Informática Multimedia 1995 April

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PM-Cat Plus A Disk File Cataloging Program by MegaSoft SoftWare(tm) & William C. Scott Portions by Patrick Michaud 29 January 1992 _______ ____|__ | (tm) --| | |------------------- | ____|__ | Association of | | |_| Shareware |__| o | Professionals -----| | |--------------------- |___|___| MEMBER Copyright 1992 by William C. Scott Page 2 About Our Marketing Process ... (Shareware) The term "shareware" has come to refer to a class of computer software that is marketed, basically, on an honor system. Hopefully you noticed the logo of ASP, the Association of Shareware Professionals, on the cover sheet of this documentation file. <ASP> is an organization that was formed and is supported by software authors and businesses with an interest in seeing shareware remain a viable means of marketing high quality software at reasonable prices. An author's membership in ASP guarantees the end user at least some protection from the vagaries of earlier and present 'public domain' software. By becoming a member of ASP the author has promised his/her intention to support the product after licensing has taken place and already demonstrated to ASP the product does in fact do what it is advertised to do and is a fully functional piece of software (not crippled or restricted). (See the file OMBUDSMAN.ASP for further info) The end user benefits by being able to actually try the software before paying for it. This ensures compatibility both with the system it is intended for use upon and user. Both the author and the consumer benefit from the fact that neither has had to bear the burden of the enormous cost of adequate advertising. The consumer benefits directly from the lower cost of the software, the author somewhat more indirectly in that he most likely would never have been able to make the product widely available because of a lack of capital. In many cases you will find the support offered by ASP authors more comprehensive than would ever be possible from a large company. Finally, these ASP authors' products, like PmCat+, are not public domain nor intended to be free. They are offered in good faith that they are as good as their commercial counterparts and the authors do expect to be paid for their efforts. Frankly, it is a difficult thing to offer one's work to others with the understanding you will be compensated *only* when the customer is convinced your product is worth purchasing. Please realize that PmCat+ didn't just "happen". We have spent a great deal of money for compilers, language tools and hardware that is specifically dedicated to the development of PmCat+. This does not to even begin considering the many hours of sitting at the keyboard, tearing out hair trying to figure out why the obviously simple, isn't! We must, at the very least, recover our financial investment so that we can continue to develop programs of this quality. Page 3 Strictly speaking, if you do like and use PmCat+, we expect you to license the program after a reasonable trial period (about 30 - 45 days). We also realize there are those to whom the $20 license fee would be a burden. For those persons, please send what you can afford and you will be registered! Obviously, whether or not you can afford to license PmCat+ is not a consideration we would be so bold as to decide. We will trust that everyone is being honest with themselves and us about that matter and will, to the best of our ability, answer any questions by anyone who wishes to inquire. For $20.00 you will receive: 1. A copy of the very latest version of PmCat PLUS on 360K DS/DD 5.25" floppy disk. 2. A copy of PmDelDup, a utility for deleting duplicate or multiple entries of the same filename in a PmCat catalog and optionally removing them from disk. 3. A copy of PmConvert which will convert older PmCat files to the new format used in release 5.2. 4. A copy of PM-Label for making diskette labels and inserts. 5. Access to the registered user conference on the Melange BBS with access to the latest (registered) version of PmCat PLUS 6. Placement on our mailing list to be notified of future updates. PLEASE NOTE: We can provide PmCat+ on 3.5" inch double density or high density disks as well. There is an additional $2 charge for the 720K and $4.00 for the 1.44M because of the higher cost of the 3.5" media. When you wish to register PmCat+, please send check or Money Order to the address below: MegaSoft SoftWare(tm) 522 NW 14th Pendleton, OR 97801 Msg: (503) 278-2079 See the file PM-ORDER.FRM for an invoice type order form. Support can be obtained by contacting us in the following ways: A Message on The Melange BBS : (405) 927-2541 (USR HST14.4 24hrs) Writing us at : MegaSoft SoftWare(tm) 522 NW 14th Pendleton, OR. 97801 Leaving a message for : David Chamberlain at (503) 276-6176 This would be the best way as I can call