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  11.                                                 4Cat Utility Programs   |
  12.                                                                         |
  13.                                                                         |
  14.                                                          Version 1.30   |
  15.                                                Released March 5, 1994   |
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  18.                                                   by Earl R. Davidson   |
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  26.                   Program and Documentation Copyright (c) 1991 - 1994   |
  27.                                                   by Earl R. Davidson   |
  28.                                             249 West Doublegate Drive   |
  29.                                                      Albany, GA 31707   |
  30.                                                   All rights reserved   |
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  38.                Portions Copyright (c) 1989 - 91 Microsoft Corporation   |
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  57.  
  58.                                    Notice
  59.  
  60.            These programs are not in the public domain.  These utility
  61.            programs for 4CAT are included as part of the 4CAT130 program
  62.            and may not be used for any other purpose.
  63.  
  64.  
  65.  
  66.                                  Disclaimer
  67.  
  68.            4Cat is distributed without warranty, expressed or implied,
  69.            including without limitation the warranties of merchant-
  70.            ability and of fitness for a particular purpose.  You, the
  71.            user, assume full responsibility for the selection and use of
  72.            4Cat to achieve your desired results.
  73.  
  74.  
  75.  
  76.                                 Introduction
  77.  
  78.            The Utilities programs described in this documentation file
  79.            allow you to pack and repair the 4CAT-DB.MDB database file.
  80.            Packing the database physically removes deleted records and
  81.            frees up disk space.  Repairing the database can help restore
  82.            files that have become corrupted.
  83.  
  84.  
  85.  
  86.                                 Installation
  87.  
  88.            The 4CAT130 Archive file should contain the following files:
  89.  
  90.                 4CATPACK.BAT  Batch file to pack database
  91.                 4CATREPR.BAT  Batch file to repair database
  92.                 4CATUTIL.DOC  This documentation file
  93.                 ISAMPACK.EXE  Pack program used by 4CATPACK.BAT
  94.                 ISAMREPR.EXE  Repair program used by 4CATREPR.BAT
  95.  
  96.            Simply copy the files to the subdirectory which contains your
  97.            4CAT-DB2.MDB file.
  98.  
  99.  
  100.  
  101.  
  102.                                   Warning!
  103.  
  104.            Always make a backup copy of your 4CAT-DB2.MDB file before
  105.            using either of these utilities!
  106.  
  107.  
  108.  
  109.  
  110.            4Cat Utility Programs - Version 1.30                    Page 1
  111.  
  112.                                    Usage
  113.  
  114.            Using the utility programs is as simple as typing the file
  115.            name for the appropriate batch file:  4CATPACK or 4CATREPR.
  116.            The batch file simply supplies the database filename to the
  117.            appropriate program.  Do not interrupt either process once it
  118.            has begun.
  119.  
  120.  
  121.  
  122.                              The REPAIR Utility
  123.  
  124.            The Repair Utility can only restore physical integrity to a
  125.            database (i.e., consistency among the tables in the database).
  126.            It systematically goes through every table and index and
  127.            recreates the database, using every piece of internally
  128.            consistent information in the file.  If anything is found that
  129.            cannot be reconciled with the other information in the file, it
  130.            is deleted.  This restores consistency to the database.  It is
  131.            possible that some blocks of data will never be reconciled with
  132.            the rest of the database, and will therefore be lost.  Listed
  133.            below are messages that may be given by the Repair Utility:
  134.  
  135.            Message                 Explanation
  136.            --------------------    ---------------------------------------
  137.            Repair of 4CAT-DB2.MDB  Repair process completed.
  138.            completed successfully
  139.  
  140.            Cannot repair           Repair process has been aborted because
  141.            4CAT-DB2.MDB: Not a     the file was not recognizable as a
  142.            database file           database file.
  143.  
  144.            Table was truncated:    During structural analysis of the
  145.            data lost               table's data pages, an inconsistent
  146.                                    page caused the table to be truncated
  147.                                    as of the last uncorrupted page.  File
  148.                                    is probably unusable.
  149.  
  150.            Cannot repair           Database file is unusable.
  151.            4CAT-DB2.MDB: Uncor-
  152.            rectable problems
  153.  
  154.            A repair may also be aborted for reasons having nothing to do
  155.            with the state of the database.  Messages resulting in such
  156.            cases include (but are not limited to):  Disk full, Out of
  157.            memory, and File not found.
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  163.  
  164.            4Cat Utility Programs - Version 1.30                    Page 2
  165.  
  166.            All messages are redirected to a file named 4CATREPR.RPT as the
  167.            Repair Utility runs.  This file is then typed to the screen by
  168.            the batch file.  You may delete 4CATREPR.RPT if you like.
  169.  
  170.            When you use the Repair Utility it requires additional space
  171.            within your database to accomplish its work.  This adds at
  172.            least 32K to the size of the database.  Do not run the utility
  173.            if your disk does not have this amount of space available in
  174.            the current working directory.  The Repair Utility deletes
  175.            inconsistent records in tables, but does not compact after
  176.            doing so.  Compacting is described in the next section.
  177.  
  178.  
  179.  
  180.                               The PACK Utility
  181.  
  182.            When records are deleted from a database (either by 4CAT itself
  183.            or the Repair Utility), the size of your disk file does not
  184.            change.  Instead, the deleted data is marked, and 4CAT begins
  185.            to reuse the space in the file as you add to the database.  The
  186.            Pack Utility performs two functions.  First, if there is a
  187.            total of 32K of data marked for deletion, the disk file shrinks
  188.            in 32K increments.  If there is not 32K of data marked for
  189.            deletion, the Pack Utility has no effect on the size of the
  190.            disk file.  However, any time you run the Pack Utility, it
  191.            removes records marked for deletion and then copies the
  192.            database, table by table, and index by index, into a database
  193.            having the same name (the old database is renamed 4CAT-DB2.BAK.
  194.            The effect of compaction is improved performance, in the same
  195.            way that defragmenting a hard disk improves performance.
  196.  
  197.            As it compacts the database the Pack Utility creates a report
  198.            in a file named 4CATPACK.RPT.  This file is then typed to the
  199.            screen by the batch file.  You may delete 4CATPACK.RPT if you
  200.            like.
  201.  
  202.  
  203.            ---------------------------------------------------------------
  204.            Thanks for using 4CAT.  I hope it serves you as well has it is
  205.            serving me.
  206.                                                           Earl R. Davidson
  207.            ---------------------------------------------------------------
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  218.            4Cat Utility Programs - Version 1.30                    Page 3
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