catalog System (CATDISK) V6.35 Copr (C) 1986, 1993 by Rick Hillier Page 70 3) You may press <E> to have DISKFILL erase all visible files and subdirectories from that disk before proceeding with the copy operation. IF YOU ARE USING A TARGET DRIVE OTHER THAN A: or B:, EXERCISE THIS OPTION WITH EXTREME CAUTION. IF THE TARGET DRIVE HAPPENS TO BE A HARD DISK, ALL VISIBLE FILES AND SUBDIRECTORIES WILL BE ERASED. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED! 4) You may press <T> to try another diskette. You will then be returned to the disk insertion prompt. 5) You may press <Esc> to Abort the copy operation altogether and return to the main menu. 6) You may press any other key to continue on with the copy operation. DISKFILL will then add files to those that already exist on the target diskette as available space allows. Once all is ready, DISKFILL will proceed to copy files to the target diskette. As each file is copied, it will be highlighted in the list and a progress indicator will appear in the instruction area of the screen keeping you informed of the progress of the copy. DISKFILL will buffer as much of the source file into memory as it can before writing it out to the target diskette in order to facilitate speed. As DISKFILL copies files, an indicator at the bottom of the screen will indicate how much of the read and write operations are complete. The indicator beside each status indicator that is flashing will indicate what DISKFILL is currently doing. If you added the /4DOS or /NDOS command line option when you started DISKFILL, it will, upon copying each file to the target disk, check to see if the file just copied has a 4DOS/NDOS file description. If so, that file description will be copied over to the target disk if there is enough room to accomodate it. It is possible that disk space may be completely filled and the hidden file that 4DOS or NDOS maintains cannot be expanded. If this occurs, the description will not appear in the directory of the target disk, even though the file was successfully copied. This behavior is consistent with that of 4DOS and NDOS. As each file is successfully copied to the target, it will be "un-tagged" in the file list. This way, if the copy process is interrupted or aborted for any reason, you can effectively pick up where you left off, as the tagged files will be those that were not copied. The capacity left over on the target disk will be updated as each file is copied to it. Additionally, the statistics on the right side of the screen will indicate how many files have yet to be copied. Disk Catalog System (CATDISK) V6.35 Copr (C) 1986, 1993 by Rick Hillier Page 71 If a disk error occurs when copying a file to the target, that copy will be aborted. DISKFILL will make an attempt to remove that file from the target disk, although this cannot be guaranteed. The file that was being copied at the time of the error will remain in the "hit list" to be copied to a subsequent disk. You will then be returned to the prompt for a new disk with which to continue the copy operation. It may be advisable to shell out to DOS at this point with the <S> command to check the disk and perhaps run a diagnostic program on the target disk in order to map out any bad areas of the disk. If this proves to be the cause of the error, you may be able to continue the copy operation with that disk. When DISKFILL has determined that no more files from the selected list will fit on the target disk, it will do one of two things: 1) If you indicated that you would like each disk to be cataloged, DISKFILL will attempt to load CATDISK and tell it to catalog the disk. Any command line parameters in the CATDISK environment variable (see the section on starting CATDISK for details) will also be in effect for this operation. When the operation is complete, you will be returned to the disk insertion prompt where you may continue on with a new diskette, or abort the operation right there. The catalog used in the operation will be determined in the following order of priority: i) If you specified a catalog to be used for recommendations for backfilling disks, that catalog will be used in the catalog operation. ii) If the above is not the case, any catalog name specified in the CATDISK environment variable (see STARTING CATDISK in this manual) will be used. iii) If neither of the above two are true, the default catalog name "CATDISK" will be used. In order for this operation to be successful, two criteria must be met: i) The program CATDISK.EXE must be present in either the current directory or in a subdirectory specified in your DOS PATH and ii) There must be enough memory available (DISKFILL remains in memory while CATDISK does its thing) to load CATDISK and complete the function. Disk Catalog System (CATDISK) V6.35 Copr (C) 1986, 1993 by Rick Hillier Page 72 If one or both of these criteria are not met, the cataloging operation will not take place, and you will be notified of the error. 