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DBS-KAT (TM) The Easy, Practical, Super Capacity Diskette Cataloger And Hard Disk Archive Utility USER MANUAL by R.H. Martin Applied Foresight Inc. P.O. Box 20607 Bloomington, Minn. 55420 July 19, 1986 Copyright 1986 by R.H. Martin All Rights Reserved A DB-ShareWare Software Product A limited license is hereby granted to copy and distribute wholly unmodified copies of the DBS-KAT Software Diskette which contains this manual (Read the manual, "THE DB-SHAREWARE PROGRAM" for full details about this limited license) (DBS-KAT was originally released under the name, PC-KAT) Trademark Pending DBS-KAT USER MANUAL Copyright 1986 R.H. Martin P. 2 TABLE OF CONTENTS ----------------- Table of Contents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 About This Manual . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 General Trademarks Introduction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Overview Philsophy Of DBS-KAT Using DBS-KAT With The IBM AT DBS-KAT Base System Features Hardware Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Minimum Requirements Recommended Options Commentary Installation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 Overview Installation Instructions Installation For Non-IBM Compatible MS-DOS PC Additional Install Information For Hard Disk Users Who Power On Their Computer With A Startup Diskette Updating The DBS-KAT System Control Record. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .13 Cataloging Diskettes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .21 Inquiring Against The DBS-KAT Catalog . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .26 Taking Care of Your Database. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .30 Overview Conservative Updating Backup The Log File Integrity Analysis Trouble Shooting Tips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .34 Online Assistance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .35 Appendix A: The KPRINT Print Program. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .36 Appendix B: KATSCAN Hard Disk Archive Utility Documentation . . . . . .37 Appendix C: KATASK Batch Menu Facilitator Program . . . . . . . . . . .38 Appendix D: Provided DBS-KAT Files. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .39 Appendix E: Minimum Computer Files Needed To Operate DBS-KAT. . . . . .40 DBS-KAT USER MANUAL Copyright 1986 R.H. Martin P. 3 ABOUT THIS MANUAL ----------------- GENERAL A section is designated by a centered & underlined heading. Centered but NOT underlined headings are referred to as a subsection. Absolutely, do not use DBS-KAT prior to thoroughly following the installation instructions, including restarting your computer after following the installation instructions. This manual explains what you minimally need to read in order to use the software. After you are comfortable with the program, or if you have additional questions, you can print out & read the TECHNICAL REFERENCE MANUAL. Please read each section of this manual before using DBS-KAT. It won't take you long. TRADEMARKS: "COMPAQ & COMPAQ PLUS" are trademarks of COMPAQ Corporation. "MS-DOS" is a trademark of Microsoft Corporation. "PC-DOS & IBM" are trademarks of International Business Machines Corp. "PC-WRITE & Quicksoft" are trademarks of Quicksoft. "DB-VISTA" is a trademark of RAIMA Corporation. "Lattice" is a trademark of Lattice Inc. DBS-KAT USER MANUAL Copyright 1986 R.H. Martin P. 4 INTRODUCTION ------------ OVERVIEW DBS-KAT is an easy, practical, super capacity diskette cataloger for owners of IBM PC computers & compatibles. Without sacrificing processing performance, it can manage up to 9,999 diskettes & 16 million filenames in one central database. Three support & companion programs to DBS-KAT are included on the DBS-KAT base system diskette: KATSCAN, KPRINT & KATASK. KATSCAN is a stand-alone program for managing & locating files on a user's hard disk. KPRINT is a print program for programmers. KATASK is not documented outside of this manual, but is a program that enables a user to respond to a menu display inside a DOS batch command file. All of these programs are used by DBS- KAT & need to be installed along with the other DBS-KAT software. Although this manual explains how to print out the documentation for KATSCAN & KPRINT, they are not discussed in this manual. Appendix C documents the KATASK program. DBS-KAT is primarily aimed at hard disk owners, who utilize floppy diskettes or removeable disk cartridges. However, if the hard disk owner has a tape device, such as made by ADIC (Advanced Digital Information Corp., Redmond, WA), which fools DOS into thinking it is a large diskette, then DBS-KAT should be able to process the filenames on those tape cartridges. If you are able to do so on a non-ADIC made tape drive, please report your success to Applied Foresight. There are other diskette catalogers, all of which seem to be addressed to floppy disk owners, for only one of them can contain more than a few thousand file names, & that one only 32,000 file names (however, it costs $69). These other products, in the reviewed version levels, respectively can only handle a maximum of 780, 3000 & 4,326 filenames in one diskette catalog file. DBS-KAT is 99% written in the C programming language (Lattice C), the remainder in Assembler. It uses a run-time royalty-free & license-free network model database manager, called DB-VISTA by RAIMA Corporation, 11717 Rainier Avenue South, Seattle, WA 98178. Another benefit of DBS-KAT is the printer program which printed this manual for you. KPRINT has an abundant number of printer features which makes it ideal for printing out source code of programs & other types of plain ASCII files. It has gone through over 35 upgrades because of numerous upgrade requests. Online help is available by just typing in KPRINT & pressing the ENTER key. PHILSOPHY OF DBS-KAT DBS-KAT follows the DB-SHAREWARE distribution concept, developed by DBS- KAT's author & separately explained in THE DB-SHAREWARE PROGRAM manual. DBS-KAT USER MANUAL Copyright 1986 R.H. Martin P. 5 The purpose of the DBS-KAT software is to maintain a master catalog of all diskette filenames that can be inquired against quickly to inform you which diskette(s) contains the filename(s) you are looking for. Simply put, DBS-KAT requires that you physically label all your diskettes starting with the label 0001 up through 9999 & that you stack your diskettes sequentially in numeric order. Although, you are recommended to software label these diskettes (DBS-KAT lets you do this while within the program; DOS lets you do this with the FORMAT /V or LABEL programs), DBS- KAT does not require it & supports cataloging diskettes with or without existing volume labels. It makes no difference how unrelated any neighboring sequenced diskette is, for DBS-KAT will provide the logical organization to your diskettes. Then all you have to do is let DBS-KAT "look" at each one of your diskettes as they are used. Simply doing this, DBS-KAT can always tell you quickly where is something you want. You can start using your diskettes to contain critically needed current files. You can delay updating the hard disk capacity of your computer. You can start thinking of your diskettes as being as accessible to you as another hard disk subdirectory, for you will be able to find out directory information about any file you have worked with, regardless of whether it is currently on your hard disk or now on a floppy. The philosophy of DBS-KAT is to make managing your diskette filenames as effortless as possible. Once you have installed DBS-KAT, & set up your system control record, the minimal amount of typing you have to do in the lifetime of a single diskette, while you are inside the DBS-KAT program, is to assign a 4 digit ID number, once, to the diskette. Everything else is automatically done for you based upon the directory information contained on the diskette & the default information for diskettes existing in the system control record. Alternatively, if you so desire, you can maintain unique information about individual diskette volumes. When you run the DBS-KAT program, you indicate whether you want to be prompted for manual entry of volume label textual information or whether you desire to avoid these prompts & to instead have default information apply. USING DBS-KAT WITH THE IBM AT The subdirectory which a diskette file may optionally reside in is cataloged by DBS-KAT without requiring any action by the user. Many IBM AT owners may appreciate this feature. With the 1.2 MB capacity floppies, there is increasing use of making subdirectories on floppies. You do not need an IBM AT to make subdirectories on your floppies. Just type: MD A:\SUBDIR & press ENTER to create the directory called, \SUBDIR, on drive A. DBS-KAT USER MANUAL Copyright 1986 R.H. Martin P. 6 DBS-KAT BASE SYSTEM FEATURES If your DBS-KAT didn't come with an overview page, perform the