Informática Multimedia 1995 April

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Find Text Fast Version 4.0 Copyright (c) 1994 by Harold Schwartz P.O. Box 104482 Jefferson City, MO 65110 What is "Find Text Fast" ? It's simple. Find Text Fast is a utility to help locate missing files on your system. For instance, you know that you wrote a letter last month to the Internal Revenue Service. It was a long, detailed letter that maybe described just why you took the big tax deduction on your home computer system. Now, yesterday the auditor called and made an appointment to meet you to discuss the letter in more detail. Where is that letter? You have written literally hundreds of letters since then and your hard drive is packed with letters that you have written over the past five years. You can't possibly remember what you named that file and you need to find it right now. It's going to take you hours and hours to look through all of those files one by one to find it. You are about to panic when you remember "Find Text Fast". With "Find Text Fast" (FTF, for short) finding that file is going to be a snap. In less than a minute you can find the file you need and are ready for the IRS auditor with time to spare. How can Find Text Fast do it? It's easy, just follow along... Find Text Fast has only one mission: to find missing files. Often, you may spend hours composing a letter, getting it just right. Perhaps the letter contains some tables that you spent a lot of time getting set up. When you save the letter you usually give it a file name that will help you remember what is in the file. However, since DOS is limited to only eight letters in a file name, by the time you have worked for awhile there are so many saved files on your machine you can't possibly remember what all of the file names mean. If only you could search each file for some keyword or phrase. You know that you used the word "computer" a number of times in the letter you wrote to the IRS. There probably aren't many files on your system that have the word "computer" used in them. If you could search each file for that keyword you would probably find the file you need. Enter, "Find Text Fast"... Simply run "Find Text Fast", tell it where to search (in one directory or a hundred), and tell it what to search for (some keyword or phrase). "Find Text Fast" will search every file in the directories you specify, line by line, word by word, looking for the keyword or phrase. Each time it finds an Page 2 occurence of it, "Find Test Fast" shows a snippet of the file where the keyword or phrase was found in the 'Hit' window at the top of the screen. The 'Hit' window will contain a few lines before the keyword or phrase and a few lines after. By examining the snippet of the file, you can determine the con- text the word or phrase was used in and you can easily tell if this is the letter you are trying to locate. Each time a snippet of a file is shown in the 'Hit' window, the lower window shows the exact path and filename of the file. Now for more of a "nuts and bolts" description of how "Find Text Fast" operates. It couldn't be easier. "Find Text Fast" prompts you for everything it needs to do a search. All you have to do is follow the prompts. But first, a word on what comes in the "Find Text Fast" package and how you go about registering it. What is included in the "Find Text Fast" package?... There are four files contained in the package: FTF.EXE - This is the "Find Text Fast" program. README.TXT - This the documentation file that you are reading now. FTFREG.FRM - This is the registration form. SITEREG.TXT - This is the site registration form. Is "Find Text Fast" free software?... No, "Find Text Fast" is not free. It is marketed under a concept called ShareWare. You are entitled to use the ShareWare version of "Find Text Fast" for one month to see if you like it and if it is useful to you. If you decide that you would like to continue to use it, you must register it. Registration is easy. You can print the FTFREG.TXT file, fill in the blanks, and send the form, along with your regis- tration fee of $10.00 (U.S. funds only) to the address shown below. There is NO shipping or handling for orders to the U.S. or Canadian addresses. For shipping to any other coun- try, please include $2.50 U.S. to cover the increased shipping costs. Harold Schwartz P.O. Box 104482 Jefferson City, MO 65110 Page 3 Printing the form is easy. Just type COPY FTFREG.FRM PRN and press <enter>. Send in the completed form and $8.00 U.S. to the address given above. You have another option to order "Find Text Fast". When you run the shareware version, you will have the opportunity to print the registration form as you leave the program. Simply make sure your printer is turned on and press <Print Screen> after the registration info is on the screen. Software development is a very time consuming process. There are many, many hours invested in the development of "Find Text Fast". Do your part to support the ShareWare concept and send in your registration. You will receive the latest ver- sion of "Find Text Fast". It will not have the registration screen that you see as you leave the ShareWare version. How do I install "Find Text Fast"?... To install "Find Text Fast" just copy the files that are in- cluded in the "Find Test Fast" package into a directory that is located on your path. A good place to put the files is in the same directory with your word processor. Just make sure that whatever