2) If you indicated that you would NOT like each disk to be cataloged, you will be returned to the disk insertion prompt where you may continue on with a new diskette, or abort the operation right there. When all selected files have been copied to the target directory, you will automatically be returned to the main menu where the updated file list will be displayed. If all went well, there should be no more files tagged. IMPORTANT NOTES DISKFILL will work best when there is a mix of large and small files available for copying to the target disk(s), as DISKFILL will be able to use the smaller files to fill in the holes left over by the larger files. It is not necessary to use disks of the same capacity throughout an entire copy operation. For example, in a high capacity 3.5" drive, you could use a mix of 1.44Mb and 720K floppies. DISKFILL will copy files to it as the capacity of each inserted disk allows. If you have one or several files that are too big to fit on a target drive, the insert disk prompt will simply be repeated over and over again until you abort, as DISKFILL is a very patient program and will wait until a suitable disk is inserted in the drive. If you have been using low density media, you may need to switch to a higher capacity disk format in order to accommodate the file. If you have a file that will not fit on a disk of any capacity, DISKFILL will not be able to offload it. If the file is not compressed, you may wish to use one of the many archive utilities supported by CATDISK to compress the file to a size that may fit on a target disk, or alternatively, you may wish to use a file split/merge utility to break the file down into smaller, more manageable sub-files. <M> - Move: The MOVE operation works exactly like the copy operation except that each file being offloaded is erased after the copy operation is complete. If a disk error occurs during the copying part of the operation, the file involved is left intact in the source directory where an attempt can be made to move it to another disk later on in the operation. Disk Catalog System (CATDISK) V6.35 Copr (C) 1986, 1993 by Rick Hillier Page 73 THE MOVE OPERATION IS THE PREFERRED METHOD OF OFFLOADING FILES TO FLOPPIES. It is also safe due to the fact that the only time that the source file is erased is when it has been successfully copied to the target disk. <D> - Delete: This operation will quickly delete all selected files from the source directory. Once a file has been deleted, DISKFILL cannot recover it, although it is possible to use one of the many file unerase utilities on the market to get the file back. Due to the potential severity of using this function, you will be asked for verification before continuing. NOTE: With the move and delete operations, DISKFILL will not be able to erase a file marked "READ-ONLY". Disk Catalog System (CATDISK) V6.35 Copr (C) 1986, 1993 by Rick Hillier Page 74 APPENDIX F - SUPPORT AND UPDATES As said in the introduction, we will only offer advice and technical support to those who are registered CATDISK users. Users who do contribute will be notified when updates and new products are available. Anyone wishing to offer advice and suggestions are most welcome to do so. The author may be reached on CompuServe at I.D. # 73307,333, or on our support BBS "The Shareware Connection" in WATERLOO, Ontario, Canada, under my name, Rick Hillier. For information on obtaining upgrades via this bbs, please see "ATTENTION OUT OF TOWN CATDISK USERS" later on in this appendix. You may also correspond via your FAX machine, if you have access to one. Our FAX number is (519)-884-4887. Telephone support available to registered users only. Our voice line is (519)-888-6763. If you get our answering machine, leave a detailed message regarding your question and/or problem, and we will return your call. PLEASE NOTE THAT IN THE EVENT THAT NO ONE IS AVAILABLE TO TAKE A SUPPORT CALL, IT IS OUR POLICY TO RETURN CALLS FROM NON-REGISTERED USERS COLLECT ON AN AS-AVAILABLE BASIS. If you are not a registered user and do have questions, the best place to leave them is in an E-mail message on either on The Shareware Connection or on CompuServe. The base registration fee is $25.00. When you register your copy of CATDISK, you will receive written confirmation that we have received your registration fee, as well as instructions on how to eliminate the shareware introductory screens and their accompanying random function key presses. If you would like to receive CATDISK from us on disk or via our support BBS, please read on. Those of you who register your copy of CATDISK and wish to receive an update to the latest version (from me and not the support BBS), please be sure and use the registration form to indicate that you wish to receive the latest version on diskette. If you do not have the registration form, you can download it from "The Shareware Connection" if you have a modem. If not, please send a note with your registration fee indicating the CATDISK version that you are currently using. Current prices (in addition to the base registration fee of $25.00) are $10.00 for a 360K 5.25" disk and $12.50 for 720K 3.5" disk. Optionally, you may include a diskette (5.25" or 3.5" disks are fine) and diskette mailer with your registration fee plus $5.00 to cover shipping and duplication costs, and we will send you the latest version of CATDISK. If there have been no upgrades available since your current release, your upgrade will be held until such time as one becomes available, unless you specify that you just want the current release on diskette. Disk Catalog System (CATDISK) V6.35 Copr (C) 1986, 1993 by Rick Hillier Page 75 While on the subject of upgrades, once you are a registered CATDISK user, you are considered to be registered for all future CATDISK releases, whether you receive them from us or download them via your favorite bbs when they become available there. If you do obtain upgrades in that way, you do NOT have to send any type of upgrade fee to us. ATTENTION OUT OF TOWN CATDISK USERS The most up to date version of CATDISK is always available on The Shareware Connection, which may be reached at (519)-888-6924, 24 hrs. a day. In order to be able to access a new version of CATDISK, you must be a registered user and you must have taken the support BBS option as outlined on the registration form. This option will allow you to obtain perpetual upgrades to the CATDISK program, or any other shareware offering that may be made in the future. This option involves a $5.00 access fee on the board over and above the base registration fee, and will allow you perpetual access to the software available in the data libraries of this BBS system, including CATDISK itself. You can connect with The Shareware Connection at speeds up to 14400 baud, allowing a download of the complete CATDISK package in under 3 minutes if you connect at that speed. At 2400 baud, the complete package can be downloaded in about 19 minutes. Please note that if you are not a regular member of this BBS, or haven't taken advantage of the above upgrade offer, YOU WILL NOT BE ABLE TO ACCESS THE PROGRAM. If you do not wish to have a BBS membership, you can still see what changes and revisions have been made to date by going to the bulletins section of the board. You do not have to be a registered BBS or CATDISK user to use this feature. All CATDISK documentation, including the revision history, readme file, and registration forms are available to the public on this system. If you received an incomplete CATDISK package from a vendor or bulletin board system, you can supplement missing documentation directly from the support BBS. The electronic mail feature of the board is also fully accessible for leaving feedback and/or suggestions. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- If you do have a question, or a bug report, or whatever, in your correspondence, please indicate the following: 1) The versions of CATDISK and DOS that you are using. 2) Your hardware configuration (Model, memory size, printer, etc.) 3) Any resident software that you have loaded in memory at the time. (i.e. Sidekick, SuperKey, Disk Caches, Print Spoolers, Ramdisks, etc.) This information will help me to track any problems and to suggest reasonable solutions to your problems. Disk Catalog System (CATDISK) V6.35 Copr (C) 1986, 1993 by Rick Hillier Page 76 APPENDIX G - QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS As CATDISK has developed over the past while, we have received many questions regarding the operation of CATDISK. The most common are addressed in this section of the manual. Q. When I go to catalog a new disk, CATDISK aborts the catalog file update with an error message that the disk is full, even though there is still room on the disk containing the catalog files. A. When CATDISK updates a catalog file, it does so by merging the new information in with the old, building a new file from the old in the process. The catch here is that, at the end of the catalog file update, BOTH files actually exist, thereby taking up roughly double the size of the original catalog file. At the end of this procedure, if successful, CATDISK deletes the old file and renames the new temporary file to what the original catalog file was called. The reason this is necessary is that, while re-cataloging a disk, there is a possibility that files were removed from that disk. This method of updating the catalog provides a