What is the Auto-Catalog Window? Why canﾕt I select it from the menu?
The Auto-Catalog window is a special kind of catalog window. It differs from regular catalogs in 2 ways:
-Disk entries in this window are stored as individual files in a special folder. Regular catalogs store them as records inside a single file.
-The contents of the Auto-Catalog window are saved automatically. You do not -and cannot- choose ﾒSaveﾓ, ﾒSave As...ﾓ or ﾒRevert...ﾓ from the file menu.
The folder used to store the contents of the Auto-Catalog window is chosen in the ﾒAuto-Catalogﾓ preference panel. Hit the ﾒChooseﾓ button to select this folder. If you do not select a folder, the ﾒOpen Auto-Catalog Windowﾓ menu (under File) will be grayed out and not selectable. You do not need to register Disk Recall to use the Auto-Catalog window!
Can I use the Auto-Catalog for everything?
Yes. It supports all the features of regular catalogs (copy/paste, Drag and Drop, Find, Export...) except the three ones noted above. Personally, I use the Auto-Catalog almost all the time. However, when its contents grow too much, I move rarely used items to a regular catalog.
Do I need to install the extension to run Disk Recall?
No. The Disk Recall application runs fine without the extension. The extension is optional. You only need it if you want to automatically archive ejected disks.
How does the Disk Recall Extension work?
When a disk is ejected, the extension creates a catalog of this disk and puts the catalog inside the Auto-Catalog folder. The cursor will change to the scrolling ﾒDisk Recallﾓ words to indicate that the extension is working. Later, when you open a Disk Recall window containing an entry for the ejected disk, the entry can be updated to match the more recent catalog inside the Auto-Catalog folder. This update can be automatic or manual. For automatic, turn on the Update Open Catalog option in the Auto-Catalog pref panel. For manual, use the ﾒUpdate from Auto-Catalogﾓ menu command.
How can I cancel a scan by the extension?
To cancel a scan by the extension, press cmd-. for about a second. Also, if you hold down the shift key while ejecting a disk, that disk will be skipped.
I put the Disk Recall Extension in the Extensions folder but nothing happens!
You need to register Disk Recall to activate the extension. Once you register by entering a user name and serial number in the About Disk Recall.... window), the Disk Recall Extension becomes active. You can turn it on or off from the Auto-Catalog preference panel. For an explanation of these preferences, see the ﾒDisk Recall menus and prefsﾓ document.
What is the relation between Disk Recall and FloppyCatalog?
Disk Recall is FloppyCatalog 4.0 beta with a new name and new features. The differences between FloppyCatalog 3.0.1 and FloppyCatalog 4.0 beta are so great (including a new file format), that I felt a new name is warranted. In addition, the "Floppy" part of the old name was antiquated and I wanted to avoid confusion with another Mac cataloger called Catalog.
Is Disk Recall the fastest Mac cataloger?
Well, I'm biased of course, but to quote beta testers said ".[Disk Recall] is the only one I can use cause it's damn too fast..." and ﾒIt is unbelievably fast, really !ﾓ etc... Seriously though, I compared it to current (February 1999) catalogers including CDFinder, DiskTracker , DiskWizard, Catalogue and PowerScan. Disk Recall's performance compares favorably with them in searching, scrolling and finding duplicates. In archiving Mac disks, Disk Recall is by far better. The only utility I know of that archives disks so quickly is File Genie Pro (commercial~50$), but File Genie Pro lacks Disk Recall's other features.
Is there a way to automatically keep my catalogs updated? What happened to Drop Log?
Automatic archiving is available to registered users by using an extension that archives ejected disks. In the future, the extension engine will be incorporated into a drop-on applet and a contextual menu plug-in.
Version 1.0 of Disk Recall included a small utility called DropLog. DropLog is not supported anymore (and not included with the new package) and I will not fix the few bugs I know it contains. It will be replaced in the future by a new dro-on applet, which would be available to registered users only.
How to archive a large number of removable disks quickly?
Select Archive from the Catalog menu, then check the box that says "Batch archive inserted disks". Start inserting your disks. Each disk will be archived when it is inserted, then it will be ejected so you can insert the next one and so on. When finished click the Done button.
Can I archive an individual folder?
Yes. Simply drag the folder's icon into an open Catalog window. This also works for AppleShare volumes, floppies, CD ROMs, Zips etc.... Note that for technical reasons sometimes archiving a folder takes longer than archiving the disk that contains it.