right back! Page 4 COPYRIGHT NOTICE PmCat+, copyright 1987-92 by William C. Scott. PmCat+ is NOT public domain software. You may use, copy and distribute it freely, but you MAY NOT RESELL PmCat+. A modest fee for copying may be charged, not to exceed $3.00 exclusive of the cost of disk, mailer and postage. (See "About Our Marketing Process" for more details) DISCLAIMER: By using this product, the user agrees that neither William C. Scott nor MegaSoft SoftWare(tm) shall be held severly or jointly liable for any damages, direct or consequential, that might arise from the use, inability to use or misuse of PmCat+. Warranty: The only warranty for PM-Cat Plus is that the distribuation disk is free from defects in materials and workmanship. Should the disk you receive be defective we will replace it at no cost to you. Simply return the defective disk along with your address to: MegaSoft SoftWare(tm) 522 NW 14th Pendleton, OR. 97801 Note: This warranty only applies to the disk we mail, we cannot replace disk you receive from any of the authorized distributors. Contact them for a replacement. Page 5 TABLE OF CONTENTS About Our Marketing - Shareware and ASP ............... 2 I. Introduction ...................................... 6 II. Getting Started A. System requirements ............................. 7 B. Features of PmCat+ 1. List of features .............................. 7 2. Explanation of features ....................... 8 C. Installation .................................... 9 D. THINK about these things .......................... 10 III. Cataloging functions A. Create a new catalog ............................ 12 B. Add to existing catalog ......................... 12 C. Update an existing catalog ...................... 12 D. Save present catalog ............................ 12 IV. Browse functions A. File information (InfoWindow) .................. 13 B. Read contents of cataloged files ............... 13 C. Volumes listing ................................. 13 D. Directories ..................................... 13 E. Search .......................................... 14 F. Sort ............................................ 14 G. Change catalogs ................................. 14 H. Masks ........................................... 14 V. Printing functions A. Formatting output ............................... 14 B. Printing ........................................ 16 C. Printer set up string ........................... 16 D. Saving to ASCII disk file ....................... 16 VI. Misc functions A. Delete volume ................................... 16 B. Erase (delete) file ............................. 16 C. Commenting ...................................... 17 D. Shell ........................................... 17 E. Change volume label ............................ 17 F. Using the .DEF file ............................ 17 G. Using disk numbering ............................ 17 H. Using categories ................................ 18 I. Using Wildcards in PmCat+ ....................... 19 J. Soundex searches ................................ 19 VII. BBS Access ......................................... 20 Page 6 INTRODUCTION PmCat+ is a floppy and hard disk file cataloging and browsing program intended for use on PC/XT/AT and compatible systems. PmCat+ is a direct descendent of PmCat which was a disk file cataloging program intended for use only with floppy disk files. So many users just naturally began using it to catalog their hard drive files that many requests were made for features that were obviously hard drive oriented. So, we decided PmCat+ should accomodate hard drives gracefully. The original PmCat was written by Patrick Michaud for Mr. Scott's personal use. Like so many others, He couldn't find a cataloger that addressed his personal habits adequately (simple, fast and useful were some of my prime requisites). When Patrick first wrote PmCat, it was so good that he and Mr. Scott decided to pat it on the rear and send it out into the 'real world' as a shareware product ... "as an experiment" just to see what happened. Well, about three months later a phone call came to Mr. Scott from Alfred Glossbrenner who was writing a book about PC shareware products and wanted to include PmCat in his book .. which did occur when it was published. Mr. Scott's thoughts at that point was ... "here's a professional in the PC world who thinks highly enough of PmCat to choose it over all those others...gee whiz!" Both Patrick and Mr. Scott were deeply flattered. They soon realized their experiment had told then they had something in PmCat. So they set about making the necessary improvements to make it palatable and useful to as many people as possible. As it turned out, Patrick's studies kept him from doing much more with PmCat except correcting and cleaning up Mr. Scott's early code as he learned to program in Turbo Pascal in order to