convenient mechanism for removing those files from the catalog. Q. Is there a way to set the default settings as found in the settings and toggles menu, such as the printer report type, double sided reports, and the auto comment feature? A. All settings as found in the settings & toggles menu can be initialized the way you would like them by adding command line options after the CATDISK command when you start the program. Additionally, these options can be conveniently stored in a CATDISK environment variable so you don't have to type them in every time you start CATDISK. See the section "STARTING CATDISK" in this user manual for full details. Q. CATDISK currently supports archive file comments in ZIP, ZOO, ARJ and DWC files. Would it be possible to extract those from ARC files as well? A. ARC file comments were a non-standard extension provided by PKWare's PKARC/PKPAK series of archivers, and as such are not supported at this time. Q. Would it be possible for CATDISK to support ARCHIVES within ARCHIVES? A. Unfortunately, the answer is no. In order to read the directory of an archive within another archive file, the original one must first be expanded into its separate files. Firstly, with the ever evolving compression methods employed with new versions of the archive utilities, this would be beyond the scope of this program. Secondly, there would always be the possibility of overwriting an existing file of the same name. It's just not feasible. Disk Catalog System (CATDISK) V6.35 Copr (C) 1986, 1993 by Rick Hillier Page 77 Q. Is it possible for CATDISK to support file categories? A. Indirectly, CATDISK already supports file categories. When CATDISK searches your catalog by comment via option <F2>, it is really performing a keyword search (i.e. any comment that contains the search item anywhere in its body will show in the report). In a sample scenario, you could come up with a list of three letter abbreviations for your category list (eg. WIN for Windows, SPR for Spreadsheets, DBS for Database, COM for Communications, etc.) and start each comment with these categories. By searching for "WIN", you can bring up a list of files in that category. By sorting on comment, you can bring up a list of filenames sorted by category. Your imagination is the only limiting factor. Q. In the summary report, I see disk entries for which the amount of free space and the amount of space used adds up to more than the capacity of the disk itself. The % slack factor is also wrong. A. You probably have a corrupted file allocation table on that disk, and could be in for some serious trouble. Format a fresh disk and transfer the files to it, and re-catalog it from that new disk. Q. After starting the cataloging process on a diskette, I discovered that the label on the diskette was wrong. Would it be possible to abort the process, change the label and start over? A. Once the cataloging process is started, it cannot be stopped. If you've run into a situation like that above, let CATDISK finish the task, and use option #4 to change the label on the diskette. CATDISK has a mechanism to automatically change the old volume label to the new one throughout the catalog files. It's quick and painless. Q. We have file comments for each file entry in the catalog file. Would it be possible to have comments for each disk in the summary file? A. At present, no, although this is not carved in stone. The main reason for this is that CATDISK keeps the entire disk summary in memory at all times. A comment on each disk would significantly increase the memory requirements of CATDISK. Q. I have some self-booting games. Would it be possible to create a dummy entry for that disk in the catalog? A. Doing this would defeat the purpose for which CATDISK was written. Self-booting games (those that CATDISK won't read) do not have a directory in the conventional sense. As there are no files per se there is nothing to look for on the diskette. You need only locate the disk itself in order to use it. Q. Is it possible for CATDISK to only catalog the disk itself, and not the files on it. A. Doing so would defeat the purpose of using CATDISK. The whole idea behind CATDISK is to be able to locate files on your disks. You can see the physical label on a disk, but the files themselves are invisible until you read it in your disk drive. If all you need is to find a known disk, a good filing system is the way to go. Disk Catalog System (CATDISK) V6.35 Copr (C) 1986, 1993 by Rick Hillier Page 78 Q. I have many disks with numerous insignificant files on them such as printer drivers, etc. Would it be possible to catalog only selected files from these disks? A. Unfortunately, not at this time. In order to keep the shareware version of CATDISK as simple to use as possible, all files get cataloged hands free. You