KATBOOK procedure as instructed in the READ.ME file to print a two page (80 column printout) equivalent of the overview page. Everything described on the overview page is on this diskette. This is NOT demo software! DBS-KAT USER MANUAL Copyright 1986 R.H. Martin P. 7 HARDWARE REQUIREMENTS --------------------- MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS You minimally need the following for DBS-KAT: 192K RAM memory free (256 KB RAM available); Fixed Hard Disk -- see exception note below; 80-column monitor; MS-DOS or PC-DOS 2.0 or higher; a CONFIG.SYS file [create or modify yours as instructed in this manual]; IBM PC,XT,AT or compatible You are advised to have at least 196,608 bytes of RAM or 192K RAM free before running DBS-KAT. Therefore, you should have at least 256K RAM available. DBS-KAT may run slightly under that amount of RAM free space, but you do so at your own risk. RECOMMENDED OPTIONS The following options are recommended. a computer printer capable of continuous printing & printing 80 columns per line; a RAM disk-emulator (requires additional memory & RAM software) to hold frequently called subprograms & run-time, temporary work files; The printer will allow you to use those options which utilize the printer. The RAM disk-emulator will not give you any extra features, but will provide better performance. If you are a novice DOS 2.00+ user, you don't need to immediately worry about what a "RAM disk" is & how to create one. Over the weeks or months that you use DBS-KAT, you might want to buy a DOS tutorial book, which will educate you about DOS & what a "RAM DISK" is. But for now, ignore discussions about "RAM DISKS". If you have an IBM AT, it's PC-DOS 3.0 supplies the capability to create a RAM disk. If you consider yourself past the DOS novice stage, read up on your CONFIG.SYS & VDISK.SYS files. COMMENTARY In lieu of a fixed hard disk, if you own an IBM AT with dual floppy drives, one of them being a high capacity 1.2 MB disk drive, you could conceivably use this software. With the DBS-KAT software, cataloging 200 diskettes & 5,000 filenames will require less than 654 KB of space. This 654 KB figure includes the DBS-KAT software space requirements. DBS-KAT USER MANUAL Copyright 1986 R.H. Martin P. 8 You may ask: "How will DBS-KAT help me avoid needing extra hard disk space if DBS-KAT will swallow so much disk space?" The answer is that if you could rapidly access data files from your diskettes as easy as you currently do a DOS DIR command for the location of a desired file & your subsequent change to another hard disk directory to access that file (else your COPY command against that file residing in the other directory), then chances are that you would find yourself with 20-40% more free space on your hard disk. DBS-KAT allows you to offload between 20-40% of your hard disk space, which is probably now eaten up by moderately or infrequently accessed data files, on to floppies. You can leave your hard disk to keep executeable programs & required companion files (e.g., program Help or Screen files), as well as constantly accessed data files or databases. You are advised to always offload files twice to different diskettes before deleting these files on your hard disk. There are other reasons for DBS-KAT, which offset the disk space that DBS-KAT imposes. These other reasons are rapid access to archived files & prior version files. If you acquire the add-on software modules, you'll have additional reasons to put up with the slight loss of hard disk space because of DBS-KAT. Type KAT -O for a printout about the add-on software modules. DBS-KAT USER MANUAL Copyright 1986 R.H. Martin P. 9 INSTALLATION ------------ OVERVIEW Installation requires that you configure your operating system environment to satisfactorily accomodate database management processing & that you install the software on your hard disk. For those users who understand DOS well & are impatient to proceed on to the next section, I'll state the installation procedure fast. If you don't know what is being talked about, skip the following subsection & print out & refer to the accompanying manual, INSTALLATION FOR NEW COMPUTER USERS. In that manual, you'll be walked through the installation procedure step-by-step, slowly. At the end of either installation method, you'll end up with some install files that don't need to be on your hard disk. Appendix E lists the files which the install process has you put on your drive. To delete the unneeded files from your hard disk, position your cursor in the same directory on your hard disk where you installed DBS-KAT & type: DEL KATAD.* DEL USQ.* DEL KATBOOK*.* DEL *.OQT DEL *.EQE DEL READ.ME SHORT INSTALLATION INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE DOS 2.0+ EXPERIENCED USER Installation requires the following specific acts (assume drive A is a floppy & drive C is a hard disk): 1. Make a duplicate copy of your DBS-KAT diskette for archival purposes. 2. Put the DBS-KAT diskette in drive A. Type: COPY A:KATDB.* C:\/V You are highly recommended to put your KATDB.* files in your root directory. If you put them in a subdirectory, then you must always invoke a DBS-KAT program with a -L option & be sitting in that directory at run time. Specific syntax examples are given later. Putting the KATDB.* files in your root, means that you can be anywhere on your hard disk & from that location run DBS-KAT. However, this assumes that you have a PATH statement which minimally encompasses your root directory. The following PATH statement is minimally correct: DBS-KAT USER MANUAL Copyright 1986 R.H. Martin P. 10 PATH=C:\ If you need to create or update your PATH statement, include the PATH command line (such as the above) in your C:\AUTOEXEC.BAT file. If you don't have a C:\AUTOEXEC.BAT file, then minimally create one which looks like the one below. Use any editor which can update a plain vanilla ASCII file (e.g., EDLIN, PC-WRITE, EC). The PROMPT line is optional. It will show you to the left of the prompt sign, your current directory area. A minimal C:\AUTOEXEC.BAT file should include: DATE TIME PATH=C:\ PROMPT $P$G If you are DOS 1.1 experienced, the filename "C:\MYFILE", means a file, of the name "MYFILE" which resides in the root directory "\" of drive "C:". If your cursor is positioned already in the root directory of C:, then you can ignore the "\" symbol. 3. Put the remaining DBS-KAT diskette files somewhere along your PATH. Include in your path, your DOS programs, BACKUP, RESTORE, SORT, MORE & FORMAT. If you don't have or want a PATH statement in your environment, put all the DBS-KAT files in your root directory. For instance, to put everything in your root directory, change your current drive to your hard disk & issue the following commands: CD \ COPY A:*.* C:\/V A: KATBOOK (choose the option to decompress & install the DBS-KAT programs in the current hard disk directory) 4. Either create, update, or verify that your C:\CONFIG.SYS file exists & has the following two lines in it: FILES=20 BUFFERS=15 If you have an IBM AT, you could make the BUFFERS=25 instead. The BUFFERS line is not needed by DBS-KAT, but since you're changing CONFIG.SYS, you might as well optimize your BUFFERS line. 5. This is an optional step & not required. If you don't have a RAM disk, proceed to step 6. If you have a RAM disk, which is uploaded with files at power up time with file copying going on in your C:\AUTOEXEC.BAT file, consider putting the following files in your RAM disk. This is not required, but will give you performance improvement. The files include SORT.EXE, which comes on your DOS diskette. The files that you should consider putting in your RAM disk are: DBS-KAT USER MANUAL Copyright 1986 R.H. Martin P. 11 SORT.EXE KATSCAN.EXE Consider leaving spare space on your RAM disk of at least 30,000 bytes. This empty space can be used by DBS-KAT for its run-time, temporary work files. The names of these run-time files are KATWORK1.DIR, KATWORK2.DIR, & KATWORK.VOL. You may have to update your C:\CONFIG.SYS if your RAM disk space alottment is done in that file. If you use IBM AT high capacity floppies & store a high number of files on them, you may need to allocate more than 30,000 bytes to accomodate these work files. Put the drive designation for your RAM disk at the start of the left hand side of your PATH statement, so that your RAM disk gets looked at first down your PATH. If drive D is your RAM disk, then minimally your PATH statement should include: PATH=D:\;C:\ To avoid DOS executing these two programs from your hard disk, make sure that SORT.EXE & KATSCAN.EXE will not exist in any PATH directory other than D:\, nor let them exist in the current directory where you have your DBS-KAT database. Consider creating a directory called \OFFPATH & moving these two files there. In your \AUTOEXEC.BAT file copy the \OFFPATH directory to your RAM disk. 6. If you updated CONFIG.SYS or AUTOEXEC.BAT, restart your computer now. DO NOT SKIP THIS STEP! 7. Excepting