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WinCat/PRO - Windows Disk/CD Catalog & Disk Manager =================================================== Version 3.2.0, June 1993 Created by Mart Heubel, Heerlen, The Netherlands TABLE OF CONTENTS ----------------- * General Information * WinCat Features * System Requirements * Installing WinCat * Using WinCat * Volume List Window - Cataloging disks - Cataloging archive contents - Cataloging CD-ROM'S * File List Window - Defining Associations - Restoring Files * File Menu * Options Menu * Utilities Menu * Help Menu * Hints and Tips * WinCat 3.2.0 Summary of Changes * WinCat 3.0 Summary of Changes * Things to Come * Registering WinCat * IMPORTANT NOTICE * Where to get WinCat * Your Comments Please * Distribution * Small Print GENERAL INFORMATION ------------------- WinCat is a tool that helps you organize your floppydisks and CD-Rom's, and enables you to quickly find and restore the files they hide. Although there are various disk catalog programs around, none of them really suited my needs or taste. Therefore I decided to write my own (always a guarantee for quality software !), and the result of a few weeks fooling around with Visual Basic and Turbo Pascal was WinCat 1.0. In little then a year this initial release evolved into a rather useful tool (WinCat 2.5), but it also became clear that -due to the Visual Basic programming language- further improvements like CD-ROM support were almost impossible to realise without slowing down the program to a snail's speed. That's why I wrote an entirely new version of WinCat using Borland's Turbo Pascal for Windows. This new WinCat/PRO is the successor to WinCat 2.5, but although it looks a lot like the old WinCat 2.5, there's one big difference : it's very, VERY fast ! Because of all it's features and it's speed I humbly consider WinCat/PRO to be the best floppydisk/CD-Rom manager available for Windows today (with WinCat 2.5 being a good second best...). So here's the 'bad' news : WinCat/PRO is distributed as AidWare and is NOT free (but at $15 still a give-away...). 'AidWare' means that I'll donate all received registration-fees to an organisation that supports developmentprograms in 3rd-world countries. I hope many of you support this AidWare concept by registering WinCat. Please read the IMPORTANT NOTICE in the 'Registering WinCat' section (see below), file AIDWARE.DOC and file ORDERFRM.DOC for more details ! FEATURES OF WINCAT/PRO 3.x : ---------------------------- - It's easy to use - It's FAST ! - Ability to restore files or extract files from archives WinCat interfaces to all DOS and Windows unarchive utilities (like ARJ, LHA, PKUNZIP, WUNA, WINZIP etc.) and other programs using user-defined associations - Kingsize comment fields on both file- and volume-entries - Supports sub-directories up to 4 levels deep - Supports various disktypes (floppydisk, CD-ROM, harddisk, networkdisk) - Extensive file search & sort capabilities - ClipBoard interface for easy editing file-descriptions - Includes an import/conversion tool that extracts file-descriptions from BBS Allfiles-listings or listings from other disk catalog programs - Automaticly copies file-descriptions from (4DOS) descript.ion files to it's catalog - Reports : Volume Summary, Volume Contents, Files sorted by Filename and Duplicate Files - Allows you to create easy-to-work-with groups of volumes - Expensive looking '3D metallic' windows - Ability to catalog the contents of ARJ, ZIP, LZH, ZOO, PAK and ARC archives - Ability to export the catalog to a dBase compatible databasefile. SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS ------------------- In order to run properly, WinCat/PRO requires - MicroSoft Windows 3.1 - VGA display mode - at least 2 MB memory - at least 1 MB space on your harddisk - at least 1 diskdrive, harddisk or CD-ROM drive INSTALLING WINCAT ----------------- If you're currently using WinCat 2.x, and want to install the new WinCat 3.2, please read file CONVERT.DOC instead of the following instructions. To install WinCat, create directory C:\WINDOWS\WINCAT on your harddisk and extract WINCAT32.ARJ into that directory. The following files will be created : WINCAT.EXE - The WinCat program WINCAT.INI - Default settings & associations WINCAT.DOC - WinCat user guide WINCAT.WNT - Overview of WinCat's features WINCATAR.DLL - WinCat's Archive Scan routines WINCATRS.PIF - PIF that WinCat uses to launch WINCATRS.BAT. WINCATRS.BAT - BAT that WinCat uses to execute DOS unarchive utilities (like ARJ, LHA, PKUNZIP etc.) SAMPLE.CAT - A sample catalog CONVERT.EXE - Catalog conversion program CONVERT.DOC - Explains how to use CONVERT.EXE AIDWARE.DOC - Explains the AidWare concept (read this !) ORDERFRM.DOC - How to order your WinCat/PRO license (read this too !) ORDERFRM.WRI - The orderform in Windows Write format README.DOC - For turbo-installers who never read DOC files QUEST.DOC - WinCat Questionaire QUEST.WRI - Questionaire in Windows Write format BUGSFIXD.DOC - Summary of bugs that have been eliminated (*)BWCC.DLL - Runtime library needed by Turbo Pascal programs (*) BWCC.DLL is copyrighted by Borland International, but may be freely distributed. You'll have to move 2 of these files (WINCAT.INI and BWCC.DLL) to another directory : File WINCAT.INI is a default set of settings and associations used by WinCat. Move it to the C:\WINDOWS directory. File BWCC.DLL is a runtime library that's needed by all programs that were developed using Borland's Turbo Pascal for Windows compiler. This file must be moved to the C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM directory. However, it's possible that there is already a BWCC.DLL present in this directory (put there by other programs that use it). If this is the case, replace that copy of BWCC.DLL ONLY if the one supplied with WinCat is from a more recent date. Files CONVERT.EXE and CONVERT.DOC are used only when converting an already existing WinCat 2.x catalog to the new format required by WinCat/PRO. So, if you didn't use a previous version of WinCat you can delete these files. If you want to let WinCat catalog the contents of archive files you must also create subdirectory C:\WINDOWS\WINCAT\ARCHIVES\ (See also 'Cataloging Archive Contents'). Edit WINCATRS.BAT and change the 'CD\SHEZ' statement to your directory that contains the DOS un-archivers you use, like ARJ.EXE, LHA.EXE and PKUNZIP.EXE . If these files are accessable through your default PATH, or if you prefer to include the path on the 'association' definitions, simply delete this statement. You can let WinCat's 'restore file' function call WUNA (a shareware Windows UnArchive tool by James N. Hughes that handles ZIP and ARJ files) or WINZIP (a shareware Windows unarchive tool by Nico Mak that handles ARJ,ZIP,LZH and ARC files). As a default, WinCat doesn't specify a path when calling WUNA.EXE or WINZIP.EXE, so if you want to use WUNA and/or WINZIP make sure these files are in your \WINDOWS directory, or specify their location in WINCAT.INI. You can download WUNA and WINZIP from any WINNET BBS. Now, all that's left to do is to add WINCAT.EXE to a Windows program group. Make sure you specify C:\WINDOWS\WINCAT as the 'working directory' ! Else WinCat can't find the WINCATRS.PIF, WINCATAR.DLL etc. files. Now start WinCat by clicking it's icon. Click the FILE menu on WinCat's primary window, and then select 'Open Catalog...'