The high performance, low cost, removable storage cataloguing utility
Copyright Matthew Bickham, February 1996. Blitz is a trademark of Matthew Bickham.
This Program is Shareware
Please register this program, the standard cost is either $US10.00 or $Aus10.00. More details on registering are below.
What is Blitz?
Blitz is a high performance file cataloguing utility. Unlike other programs Blitz can catalogue all the files of a 650MB CD-ROM and take a mere 60K of disk space to do it (some programs I’ve seen use around 5MB of space to do this!). Finding a file on 10 of these catalogues (a combined storage size of nearly 7 Gigabytes) generally takes less than 5 seconds!
Blitz is ideal for use with CD-ROMs, Zips, Syquests and EZ135s. Blitz can easily handle disks that have tens of thousands of files on them.
Blitz Instructions
To begin using Blitzs’ file searching capabilities, you must first create a catalogue. Insert the CD-ROM (or whatever) that you want to catalogue and then click the ‘Create New Catalogue’ button in Blitz. Select the CD-ROM in the file dialogue and Blitz will begin cataloguing the volumes’ files. Depending upon the speed of your drive and computer, cataloguing should take about 10 seconds. Continue cataloguing as many volumes that you wish - they will all appear in the ‘Catalogues’ list.
Once finished cataloguing - you can begin searching. To find a particular file click the ‘Find File...’ button. In the dialogue that appears type the search string for the file that you want to find - the string can either be the whole filename or a part thereof; for example:
-If you wanted to find the file “Billy G. Plagiarises Mac Ideas” you could type the whole filename or a part like “Mac Ideas”.
Blitz then displays all the files that match the search string in the ‘Find Results’ list.
It’s that simple!
Notes: If you wish to cancel a file find part way through, simply type command-period. If you receive errors while trying to find a file, try increasing Blitz’s memory allocation in the Finder (although on normal sized catalogues, this should not be necessary).
Why Did You Create Blitz?
I created Blitz because all the other shareware disk cataloguing programs I’d seen sucked. They either took enormous amounts of disk space (which I don’t have) to catalogue a large volume or took forever to find a file. I hope Blitz solves these problems. I was also sick of continually inserting and ejecting magazine CD-ROMs looking for that elusive file.
Blitz Distribution
All distribution of Blitz must include the Blitz application, this readMe file, and the ‘Blitz On The Net’ file. Blitz may be distributed electronically (i.e. across the net or online services) as long as no fee is charged for the actual program. Furthermore feel free to give copies of Blitz to friends etc. Blitz may also be distributed free of charge on magazine cover disks. If you wish to distribute Blitz on CD-ROM shareware collections it is asked that the organisation first Register Blitz at the standard rate - however other arrangements can be made by emailing the author at the address below. For clarification on the above distribution terms contact Matthew Bickham.
Another Shareware Plea
Please support shareware, I deliberately left any annoying ‘nag screens’ out of Blitz that continually ask for shareware payment as I wanted users to be able to try Blitz properly without annoyance. Registering version 1.0 of Blitz enables you to free upgrades for all versions up to 2.0. Registered users will also be notified of all upgrades and enhancements to Blitz.
Shareware Registration Costs:
Standard Blitz registration:
$US10.00 or $Aus10.00 (that’s Australian dollars).
Student and educational institution (primary, secondary and tertiary) registration:
$US6.00 or $Aus6.00.
10-user site licence:
$US75.00 or $Aus75.00
Infinite user site licence (in one organisation):
$US150.00 or $Aus150.00
Registration can be paid with cheque or money order and should be sent along with your name, address and email address (if you have one) to:
Matthew Bickham
12 Pinewood Drive
Hastings Victoria 3915
Australia
Any comments, bug reports, suggestions, questions, or just about anything else can be emailed to me at the address below. Alternatively, support and upgrades for Blitz and my other shareware programs can be found at my home page.
email: bickham@yoyo.cc.monash.edu.au
blitz home page: http://yoyo.cc.monash.edu.au/~bickham/
I hope you find Blitz to be the best cataloguing utility around (and if you don’t write to me and tell me why), thanks in advance to everyone who registers,