support PmCat. Since late 1987, most of the changes made to PmCat have been a result of Mr. Scott's meanderings through Turbo Pascal and the PmCat code in response to users requests for changes /fixes and improvements. Now PM-Cat Plus has changed hands and is being handled by MegaSoft SoftWare(tm) in Pendleton, Oregon. This change was based on the need for features and support that Mr. Scott could no longer give to the product. MegaSoft SoftWare(tm) is dedicated to providing high quailty software at a resonable cost. We will support PMCat+ to the best of our abilities and provide the end users with those features they request ( If possible ). We are looking forward to the feedback and support of our users and thank you for making PMCat Plus what it is today! Page 7 Minimum System Requirements: IBM PC/XT/AT or compatible, 384K RAM, one floppy disk drive. Hard drives and subdirectories are supported. Suggested extra system features: More Memory! - PmCat+ *will* run in only 384K but 512K or 640K is strongly recommended. Color monitor - either CGA, EGA or VGA makes fuller use of the different menu options easier. Mouse - these rodents are down in price to about $30 on the bottom line of pricing and make a lazy man's use of a computer much more palatable. Disk caching - these programs are fairly common and many are either public domain or shareware. This can speed up PmCat+ because of its use of overlays. FEATURES * Use categories to group your files * Use numbering of disks through volume labels or a separate disk number ... or both! * Catalog contents of archived files * View files, archived or not while in PmCat+! * Context sensitive help * Mouse support * Include and/or exclude files (read/view/print) * Delete individual files from catalog and Now Disk! * Delete volumes from catalog * Find Free Space on cataloged diskettes * Assign a DRIVE:\PATHNAME to be a VOLUME * Read subdirectories and labels, too * Comment each file with up to 80 characters * "Rubber-stamp" for comments for duplicate files * Sort catalog by filename, ext, size, path or date * Supports WILDCARD ("*" and "?") searches of files and comments * User configurable printer formatting * Automatic update of catalog when disks are reread * User customizing of color, catalog name, ASCII filename * Relabel diskette if desired * Create ASCII disk file with user-assigned name * Multiple catalogs with your specified names * Erase an entire disk * Coming Soon...... The support of Expanded/Extended or virtual memory. Page 8 Explanation of features: The detailed explanation of each menu function is listed in the later part of the manual. This portion explains the general use of the keyboard and/or mouse to access those options. NOTE: Some features are listed in the file CHANGES.DOC included with this disk. They will be incorparated into these documents when we re-write them! The HELP function is toggled ON/OFF by pressing the 'H' key on the keyboard or the right AND left buttons of the mouse at the same time or <F1>. This function does not toggle in the shareware distribution copy. Each menu can be accessed through three functions, the HOT KEY, the MENU BAR or the mouse. On each menu item, one letter is capitalized. Pressing that letter or character on the keyboard will select that menu item and cause it to be executed. On each menu, one item is indicated at a time by the bar selector or MENU BAR. The MENU BAR is moved using the RIGHT and LEFT keyboard arrow keys. When the bar is on a item, pressing <ENTER> on the keyboard will select that item and cause it to be executed. Where appropriate the RT/LT, UP/DN arrows, PgUp/PgDn and Home and End keys are active for the screen instead of the menu area, as well as functions available to do the same things on the menu with the mouse. The cursor within the menu area (which you will see if a mouse is present) is the mouse cursor. Use your mouse to select an item by placing the cursor on the item name or within 1 space on either side and pressing the left mouse button. If HELP is turned on, another click of the left button is necessary to execute the function. This was done to allow you to see what the operation does before you execute it. When HELP is turned off, the second click is not necessary. Pressing the RIGHT mouse button is the same as pressing the <ESC> key on the keyboard. Page 9 The following items are essential only to the browsing and archive extraction functions of PmCat+. The defaults installed in PmCat+ will look for the other files it may require, in the current directory. (The directory you are in when you run PmCat+). The defaults referred to involve the following programs and locations. 1. Text viewer/editor - PMLIST.COM 2. ARC extractor - program for extracting the contents of .ARC files. ARCE.COM is default. 3. ZIP extractor - program for extracting the contents of .ZIP files. PKZIP.EXE is default. 