. The 'Open' dialog will show 1 catalog file, SAMPLE.CAT. Select file SAMPLE.CAT and click OK. After WinCat has read this file you can have a first look at WinCat/PRO 3.2 ! Once you've tried WinCat you can delete the SAMPLE.CAT, and create your own catalog : click the FILE menu, select 'Open Catalog...' and, on the 'Open Catalog' dialog enter the name of the catalog you want to create, for instance WINDOWS.CAT. Note that the filename-extension must be '.CAT'. USING WINCAT ------------ WinCat has two main windows : the 'Volume List' window, which displays all disks in the catalog, and the 'File List' window, which is used to display selected files. VOLUME LIST WINDOW ------------------ When you start WinCat you'll see the Volume List window, which shows all the disks in the catalog, and a few actions buttons. For each volume that was cataloged, WinCat displays (from left to right) : - the volume-ID : this is the label that's on the disk. - the amount of free space on the disk (in KBytes, where K = 1000) - the number of files on the disk - an 'A' flag if the contents of archive-files on this disk are cataloged - the volume-group the disk belongs to - a description of the disk's contents Initially, the group and description fields will be blank ; you must define them yourself using the 'Volume Information' window. Explanation of the buttons (from left to right) : [ EXIT ] Clicking this button will end WinCat. [ VOLUME INFORMATION ] Displays the 'Volume Information' window, which shows the : - volume ID - date the disk was cataloged - name of the associated archive contents (.ACT) file - free and used diskspace in bytes - a bar that graphically shows free and used diskspace - number of files on the disk - disk type (physical size and capacity) - drive ID - group ID, location and owner you defined - any comment you entered. On this window you can define to which group, location and/or owner a disk belongs. Each of these fields may be 1 to 8 characters long. You can also enter or update the volume's description on this window. To make it easier to enter a series of descriptions that are almost the same (e.g. Windows disk 1 of 6, disk 2 of 6 etc.) you can let WinCat memorize descriptions (by entering a description in the edit field and clicking on the 'Mem' key). You can then simply select descriptions from the drop-down list. Clicking the OK button will save these fields in the catalog, and end the Volume Information window. The Volume List window will show the updated Group and Description fields. Another way to save these fields is to scroll to another volume, using the scrollbar at the left. If you do this, all updates will be saved automaticly, i.e. you don't have to click OK. If you click Cancel the changes you made will be discarded. [ FILES ] Shows the contents (all files) of the selected volume. You can also do this by double-clicking a volume-entry. See explanation of the 'File List' window below. [ DIRECTORY ] Displays the 'Directory List' window, which shows the directories on the selected disk. This window also shows the number of files and used diskspace per directory. Select a directory and click [FILES] to see all files in it. The same function can also be accomplished by double-clicking a directory entry. You can limit the entries displayed on the 'Directory List' window by entering a (partial) directory-name on the edit-field and clicking the OK button ; WinCat will then show only the matching directories. Clicking the Cancel button will display all directories again. See also 'File List' window. [ UNCATALOG ] This function will delete the selected volume (and all files cataloged on it) from the catalog. If there is a corresponding archive contents (.ACT) file this will be deleted as well. Of course you'll receive the inevitable prompt 'are you sure ?'. [ CHANGE ID ] This function can be used to change the ID of a volume in the catalog. The new ID you enter must be unique ; if there is already a volume cataloged with the new ID, a messagebox appears prompting you to enter a different ID. Note that WinCat only changes the volume-id in the catalog ; it does NOT change the disklabel on the disk. [ CATALOG ] This function will scan a disk and add it's volume- and file-information to the catalog. WinCat first displays the drive-select window, which shows a button for each floppydisk, harddisk or CD-ROM-drive installed on your PC. On this window you can specify whether or not you want a confirmation window displayed when you're recataloging a volume, and whether or not you want WinCat to catalog the contents of archive files on the disk. (you can pre-define these options on the Configure window). Select the desired options, insert a disk in a drive and then select this drive by clicking the appropriate drive-button. After scanning the directory of the disk WinCat displays the 'Catalog Disk' window, which shows the contents of the disk. On the 'Catalog Disk' window you must enter a volume-ID for the disk to be cataloged. This ID may be 1 to 11 characters long. If the disk was labeled, the ID-field will show the label. You're free to change it : WinCat doesn't require that disklabel and (external) volume-ID are equal. The ID you enter will only be used to identify the volume in the catalog ; WinCat does NOT write the ID as a label on the disk. (But : the easiest way to work with WinCat is to you give every disk a unique label, and then let WinCat use these labels as volume-ID's). Optionally you can also enter a description of the disk's contents. To make it easier to enter a series of descriptions that are almost the same (e.g. Windows disk 1 of 6, disk 2 of 6 etc.) you can let WinCat