those with less than 100% IBM PC Compatibility or those who power on their computer with a startup diskette, you can go to the next section, "Updating The DBS-KAT System Control Record." Those whose computers are neither IBM nor as compatible to an IBM as a COMPAQ is, should read the next subsection before proceeding to the next section. Those who use a startup diskette should read the section immediately following. INSTALLATION FOR NON-IBM COMPATIBLE MS-DOS PC The author has not tested this software on non-IBM compatible MS-DOS computers. It was developed on a COMPAQ PLUS computer however. The rapid display of DBS-KAT's signon & usage screen is the most IBM specific piece of code knowingly used. As said, this does work on a COMPAQ PLUS. However, it might not work on less compatible MS-DOS computers. For this reason, the user can disable this direct IBM-type screen use. To do this, type in the following, with your prompt at the "C" level. Type: ECHO X>\IAMNOTAN.IBM & press the ENTER key. This is all you have to do. What you've done is create a one byte file in your root directory of your hard disk. The drive must be the same as the drive DBS-KAT USER MANUAL Copyright 1986 R.H. Martin P. 12 where your database resides. DBS-KAT will utilize a less machine specific screen display method if it finds this file to exist. ADDITIONAL INSTALL INFORMATION FOR HARD DISK USERS WHO POWER ON THEIR COMPUTER WITH A STARTUP DISKETTE 1. These instructions will assume that drive A is your floppy & that drive C is your hard disk. Also assumed is that during your following the installation instructions, that you inspected, & if needed, updated the CONFIG.SYS & AUTOEXEC.BAT on a bootup floppy diskette. Insert your bootup floppy in drive A. Make sure you don't have a write-protect tape on your floppy. If so, temporarily remove it. 2. Type: COPY A:COMMAND.COM C:\/V & press ENTER. If you ever update your operating system, be sure to repeat this operation with the new COMMAND.COM. 3. You must add a "SET COMSPEC" line to your AUTOEXEC.BAT file first so that DBS-KAT will think you powered on off your hard disk. Do the below: 3.A. At the "C" prompt, type: EDLIN A:AUTOEXEC.BAT 3.B. At the "*" EDLIN prompt, type: I 3.C. Type: SET COMSPEC=C:\COMMAND.COM 3.D. Press the F6 function key & press ENTER. 3.E. Type: E 4. Restart your computer now, using your updated bootup floppy disk. If you have a backup of your bootup floppy disk, make sure the backup gets the new AUTOEXEC.BAT put on it. You must do this restart of your computer in order for DBS-KAT to work correctly. DBS-KAT USER MANUAL Copyright 1986 R.H. Martin P. 13 UPDATING THE DBS-KAT SYSTEM CONTROL RECORD ------------------------------------------ Before you can regularly use DBS-KAT to process & inquire against diskettes, you must first update DBS-KAT's System Control Record, which keeps track of your database as well as holding your default value entries. This manual explains the program prompts. You can then actually update your system control record, taking mostly the default values, except where it is obvious that you should over-ride the provided default. If you update your system control record after reading this section, come back to this manual & read the remaining sections before using the rest of DBS-KAT's features. You minimally only need to update your system control record during DBS- KAT's install process. The program used to update the system control record is a subprogram within the inquiry program, KATLOOK.EXE. To perform this, you should be somewhere on your "C" drive with your prompt ready to receive a command. Either type: KATLOOK -M & press ENTER or type: KAT -M & press ENTER. Don't forget the minus sign (hereafter called the "dash") if you type: KAT -M. Typing KATLOOK -M will actually load the program faster, as the other method first loads the KAT program which in turns loads KATLOOK with the "-M" option. If you installed DBS-KAT in a subdirectory, type either KATLOOK -ML or KAT -ML. After receiving a logo display, you'll get the message "No System Control Record, --Putting you into add mode." You'll be prompted for a variety of fields, in each case you'll be shown the allowed maximum width of your answer. In some cases, you'll be shown a default answer you'll get if you just press ENTER. The prompts that you will be shown are reproduced below. Supporting comments are provided, when needed, alongside. Alternatively, if you have previously added a System Control Record, you'll be put in the update mode where the prompts are so similar, that they do not needed to be documented here. However, you are not allowed by this program to update the database owner's name, once you insert it into your database. This is because of the security arrangement of DB- SHAREWARE, -see the manual on DB-SHAREWARE for more information. When DBS-KAT is done processing the system control record, your database is closed & you are exited back to the DOS prompt. For the current software release of DBS-KAT, you are unable to change the database owner's password, which is the password needed to change the user's password. The reason for this is unrelated to security reasons, & if enough users request it, the ability to change this password will be allowed in a future release. DBS-KAT USER MANUAL Copyright 1986 R.H. Martin P. 14 However, if you misspell your name or the database owner's password, you are allowed at the end of the system control add function to start the add process over again. Once you've added the system control record, then unless you want to start again with a totally empty database, you will be unable to change these two fields again using this program. You can update the database owner's name, by ordering an add-on software module, because on the order form (type: KAT -O), you specify the new (or same) database owner's name which the add-on software program will use to update your old database. All prompts require a response except where specified as "optional." When you are given a default response (shown above the allocated space for your answer), you can take the default response by just pressing the ENTER key. Many of these prompts will be repeated during each diskette you process, unless you chose at run time to have DBS-KAT skip prompting you & to instead use the default answers set up in the system control record. These prompts which are capable of being repeated for each diskette being processed have the parenthetical statement "(for diskette vol. info.)" shown beneath the prompt. At run time, the actual wording of the prompts may in some cases be up to 10 percent longer. For space reasons, they are shortened here to allow more space for the right hand commentary. PROMPT ----------------- COMMENT--------------------------------------- Database Owner's Name You are required to enter your name or that of your company. This name will be shown to you each time that you run DBS-KAT in the manner described in the DB-SHAREWARE manual. This field is the only field which will preserve lower case input. All other fields in DBS-KAT will upper case your input as it is stored in the database. Database User Password The only place that DBS-KAT can optionally (optional) have a security concern is in the inquiry function & password maintenance function. Anyone can always update your database (except the password portion). The thinking behind this decision is that you might have your secretary or assistant update your database as they update your diskettes. However, if you have hundreds of diskettes, you might have some of them devoted to confidential topics, which might be revealed in their file name or volume (DBS-KAT entered) heading. You might want the location of these diskettes hidden. DBS-KAT USER MANUAL Copyright 1986 R.H. Martin P. 15 Thus you can ask that DBS-KAT checks for a user password (which you set up) of anyone asking to inquire against the database. Password to chg password Since you may allow more than yourself the (optional) right to inquire into your database & you may later change your mind about another person's right to look into your data base, a password beside the user password was needed. Consider this the owner's or administrator's password. IMPORTANT! Do not ever forget this password! If you forget it, there is no way you can use either the existing DBS-KAT software or DEBUG's dump command to uncover this password. A proprietary encryption method stores this password in your database. Use a password that is impossible for you to forget, yet which is one others won't ever guess, such as a childhood nickname no longer used, or your first date's name, etc. You may want to write your password down & store it in your safe or safety deposit box. Note: if you decide not to implement this administrator's password during the initial add system control process, you are never given the opportunity to change your mind. If you aren't excited about requiring a password at inquiry time, you might want to implement