4. ZOO extractor - program for extracting the contents of .ZOO files. ZOO.EXE is default 5. PAK extractor - program for extracting the contents of .PAK files. PAK.EXE is default 6. LZH extractor - program for extracting the contents of .LZH files. LHARC.EXE is default. 7. Scratch path - a drive/directory path where the files extracted from an archive will (Choose carefully! .. the be written while you view them. You extracted file will be cannot edit files from within an deleted later..suggest a archive and update the archive with 'SCRATCH' directory) the changed file from PmCat+. 8. Target drive - This is the drive on which PmCat+ will try to find the file chosen, using the pathname information stored in the PmCat+ catalog. The default is drive 'A'. NOTE: NO decompressing code is in the PmCat+ program. It is assumed if you have files stored with a compression program, that program can be executed from the DOS command line and thereby used to extract files. PmCat+ just acts as a messenger between you and the archiving program by sending the filename to extract to the program you have said will extract it. If you don't know how to configure your system using PATH and don't want to deal with it (for whatever reason), just place copies of the appropriate programs from the above list in the same directory as your PmCat+ files and catalog. Page 10 Things to consider BEFORE you start building your catalog: The new features added to PmCat have made a great deal of flexibility in structuring your catalog possible. These very same features will likely confuse you if you decide to use them without proper consideration. They CAN be ignored and everything done as always with PmCat, but they are there if you want or need them. The features most likely to offer confusion are the DISK number and CATEGORY function. As of version 5.3, these are NOT written to the disk in any manner. They are a form of notation to aid you in keeping track of things with your disk collection. CATEGORIES - these are assigned to the volume when you catalog it. All files on the volume will have the same category in your PmCat data file. You may Edit the categories of Files or Volumes once cataloged by using the Edit function in PmCat. Presently, if you update the volume, you will lose those Edited categories and the category will once again be whatever you assign to the volume. This will be fixed in a future release..but be aware it is a limitation of sorts just now. Assigning a category - when you Update a volume, there is a menu choice of CATEGORY. Select this and pick one of the existing categories or use the Update key to create a new category. DON'T FORGET to save the new definitions to your .DEF file if you use CATEGORIES other than the defaults! DISK NUMBERING - in the early stages of testing, this seemed to create the greatest confusion. Actually, it is a rather easy and powerful feature once you understand what it does. There are three modes for Disk Numbering, OFF, MANual, and AUTOmatic and these are reflected on the Update Screen window. They are changed by selecting Numbering from the menu and using the arrow keys to select the one you want. If you select OFF, a number of '0' will be assigned as a placeholder in the data file and otherwise ignored. If you select MANual, the number that is shown above the window as Disk # will be assigned to the disk when it is cataloged. You may assign a new or different number just by typing it in. If you select AUTOmatic the number you set is automatically incremented each time a disk is cataloged. You may set the starting number in the same way as for MANual ... just type it in. Page 11 There is also an option called Duplicate Disk Numbers Allowed which is a YES/NO choice. It WILL NOT PREVENT duplicates, it merely checks for them as an aid to you. If this is set to YES, the option is essentially inactive... since YES indicates you want to allow duplicates. OK, when YES and when NO? Let's take, for example, a situation where you want to store your disks in strict numerical order (as many do). Each disk has a small sticker or other marking indicating its numeric order in your catalog. In such a case, every number is likely to be unique and you would NOT want to allow duplicate Disk Numbers. Alternatively, perhaps you have your disks stored or referenced alphabetically by categories, such as GAMES, BASIC, etc. In this case you can catalog your disks using CATEGORIES and AUTOmatic numbering with duplicate disk numbers allowed. You might catalog 5 games disks, as GAMES 1 thru GAMES 5 and your BASIC disks in the same manner. As the categories grow, it is a simple matter to add GAMES 6, GAMES 7 and so on to your library. PmCat will allow you to view only the GAMES category disks if you like by selecting the <L>imit option in the <V>iew window. Just place the cursor on a file with the category you want to limit your viewing to, and press <L>. The catalog will be searched an only the GAMES (?) will be displayed. (If you print at this point, only the selected category will be printed, as well) Page 12 CATALOGING FUNCTIONS CREATE A NEW CATALOG: <R>ead, <W>rite on MENU 1 and MENU 2 Any time PmCat+ <R>eads a catalog from disk, you are shown the current catalog name and prompted for a catalog name. If you wish to use the catalog name shown, just press <ENTER>. If using a mouse, place the mouse cursor on the ENTER menu item and press the right button. To specify a name of your choosing just start typing it in and press <ENTER> or press the left mouse button when complete. A filename with wildcards is acceptable and will place you in the 'pick list' with the appropriate files to choose from. To select a catalog from the files on disk, select or type the asterisk ('*') and press <ENTER>. This will present you with a 'pick list' from which to choose. This sequence of events first occurs when you run PmCat+. It also happens each time you <R>ead from or <W>rite to the disk. ADD FILES/UPDATE CATALOG: pdate menu option on MENU 1 pdate appears only on the first menu (MENU 1) you encounter in PmCat+. Choosing this option takes you to a window where you may 1) Read files from a drive which you specify by pressing the appropriate letter on the keyboard or choosing it from the menu ... or 2) Change the volume label of a disk drive by using the '#' symbol on the menu or from the keyboard. SAVE CURRENT CATALOG TO DISK: <W>rite on MENU 1 or MENU 2 <W>rite will save the current catalog to disk from either MENU 1 or MENU 2. Page 13 BROWSE FUNCTIONS: nfo, <V>olumes, <D>ir, <SPACE> on MENU 2 These are the functions you will use to find files and view their statistics, comments and contents of the actual file if desired. <V> menu selection from MENU 2 will cause a list of volumes contained within the current catalog to be displayed. The volumes may be sorted just as though they were filenames (which really is what a DOS volume label is ... with the appropriate attribute set). <D> on MENU 2 will show the list of files contained within that directory-type object. If it is a directory then the files are shown. If it is a compressed file then the contents of the archive are shown if you cataloged the disk with archive reading turned on. <SPACE> - pressing the spacebar will allow you to view the contents of the file that is currently being pointed to by the selector bar in the window. Check to make sure the file is located on the drive indicated on the line just above the menu. If it needs to be changed, just press the appropriate key to select the right drive and then press <ENTER>. What happens at this point is partly dependent on which program you have chosen to run (the text viewer/editor you specified or accepted in the Set Defaults area). Page 14 SEARCH: <F>ind, <N>ext on MENU 2 These functions are used to find files by filename, an entry in the Comments field and they are also used to find free space on a volume when the list of volumes is displayed. SEE NOTE ON PAGE 16 ABOUT SOUNDEX SEARCHES. <F>ind will first prompt you to select whether you wish to search for a file based on filename, comments or free space. The free space choice is an invalid choice if a list of volumes is not being displayed. <N>ext will find the next entry matching the search criterion you provided for the <F>ind command. SORT: <S>ort on MENU 2 <S>ort can be selected only from MENU 2 while PmCat+ is running. However, turning autoSort ON while setting default filenames and paths will cause a sort by filename when you move from MENU 1 to MENU 2 to occur automatically. After selecting <S>ort from MENU 2, you will be prompted to choose among filename, ext, size, date and path as the options on which to sort. Select one.. Then you will be prompted for sort order - ascending or descending. Descending puts the largest value first which would be appropriate for volume free space (that's the Size of volumes) but not for alphabetically arranged data. CHANGE CATALOGS: <R>ead on MENU 1 This procedure is identical to the initial reading of a catalog when you enter PmCat. It first clears the memory of the existing catalog and then prompts you for a new catalog name which you may enter using the keyboard or pick list function. MASKS: <M>ask-set on MENU 1a3 (arrow keys disabled in menu) The Mask function consists of two portions, Include and Exclude and act as a filter. It works on those files you wish to View, Print or Catalog using PmCat+ when either of its actions are turned ON. Include and Exclude may be toggled ON or OFF independently of each other by selecting them from MENU 1a3. Page 15 If both are selected, Include takes precedence. Remember, if you turn both ON, NOTHING will be INCLUDED, except what you specify and the same goes for EXCLUDE. This can be tricky until you get used to it. The menu (1a3) for changing the