memorize descriptions (by entering a description in the edit field and clicking on the 'Mem' key). You can then simply select descriptions from the drop-down list. When you click OK, WinCat will scan the catalog to see if the volume-ID you entered is already in use. If it isn't, the volume- and file-information will be added to the catalog. If there IS a volume with the same ID in the catalog, WinCat compares the information in the catalog with the actual contents of the disk and shows the 'confirm recatalog' window which displays : - files that are on the disk, but not yet cataloged - files that are cataloged, but can't be found on the disk - files on the disk that are newer than the ones cataloged - files on the disk that are older than the ones cataloged If you click the OK button, WinCat will delete the old volume (and it's files) from the catalog and add the new volume- and file- information to the catalog. Volume- and file-comments will be copied from the old to the new volume- and file-records. If you click the Cancel button, WinCat will return to the 'Catalog Disk' window, where you can either enter a different volume-id, or cancel the catalog function. Remember that this window doesn't appear if you have turned the 'confirm recatalog' option (on the drive-select window) off. In this case WinCat automaticly recatalogs the volume. After WinCat has added or replaced the volume in it's catalog, he will optionally continue with : - reading the DESCRIPT.ION file on the disk - scanning the archive-files on the disk note : when recataloging a disk, WinCat will first examine the old .ACT file that was associated with that disk. By doing so, WinCat doesn't have to scan archive-files that were examined previously and haven't been changed since : he simply copies their contents- information to the new .ACT file, and only scans those archive-files that are new or updated. Whether or not WinCat performs these actions depends on the 'Catalog options' settings on the 'Configure' and 'Drive Select' windows. 4DOS users ---------- One of the nice features of 4DOS is that you can assign descriptions to your files. 4DOS saves these descriptions in a -hidden- file called 'DESCRIPT.ION'. This is a 'plain' ASCII text file, i.e. it's contents might look like this : afile.exe just one of my files wincat30.arj SPLENDID program : I'm gonna mail the orderform today ! descript.ion This comment describes the volume contents somefile.arj This is another file When cataloging a disk, WinCat scans the root-directory of this disk for a 'DESCRIPT.ION' file and, if found, copies the file-descriptions in this file to it's catalog. If there is an entry 'descript.ion' in the descript.ion file, WinCat will use it's description as a volume-description (get my point ?). If you don't want WinCat to read the DESCRIPT.ION file, disable the appropriate option on the Settings window. Cataloging Archive Contents --------------------------- You can optionally let WinCat catalog the contents of ARJ,ZIP,LZH,ZOO, PAK and ARC archive files. When WinCat scans the archive files on a disk, he saves the information in a special directory in a file named Fxxxxxxx.ACT, where xxxxxxx is some generated (timestamp) string. So, for every volume that WinCat scanned there is a .ACT file in this directory. On the 'Volume Information' window you can see which .ACT file (if any) belongs to a volume. Note that there is a one-to-one relationship between a volume and it's associated .ACT file ; therefore you shouldn't rename or delete .ACT files yourself, because then WinCat looses track and instead of the contents of an archive file will show you the message 'Can't find file Fxxxxxxx.ACT'. If you request WinCat to show the contents of a particular archive file, WinCat locates the .ACT file that's associated with the volume that contains the archive file and extracts the requested information from it. So, to activate the cataloging of archive contents you must do 2 things : 1: Create the subdirectory where WinCat can store it's .ACT files. As a default, WinCat uses directory C:\WINDOWS\WINCAT\ARCHIVES. If you want to use another directory you must specify it's full name on the Configure window (option 'Archive Directory'), e.g. 'D:\USERDATA\' or 'C:\WINDOWS\WINCAT\' 2: Turn on the 'Catalog Archive Contents' option on either the Configure window or the Drive Select window. If an error (CRC check, I/O error or whatever) occurs while scanning an archive file then WinCat aborts processing the current archive and proceeds with the next one. Cataloging CD-ROM disks ----------------------- If you have a CD-ROM drive and the appropriate device-drivers installed on your system you can let WinCat also catalog the contents of your CD-ROM disks. This isn't any different from cataloging floppy-disks ; WinCat will enable a drive-button on the 'Catalog Disk' window, and all you have to do is to click this button. [ SEARCH ] Allows you to search for files in the catalog (click FILES) or for files in archives (click ARCHIVES). You can search for files in the catalog by specifying any combination of filename, extension, directory, comment, creation date and/or size. Files in archives can be searched for by filename, extension, date and/or size. WinCat will compare the strings you enter with the corresponding fields of all file-entries in the catalog, and show the files that match. So, if you specify ICO for filename and EDIT for comment, WinCat will show all(*) files that have the string ICO somewhere in the filename AND that have the string EDIT somewhere in the comment field. (*) Unless you've selected a volume-group, in which case WinCat will search for files only on volumes belonging to that group. Clicking the [Clear] button clears all search-fields. See also 'File List Window'. [ FILE MANAGER ] [ PROGRAM MANAGER ] [ TASK MANAGER ] Click one of these to switch to the Windows Program-Manager, File-Manager or Task-Manager. As a default, WinCat runs the standard Windows managers PROGMAN,WINFILE and TASKMAN. You can customise which program to run when clicking one of these buttons by overriding the default in WINCAT.INI. The defaults are : ProgMan=PROGMAN.EXE WinFile=WINFILE.EXE TaskMan=TASKMAN.EXE FILE LIST WINDOW ---------------- This window is used to display all files on a volume, files in a particular directory or files that were found by the search function. The buttons explained (from left to rigth) : [ EXIT ] Hides the 'File List' window. [ INFO ] Displays the 'File Information' window, which shows : - filename - ID