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Text File | 1993-01-08 | 14.4 KB | 337 lines

DETAG V1.00 Copyright (c) 1993 Copy Con Incorporated Page 1 DESCRIPTION ----------- DETAG deletes and/or copies taglines from QWK message archives. DETAG automatically determines the compression type, calls the appropriate unarchiver to extract MESSAGES.DAT, and strips the taglines. If any taglines were deleted, DETAG optionally makes a backup of the original QWK file, then calls the appropriate archiver to replace the old MESSAGES.DAT with the updated one. DETAG can handle wildcards, with an optional Yes/No prompt before stripping each file. REQUIREMENTS ------------ DETAG runs under DOS 2.0 or better. DETAG also calls various file archivers/unarchivers, depending on the compression type used on your QWK message archives; DETAG can handle ZIP, ARJ, LZH, ARC/PAK, and ZOO type archives. Note that you probably will not need to have every archive/unarchive program listed in DETAG.CFG; it is quite likely that you already have the ones that you need, since you are able to read QWK message archives in the first place. If your archivers/unarchivers are not in your path, or if you use programs other than those listed in DETAG.CFG (like NoGate's PAK or SEA's ARC), then you will also need an ASCII text editor to edit DETAG.CFG. DISCLAIMER ---------- DETAG is distributed on an "AS IS" basis without warranty, expressed or implied. Considerable testing effort has been expended, but the user is advised to check the program's suitability before relying on it. The user assumes full risk as to the results of using this program. In no event shall the author be liable for any incidental or consequential damages arising from the use, or inability to use this program. REGISTRATION ------------ The unregistered version of DETAG is freely distributable and fully functional, and may be used for a 30-day trial period. If you plan to continue using DETAG, you are obligated to pay the modest registration fee of $15. Registered users will receive an individually serialized nag-free version of DETAG, a free upgrade, and $5 subsequent upgrades. All registration information is contained in the DETAG.REG file. If that file is missing, register by sending your name, address, and a check or money order for $15 in US dollars to: Copy Con Incorporated PO Box 23255 Baltimore MD 21203-5255 Please specify 3.5" or 5.25" diskette. MD residents add 5% sales tax. Thank you for supporting Shareware. DETAG V1.00 Copyright (c) 1993 Copy Con Incorporated Page 2 INSTALLATION ------------ To install, copy both DETAG.EXE and DETAG.CFG into your path. If your archivers/unarchivers are not in your path, or if you use programs other than those listed in DETAG.CFG (like NoGate's PAK or SEA's ARC), then you will need to edit DETAG.CFG with any ASCII text editor. DETAG.CFG contains the locations and command line options of your file archivers/unarchivers. A typical line in DETAG.CFG would look like: LZH = C:\ARCHIVES\LHARC.EXE a /mt !A !F Each config line can be broken into parts; using the example above: LZH = Operation being performed. Operations are UNZIP and ZIP, UNARJ and ARJ, UNLZH and LZH, UNARC and ARC (for ARC or PAK compression), UNZOO and ZOO. Not every operation needs to be specified in DETAG.CFG. C:\ARCHIVES\ Program location. If no location is specified, DETAG will search your path for the program. LHARC.EXE Archive/unarchive program name. If a program location has been specified, the program name must directly follow the program location, as in the example above. a /mt Program options. Although the rest of the config line is not case-sensitive, some archive/unarchive programs use case-sensitive options, so this part of the config line will be sent exactly as is. !A Will be replaced with the QWK archive name. !F Will be replaced with MESSAGES.DAT filename. After making all desired changes, save DETAG.CFG in ASCII format, in the same directory that DETAG.EXE is in. OPERATION --------- DETAG is activated from the command line, using the format DETAG filespec [options] The filespec can include a path, and can also contain wildcards. If no extension is specified, an extension of ".Q*" will be appended before searching for matching files. DETAG V1.00 Copyright (c) 1993 Copy Con Incorporated Page 3 OPTIONS ------- The options can be in any order (even before the filespec), and are not case-sensitive. Option descriptions are as follows: /C Config file path. This option is usually not needed unless your DETAG.CFG file is not in the same directory as your DETAG.EXE file, or if you are using DOS version 2.x (which cannot determine the path of the program being run). The path must directly follow the /C (no spaces). Trailing backslashes will be added automatically, if needed. /N Do not create backup files. By default, the original QWK file will be copied before being updated; use this option to skip that step. When backups are made, the first letter of the backup file's extension will be changed to a B. Example: PROG0101.QWK will be copied to PROG0101.BWK before being updated. If the original QWK file's extension started with a B, the backup file will start with a C. if the original QWK file had no extension, the backup file will have an extension of BWK. /O Tagline output device or filename. As the taglines are being stripped, they will be written to whatever device/file is specified here. Default is none. If an existing file is specified, the taglines will be appended to that file. /P Prompt before stripping each file. This option is useful when you want to strip taglines from all but a few QWacK packs. /Q Quiet mode. By default, DETAG will display progress messages, and will also show you what each archive/unarchive program is doing; use this option to attempt to surpress these messages. DETAG's progress messages, and all archive/unarchive program progress messages as well, will be redirected to NUL, although output from some programs cannot be redirected. The only messages displayed by DETAG will be warnings and error messages, both of which are directed to STDERR. /R Read only - do not delete taglines. By default, any taglines