Can I search multiple catalogs together?
Yes. Use the multi-catalog search button in the Find window.
Can I search a Found Items window?
No. You can only search catalogs.To refine a search, just add more criteria to the Find Window.
Can I copy & paste disk entries between catalogs?
Yes. (but you can't use Drag & Drop. Sorry)
Can I copy &paste files between catalogs?
No. You can only copy disk entries between catalogs. However, you can copy the names of selected files and paste them into another application.
Can I display custom icons of individual files?
No. That would slow down archiving considerably and increase memory requirements.
How can I speed up Disk Recall?
Use generic or no icons on the display, do not get custom disk icons. Do not let the Control Strip cover a Disk Recall window partially as this might slow scrolling a lot.
Does Disk Recall support system 8.5 features?
It supports Navigation Services (you have to check it in the preferences panel), and some theme-specific information. Full Appearance support and other Mac OS 8.x features coming in later versions.
Does Disk Recall support applescript?
There is only one command implemented: archive disk. If you want more you have to ask for it.
Can I copy files or folders from one catalog to another?
Copy and paste actually copy the names of the selected items, unless it is disk item, in which case it copies both the name and the information.
Can I display the pathname of a file in graphical format like the Mac OS Find File?
Yes. The top panel in a catalog window and in the Found Items window contains the pathname of the last item you clicked on. You can expand this panel by moving the cursor over the separator between it and the main panel. The cursor should change to double vertical arrows. Click and drag to expand. When the pathname panel is expanded, the path is displayed in a graphical format like that in the Find File utility. You can also double click on an item in that path to open it in the Finder, again like Find File.
Can I save search results?
No. You can only export them as a TEXT file. Furthermore, you can only have one search results window open at a time. You can save search criteria however.
How do relative dates work? Why use them?
Relative dates are feature of saved search criteria. Let's assume today is 22 November 1998. You put 11/22/98 in the date created field and then save the search criteria using relative dates. If you use these criteria on 12/13/98 for example, you will notice that the field now shows 12/13/98. Without relative dates, it still show 11/22/98. You can use them to save criteria such as : files modified in last week, files created today, etc..
To specify a date range, use two conditions (e.g files created before 11/22/98 and after 11/19/98).
What use is finding unique items?
Finding unique items is the opposite of Finding Duplicates and is activated by option-clicking on the Find button in the Find Duplicates window.
It is particularly useful in two situations:
a)You have a new edition of a magazine CD ROM for example, and you want to see what's new on it compared with last month. Archive both CDs in one window, then find unique items by using the option key in the Find Duplicates window. New or modified files should appear in the window.
b ) you are about to run an installer that might change and add a lot of files in your system folder. To figure out which files have been added or changed, archive the system folder before the install, then archive it after the install and look for unique items. This could work for new or modified files.
Note that Find Unique items will not detect items that have been moved and not changed.
How does Disk Recall archive disks so quickly?
Instead of getting information about each file on a disk separately, Disk Recall obtains information about all the items on that disk in one huge list that gets sorted efficiently by Disk Recall later. This causes a short pause while Disk Recall is getting all that information, before the progress window starts showing the number of items archived. On fast Macs this pause might be all you notice!
Certain times, Disk Recall appears to archive disks/folders very slowly. Why?
There are a few situations when fast archiving doesn't work:
*disks that are not Macintosh HFS. This includes PC formatted disks, AppleShare volumes, and HFS+ volumes (or Macs OS Extended, default format of iMac disks).
*folders being archived separately.
*if there is not enough RAM to load the information about all the items on the disk at once. This might happen if you have a lot of other applications running at the same time. The extra RAM required is usually 500-1000K (bigger disks wnat more RAM), and this is used only temporarily. To free up the RAM I advise you quit other applications running at the same time.
In these situations Disk Recall uses conventional archiving techniques. The next version (1.2) will support fast HFS+ scanning.
What are the *real* RAM requirements?
When browsing, Disk Recall needs RAM only for items that are displayed in the window (including items scrolled out of view) . In other words, you can have 60 or more CDs for example in one window without running out of RAM. For searching, each disk entry is read from the catalog file separately to minimize RAM usage. A rule of thumb is: if you could archive it, you can search it.
Allocating extra memory for Disk Recall doesn't help a lot since Disk Recall uses free system memory anyway (in programmer jargon it is called temporary memory). I typically run Disk Recall in 2 megabytes on my computer. Quitting some other applications solves most out of memory problems.