of the disk the file is on - file creation date and time - file size in bytes - directory the file is in - an [archive info] button - any description you entered You can use this window to update the file's description. If you click OK, WinCat will save the updated description in it's catalog. The scrollbar at the left can be used to quickly scroll to other files. If you do this any updates will be automaticly saved, so then there's no need to click OK. Click the [archive info] button to see the contents of an archive file. [ ASSOCIATE ] Associations are used by the Restore File function to determine which command to generate, depending on the selected file's filename-extension. Main purpose in WinCat is to associate archive files (like ARJ) with their unarchive utilities, but if you like you can use them for lots of other purposes. Unlike the Windows File Manager, where you can associate only one application with an extension, WinCat lets you define up to three different associations, which can be used to : - extract files from an archive - view the contents of an archive - some other function defined by you To define an association, you must enter one or more commands, like DOS ARJ E < > (extract .ARJ files) DOS C:\TOOLS\PKUNZIP.EXE < > (extract .ZIP files) DOS PKUNZIP -v < (view contents of .ZIP files) NOTEPAD < (edit .DOC files) C:\WINDOWS\WRITE.EXE < (edit .WRI files) COPY < > (copy a file from floppy to harddisk) The Restore function will replace the '<' with the name of the selected file, and '>' with the selected target directory. If a command begins with 'DOS ' it will be executed as DOS command in a DOS window, else it will be executed as a true Windows application. Click OK to save the defined command(s) in file WINCAT.INI and end the 'Associate' window. Clicking Cancel will end the 'Associate' window. [ RESTORE ] This function can be used to restore files from floppy- to harddisk. The 'Restore File' window shows at the top the command that WinCat will execute if you click OK (you may edit this line). The command that WinCat generates depends on the combination of (filename-)extension (i.e. the associations you defined for that particular extension), the selected option in the 'action'-box, the selected target directory and the selected source drive. The 'action'-box has 8 buttons : - Copy file to harddisk - Active for all files - Edit file - Active for all files - Run application - Active for EXE, BAT and PIF files - Run WUNA - Only active for ARJ and ZIP files - Run WINZIP - Only active for ARJ,ZIP,LZH and ARC files The other buttons are visible only if there is an association defined for the filename-extension of the selected file ( see 'Associate' ) : - Extract files from archive - View contents of archive - User defined function If the generated command begins with 'DOS ' WinCat opens a DOS window to execute the (DOS) command through WINCATRS.BAT, else it will be launched as a Windows application. [ TAG ] Click this button to put a 'tag' on a particular file. This can be usefull when you're searching for a couple of files ; first use the 'Search' function to find the files one by one and tag them. After you've found what you were looking for click 'Display tagged files' on the 'Options' menu et voila, there they are. [ ARCHIVE CONTENTS ] Show the contents of an archive file. Of course the volume that contains this file must have been cataloged with the 'catalog archive contents' option turned on. [ ALTERNATE DISPLAY ] Clicking this button wil alternately display the files with their comment field only, or with volume, creationdate and directory fields. [ COPY TO CLIPBOARD ] Copies the filenames and their descriptions to the ClipBoard. [ EDIT ] Runs NotePad (or the editor you specified on the 'Editor=' statement on the 'Configure' window), where you can paste in and edit the data you put on the ClipBoard with [COPY]. When you have completed editing, use the editor to copy the data back to the ClipBoard. [ PASTE FROM CLIPBOARD ] Retrieves file-descriptions from the ClipBoard and stores them in the catalog. The ClipBoard records must have the format 'Filename.Ext Text'. The filename may be in upper- or lowercase. [ PRINT ] Copies the contents of the 'File List' window to WINCAT.LST, and then shows a message asking if you want to run the editor to edit or print this file (WINCAT.LST). [ SORT ] Select how you want the displayed files to be sorted : in filename, extension, directory, volume, date or size order. [ VIEW ] With the 'View' option you can limit the files displayed to those belonging to a certain 'function class', e.g. programs, documents, sourcefiles etc. Each class represents one or more filename-extensions. For instance, to class 'Programs' belong all files that have extension EXE,COM,BAT or PIF. WinCat can use up to 9 classes ; 8 of them have been pre-defined : 1: Archives ARJ,ZIP,LZH,PAK,ARC,ZOO 2: Programs EXE,PIF,BAT,COM 3: Documents DOC,TXT,WRI,INI,RTF 4: Sources PAS,RES,RC,H,C,ASM,BAS,DLG,FRM 5: Graphics BMP,GIF,PCX,TGA,RLE,ICO,FLI 6: Soundfiles WAV,ROL,VOC,MDI,MOD,SND 7: Drivers/DLL DLL,DRV,SYS 8: Fonts FON,FOT,TTF,ATM,PFB,PFM You can customize these classes by defining them in WINCAT.INI. Some examples : - You want to add extension 'TEX' to class 3, Documents : Class_3=Documents,DOC,TXT,WRI,INI,RTF,TEX - You want to define class 9 as 'Excel', using extensions XLC,XLS,XLM XLA and CHT : Class_9=Excel,XLC,XLS,XLM,XLA,CHT Note : the extensions you define MUST be separated with ','. Don't enter any other characters inbetween. For each class you can define up to 10 extensions. FILE MENU --------- - Catalog Statistics Displays the total number of volumes and files in your catalog, the total amount of used and free space on your disks, some catalog information and the amount of memory Windows has available for applications. - Open Catalog Displays the 'Open or Create Catalog' dialog, where you can select the catalog you want to use. To create a new catalog, enter the name of a non-existent catalog (with extension .CAT) and click OK. WinCat then asks if you want to create a new catalog. As a default, the 'Open Catalog' dialog initially displays the directory you defined as 'Working Directory' on the Programmanagers' 'Program Item Properties' window. You can override this default by specifying the directory to display on the 'Catalog Directory' option on the 'Configure' window. - Save Catalog Saves all updates you made to the currently open catalog. WinCat first renames the original catalog to *.BCK, and then creates a new