encountered are deleted; use this option to read the taglines without deleting. You will most likely also want to use the /O option to route the taglines elsewhere, unless you just want to find out how many taglines are in a QWK file. DETAG V1.00 Copyright (c) 1993 Copy Con Incorporated Page 4 MESSAGES -------- DETAG messages come in three flavors: progress, warnings and errors. Progress messages tell you what step DETAG is in. "Calling (program)" is shown before DETAG attempts to run a file archiver/unarchiver. "Stripping taglines..." is shown when the process of stripping taglines from MESSAGES.DAT has begun. "X tag(s) stripped." is shown upon completion of tagline stripping. X is replaced with the number of taglines stripped. "Copying (file1) to (file2)" is shown when backing up the QWK file. Warnings are displayed when DETAG has problems with a particular QWK file. Warnings will not halt the program; when processing multiple QWK files, DETAG will skip the current file and go on to the next one if a warning is encountered. If any warnings occur during processing, DETAG will return an errorlevel of 2 to DOS, unless overridden by an error. "Unknown archive method used for (QWK file)" is shown when the QWK file does not appear to have been archived by any of the supported archive types. (Let me know the archive type, and if I can track down the specifications, I'll most likely add support for it.) "(config option) not defined in config file" is shown when the archive type has been determined, but there is no config option in DETAG.CFG corresponding to the archive type. "Not enough memory to call (program)" is shown when there is too little RAM to run an archive/unarchive program. "Unable to extract MESSAGES.DAT from (QWK file)" is shown when a file unarchiver returns an error code when trying to extract MESSAGES.DAT from a QWK archive. The actual error will have been displayed by the unarchive program prior to this message. "Cannot open (filename)" is shown when DETAG cannot open a file in the desired mode, such as if trying to delete taglines from a read-only file, or if an archiver/unarchiver is not found. If the latter, check the config options in DETAG.CFG to make sure they are pointing to the proper programs. "Error creating backup file" is shown when DETAG is unable to copy the original QWK file prior to update. (out of disk space?) "Unable to update (QWK file)" is shown when a file archiver returns an error code when trying to add the updated MESSAGES.DAT file to a QWK archive. The actual error will have been displayed by the archive program prior to this message. DETAG V1.00 Copyright (c) 1993 Copy Con Incorporated Page 5 MESSAGES (continued) -------------------- Errors are displayed when there exists a condition severe enough to stop DETAG from continuing. Processing will stop immediately and an errorlevel will be returned to DOS. Lvl Description 1 Help screen. Not actually an error; the help screen is shown when no command-line arguments are given. 2 A warning has occurred. Warnings will not halt the program, but the errorlevel will be set to 2, unless overridden by an error. 3 Ctrl-break pressed. This will only occur when pressed while DETAG is running; if pressed while an archiver/unarchiver is running, the ctrl-break will be sent to that program, which will more than likely cause a warning message in DETAG. 4 "No filespec found" is shown when options have been specified without a filespec. 5 "Invalid option: (option)" is shown when DETAG runs across an unsupported option. 6 "Cannot open (config file)" is shown when DETAG.CFG is not in the same directory as DETAG.EXE, or if DETAG.CFG is not in the directory specified with the /C option. 7 "Cannot open (tagline file)" is shown when the device or file specified with the /O option cannot be opened for writing. 8 "No files match (filespec)" is shown when no files match the given filespec. (recursive enough? ;^) 9 "Not enough memory" is shown when DETAG is not able to allocate enough RAM prior to processing. EXAMPLES -------- DETAG displays a help screen. DETAG * /p deletes taglines from all files matching a "*.Q*" filespec, making backup copies along the way, confirming (/P) before processing each file. DETAG progcrnr.qwk /oprn /q deletes taglines from file PROGCRNR.QWK, sending all taglines found to the printer (/O), and surpressing progress messages (/Q). DETAG V1.00 Copyright (c) 1993 Copy Con Incorporated Page 6 EXAMPLES (continued) -------------------- DETAG exec* /r /oc:\slmr\taglines.mr reads without deleting (/R) taglines found in "EXEC*.Q*" files, and appends the taglines to an existing tagline file (/O). DETAG cci /n /cc:\utils deletes taglines from "CCI.Q*" files without making backups (/N), and specifying that DETAG.CFG is in the C:\UTILS directory (/C). SUPPORT ------- If you have questions, comments, suggestions, bug reports, et cetera, feel free to contact me by one of the following methods: 1: By modem at The Programmer's Corner (301-596-7692 or 410-995-6873). Send a message to RD Thomas in the General conference, and check back in a couple of days for a reply. 2: By modem in the RIME Shareware conference (RD Thomas ->1520). If you do not recieve a reply within a week, it is because there are still some kinks to be worked out at this node; try contacting me via methods 1 or 3. 3: By US Mail at the address given on the first page. If you would like a reply, please include a self-addressed, stamped envelope. COMMENTS -------- DETAG is most successful in stripping taglines with the format * QWK Reader 1.00 * This is a standard tagline. where * can also be the "square" symbol (ASCII 254). DETAG can also strip most non-standard taglines, but due to the proliferation of QWK file readers, there will always be new non-standard tagline formats popping up; DETAG will be updated continuously to handle new formats. The QWK format is Copyright 1987 by Sparkware. All program names mentioned in this document are either Copyright or Trademark of respective owners. This document can be printed by typing "copy detag.doc LPTx" at the DOS prompt, where x is the number of the printer port to be used. * DETAG 1.00 * Have a nice day.