MASK functions is accessed thru the <S>et defaults option of MENU 1. At MENU 1a3: Exclude - toggles the exclude list ON/OFF Include - toggles the include list ON/OFF Clear - clears the item pointed to by the bar cursor <ENTER> - allows you to input a new or change the old item. PRINTING: rint on MENU 1a4, rint on MENU 2, <D>isk from print FORMATTING OUTPUT: (arrow keys disabled in menu) rint selected from MENU 1a4 opens a window to allow the specification of format parameters for your printed catalog. Start-col is the column of the printed page on which the field will begin. Width is how many characters the field will occupy on the printed document. This can be any width you wish, but if it is less than required for any field except comments, it will be truncated (chopped off). Comments will print col the width you specify and repeat until on the next line until all actual comments for that file are printed. Then it will begin printing the next entry. Comments are left justified. Filename is a 12 character field consisting of the filename, a period and the file extension. It is right justified. Size is a number that will occupy 10 spaces. It is right justified. Date will occupy 10 spaces, MM/DD/YY format. Path can be up to 65 characters and is the path to the file on its particular volume. Volume is the volume name from which the file was read. It may be up to 11 characters and is left justified. Page 16 PRINTING: rint on MENU 2 PRINTER SET UP STRING: <*> on Print window menu <*> - will prompt you for a new string of characters which will be sent to your printer before printing of the catalog starts. Each character must be in decimal form and preceded by a '#' and followed by a space. e.g., #27 #15 Up to 20 characters may be used here. ASCII DISK FILE: <D> on Print window menu <D> - will cause the output which would normally go to your printer, to be sent to the disk as a file with the name you specify in ASCII format. It can be easily edited and/or printed at a later time. MISC FUNCTIONS: DELETE VOLUME: <D> - chosen at MENU 1 will open a window with all the volumes in your current catalog. To delete a volume, use the UP/DN arrow keys and select it with the bar and press <ENTER>. You will still be given an opportunity to abort the operation at this point by answering Y/N on the menu. Obviously this operation is not final till you save the modified catalog to disk...but at that point, it is permanent. ERASE FILE: <K>ill a file from MENU 2. It is the same process as deleting a volume from MENU 1. The difference in the two operations is, when you Erase a file, the slot it occupied on the screen is shown >>DELETED<< instead of removed altogether. As with volume deletion, the operation is not final until you save the modified catalog to disk. Page 17 COMMENTING FILE: <C>omments may be added to files *and* volumes. To comment a volume you just select the <V>olume list from MENU 2 and select <C> from the menu. A small editor aids you in the input of your comments. A 40x2 window accepts your comments. The UP/DN arrow keys will move between the lines, the HOME/END keys are active and INSERT is the standard mode (there is NO overstrike mode). DELETE works as well. PgUp/PgDn will accept your comments and immediately place you in the comments field of the preceding or succeeding file, ready to type more comments. OPERATING SYSTEM (Shell): <O> - from MENU 2 will execute a call to create a temporary shell in DOS so you can copy, delete, inspect and otherwise wreak havoc on your poor unsuspecting system. If enough memory is not available, this feature will refuse to work. CHANGING VOLUME LABEL: <#> - chosen when in the pdate section, will read the present disk label, tell you what it is and ask you if you wish to change it. You MUST have a drive selected for this feature to function. USING THE .DEF FILE: This option, frankly can be tricky if you want a different name than PMCAT.DEF. PmCat+ will *always* look for 'PMCAT.DEF' when it is run, if it isn't found the internal defaults are used. The option of providing the alternative .DEF files was to cover the possibility that someone might want an alternative color set or other defaults on occasion. Frankly, I use PMCAT every day and never use this option, but it was an option that was so simple to offer and doesn't get in the way of anything else, that it was put in. USING DISK NUMBERING There are three aspects to using the disk numbering feature of PmCat PLUS. First, what number to assign the disk and second, how to assign that number. Finally, you decide whether to allow duplicate disk numbers or not. Also, the disk numbering feature is separate from the sequential numbering of the Volume Labels from within PmCat PLUS. These numbers are part of the catalog record but are NOT written to the disk. When you catalog a disk with disk numbering active and have decided NOT to allow duplicates, PmCat