catalog with extension .CAT. - Save Catalog As Saves all updates you made to the currently open catalog in a new catalog with a different name. Enter the name of a not already existing catalog (with extension .CAT) on the 'Save Catalog As' dialog. - Save Group As With this function you can create a new catalog that contains only the volumes that you've selected with the 'Select Group' function. Enter the name of a not already existing catalog (with extension .CAT) on the 'Save Group As' dialog. - Exit Ends WinCat. - 1..5 WinCat displays the 5 last catalogs you used on the 'File' menu ; so you can simply select the catalog you want to open. OPTIONS MENU ------------ - Configure... Displays a window where you can specify the following options : - select foreground color - select background color - select font Only select 'non-proportional' fonts (i.e. fonts where each character takes up the same width in pixels on the screen), like TERMINAL, FIXEDSYS or COURIER. If you select a proportional font like ARIAL WinCat's displays will become very hard to read. The default is TERMINAL. - Editor to use Specify which editor you want WinCat to use, for instance when displaying the output of the Print function. Enter a full path/filename, like C:\WINDOWS\PROGRAMS\MEGAEDIT.EXE or D:\EDITOR.EXE. The default is C:\WINDOWS\NOTEPAD.EXE - Archive Contents Directory Specify where you want WinCat to save it's .ACT files when cataloging the contents of archive-files on a disk. Enter a full pathname, like C:\WINDOWS\MYDATA or D:\BACKUP\DATA\. The default is C:\WINDOWS\WINCAT\ARCHIVES - Default Catalog Directory This is the directory WinCat will initially display on the 'Open Catalog' window. The default is the 'working directory' you specify on the Program- managers 'Program Item Properties' window. - Initial Restore Directory This is the target directory that WinCat will initially select for restoring files (see Files window, Restore). Specify the name of an existing directory, like C:\RESTORE or D:\TRASH\. The default is C:\ - Date format Specify which data format you want WinCat to use when displaying dates. You can chose between the formats 'DD-MM-YY' (also known as the normal format...) or 'MM-DD-YY' (the American way). The default is DD-MM-YY. - Scan 4DOS descript.ion file when cataloging a disk Specify whether or not you want WinCat to copy file-comments from a 4DOS descript.ion file (if present) when cataloging a disk. The default is YES - Replace existing description with those from the descript.ion file Specify whether or not you want WinCat to replace existing file- comments with those that are in the descript.ion file. The default is NO - Catalog contents of ARJ, ZIP, LZH, ZOO, ARC and PAK archives. Specify whether or not you want WinCat to catalog the contents of archive-files when cataloging a disk. The default is NO - Display Recatalog window when recataloging a disk. When you catalog a disk that's already present in the catalog, you can let WinCat display a window that shows the differences between the information in the catalog, and the actual contents of the disk by enabling this option. The default is YES Click the OK button to activate the selected options, and to save them in file WINCAT.INI. The sample WINCAT.INI looks like this : [WINCAT] * General options and defaults Use_4DOS=YES Rep_4DOS=NO Editor=notepad.exe Archive_Directory=c:\windows\wincat\archives Confirm_Recatalog=YES Scan_Archives=YES Date_Format=DDMMYY Restore_Directory=c:\ DBF_Fields=YYNNY W30_ForeColor=0 W30_BackColor=8421376 * Commands used to launch unarchive tools, used by Restore File Wuna=WUNA < -p> Winzip=WINZIP < * Associations used by Restore File EXTR_ARJ=DOS arj e < > VIEW_ARJ=DOS arj v < USER_ARJ= EXTR_ZIP=DOS pkunzip < > VIEW_ZIP=DOS pkunzip -v < USER_ZIP= EXTR_LZH=DOS lha e < > VIEW_LZH=DOS lha v < USER_LZH= EXTR_LHA=DOS lha e < > VIEW_LHA=DOS lha v < USER_LHA= USER_WRI=write.exe < USER_BMP=pbrush.exe < USER_WAV=soundrec.exe < * Function-classes used by View Class_1=Archives,ARJ,ZIP,LZH,PAK,ARC,ZOO Class_2=Programs,EXE,PIF,BAT,COM Class_3=Documents,DOC,TXT,WRI,INI,RTF Class_4=Sources,PAS,RES,RC,H,C,ASM,BAS,DLG,FRM Class_5=Graphics,BMP,GIF,PCX,TGA,RLE,ICO,FLI Class_6=Soundfiles,WAV,ROL,VOC,MDI,MOD,SND Class_7=Drivers/DLL,DLL,DRV,SYS Class_8=Fonts,FON,FOT,TTF,ATM,PFB,PFM * Programs to run when clicking Program-,File- or Task-manager button ProgMan=PROGMAN.EXE WinFile=WINFILE.EXE TaskMan=TASKMAN.EXE - Select Group... With the 'Select Group' function you can limit the volumes displayed on the Volume List window to those belonging to the selected group, location or owner. You can also select a group of volumes with a minimum amount of free space, volumes of a certain disktype (e.g. all 3.5" 1.44 MB disks) or volumes that have a certain string in their description field. When you select a group, ALL WinCat functions (like search, print, import, export etc.) will operate only on (files on) volumes belonging to that group. Only exception : the 'Save Catalog (As)' function ignores groups. - Display Tagged Files... Displays the File List window, showing all files you tagged with the 'TAG' function. - Reset File Tags... Clears all tags. - Sort Volumes By... Allows the volumes displayed on the Volume List window to be sorted in volume-ID, free space or group order. UTILITIES MENU -------------- - Compare... You can use this function to let WinCat compare the contents of a directory on your harddisk, or the contents of a floppy disk, with the information in the catalog. So you can easily see whether or not files are cataloged, and if so on which volume(s) they reside. - Import... Use this function to import file-descriptions from BBS AllFiles listings, listings from other (???!) disk catalog programs, 4DOS descript.ion files etc. This is the way to do it : 1) Select the text file to import descriptions from. This must be a 'normal' ASCII text file, that is each line must end with a hex '0D0A' line delimiter. The lines in this file must have the format 'Filename.Ext Text'. The filename may be in upper- or lowercase, and may be preceeded by spaces. WinCat ignores lines that don't adhere to this syntax. 2) Specify whether you want WinCat to replace existing file-descriptions with the imported ones by clicking the appropriate checkbox. 3) Specify whether or not you want WinCat to take filename-extensions into account when comparing filenames from the textfile with those from the catalog. If you set this option to 'YES', WinCat will ignore extensions and so will consider file 'SAMPLE.ARJ' to be the same as file 'SAMPLE.ZIP'. 