can, however, mask out several file groups by wildcard specification in the CDISKCFG program. CATDISK PLUS, a commercial release of this program with many enhancements described in more detail in a later appendix, will handle this type of operation with more flexibility. Q. I've noticed that CATDISK seems to have missed some files on my hard disk when I list the catalog entries for that disk. A. CATDISK presently has an internal limitation of being able to remember only the first 5000 files that it sees, either in the directories themselves, or in any archive files whose contents are included in the catalog. After it reaches this number, it will stop and begin cataloging the files read in. The limitation of 5000 files may, in fact, be lower if you do not have enough memory to accomodate them all. If this is the case, you should remove some or all of your resident programs to free up valuable system memory for CATDISK to use. Also, adjusting the "disks/files per catalog" setting via the CDISKCFG program to the lowest value that will accomodate your largest catalog file will also free up some memory. A. Another reason that this may occur, especially if your disk has less than 5000 entries is that the missing files may match a filespec set in the EXCLUDE FILES LIST that can be changed in the CDISKCFG utility. Check that list out to see if this is the case. Q. Why does CATDISK slow down as my catalog files grow larger. A. As CATDISK catalogs each disk, it must make a pass through your data file to determine whether or not any files have been deleted or changed, so that the catalog file can be updated accordingly. Many other disk catalogers on the market that outperform CATDISK in their cataloging operation retain the entire catalog in RAM. While this is fast, there are two problems with it. Firstly, this imposes an extreme limitation on their ultimate capacity in terms of how many disks and files you can catalog. If you are serious at all about maintaining a catalog of all your files and that your library will possibly grow to many files, these types of catalogers are not at all suitable for your usage. Secondly, if you should experience a power outage before you've saved your work, you can kiss that work good-bye. By manipulating data on-disk, CATDISK does catalog your disks at a slower rate than the above mentioned type of cataloger, but it guarantees the integrity of your work. We have also developed some very fast catalog updating routines, so any slowdown will be kept to a minimum while guaranteeing the integrity of your catalog file. Disk Catalog System (CATDISK) V6.35 Copr (C) 1986, 1993 by Rick Hillier Page 79 Q. In DISKFILL, I have told it to call upon CATDISK to catalog each disk as it is filled, but at the end of each disk, the screen quickly blanks and then I am returned to DISKFILL. A. You probably do not have the directory where the program file CATDISK.EXE resides included in your DOS PATH. DISKFILL is unable to ascertain whether or not CATDISK.EXE could be found and executed so that an appropriate error message can be displayed. Disk Catalog System (CATDISK) V6.35 Copr (C) 1986, 1993 by Rick Hillier Page 80 APPENDIX H - CATDISK COMPANION PROGRAMS Over the past 5-1/2 years, CATDISK has grown steadily in popularity, and has become one of the leading cataloging programs available, due largely in part that it does not try be an everything-in-one software package. The philosophy behind CATDISK has always been and always will be to provide a reliable, simple to use cataloging utility that performs the essential tasks of identifying the location(s) of individual files in a collection of disks. We will be the first to admit that there are many new functions and reports that CATDISK could do and does not due to the above mentioned philosophy. Several enterprising individuals have created companion programs to CATDISK that enhance its functionality. They are briefly described here, along with the authors' names and addresses. All of these programs may be obtained from our support board, The Shareware Connection. They are located in file area 1 on the main board. As a service to the authors of these products, we have made them all available to anyone calling in to the system. You do NOT need to be registered with us under the support BBS option in order to be able to obtain these programs. You may also be able to find these programs on your local bulletin board systems as well. If your program is already listed in this section of the user manual, we ask that you keep us up to date on your creation by either uploading it to The Shareware Connection, or by sending it to us on disk at our regular address for registrations. Many CATDISK users (registered and unregistered) call in to the board and check on the latest offerings, and do in fact