an administrator password, but skip for the time being a user password. If you know the administrator password, you can always assign a new user password via the update system control process. Default loc: H(ome)/W(ork) The default location is W(ork). You can change the default location to H(ome). See next prompt for more information. Enter begin no. for home The default number is 0001. DBS-KAT allows designating the location of your diskettes to be either at work or at home. Some of the DBS- KAT users may be using a COMPAQ PLUS & thereby be tracking diskettes at both locations. The purpose of this field is to save you keystrokes in assigning the volume ID for your diskette. You are always allowed to over-ride the prompted default value. DBS-KAT USER MANUAL Copyright 1986 R.H. Martin P. 16 Enter begin no. for work The default number is 5001. # of disk upds b4 sugg.bu Because DBS-KAT involves a database, you are suggested to periodically back up your database, in case unpredicatible interruptions, whether hardware or otherwise caused, destroy your database. At the start of each diskette to be processed, you are given the option to backup the database. However, you may decide to methodically back up the database every so many diskettes. If you desire a periodic reminder, insert the desired interval here, otherwise assign a very high number (e.g., 99). Enter diskette drive char Typically, you'll probably choose the default letter, A. However, you can choose any legitimate floppy disk drive, or drive which acts to DOS like a floppy disk drive (refer to earlier comments in the Hardware Requirements Section). If you have an IBM AT, & alternate between drive A & B, you should pick the letter used the most often. You are given the opportunity inside the cataloging program to over-ride this letter. Enter KATWORK.VOL drive DBS-KAT during its processing of a diskette, will do a DOS "VOL" command & redirect it's output to a disk file, called KATWORK.VOL. If you have an electronic RAM DISK, indicate its drive letter here. The default drive letter is the typical hard drive letter, C. Enter KATWORK1.DIR drive DBS-KAT during its processing of a diskette, ENTER KATWORK2.DIR drive will run another program, KATSCAN.EXE, which creates a directory display file of your entire diskette, even if it has subdirectory- located files on it. The unsorted directory display file is called KATWORK1.DIR. DBS-KAT then runs your DOS program, SORT.EXE, against this KATWORK1.DIR file & outputs the sorted version of this file under the name KATWORK2.DIR. If you have an electronic RAM DISK, indicate its drive letter here. The default drive letter is the typical hard drive letter, C. If you will alternate cataloging diskettes & removeable disk cartridges, setup the system DBS-KAT USER MANUAL Copyright 1986 R.H. Martin P. 17 control record with the parameters you want for the diskette drive. Using the "S" option in the catalog update process (KAT -U), you can switch to cataloging your removeable disk cartridges & the program will let you change for the session (or until you choose the "S" option again, whichever comes first) the parameter settings for the: (a) target drive being cataloged, (b) drive to use for work files, (c) & sector size of device being cataloged. Default From Hd Drive Typically this is drive C, the default. If (for diskette vol. info.) you ask DBS-KAT to prompt you for each diskette being processed, you'll be prompted for the source hard disk drive, & be given this letter as the default answer. Default vol. pathname The default hard disk source pathname for your (for diskette vol. info.) diskette file is "VARIES". If you catalog a diskette with no files on it, & you've asked not to be prompted for volume heading information, DBS-KAT substitutes a blank pathname. The idea behind the pathname is to have the inquiry function act similar to how you interrogate your directory on your hard disk. On your hard disk, you'll typically move yourself to a directory, & then query a file set against only that directory. For example, if you are in a directory for your word processing files, the DIR *.DOC will scope word processing files, whereas if you have a directory for your programming development, the DIR *.DOC might scope program development or usage documentation files. However, to minimize database overhead both to reduce disk space utilization & update processing time, the directory database is not structurally segmented by pathname. Doing an inquiry similar to a DIR *.DOC against your \WORK directory, will involve scanning your database from the very first record through the very last record. Thus, you'll probably want to minimize inquiries where the leading characters of the filename are irrelevant. Default vol. note This is a 13 character field, which can be (for diskette vol. info.) thought of being a commentary field on the DBS-KAT USER MANUAL Copyright 1986 R.H. Martin P. 18 diskette's contents or a place for extended path information, in case your source hard disk pathname is longer than 8 characters long (e.g., \LOTUS\TEMPLATE\DOC). Examples of appropriate comments might be "NORTON UTILS", "XTALK" or "LOTUS". The default note for your diskette volume heading is "MISC". If you catalog a diskette with no files on it, & you've asked not to be prompted for volume heading information, DBS- KAT substitutes "SCRATCH" for the volume heading note. Default YY+Qtr buy disk You might want to keep track of how old a (for diskette vol. info.) diskette is. The default answer, zero, will substitute the current YEAR & QUARTER (concatenated together as a 3 digit number). When first entering in all your old diskettes, if they are on the average 9 months ago, you might want to indicate the YY+Qtr for that period. Then after your initial database load, you could change the default value back to zero. Diskette Format OP SYS Indicate here the default for whether the (for diskette vol. info.) diskette is normally formatted under IBM PC DOS ('P'), which is the default, or under MS DOS ('M'). These letters do not cause anything special to happen, except that they will be redisplayed on some screen outputs. You can use alternative letters if you wish. OP SYS Ver. (no dec.pt.) Indicate here the default for which DOS (for diskette vol. info.) version number, the diskette was formatted under, however do not use a decimal point (wasted storage & display space to carry the decimal). Thus 200, the default, refers to 2.00 DOS. Usual seq_typ is You may be processing a group of related (for diskette vol. info.) diskettes. The grouping may be because you are using the DOS BACKUP command (type 'B'), which is the default or because you are cataloging a software package containing more than one diskette (type 'P'). You are free to invent other sequence types. However, use 'B' for the DOS BACKUP sequence type. Future software may act upon this information. DBS-KAT USER MANUAL Copyright 1986 R.H. Martin P. 19 For now, just indicate, that when you are processing a sequence of diskettes, what will be the normal sequence type. Don't worry if most of the time you will not be processing a sequence of diskettes. Disk usually part of set Indicate 'Y' or 'N' (the default), whether the normal diskette you intend to catalog will belong to a sequentially related set of diskettes, such as a full backup set, etc. Enter DOS cmd for B/U You are highly recommended to perform your PC KAT database backup under DBS-KAT supervision. The default method is via the DOS BACKUP command ("BACKUP C:\KATDB.* A:"). You can insert any valid DOS command here to accomplish your backup. Your DOS command could even be the .BAT file name to do your backup (leave out the ".BAT"). The database will be updated that you are about to do a backup, then the database will be closed prior to your backup. Also, your DBS-KAT log file will note the occurrence of a backup being performed. More about this log file later in the manual. Enter label utility name DBS-KAT comes with the free, user group program, VOLSER Version 2.00, Copyright 1983 by T. A. Davis. As T. Davis does not provide an address either in his program or his documentation, Applied Foresight is unable to ask his permission or to ask users of DBS-KAT to voluntarily contribute an appreciation token to Mr. T. A. Davis. VOLSER is a label utility. With VOLSER or an alternative software label utility, which you would select here, you can update your diskette with the volume ID four digit number (use leading zeros to make the volume ID 4 digits). Having the volume ID software embedded onto the diskette, saves DBS-KAT from having to ask you each time what is the number on the sticky label outside your diskette. Oh yes, you should have a four digit volume ID on a sticky label outside your diskette. If you don't care to use VOLSER, indicate the label utility program of your choice. Norton's DBS-KAT USER MANUAL Copyright 1986 R.H. Martin P. 20 Utilities comes with the program, LABEL. IBM PC DOS 3.0 comes with