4) Specify the number of words to drop between filename and description. A typical line in an AllFiles listing may look like this : WINCAT30.ARJ 134200 01-04-93 [899] SPLENDID Disk Catalog for Windows Obviously, only the text 'SPLENDID Disk Catalog for Windows' should be taken as the description for WINCAT30.ARJ. To do this, you must tell WinCat how many words to drop from the text following the filename WINCAT30.ARJ. In this example, the first 3 words (strings delimited by one or more spaces) after WINCAT30.ARJ should be dropped, so the number to specify is 3. When you click OK, WinCat will first sort the files in the catalog (or in the current active group), and then scan the selected textfile. For each filename found in the textfile WinCat will check whether a file with this name exists in the catalog. If so, WinCat will copy the description that follows the filename (in the textfile) to the corresponding file in the catalog, and set that file's TAG. After WinCat has finished reading the textfile he'll display the 'Files' window, showing all (TAGged) files that were updated. If you're not completely happy with the result you can use [COPY], [EDIT] and [PASTE] to change things. - Export Exports the information in the catalog (or in the current active group) to a file in DBF format. The .DBF file can be used with database products like dBase, FoxPro etc. WinCat will create a record in the .DBF file for each file in the catalog or group. Apart from the name of each file (which is always part of a record) you can select additional fields you want included in each record : volume id, directory, date, size and/or comment. - Print Volume Summary Creates a summary listing of all volumes, and then shows a message asking if you want to use the editor to edit or print this file (WINCAT.LST). - Print Volume Contents Creates a listing of all volumes and their contents. - Print Files sorted by Filename Creates a sorted listing of all files in the catalog. - Print Duplicate Files Creates a listing of files that occur more than once in the catalog. HELP MENU --------- - Help Shows WINCAT.DOC - More Help Shows the AidWare notice - About AidWare Displays file AIDWARE.DOC - How to Order Displays file ORDERFRM.DOC (my favorite...) - Register When you send me WinCat's orderform (plus the money of course...), you'll receive a registration-number that disables the AidWare window that appears when opening a catalog. This unique registration-number was generated by a fractal generator that takes your name as input and, after 3 minutes calculating, spits out an 8 to 10 digit number (believe me, even I don't know how this actually works). So, to register WinCat you must enter your name and the registration- number EXACTLY as stated on the license-agreement, because WinCat will check the number against the name (surprisingly, this takes almost no time at all... but then, I don't know how this works either). If WinCat detects that the name and number don't match, registration will fail. If you enter the correct name and number, WinCat will say 'thanks !', and your name will appear on the WHOF window. WinCat saves your name and the registration-number in file WINCAT.INI. If, for some reason, this file gets accidently erased you must re-enter your registration. So don't throw away the license-agreement once you've registered, as you might need it in the future. - About WinCat See for yourself... HINTS AND TIPS -------------- [1 - disk caching] WinCat's archive-scan functions result in quite a bit of I/O on your disks. Use a disk caching utility like SmartDrive or (even better) HyperDisk, this will improve WinCat's (and any other application's) performance considerably. [2 - catalog backups] When you save a catalog, WinCat first renames the original catalog file to *.BCK, and then creates a new *.CAT file that contains all updates. Please note that, according to Murphy's Law, a backup is something you'll never need unless you don't have it. So never erase the *.BCK files... If something happens to the *.CAT file, you can simply rename the *.BCK file to *.CAT and continue using that catalog. [3- catalog size limits ] WinCat must be able to read an entire catalog into your PC's memory. This theoretically limits the size of the biggest catalog WinCat can handle to the amount of memory your system has available (you can check that on WinCat's Statistics window). However, WinCat will never be able to use ALL available memory for it's catalog, as some memory must remain available for displaying windows, the Window's system routines, applica- tions you want to run at the same time as WinCat etc. My rule of thumb : don't create a catalog that's bigger than half the amount of memory that's available. WinCat needs approximately 900 KB memory for every 10,000 files in a catalog, so, if your system has 4 MB memory available under Windows, you can let WinCat use 2 MB of it, and create catalogs that contain up to 20,000 files. You'll notice that, when you're pushing WinCat to the limits, the entire Windows system will slow down because Windows has to perform a lot of memory management (i.e. swapping memory to and from it's swapfile), and that you might get messages like 'Insufficient memory to run applica- tion' when starting another program while running WinCat. Another thing to take into consideration : the bigger a catalog, the longer the reading,saving,searching and especially sorting will take. The time necessary to read,save or search a catalog increases linear with the size of the catalog. However, the time that WinCat needs to sort it's catalog increases almost exponentially with the number of entries to sort. Sorting is being performed by the 'Import', 'Compare', 'Print files sorted' and 'Print duplicate file' functions. If you have a rather big catalog, and want to execute one of these functions, consider selecting a group of volumes first ; this limits the number of entries to sort, and therefore speeds up things. Please note : ------------- WinCat has been tested with catalogs that contained up to 20,000 files ; the author cannot guarantee WinCat's proper operation when using catalogs that exceed this size. The use of catalogs that exceed this size is formally not supported, and at the user's own risk. 1-6-93 - WINCAT/PRO 3.2.0 SUMMARY OF CHANGES ---------------------------------------------- WinCat/PRO 3.2.0 is primarily a 'bugfix' release (there proved to be an error in 25 of the 11,728 lines Pascal poetry that make up