Shareware Supreme Volume 6 #1/swsii.zip/swsii/126/WFF17C.ZIP/WFF17C.EXE/WFF.TXT

Text File | 1992-11-07 | 13KB | 331 lines

                                 What Floppy Format?
                         Copyright (c) 1992 by Angel Babudro

                             "Organic Computer Wizardry"
                   28 Mulberry Street * Clinton, NY USA 13323-1506
                                    [phone]


        I.   DISCLAIMER OF WARRANTY

             THIS SOFTWARE  PROGRAM AND DOCUMENTATION ("WFF")  IS PROVIDED "AS
        IS" WITHOUT  WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS, EXPRESS  OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING,
        BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THOSE CONCERNING MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A
        PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  BY  USING WFF, YOU ARE EXPRESSLY  RELEASING ANGEL
        BABUDRO FROM ANY LIABILITY RESULTING FROM THE USE OF THIS SOFTWARE AND
        DOCUMENTATION.  YOU MUST ASSUME THE ENTIRE RISK OF USING WFF.  YOU ARE
        ADVISED TO TEST AND SUPERVISE WFF THOROUGHLY BEFORE RELYING ON IT.


        II.  LICENSE

             1.    WFF  is  being  distributed  as  Freeware.    There  is  no
        registration fee and you are licensed to use it for an unlimited time.
        The  copyright  and  marketing  rights, however,  are  held  by  Angel
        Babudro.

             2. You may keep as many backup  copies of WFF as you wish and you
        may run WFF simultaneously on as many  computers as you like.  You are
        granted the right to share WFF  with others, as long as you distribute
        the original files exactly  as you received them, with  all associated
        files included.

             3. Under no circumstances may you  charge any fee or receive  any
        other form of  consideration for  distributing the  WFF files  without
        express  written consent  from  the copyright  holder, Angel  Babudro,
        other than to charge a fee of not more than US$6 (six dollars) for the
        media and/or service of distribution.


        III. TECHNICAL SUPPORT (HOW TO REACH ME)

             Thanks  for trying  my  software.   Please  throw your  comments,
        suggestions,  criticisms, etc. my way.  I  can be reached via the mail
        or BBS.   The bulletin boards  below will have current  versions of my
        software and I will get any messages left there for me.

              Mail        Angel   Babudro,    "Organic   Computer   Wizardry",
                          28 Mulberry Street, Clinton, NY  13323-1506

              BBS         Angelo Babudro
              West Coast  Researcher's BBS, So Cal [phone]  USR HST DS
              East Coast  Nite-Air BBS, Central NY [phone] USR HST 14.4
                          Odie's PCBoard, Central NY [phone] USR HST DS

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        IV.   INTRODUCTION

              WFF  is  a  menu  shell for  use  with  Christophe Hochstatter's
        FDFORMAT.  WFF is Freeware; it is my contribution back to all the fine
        programmers who have donated their labour in the form of public domain
        software.  Please distribute complete copies of WFF to bulletin boards
        and  friends  --  please shackle  any  temptations  you  might have  to
        eliminate or modify anything -- not nice. :)  I am open to donations if
        your situation  warrants.   For  the latest  version of  WFF order  my
        Sampler Disk (see ORDER.FRM).

              Now, let me tell you what it is that I've created.

              What  Floppy  Format? (WFF)  is an  easy  way to  quickly format
        floppies without remembering commands  and option switches for various
        disk types using FDFORMAT, a formatting utility written and donated to
        the  public  domain  by  Christophe  Hochst tter  (normally  found  as
        FDFRM16A.ZIP or FDFORM18.ZIP on  BBS's).  FDFORMAT is the  best floppy
        format utility  I've  seen, but  it's  so flexible  that there  are  a
        million and one combinations  of options.  So I wrote  WFF to allow me
        to  set & test  certain options, save  the options I  prefer, and then
        format  a disks without having  to remember any  of it.   I don't even
        need to remember which drive is A: (not that it's a problem...).

              I use the extra high-density and off-colour formats provided via
        FDFORMAT  for my archive  disks.  FDFORMAT  packs 1.48Mb on  a 5¼-inch
        disk and  up to 1.72Mb on  a 3½-inch disk,  which dramatically reduces
        the number of  disks I need  to off-load large  software from my  hard
        disk.  And  I've noticed that with a CompatiCard  IV the <300-byte TSR
        isn't needed for the extended densities.  It's  the best disk capacity
        extender I've seen, and it's public domain, too!  Can't beat it.

              If  you  can't  find  it  on your  local  BBS,  FDFORMAT  can be
        downloaded from the BBSs listed above.

              By the  way, I don't  have any interest  in FDFORMAT  other than
        using it.  I'll have to write a letter to the author some day...


        WARNING   WFF allows  you to  format disks in  drive letters        _______
                  other  than A: or B: by assigning drive A: to that
                  drive.  I  did this so  that I could format  my 8"
                  drive (which is K: on my system) using FDFORMAT.

                  To  illustrate, my 8" drive  is K: so  WFF does an
                  "ASSIGN  a=k" before issuing the FDFORMAT command.
                  When FDFORMAT is finished, an "ASSIGN" command  is
                  issued by itself to remove the drive assignment.