its utility program, LABEL. Make your choice known to DBS-KAT. The unaltered documentation on VOLSER by T. A. Davis, is in the file, VOLSER.DOC, which is on your PC KAT diskette. Entries Okay The default answer is 'Y' for Yes. If you want to change one of your answers made above, you should answer 'N' for No. You'll be reprompted for every field again, starting from the first prompt. DBS-KAT USER MANUAL Copyright 1986 R.H. Martin P. 21 CATALOGING DISKETTES -------------------- INVOKING DBS-KAT Efficient & rewarding use of DBS-KAT involves continually keeping your database up to date about the contents of all of your diskettes. This is done by the diskette cataloger program function, which can be invoked in a variety of ways. You can enter the commands in upper or lower case, it makes no difference. These commands are entered at the DOS prompt level. INVOKE CMD COMMENT------------------------------------------------- KAT -U Catalog diskettes until requested to exit or backup my database. Provide prompts, with defaults shown, to add or update unique diskette volume information. KAT Same as above, except first show program options help page. Check if program has been installed & the System Controlled record has been updated. Exit with message if not installed yet. When user responds to "Press any key", process as if user had typed "KAT -U". KAT -UH Same as above, except prespecified location is Home. If location is not specified, use default location given in the System Control Record setup. KAT -UW Same as above, except prespecified location is Work. KAT -U2 Same as KAT -U, except only process for two diskettes. KAT -U2H Same as KAT -UH, except only process for two diskettes. KAT -UN Same as KAT -U, except bypass prompting for unique diskette volume information. Use the default values based upon the system control record. For those users who habitually name their files in such a manner that just remembering the spelling of part or all of the file name is all that is necessary to know about, those users might be satisfied running DBS-KAT this way. It saves about 30-60 seconds per processed diskette, to use the -N option. Alternatively, on many of your diskettes, you might want to not use the -N option. For instance, you might want to state that the involved diskette belongs to the path, UTIL, & in the note field, state "PC-TALK III", & so forth. However, some users, lazy like the Author, might not care about volume heading information, & rely upon the fact that on this diskette, retrieving by the file name, "PC-TALK", will always enable DBS-KAT to tell me which diskette volume to look for PC-TALK III. DBS-KAT USER MANUAL Copyright 1986 R.H. Martin P. 22 On diskettes which habitually get reused for totally different file storage purposes, you might want to always use the -N option. While inside DBS-KAT, you can toggle having this "N" option on or off. KAT -UNH Same as KAT -UN except prespecified Home as the location. KAT -U2NH Same as KAT -UNH, except only process for two diskettes. KAT -UA Same as KAT -U, except floppy to process is on drive A:, regardless of what drive letter the system control record points to. KAT -UB Same as KAT -U, except floppy to process is on drive B:, regardless of what drive letter the system control record points to. KAT -LU Same as KAT -U, except use the database in the current directory. Without the -L option, DBS-KAT will move to the root (\) directory to process a database there. If a database isn't there, but one is in the current directory, it will remain in the current directory. The user can invoke DBS-KAT using valid combinations of the above. Of course, -A & -B can never be used together. Nor can -H & -W ever be used together. The order in which the options are stated are irrelevant, except that only a number can follow the -U option, immediately to the right of the "U". Thus, typing KAT -UN & KAT -NU will perform the same thing. Some of the above options can be chosen from a menu which drives the program. This menu is shown in the "CATALOGING PROCEDURE" subsection below. DISKETTE HANDLING WITH DBS-KAT You should physically & software label all your diskettes with a four digit number. Write-protected diskettes need not be software labeled. A physically labeled diskette means that with a soft felt tip pen, you have written a four digit number which is visible on the diskette gum label which sticks on the outside of the diskette. A software labeled diskette means that when you do a DOS DIR A: against the diskette, that you are shown something like the below as the first two lines of the display: Volume in drive A is 0175 Directory of A:\ DBS-KAT provides you with means to do software labeling from inside the cataloging program. Refer back to the last prompt in the System Control Record. The recommended route is to use the numbers 0001-5000 for DBS-KAT USER MANUAL Copyright 1986 R.H. Martin P. 23 diskettes initially cataloged at Home, & to use the numbers 5001-9999 for diskettes initially cataloged at Work. If you only have one location, then use the numbers 0001-9999. These are only recommendations. The only requirement is that the volume ID must be either blank or a four digit number. Blank volume ID labels should be minimized to write-protected diskettes, because each time you catalog the diskette, you have to remind DBS-KAT of the volume label number. Diskettes which are software labeled, are automatically recognized by DBS-KAT as to what volume label ID it contains. In your diskette containers, you should stack all your diskettes sequentially in numeric order. It makes no difference how unrelated any neighboring sequenced diskette is, for DBS-KAT will provide the logical organization to your diskettes. However, you'll still find it convenient to keep sequentially logically related diskettes in sequential numeric order, such as for full hard disk backups, etc. The author reserves three neighboring numbered diskettes for his database backups, since with its some 13,400 plus filenames, it goes a little into the third diskette to back up a database this big. Doing this is a convenience not a necessity, for the diskette volume inquiry process will remind you of what follows or precedes a diskette (assuming you told DBS-KAT about the sequencing originally). A "scratch" diskette is one which is either empty of files, or one which has junk or obsolete files on them & can be erased without worry. When DBS-KAT processes a scratch diskette, it labels the database volume header with the word "SCRATCH." You can ask DBS-KAT for a screen or printout of your SCRATCH volumes. However, if you don't want to have to run this inquiry to find out where your scratch diskettes are, you could consider temporarily locating your scratch diskettes in a scratch diskette container or separate location. THE CATALOGING PROCEDURE The cataloging program is menu driven & your choices for action are displayed as follows: ------------------------------------------------------------------------- OPT: DESCRIPTION OPT: DESCRIPTION P Insert diskette now to PROCESS E EXIT program now H change location to HOME W change location to WORK V change database VOLUME header L change diskette volume LABEL D diskette dir/w & DEL option F FORMAT a diskette T TOGGLE vol hdr prompting on/off S SWITCH to another diskette drive B BACKUP database & exit program PARMS ON: Locn=> HOME; Prompting=> ON; Directory=> ROOT; Floppy=> A: P Do: B,D,E,F,H,L,P,S,T,V,W ? > < ------------------------------------------------------------------------- DBS-KAT USER MANUAL Copyright 1986 R.H. Martin P. 24 Most of the prompts & activity occurring in the cataloging procedure is self evident, based upon the user understanding the system control record update process & being able to read the cataloging procedure displays & prompts. This documentation will cover the portions of this procedure which may not be completely self-evident. 1. In the overview section, DBS-KAT was discussed being smart enough to know that you hadn't made any changes since your last cataloging process against that diskette. There is one ramification to this smartness. If your only change to a previously processed diskette, is that you renamed a file, then DBS-KAT will not process the diskette, because renaming an existing file on a diskette will not impact either of the two captured totals. These two totals, you will recall, deal with the total number of files on the diskette, & the sum total of file dates + times + sizes covering that diskette. 