WinCat/PRO). However, a number of new features also have been added : * General - In order to reduce the size of catalogs the catalog structure has been changed. Note that WinCat 3.2.0 can read 3.0 catalogs, but WinCat 3.0 CANNOT read catalogs saved by WinCat 3.2.0 ! - You can now let WinCat open a specific catalog immediately upon startup. Specify the name of the catalog to open on the Program Managers' 'Program Item Properties' window, e.g. like this : Commandline : C:\WINDOWS\WINCAT\WINCAT.EXE WINDOWS.CAT or C:\WINDOWS\WINCAT\WINCAT.EXE D:\DATA\WINDOWS.CAT So, if you have multiple catalogs, you can define a few WinCats to the Program Manager, and let each of them use a different catalog. - WinCat now displays the 5 last catalogs you used on the 'File' menu, so you can simply select the catalog you want to open. * Volume List window - When double-clicking a volume, WinCat now also updates the 'Directory List' window if it's visible. - A new 'Sort' menu allows you to sort the volumes displayed on the Volume List window in Volume-ID, free space or group order. - You can now customize which program to run when clicking the Program- manager, Filemanager or Taskmanager button by specifying them in WINCAT.INI. * File List window - Menu added - Files can now be sorted in filename, extension, directory, volume, date or size order. - With the 'View' option you can limit the files displayed to those belonging to a certain 'function class', e.g. programs, documents, sourcefiles etc. Each class represents one or more filename-extensions. For instance, to class 'Programs' belong all files that have extension EXE,COM,BAT or PIF. You can customize the pre-defined classes by overriding them in WINCAT.INI ; see File List window [ VIEW ]. * Archive File List window - Menu added - Files can now be sorted in filename, extension, archive, volume, date or size order. - The same 'View' option as on the File List window. * Restore File window - Now enables WINZIP button for ARJ,ZIP,LZH and ARC archive files - You can override the default WUNA and WINZIP commands in file WINCAT.INI, e.g. like this : Wuna=c:\windows\tools\wuna.exe < -p> Winzip=c:\windows\tools\winzip.exe < * Directory window - Now modeless ; you don't have to close it to perform other functions on the Volume List window. - You can now make a selection out of all directories on a volume by specifying a 'look-for' character-string. * Select Drive window - Now displays a button for every drive on the system (including harddisk- and network-drives), so the contents of harddisks also can be cataloged. - Now also accepts empty disks to be cataloged. - The level of sub-directories that WinCat checks has been increased from 3 to 4. * Catalog Disk window - Now also scans contents of .ZOO archive files. * Select Group window - You can now select all volumes of a certain disk-type, e.g. all 3.5" 1.44 MB disks. * Configure window - New option : Default catalog directory. What about WINCAT/PRO 3.1 ?? ---------------------------- Relax, you didn't miss anything ; 3.1 never saw the light of day. I found out that a file named WINCAT31.ARJ already existed on some Bulletin Board Systems (it's a tool to use WildCat!, some kind of BBS-software, with Windows). 1-4-93 - WINCAT/PRO 3.0 SUMMARY OF CHANGES -------------------------------------------- First release of the Turbo Pascal version. A summary of changes in WinCat/PRO, compared to (the Visual Basic version) WinCat 2.5. * general - WinCat now supports multiple catalogs. Related options on the 'File' menu : Open Catalog, Save Catalog, Save Catalog As and Save Group As * Volume List and File List windows - The Volume List and File List windows are now 'modeless' windows ; this means that you can use functions on the Volume List window without closing the File List window first. * Volume Information window - You can now define two more 'group' fields : location and owner. - The pie-chart showing free and used space has been replaced by a a linear 'stuffometer' that also shows the used space in percent. - Entering a series of descriptions that are (almost) the same (e.g. Windows disk 1 of 6, disk 2 of 6 etc.) has been made easier ; you can let WinCat memorize descriptions by entering a description in the edit field and clicking on the 'Mem' key. You can then simply select descriptions from the drop-down list. * Restore File window - Now has 2 more options : 'Run' and 'Edit'. This window also shows a (disabled) 'Delete' button, but at the moment this function is not supported. Wait for 3.1... - WinCat now uses it's own routines to copy a file from floppy to hard- disk (instead of calling DOS copy). * Select Group window - You can now also select those volumes that have a minimum amount of free space, or volumes that belong to a specified owner or location. - When you select a group, ALL WinCat functions (like search, print, import, export etc.) will operate only on (files on) volumes belonging to that group. Only exception : the 'Save Catalog (As)' function ignores groups. * Catalog Disk window - You can now enter a volume's description on this window. Entering a series of (almost) identical descriptions has been made easier by implementing the same 'Memorize' function as on the Volume Information window. - The way WinCat scans archivefiles has been improved : * by changing the order in which archive-files are processed (directory-order instead of filename-order) scanning an entire CD-ROM now takes less then half the time it took with WinCat 2.5. * when recataloging a disk, WinCat will now first examine the old .ACT file that was associated with that disk. By doing so, WinCat doesn't have to scan archive-files that were examined previously and haven't been changed since : he simply copies their contents- information to the new .ACT file, and only scans those archive-files that are new or updated. - WinCat can now catalog CD-ROMS that contain any number of files. * Utilities Menu - 'Export' is a new function you can use to copy WinCat's catalog data to a file in .DBF format (for use with dBase, FoxPro etc.) THINGS TO COME : WinCat/PRO 3.3 --------------------------------- New features will include : - immediate printing of reports - printing disklabels (text plus a user-defined BMP graphic) - user-selected fonts - improved 'Presentation Graphics' - and of course the occasional (?) bugfix... Planned General Availability : August/September '93 On the drawing board : - intelligent disk shuffler REGISTERING WINCAT ------------------ You are permitted to evaluate this product for 21 