        BEWARE    If you set  a hard  disk letter as  a floppy  disk        ______
                  drive I  have no  idea what  will happen  (I'm not
                  going to try it!).  So PLEASE PLEASE be careful if
                  you  use something other than drives  A: and B: --

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                  double check that it's a floppy disk letter you're
                  using!


        File List        _________

              The files that make up What Floppy Format? are as follows:

              wff.exe     The executable file
              wff.txt     The documentation (this text) in ASCII format [*]
              wff.wp      The  documentation  (this  text)  in  WordPerfect  5
                          format (so you can format for your printer) [*]
              wff.new     Late-breaking news [*]
              file_id.diz Description file for BBSs [*]
              desc.sdi    Description file for BBSs [*]
              order.frm   Order  form  for  all   of  my  Shareware!    Please
                          TYPE ORDER.FRM > PRN

              These  are the files which make up WFF.  When you give copies to
        friends,  BBSs, etc.  please be sure  to include  all of  these files.
        Additional files  will be created in the same directory as you use the
        software.  The files marked with [*] can be deleted if disk space is a
        premium, but I ask that you please keep ORDER.FRM handy in case you or
        someone else you know wants to  contact me.  Since I am asking  for no
        money for WFF I hope you will do this for me.  Thanks.


        Using WFF        _________

              NOTE:  WFF.EXE should reside  in a  directory in  your DOS
              PATH.  Otherwise  you will have  to use "cd" to  change to
              that directory each time.   To set your path  use the "set
              path=" command in your autoexec.bat file.

              Just type WFF from the DOS  prompt.  The first time you use  it,
        WFF  will pop-up its set-up screen  for you to fill in.   Just tell it
        whether you have a monochrome or colour screen, which types of  floppy
        disk drives you have (up to 4) and the  drive letters, and the path to
        the  FDFORMAT programme.  If FDFORMAT resides  in a directory which is
        in your DOS  PATH it will  automatically be filled  in.  (See  WARNING
        above  about floppy drives.)  Default values for disk verification and
        sector sliding  are also presented for  you to change.   If you aren't
        sure  what you want to use, just leave the defaults as they are -- the
        default  sector sliding values should improve  the floppy disk's speed
        on any computer.  See the documentation for FDFORMAT for details about
        these.

              Directory Command -- While you are formatting disks you can press
        F5  between  disks to  see a  directory on  the screen.   This  is the
        directory command, and  parameters, you like to use.   You can use the
        DOS "DIR" command, or "NDIR" as I use, or "HDIR" or anything else.

              Root Dir  Files -- This is  the maximum number of  files the disk

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        may have in  its root directory  (\).  In  more technical terms,  this
        setting determines the size  of the FAT (File Allocation Table).   See
        FDFORMAT docs.   Leave "112" for  default of 112 or  224, depending on
        disk type.   You can lower the number to squeeze  a few more bytes out
        of your disks.  This  does not affect subdirectories; only  the number
        of files you can have in the root.

              After  you've done the  set-up, just pick  the size  of disk you
        want from the  horizontal menu --  3½-inch, 5¼-inch, and  8-inch --  and
        press  RETURN.  You'll see a vertical menu of the densities available,
        depending on whether you have  double-density or high-density drives --
        densities  which are not valid  for your drive(s)  cannot be selected.
        Highlight your selection and press RETURN.  That's all there is to it!


        Special Features & Functions        ____________________________

              Quick Format  -- If  you have verification  turned OFF,  FDFORMAT
        version  1.8 will re-format  a disk in 5-10  seconds by only verifying
        already formatted tracks and clearing the FAT.

              Continuous Format -- After a disk is formatted you will hear some
        tones to tell you the disk is finished (so you don't have to watch the
        screen), and a ticking will begin.1  This is  to let you know that WFF
        is waiting for your response:

              1. You can press  Esc to stop  formatting disks or  F5 to see  a
        directory of another disk.

              2. You can remove the disk.  This will initiate WFF's Continuous
        Format feature -- WFF will wait for you to insert another disk or press
        Esc to quit or F5 for a directory.

              Before inserting another disk you can press the F5 key  to get a
        directory of a disk.  WFF will prompt for a drive letter at the bottom
        of the screen.   While  it is  waiting for  the drive  letter you  can
        insert the disk you would like to view.

              NOTE  Both  FDFORMAT and  WFF test  the disk  drive.
                    Usually this causes no noticable delay, but  I
                    stumbled across a  combination of  electronics
                    that   took   16-seconds   to    identify   an
                    unformatted disk.  If this is happening to you
                    there  may  be  a  conflict  in  your  system;
                    experiment with card  settings (address,  IRQ,
                    etc.).  In my case it was an address conflict.

              Drawbacks -- I  designed WFF  to allow selection  of disk  drives
        based on size rather than  drive letter.  This avoids  confusion where

                                    ____________________
               1  These sounds are only  audible if the  Sound option under
          "File" is turned ON.

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        one 5.25" and one 3.5" disk drive are used since you can't even assume
        that  the top drive is  A: (Tandy broke that rule).   But, if you have
        two of the same drives (like  an old AT or XT with dual  5.25" drives)
        there is no way to choose between them.  Anyone got a good idea on how
        to deal with this??

















































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