2. When you are displayed the volume heading information for a previously cataloged diskette, you are given the following column headings: VOL# --PATH-- NOTE/EXT-PATH LAST UPDATE #FIL KBLF L F O VER BUY NV TSQ NEXT LAST The unobvious column headings above mean the following: KBLF The number of kilobytes available for additional file use. L Location where the prior cataloging processing took place. F The letter of the hard disk from which these files came from. O The operating system type under which the cataloged diskette was formatted. VER The operating system version number under which the cataloged diskette was formatted. NV The newest version file of all files on this diskette. This information is only available if the add-on software module, which does the aging analysis, is owned & ran against your database. This add-on software module is not yet available, as of the release time of this document. It will be available in a matter of months. When this field is operational, if it contained the number "2" or higher, it would mean that nothing on this file is most recent compared to same named files on other diskettes. You could conceivably reuse this diskette if you aren't interested in prior versions of your files. DBS-KAT USER MANUAL Copyright 1986 R.H. Martin P. 25 TSQ This represents two columns of information without a separating blank space between them: T Sequence type (eg, B=BACKUP, P=SOFTWARE PACKAGE) SQ Sequence number (ie, 01-99). 3. You can remove the diskette from the disk drive which is being cataloged when you see on your screen either of the following two messages. If you have another diskette to process, you can insert it at this time. a) "Will display each input directory filename as it is processed:" b) "Input directory has no files on it--processing as a scratch volume." DBS-KAT USER MANUAL Copyright 1986 R.H. Martin P. 26 INQUIRING AGAINST THE DBS-KAT CATALOG ------------------------------------- INVOKING DBS-KAT Before you actually update & inquire against your database, you should read the last remaining section, which comes in the next section "MAINTAINING & RECOVERING YOUR DATABASE." The main purpose for having DBS-KAT is to ask it which diskette(s) has such & such file on it? This is done by the catalog inquiry program function, which can be invoked in a variety of ways. You can enter the commands in upper or lower case, it makes no difference. These commands are entered at the DOS prompt level. INVOKE CMD COMMENT------------------------------------------------- KATLOOK This is the quickest way to look at your database. If you chose the alternate route of KAT -D, it would invoke KATLOOK anyway. So you save having to have the computer first load KAT.EXE followed by then loading KATLOOK.EXE if you just type KATLOOK & press ENTER. KAT -D Same as KATLOOK, except computer takes a couple of seconds longer to function. KATLOOK -P Same as KATLOOK, except you request that DBS-KAT does not show in the PATH & EXT PATH/NOTE columns the subdirectory information if the file entry sat in a subdirectory on the diskette. The only thing that would be shown in these two columns would be information from the diskette volume header record. Since most users will not be utilizing subdirectories on their diskettes, KATLOOK gives the same results as entering KATLOOK -P. KATLOOK -P was inserted into the product during the debugging phase of catching the individual file entry elongated directory name at display time. You'll recall from the Overview subsection in the Introduction that the database only carries a numeric code for the subdirectory diskette location it belongs with in each database record. However, this feature was left in the program, since some users might want to take advantage of this option, & it really causes no overhead to the program's performance to leave it in. KAT -DP See above discussion about KAT -D. Otherwise, this is the same as entering KATLOOK -P. KATLOOK -L Inquire against the database located in the current directory. DBS-KAT USER MANUAL Copyright 1986 R.H. Martin P. 27 KAT -LD See above discussion about KAT -D. Otherwise, this is the same as entering KATLOOK -L. THE INQUIRY PROCEDURE The inquiry program is menu driven & your choices for action are displayed as follows: ------------------------------------------------------------------------- CHOOSE TYPE OF DIRECTORY DISPLAY DESIRED: 1. Process individual dir argument line. 2. Process all cataloged files for a given volume number. 3. Process all cataloged files for the entire database. 4. Listing of cataloged diskette volumes. 5. Listing of uncataloged diskette volumes. 6. Exit program. 6 Enter option number: > < ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Most of the prompts & activity occurring in the inquiry procedure are self evident, based upon the user understanding the cataloging process & being able to read the inquiry procedure displays & prompts. This documentation will cover the portions of this procedure which may not be completely self-evident. 1. If your database was set up with a user password, you are asked for it in this program. You must provide the user password in order to inquire against the database. When you type in your password, you will not see what you type in nor will your cursor move. That is normal. This way, your friend behind you won't see your password. 2. When you are displayed the filename heading information, you are given the following column headings: VOL# FILENAME.EXT FLDATE FLTM --SIZE- --PATH-- NOTE/EXT-PATH LTSQGT LAST-UPDATE With the exception of "FILENAME.EXT" & "LTSQGT", the above column headings also appear in the previous section in "THE CATALOGING PROCEDURE" subsection. Two exception to being the same as THE CATALOG PROCEDURE heading are the "--PATH-- NOTE/EXT-PATH" headers. These columns will show the actual diskette subdirectory (the first 22 characters) which the cataloged file sits in, if such is the case, rather than the volume heading Note/Ext-Path information. Again, if the diskette file does not reside on the diskette in a subdirectory, the shown information derives from the volume label record. DBS-KAT USER MANUAL Copyright 1986 R.H. Martin P. 28 LTSQGT represents five columns of information without a separating blank space between them. L Location where the prior cataloging processing for this disk took place. T Sequence type (eg, B=BACKUP, P=SOFTWARE PACKAGE). SQ Sequence number (ie, 01-99). G How many generations old is this filename in relationship to the most current file with this same FILENAME.EXT, which is generation 0. Generation 9 would be for the 9th plus higher generations. This information & that of the following adjacent field is not updated by the base package. An add-on software module program, which does the aging analysis, will update this field. T Is the generation number for this FILENAME.EXT tied ("Y" or blank). 3. If you choose the directory display option number 1 (Process individual dir argument line) & ask to "Suppress console output", you can ask that the displayed output go either to the printer or to a file. If you choose a file output, you are given the opportunity to use the filename, KATDIR.OUT, or you can create your own valid filename. File-directed output will not contain the column headings. A DOS batch command file, KATSORT, is provided which will sort KATDIR.OUT in reverse chronological order. You must exit this program & execute the procedure, KATSORT, at the DOS prompt level. 4. If you choose the directory display option number 1 (Process individual dir argument line), you might be a little unfamiliar with your search options. The program at this point displays the following instructions: "For your search argument, you'll be asked for a string value & how to use this string in the search (exact compare, anchored substring compare, or un-anchored substring compare - E, A, U). You are not allowed to use the following characters: '*', '?', '+'. Just pressing ENTER for a string value indicates no restriction." The DOS DIR command provides an anchored substring search capability. If you typed: DIR AUTO* & pressed ENTER, you would be doing an anchored substring compare. Although DOS does not provide an un- anchored substring search, if it did, typying: DIR *TO* & pressing ENTER, would provide you with a list of filenames where floating anywhere in the filename portion are the two neighboring characters "TO". This is an example of an un-anchored substring search. Although, DBS-KAT provides an un-anchored substring compare, this DBS-KAT USER MANUAL Copyright 1986 R.H. Martin P. 29 type of search on the filename portion will cause every filename entry in your database to be scanned, which can take awhile depending on the size of your database. The TECHNICAL REFERENCE MANUAL overviews the structure of DBS-KAT's database design & provides an elaborate example list representing a range of searchs ordered by a most efficient search argument to a least efficient search argument. However, don't be afraid to use the search strategy you need to accomplish the job you want done. With a 12,000 record database, best case searches are a few seconds long & worst case searches are a few minutes long. 5. If you choose to provide a path argument search & to have it used against cataloged filenames, it is only used against the diskette volume label pathname, & not against an individual diskette file directory. 