directory you put the files in is on the DOS path so that DOS can find FTF.EXE no matter where you are when you try to run it. The only file you really have to have on your computer is FTF.EXE, although it is often handy to have the configuration utility, FTFCFG.EXE, in the same location. Is "Find Text Fast" difficult to use?... Definitely not. The interface used is very intuitive with plenty of prompts along the way. Even novice computer users should have little problem learning to use "Find Text Fast". The next section gives more than enough details on the proper use of "Find Text Fast" to get you started. How do I run "Find Text Fast"?... To run "Find Text Fast" simply type FTF and press the enter key. Assuming FTF.EXE is located on your DOS path as men- tioned above, "Find Test Fast" will prompt you for the path you want to search. When prompted for the search path you have a choice. If you press <enter>, you will select the default path shown in the lower window (I'll say more about the default path later). If you wish to search a different path than that shown as the default path, you may enter the new path in the upper window. If you enter a new path at this Page 4 point, the new path entered becomes the default path for this session in "Find Text Fast". The default path will revert to the original default path the next time you start "Find Text Fast". Once you enter the path to search, you will be prompted for a search string. The string you enter may be a single word or a group of words. The case of the word or phrase you enter makes no difference. You may enter the search text in all upper case, all lower case, or as a mixture of upper case and lower case. "Find Text Fast" will search for the text string you enter with no reference to the case. Note that FTF must have a string for which to search. If you do not enter a search string, FTF will abort the search. After you have entered the search text, you are asked whether you wish the search to recurse all subdirectories below the starting directory. If you press N'for 'no', FTF will search only the files in the starting directory for the text string you have specified. If you press 'Y' for 'yes', FTF will begin the search with all of the files in the starting direc- tory and then will search all the files in all of the subdir- ectories below the starting directory. For example, if you tell "Find Text Fast" to begin the search in the root direc- tory of your C-drive (C:\*.*) and also tell it to search all of the subdirectories below the starting directory, the search will cover all of the files on your hard drive. (There are some types of files that "Find Text Fast" will not search by default. This will be discussed more later.) Once the search begins you will be able to see the files that are being searched listed in the bottom window. Most of the file names will scroll by so fast that you will not be able to read them. However, when your search text is located in a file, a section of the file contents will be shown in the upper window. The 'found' text will be highlighted. By ex- amining the surrounding text you can determine if this might be the file you are searching for. If it is, you can obtain the filename and location from the lower window. Each time your search text is located you will be given a choice of whether you want to continue searching the file, whether you want to go on to the next file, or whether you want to quit the search. At any time during a search you may press <Esc> if you want to quit the search. Is the search 'case sensitive'?... Only if you want it to be. Notice that at the top left of the main window there is a menu selection item titled "F1 Toggle Case". If you press the F1 key anytime you are in the path edit prompt or the search text entry prompt, you will toggle case sensitivity on and off. Each time you press Page 5 the F1 key the status indicator in the top left corner of the bottom window will change from "Case Insensitive" to "Case Sensitive". When the status is "Case Insensitive", it doesn't matter how you type in the search string; the search will ignore the case. For instance, typing in the string 'President Lincoln' is equivalent to typing in the string 'PrEsIdEnT LiNcOlN'. The search would find every occurance of the string, no matter the case. When the status indicator shows "Case Sensitive", entering the string 'President Lincoln' would cause the search to find only the occurances that are exactly like you entered the search string. The search would NOT find occurances such as 'president Lincoln' or 'PRESIDENT LINCOLN'. Note that it is normally preferable to do case insensitive searches because they yield EVERY occurrence of a word, even if it comes at the beginning of a sentence, where it would be capitalized. When you exit the program, "Find Text Fast" will 'remember' the setting of this option. When you next use the program, the setting will be the same. Can I force "Find Text Fast" to search for whole words only?... Yes. Notice that in the top right corner of the main window there's a menu selection item titled "F2 Toggle Word". If you press the F2 key anytime you are at the path edit prompt or at the search text entry prompt, you will toggle the whole word option on and off. Each time you press the F2 key the status indicator at the top right corner of the bottom window changes from "Whole Word Only" to "Embedded Text". When the status is 'Embedded Text', searches will find all occurrences of a string, even