days. After that time you must either register, or discontinue using the program. The use of unregistered copies of WinCat/PRO, beyond the evaluation period, by any person, business, corporation, government agency or any other entity is strictly prohibited. When using and/or registering WinCat/PRO you acknowledge and consent to the 'DISCLAIMER OF WARRANTY' as stated at the end of this document. ** IMPORTANT NOTICE ** Each catalog you create has it's own evaluation period of 21 days. When this standard evaluation period has ended WinCat allows you to use that catalog for another 14 days, but you'll receive an 'Evaluation period expiring !' message each time you open that catalog. This message also tells you when the evaluation period definitely ends ; by then WinCat will refuse to load that catalog anymore, unless you register WinCat. After entering your registration-number on WinCat's 'Register...' window, you won't be bothered with expiring evaluation-periods ever again. I'm sorry if this 'aggressive' approach causes any inconvenience to users who want to register, but it seems to be the only way to prevent that some users simply ignore the fact that WinCat isn't free and just keep 'evaluating' or 'waiting for that new function' forever... Look at it this way : if a charming old lady comes at your door selling tickets for a charity-lottery, everybody considers it normal that you pay the lady before you get a ticket. And no matter how nice that old lady is, if you don't pay, you simply won't get a ticket. Basicly I offer you the same deal with WinCat : if you pay the registration- fee you may use WinCat for as long as you like. If you don't pay, well, no hard feelings, but don't expect me to let you use WinCat. For details on why and how to register : please read AIDWARE.DOC and ORDERFRM.DOC ! WHERE TO GET WINCAT ------------------- WinCat is distributed through the international WIN*NET network, and so should be available on every local Windows BBS that has a connection to WIN*NET. You can always find the latest version of WinCat/PRO on the dutch CLIPBOARD BBS : the biggest Windows BBS in the Netherlands, specialized in providing the newest Windows ShareWare and Public Domain software. Network node of : - Digital Net 15:1000/102 - TechNet 111:313/114 - Fido 2:285/821 - WIN*NET Founder of ClipNet(tm) SysOp : Mr. Peter Jansen You can reach ClipBoard BBS at : +(31)-(0)10-4820737 YOUR COMMENTS PLEASE -------------------- If you discover serious bugs in WinCat, or if you have any "wouldn't it be nice if WinCat ..." ideas, feel free to drop a message in my mailbox at CompuServe Mail 72066,2116, or send a message to me at ClipBoard BBS. Please keep in mind that WinCat isn't a product of a multimillion dollar revenue company that employs an impressive technical staff ; WinCat is just a product of some poor sod (me) who, during times other (normal) people like to go out, eat, have sex, sleep and/or in any other way have a jolly good time, likes (?) to spend his scarce spare time gazing at his PC-screen in order to develop and promote and support and debug and push and market and test and improve and sell and document something that LOOKS like it has been developed by a multimillion dollar revenue company that employs an impressive technical staff... In other words : WinCat already takes up a lot of my time, so please don't be offended if I don't answer a message, or if it takes a while before you receive an answer. DISTRIBUTION ------------ The evaluation-copy of WinCat/PRO may be freely copied and distributed, as long as the following conditions are met : [1] No fee is charged other than a normal time usage fee required by some Bulletin Board Services, or a fee for media- and distri- bution-costs for shareware disks or CD-ROM's. [2] The program and it's associated files are distributed in their original, unmodified form. [3] All document files are included with the executable file without modification. This program may not be bundled with, or transferred as part of, any package which is sold or for which any licensing fee is charged without the prior written permission of the author. Copies of this program or any of it's associated files remain property of the author. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS --------------- WinCat's 'Reading Catalog' speedometer is an adapted version of a nifty little program called METER.PAS, which was published by the godfather of Windows programming, the one and only Mr. Doug Overmyer Code for determining the contents of ZIP, PAK and ARC archives is based on sourcecode from the program PIBCAT, which was created by : Phil Burns Code for determining the contents of ARJ archives is based on sourcecode from the program ARJDATE, which was created by : Darren Lyon Code for determining the contents of LZH archives is based on sourcecode from the program LZHTV10, which was created by : Samuel H. Smith Phoenix, AZ The little cat with the slight weight-problem and the serious attitude- problem bears a striking resemblence with Garfield, who was created by : Jim Davis (copyright United Features Syndicate, Inc.) For making it possible to create WinCat/PRO and to build up a body like Arnold Schwarzenegger (by giving me the Turbo Pascal for Windows Bible, which is about 1000 pages or 25 kg Windows techtalk), the author wishes to thank the Supreme SysOp of ClipBoard BBS, renowned for his *slik* AAAARRGHH! -hehehehe...- toontalk and his 'briljant' brainwaves, the one and only (thank God for that...) Peter -The ClipDude- Jansen ;-) SMALL PRINT ----------- By using and/or registering WinCat/PRO you acknowledge and consent to the following DISCLAIMER OF WARRANTY : WinCat/PRO, including all related programs, texts, and files, is supplied "as is". The author disclaims all warranties, expressed or implied, including, without limitation, the warranties of merchantability, compatibility now or in the future with any configuration of computing equipment or software, or of fitness for any purpose. The author assumes no liability for damages, direct or consequential, which may result from the normal use or abuse of WinCat/PRO and related programs. The author specifically and categorially disclaims responsibility for damages, direct or consequential, resulting from installation or use of WinCat/PRO or related programs or files which have been distributed after any modification - either deliberate or unwitting - by any party other than the author, or distributed in any fashion that would otherwise violate the terms of this license.