6. If you choose to only provide a path/note argument search (no filename/ext search argument), you'll be asked if you want the search to be only against cataloged volume header records rather than against cataloged filenames. Choosing the volume header search will make your scan a whole lot faster. 7. Diskettes that are empty of files are marked "SCRATCH". By providing a path/note argument with the value "SCRATCH" or "scratch" & to have it used only against cataloged volume header records, you will be provided with a list of scratch diskettes. DBS-KAT USER MANUAL Copyright 1986 R.H. Martin P. 30 TAKING CARE OF YOUR DATABASE ----------------------------- OVERVIEW This section covers the following activities: 1. Conservative Updating 2. Backup 3. The Log File 4. Integrity Analysis A related section on Recovery is included in the TECHNICAL REFERENCE MANUAL, because not every user will ever need it. However, every user should be prepared for it by following the recommendations below. CONSERVATIVE UPDATING Databases are delicate creatures. Most programs which work with databases, assume that all the proper connections are made between the different records in a database. Such programs, when they come across the first data record with its associated pointer addresses to another record failing to properly point, will abort. Thus often a very large database is at the mercy of one bad pointer. Pointers, like other portions of a disk file, can be disturbed by a variety of external hardware & software factors, many of which lie totally outside of the software which is specifically written for the database. Conservative practices are to frequently backup up the database & to do a periodic integrity analysis of the database. If you're doing a hundred or more diskettes in the beginning in a day, then maybe every 33-50 diskettes, back up your database. If you're updating a few diskettes per day, then one or two days a week you should back up the database. BACKUP You are advised to back up your database while inside the KAT -U (or any variation of the -U option) program. Your database backup will be made according to the instructions you gave DBS-KAT in updating your system control record. Most persons will want to take advantage of the default backup command which one is prompted with during the system control record add process. During the KAT -U program session, you can choose to backup your database at the beginning of each processing loop, or after you have processed the number of diskettes equal to the reminder interval count you provide DBS- KAT in your system control record update process. The existence & usefulness of your log file is discussed shortly, however it relevant to note now that DBS-KAT records in this log file when you DBS-KAT USER MANUAL Copyright 1986 R.H. Martin P. 31 made a backup of your database. It also makes a record entry, including the volume number, of each updated diskette. For the above reason, it is a good idea to update DBS-KAT against the diskettes you just backed up your database onto, right after doing the backup & before processing any other diskettes. This way, when you interrogate your log file, those diskettes which immediately follow a backup record entry are the diskettes which contain your database. This is useful, when looking for your couple-to-several generation old set of database backup diskettes to reuse. You can also use DBS-KAT's inquiry function to find out the same information, but some people may prefer one method over the other method. The log file's main purpose is for recovery & not for locating backup diskette. Despite DBS-KAT's ability to inform you of which diskette follows in a sequence, you'll still find it more convenient, if your database backup span across neighboring numbered diskettes. Thus when you initially number your diskettes, you might want to set aside 3-4 neighboring sequence for backing up your database. It currently takes about 2.5 diskettes to backup a database containing 13,400 plus directory entries, which covers about 600 diskettes. You should felt-tip label these diskettes, beside the normal 4 digit number, with information such as: 0333 KATDB.* 1 of 4 See 0334-0336 Verified: 850301/850501/850701 850901 The above label shows the following information: 1. The volume ID number for this diskette. 2. Information that the diskette contains a backup of the database. 3. Information that this diskette is number 1 of a set of 4 backup diskettes. 4. The numerous different dates for which this database was a backup of a database right after it had been okayed via a database integrity analysis run. In this instance, the verify dates spill over onto line four of the label. In conjunction with using the DOS BACKUP command, one should periodically perform a CHKDSK /F. In the April 23, 1985, issue of PC WEEK, a letter to the editor by a VP of SyntheSys Consulting Inc., Syracuse, NY, entitled "Fixing BACKUP Bugs," refers to "problems with the [BACKUP] program if CHKDSK detects any errors on the disk you are trying to back up. The user should be sure to use CHKDSK to correct any problems with the hard disk before using BACKUP (i.e., use CHKDSK with the /F option)." THE LOG FILE Each diskette that you process by DBS-KAT causes a record to be written to a plain ASCII-type file (useable by most word processors), called KATDB.LOG. When you backup the database is recorded here too. The DBS-KAT USER MANUAL Copyright 1986 R.H. Martin P. 32 information written about the diskette processed is in the following format (example data displayed beneath the format). The format heading here does not appear in the file, KATDB.LOG, nor by the KATLOG printout. LN LOC VOL# YYMMDD HHMM TOT-REC-COUNT 1 H 0075 850503 1354 13035 2 H B/U 850503 1355 3 H 0174 850503 1400 13039 4 H 0175 850503 1400 13043 5 H 0176 850503 1401 13047 6 H 0199 850503 1401 13099 The main reason for this log file is in the unlikely event that something happens either to your hard disk or to your database & you need to do a recovery using an earlier backed up database. The exact procedures you'll follow are given in the TECHNICAL REFERENCE MANUAL. Another usage for the log file, if you want to use it in such a manner (as shown in the above example), was earlier discussed in the subsection, BACKUP. The above example reflects the fact that after processing volume 0075, the user backed his database over three diskettes, 0174-0176, after which he updated DBS-KAT with the directory information of diskettes 0174-0199. A DOS batch procedure file, called KATLOG.BAT, is provided to aid you in inquiring against your log file. KATLOG can be invoked in a variety of ways. You can enter the commands in upper or lower case, it makes no difference. These commands are entered at the DOS prompt level. INVOKE CMD COMMENT-------------------------------------------------- KATLOG Typing just this causes the entire log file to be continuously printed, using the KPRINT program. KPRINT is explained in Appendix A. Lines numbers are printed for this option. KATLOG 35 Any number is allowed. Typing this causes the last 35 lines of your log file to be displayed to your screen. KATLOG uses your DOS program, MORE.COM, so be sure to have it available (via your PATH) to be executed in the directory from which you execute KATLOG. With the MORE program, if you ask for more than a screen worth, you'll be shown a screen worth at a time. Pressing any key (except the CTRL-BREAK combination) will cause the next page to be displayed to the screen. Holding down the CTRL key while pressing the BREAK key will abort KATLOG -- you'll be asked if you want to terminate the batch procedure then. If you answer "Y", the batch procedure will immediately abort. KATLOG 35 PRN Same as KATLOG 35, except output is printed, & the DOS program, MORE.COM is not used. DBS-KAT USER MANUAL Copyright 1986 R.H. Martin P. 33 INTEGRITY ANALYSIS Every once in awhile (perhaps once a month), an integrity analysis should be done. It really takes no work on your part, & doing it while you are out to eat is the easiest way to schedule it into your day. More is said about doing an integrity analysis in a subsection below. There is nothing magic about the database integrity check program. It is an option in the KATLOOK (or KAT -D option) program. First, get inside to KATLOOK's menu choice. Refer to the section, INQUIRING AGAINST THE DBS- KAT CATALOG, if you forget how to invoke KATLOOK. To the following prompts, make the following responses: PROMPT------------------------ RESPONSE COMMENT---------------------- Enter option number: 3 "Process entire database" option Suppress console output? ENTER Default is "N", the correct choice Printout desired? ENTER Default is "N", the correct choice Pause for each screen? ENTER Default is "N", the correct choice KATLOOK will thereupon start from the beginning of your database & display every entry in your database. Every single record in every portion of your database will be retrieved. This can take an hour & a half if using a COMPAQ PLUS with 12,500 