download all of the programs listed. If you have created a new program that is not listed here, please feel free to submit it. If it's good, we'll "advertise" it for you here and on The Shareware Connection. CATCOMP Catcomp is a handy utility that has the capability of taking a text file such as a BBS listing and comparing its contents with a CATDISK catalog file and generating a listing of what files you have in your catalog that are not listed in the text file. Catcomp can also tell you what files are listed in the text file that you do not have, as well as tell you what files are duplicated. This utility is extremely handy when you are dealing with a bulletin board system that imposes an upload/download ratio on its members. On such systems, it is commonplace for users to rename the same file or make a small change to it, and upload the duplicate to the board in order to gain more download capability. Such practices are not in the best interests of either the bulletin board system or its members. That's where Catcomp comes in very handy. Its reporting capabilities will allow you to determine what files you have that are legitimately not on that board. I'm sure that the use of this utility in such circumstances will help you develop a good rapport with the sysop(s) of those boards. Disk Catalog System (CATDISK) V6.35 Copr (C) 1986, 1993 by Rick Hillier Page 81 Catcomp is menu-driven and very easy to use. Author: Wayne A. Davis Catcomp is shareware, Address: 17617 N. 9th St., #2076 and a $10 registration Phoenix, AZ fee is requested for the USA 85022-1943 program if you find it Phone: (602) 482-8216 useful. CAT-STAT Cat-stat is a CATDISK-specific program that has two primary functions. It can scan your catalog file and generate some handy statistics on the data in your catalog file. Ever wondered just how many megabytes worth of floppies you have in your collection? This program will tell you that. Its primary function, though, is to compare two CATDISK catalog files and tell you what files are in catalog file "A" that are not in "B" and vice versa. It's great to have if you are trading files with a friend. Again, this program is menu-driven and very easy to use. Cat-stat is written by George Wilken and Bill Guy, and a $10 shareware registration fee is requested if you decide to use it. Send registrations to: George Wilken 702 Deering Drive Akron, OH USA 44313 Questions or comments may be left for the authors on CompuServe at 71450,3172. DISK LABEL SYSTEM (DLS) One of the many requests that I have received for CATDISK to include is a facility to print disk labels. The main reason that CATDISK does not currently have this capability is mainly due to our philosophy of providing a single-purpose utility that does what it does best. The good news is that this program is capable of producing disk labels directly from your CATDISK catalog file(s). Additionally, it can read the directory information directly from a diskette if inserted in the floppy drive. DLS can produce labels for 5.25" and 3.5" diskettes, as well as disk inserts for 5.25" diskettes. DLS is quite powerful, but is very easy to use. Several popular printers are supported. DLS is shareware, and a $15 registration fee is requested if you find the program useful. Author: James A. Clark Address: 2130 Knollshire Road Cedar Rapids, IA USA 52402 Disk Catalog System (CATDISK) V6.35 Copr (C) 1986, 1993 by Rick Hillier Page 82 THE CATDISK UTILITIES (CDU) This collection of handy programs expands on some of the functionality of CATDISK. CDC pads the excess characters in the comment field with spaces (newer versions of CATDISK, including this release do the same), resulting in better compression of the data file when using programs like STACKER or other compression programs. CDR allows a search of the database by up to 50 wildcard specs and allows you to delete those files from your diskettes by prompting you to mount each disk as appropriate. It will then call on CATDISK to update the catalog file when each disk has been cleaned up. CDF is an enhanced reporting facility. CDM assists in offloading files to floppies. CDS assists in finding files on floppies and copies them to a hard disk subdirectory. These utilities are written by: Robert w. Van Hoeven P.O. Box 131 1170 AC Badhoevedorp Nederland / Holland Questions or comments may be left to "Rob van.Hoeven" (note the period in the last name - it must be there) at NetMail address 2:512/100, or better, 2:512/100.5, or in the FidoNet DISP echomail area. Disk Catalog System (CATDISK) V6.35 Copr (C) 1986, 1993 by Rick Hillier Page 83 APPENDIX I - CATDISK PLUS Since its initial release in October of 1986, CATDISK has gone through many changes and has received tremendous support from the many corporations and individuals who have sent in their