PLUS will check for the existence of both that disk number and the volume label with which it is associated and issue a warning when it finds duplication of either. Page 18 How To Number: OFF - means ignore the function. A number of '0' is assigned in this case. MAN - manual entry of the number. You do this by simply beginning to type the number desired for the disk immediately prior to cataloging that disk. When you make the first keystroke, a small text line will appear on the screen one line above the menu. If you wish to abort the process, just press <ESC> and the old number will be left unchanged. Remember, in this mode you MUST ENTER THE NUMBER for it to be assigned. AUT - in this mode, each time a disk is read, the number that will be assigned to the next disk is generated auto- matically by incrementing the prior disk number by one. This feature may be overridden by manual entry of the number as described above, for any disk. Upon entry to PmCat PLUS, the number is set to zero, unless it has been saved in the DEF file. USING CATEGORIES A category may be assigned at the same time the disk number above is assigned, though neither is dependent on the use of the other. The category list is accessed by choosing either <C>ategory from the Update window menu or <E>dit from the View window menu. In either case, to set a category for the item of interest, just place the cursor bar on the category you wish and press <ENTER>. The list of CATEGORIES will automatically be sorted. They will be saved to your .DEF file when you exit PmCat PLUS. If you wish to have different categories than those in the defaults, just select pdate from the menu while viewing the category window and type in the new category. A category name is limited to 10 characters. When a category is assigned to a volume before it is read, all files on that volume are assigned the same category by default. The category of any file or volume may be changed by choosing the <E>dit function in the View window menu. In order to limit your viewing or printing of files based on their category, just place the cursor on a file that has the category you want and select <L>imit from the View window menu. Page 19 USING WILDCARDS: PmCat+'s wildcards are a bit more flexible than DOS's. E.g., if you type *ca*.* with DOS's dir command, it will show ALL files. It sees the first '*' and then looks for the '.' and extension wildcard. If you used that same wildcard in PmCat+ it would find all files with 'ca' anywhere in their filename (not extension). When searching for a string in Comments, don't forget to precede it with a '*' unless you are certain the first character of the comments you want will match the first character of the string you search for. Where '*' assumes ALL characters match, '?' assumes the match of only a SINGLE character. SOUNDEX SEARCHES: When you chose the <F>ind option from MENU 2, you will see four options; filename, comments, size and soundex. The soundex search functions only on filenames and from the first character. With those limitations in mind, you can type in a key that simply 'sounds' like the one you want, and PmCat PLUS will locate that file for you. To find a string of characters within a string you must use the wildcards as described above. Soundex searches work in a very unique manner. The first character (alphabetic) and a numeric code for the rest of the search string, which is generated by the Soundex routines based upon phonetic approximations, are combined into the patter which is searched for. You will find it matches things you don't expect and doesn't on some things you expect. A bit of experience in using it can make it a useful tool, however. Basically, type in the word you wish to find, or the closest spelling you can imagine. The Soundex search may well surprise you with its effectiveness. Page 20 PmCat PLUS and Melange BBS : Support and access is given to registered users on the Melange BBS ( Mr. Scott is changing the name at this time to a different name ) the number will remain the same for a bit. Once a registered user calls, he/she will be given access to the registered user conference and have access to the latest version of PmCat PLUS (registered). So, if you plan to get the updates, it would be good planning to call and just leave a quick note to let me know you want to be given access. I'll do so for you as quickly as possible. Even on your first call, you have unlimited download privileges, so don't hesitate to give a ring. All the files may not be commented, but PCBoard allows the user to look into and read files within archives...even download the docs of a program without getting the whole thing! ... and you *can* browse the contents of any archived file while on line. Registered PmCat users will have other benefits on the Melange BBS. Unregistered users are more than welcome, but will come under 'normal' restrictions.