if the string occurs within a word. For example, a case insensitive search for 'IRS' would find every occurrence of 'IRS', as well as every occurrence of 'heirs', 'first', 'thirst', etc. Even so, this type of search would not miss occurrances such as '(IRS)' or 'IRS,'. When the status is 'Whole Word Only', searches will find only occurrences of a search string that stand alone as whole words. For instance, a case insensitive search for the string 'IRS' would find only each occurrence of 'IRS' and NOT 'heirs', 'first', etc. A case sensitive search for 'IRS' would yield only 'IRS' and NOT 'FIRST', 'THIRST', etc. You would normally do a 'Whole Word Only' search when you are sure t hat the word or string for which you are searching does not occur within parentheses or where it is followed by a comma or a period. Page 6 When you exit the program, "Find Text Fast" will 'remember' the setting of this option. When you next use the program, the setting will be the same. Does "Find Text Fast" search ALL files?... Yes, if you want it to. By default "Find Text Fast" doesn't search in files with file extensions EXE, COM, ZIP, PAK, ARC, ZOO, ARJ, SQZ, and LZH because these types of files are not likely to contain text strings that you would be interested in searching. If you do want "Find Text Fast" to search in these types of files also, you can 'tell' it to by including the command line option /e. The /e option is used by starting "Find Text Fast" as follows: FTF /e When started with the /e command line option, "Find Text Fast" will search in EVERY type of file in the search path for the text string you specify. Are there other command line options?... Yes. There are three command line options that may be used when starting "Find Text Fast". The first is the /? option. This option gives a small help screen showing the three command line options and giving the usage for each. The /e command line option was discussed in the prior section. The last command line option is the /c option. The /c option is used to reconfigure the default search path used by "Find Text Fast". When you first start "Find Text Fast" you will notice that the default search path is shown as *.*. This signifies all of the files in the current directory. If you happen to be in the C:\WORD\DOC directory when you start "Find Text Fast", every file in the C:\WORD\DOC directory will be searched, unless you specify a different search path. If you wish, you may permanently set a different default path by running "Find Text Fast" with the /c command line option. You will be prompted for a new default search path which will then be used every time you start "Find Text Fast". This feature is particularly useful if you usually search the same location for missing files. Can I tell how may files "Find Text Fast" has searched?... Yes. When "Find Text Fast" has finished searching all of the files in the path you specified, a small 'history' window Page 7 will appear inside the upper window. The 'history' window will show various facts about the search that has just been completed. A sample history window is shown below: ================================== || || || Directories searched: 0 || || Files searched: 0 || || Files containing text: 0 || || Times text found: 0 || || || ================================== Must I restart "Find Text Fast" each time I want to do a search?... No. Once a search is complete or when you have aborted a search, you are asked if you want to do another search. If you do, you will be returned to the beginning of the search process and you may enter a new path and/or a new search string. Thanks and ***ENJOY*** Find Text Fast. ***** DISCLAIMER ***** (please read) "Find Text Fast" is a powerful program. While I have attempted to build in reasonable safeguards, as with any useful computer software, "Find Text Fast" may contain errors in the program or documentation. The author does not give any warranty, either expressed or implied, to anyone using this program other than for the replacement of defective media. In no event shall the author be lia- ble for any damages, including loss of profits or antici- pated profits, lost savings, or other incidental or consequential damages arising out of the use or inability to use this program. The program comes "as is" and it is the user's responsibility to determine whether the pro- gram is suitable for his or her computer system and soft- ware needs. Page 8 ***** COPYRIGHT ***** Copyright (c) 1994 Harold Schwartz. All Rights Reserved You may copy "Find Text Fast" for backup purposes, and you may give copies of the unregistered version to other indi- viduals, which they may also use and copy under the terms of this agreement. If you copy the unregistered version of "Find Text Fast" for others, you must include all of the files distributed with it. "Find Text Fast" may not be sold, licensed, or a fee charged for its use. If a fee is charged in connection with the unregistered version of "Find Text Fast", it must cover the cost of copying or dissemination only. Such charges must be clearly identi- fied as such by the originating party. Under no circum- stances may the purchaser be given the impression that he is buying "ShowMe Saver" itself. The author encourages BBS operators to post the unregis- tered version of the "Find Text Fast" package on their systems for download by users wishing to evaluate it. No other reproduction or use is authorized without the express prior written consent of the copyright owner.