registration fees. CATDISK is currently in use world-wide in more applications than I could have possibly dreamed of. Judging from this response, I can safely say that the SHAREWARE system is alive and flourishing as a viable means of making quality software available at reasonable cost. Along the way, many individuals have requested features in the program that are not feasible in the current design of CATDISK. In creating this program, I set out to make the operation as simple and automatic as possible. Those requests that melded in with the current design have been implemented, and those that will compliment same will be implemented in the future. However, there have been numerous requests for features that would complicate the design of the shareware version of CATDISK - good requests. Therefore, it is with great pleasure that we are announcing the development of a new commercial program, CATDISK PLUS, which will be produced by my software company, The DATAMEN Inc. See the README.1ST file from your CATDISK package for details on its availability. Please keep in mind that this shareware version will continue to be enhanced and supported - it's still "my baby"! Some of the features include: . A windowed desktop environment with pull down menus for ease of use. . Online context-sensitive help. . Support for the 43 line EGA and the 50 line VGA screen modes. . Full color customization. . All the functional features of the current shareware release. . The ability to selectively catalog files from your disks via three methods, all of which can be used at once: inclusion filespecs, exclusion filespecs, and a point and shoot list of files read. . A greater variety of reporting features will be available as well as a custom report generator where you can design your own reports. . Comment entries for each disk in the catalog. . Longer file comments. . Greater capacity for catalog size (5000 disks, 65000 files). . A full blown disk manager supporting all the archive file formats that CATDISK currently does. . The ability to print user-defined disk labels and jacket inserts. . Plus many more! One major consideration is that CATDISK PLUS will require a hard disk. Suggested retail price for this product is $69.95 US + $8.00 for shipping and handling. Dealer inquiries are welcome. Please address all inquiries to: The Datamen Phone: (519) 570-3523 98 Toynbee Crescent FAX: (519) 884-4887 Kitchener, ONTARIO BBS: (519) 570-4132 Canada N2N 1R9 Disk Catalog System (CATDISK) V6.35 Copr (C) 1986, 1993 by Rick Hillier Page 84 APPENDIX J - OTHER PRODUCTS AVAILABLE For all you avid golfers out there, I have released a golf handicap system, called HANDICAP II, that goes way beyond just calculating a simple golf handicap. Among the many features of this program are: . Pull down menus for ease of use. . On line context sensitive help. . Storage capacity for up to 400 different golf courses. . Storage capacity for up to 128000 rounds of golf (if you exceed this number, I want to meet you!). (score and number of putts on each hole can be logged) . Instant retrieval of past played games, and the ability to browse through them. . An expanded handicap card that is more informative than a standard handicap card. . A report showing your average score on each hole on each course. - good for spotting habitual trouble holes. . A report showing your average putts on each green on each course. - good for spotting habitual troublesome greens. . A report showing how often you hit each green in regulation. - good for analyzing your tee-to-green game on each hole. . Many more statistical reports of interest to you. . Full housekeeping routines to correct mistakes (but I'll bet that you never make any, right?!?) . ALL reports may be viewed on the screen or printed on your printer. . Pop up windows are used extensively, adding to the ease of use of the program. We also have a clubhouse version available with all of the above plus: . A simple date-differential entry system for those who do not wish to have all the detail of the enhanced reports. . Capacity to maintain handicaps for up to 128000 members (you are only limited by disk size). . Full system manager functions available only to authorized users. . A handicap listing (in alphabetical order by member name) of the handicaps of all the members in the system. Ordering Information The GOLFERS version of HANDICAP II is available as shareware for $35 directly from myself (Rick Hillier), and the CLUB HOUSE version is available for $295.00 (which includes a bound, printed manual) from the address below. They may be ordered from: The Datamen, Inc. 98 Toynbee Crescent Kitchener, Ontario Canada N2N 1R9 Phone: (519) 570-3523 FAX: (519) 884-4887 BBS: (519) 570-4132 Disk Catalog System (CATDISK) V6.35 Copr (C) 1986, 1993 by Rick Hillier Page 85