directory entries & 580 diskettes cataloged. If you have an IBM AT, your response time will be better. A good time to do this, as earlier said, is during eating time. When you come back to your machine then, you'll immediately know if any problem was encountered. If the last two lines displayed show the last entry in your database followed by the successful database close message, then you have a clean database. At this point, you are advised to backup up your database & label it as a "VERIFIED" backup. Do not recycle these backup diskettes until you have done at least another verified backup in the future using another set of diskettes. Once you have done this backup, you no longer need the current hard disk resident KATDB.LOG file. Type: DEL KATDB.LOG & press ENTER. Don't worry, immediately upon doing your next DBS-KAT process, KATDB.LOG will be recreated & start growing again. DBS-KAT USER MANUAL Copyright 1986 R.H. Martin P. 34 TROUBLE SHOOTING TIPS If you are ever aborted from DBS-KAT during the cataloging program, or if the cataloging program processes less than the full number of filenames on a diskette, check the free space on the device holding the three work files, KATWORK.VOL, KATWORK1.DIR, KATWORK2.DIR. Also, type out these three work files & see if the operating system issued any error messages. The message "Exec Failure," or "db_VISTA database error -905- error opening file", may mean that your "FILES=20" statement is either missing or has a lower number in your CONFIG.SYS file. Don't forget to restart your computer after changing your CONFIG.SYS file. With the message "db_VISTA database error -4 - invalid database", check if you installed your DBS-KAT database in a subdirectory, & you ran DBS- KAT without the "-L" runtime parameter. In the absence of "-L", DBS-KAT attempts to open the database in the root directory. If there is not a database in the root directory but there is a database in the current directory, it will open that one without issuing an error message. If there is not a database in the root directory nor the current directory, it will display the preceeding error message. With the message "Bad command or file name" right after the "Do: B,D,E,F,H,L,P,S,T,V,W?" prompt, or the message "error in opening to read A:KATWORK2.DIR" in "KAT -U", verify that the DOS SORT program is in your path. If it isn't, then insert your original DOS diskette in drive A: & type: COPY A:SORT.* \ & press the ENTER key. DBS-KAT USER MANUAL Copyright 1986 R.H. Martin P. 35 ONLINE ASSISTANCE You already know about the online assistance that the command, KATBOOK, provides. That is what you executed to print out this manual. KATBOOK also prints out three other manuals: (1) INSTALLATION FOR NEW COMPUTER USERS, (2) TECHNICAL REFERENCE MANUAL & (3) THE DB-SHAREWARE PROGRAM. Typing: KAT & pressing the ENTER key will display the commands you can type in to run the various functions of DBS-KAT. Typing: KAT > PRN & pressing the ENTER key will print out the above display. Typing: KAT -O & pressing the ENTER key will print out an order form, along with an explanation of registration benefits. Typing: KAT -P & pressing the ENTER key will print out a problem form which can be used for submitting problems &/or enhancement requests. Typing: KPRINT & pressing the ENTER key will display the features of the KPRINT programmer's print program. Typing: KPRINT -?C>PRN & pressing the ENTER key will print out the above display. Typing: KPRINT -?K & pressing the ENTER key will display how to interface your printer with the KPRINT program. Typing: KPRINT -?KC>PRN & pressing the ENTER key will print out the above display. DBS-KAT USER MANUAL Copyright 1986 R.H. Martin P. 36 APPENDIX A: ERRATA RE: KPRINT PROGRAM Note: for additional information about the KPRINT programmer's print program, refer to the preceeding section, "Online Assistance." Due to the Lattice C Compiler not supporting LPT2 & COM2, KPRINT will not work with either of these two ports. Carl Warren in MINI-MICRO SYSTEMS, April 1985 (page 187), provides a way for your computer to think of LPT2 as LPT1 (and vice-versa) though. A BASIC program, he provides, based upon printer port information discussed in the IBM Technical Reference Manual, pages 5-25, is used to swap printer port locations for the duration of a power-on session. The program is reproduced below: 05 REM DEFINE THE SEGMENT LOCATION 10 DEF SEG = &H40 15 REM FIND THE CONTENTS OF THE PORTS 20 A = PEEK(&H8): B = PEEK(&H9) 30 C = PEEK(&HA): D = PEEK(&HB) 35 REM NOW SWAP THEM 40 POKE &H8,C : POKE &H9,D 50 POKE &HA,A : POKE &H8,B 55 SYSTEM If this program was located in your root directory under the name, SWAPLPT.BAS, & you added the line, "BASICA \SWAPLPT", to your \AUTOEXEC.BAT file, this would be done for you automatically when you power on the computer. If you need to use COM2, use the DOS MODE command to associate COM2 with your LPT1 port. For both the LPT2 & COM2 solution discussed here, your KPRINT.CTL file would use a "T P 1" line. DBS-KAT USER MANUAL Copyright 1986 R.H. Martin P. 37 APPENDIX B: KATSCAN HARD DISK ARCHIVE UTILITY DOCUMENTATION Regardless if your DBS-KAT came with an overview page of KATSCAN, perform the KATBOOK procedure as instructed in the READ.ME file to print a four page (80 column printout) expansion of the overview page. Everything described in the KATSCAN documentation is on this diskette. This is NOT demo software! DBS-KAT USER MANUAL Copyright 1986 R.H. Martin P. 38 APPENDIX C: KATASK BATCH MENU FACILITATOR UTILITY DOCUMENTATION KATASK is a simple, short program. The purpose of this program is to facilitate displaying a menu of choices to a user from inside a DOS batch command file. The method of doing this with KATASK is as follows: 1. Inside your DOS batch command file, use the DOS ECHO or REM command to display your menu to a user. Assign a number starting from 1 to each displayed menu line item. 2. After the menu display lines, have a line that reads: KATASK n Substitute for "n", an actual number. This number will be the default menu choice if the user just presses the ENTER key in response to your displayed menu. 3. KATASK reads in the input number & displays the following. In the below example, 3 is the default choice. KATASK requires the user to provide a number. KATASK does not do a numeric value range check. Your DOS batch file must use the IF ERRORLEVEL command to validate an allowable number range. Number of your menu choice? [default=3] => 4. Whatever number is chosen (by default or by entry), KATASK sets the DOS ERRORLEVEL to that number & exits the program. 5. Follow the DOS documentation for the IF ERRORLEVEL command to process the KATASK output. Look at the code in the DBS-KAT batch file, KATBOOK.BAT for a process handling example. DBS-KAT USER MANUAL Copyright 1986 R.H. Martin P. 39 APPENDIX D: PROVIDED DBS-KAT FILES The distribution diskette contains these files: READ ME A short introductory note. To be read first. MANUAL OQT The compressed user manual. NOVICE OQT The compressed install manual for novice computer users. TECHREF OQT The compressed Technical Reference Manual. DBSHARE OQT The compressed manual explaining DB-SHAREWARE Software. KATAD OQT The compressed overview of DBS-KAT. KATSCAN OQT The compressed overview & instructions of the KATSCAN hard disk archive utility. KATBOOK BAT The DOS Batch process to print manual. Type: KATBOOK. KATBOOK2 BAT Used by KATBOOK to print manual. Do not execute this. KAT EQE Compressed DBS-KAT program to update control record & catalog diskette directory information into database. KATLOOK EQE Compressed program to allow inquiry against database. KATSCAN EQE Compressed program used by KAT.EXE to scan diskette directory. Also useful hard disk archive utility. KPRINT EQE Compressed multi-feature print program. Made for programmers. KATLOG BAT This & KATSTRIP.BAT are used in maintaining & recovering KATASK COM Program to prompt user for menu choice number. KATSTRIP BAT DBS-KAT. KATSORT BAT Batch file to sort cataloged filenames in reverse chronological order. Use KATLOOK to output a file first. KATORDER FRM Type: KAT -O to print this order form. KATBUG FRM Type: KAT -P to print this problem report form. KATDB DBD The database comprises this & the next 5 files. KATDB DA1 " ". KATDB DA2 " ". KATDB DA3 " ". KATDB KE1 " ". KATDB KE2 " ". USQ COM This (also known as ALUSQ, by Alan Losoff) & SQ (also known as SQPC, by Vernon D. Buerg) are both public domain programs which allowed the manuals to be compressed & decompressed. SQ.EXE is not provided with DBS-KAT. VOLSER COM This is a device volume labeler program in the public domain written by T. A. Davis. Can be used by DBS-KAT. DBS-KAT USER MANUAL Copyright 1986 R.H. Martin P. 40 APPENDIX E: MINIMUM COMPUTER FILES NEEDED TO OPERATE DBS-KAT An installed DBS-KAT drive volume needs the following files on a drive formatted with the "/S" option. Files marked with a "*" are your DOS operating system files. COMMAND COM * AUTOEXEC BAT BACKUP COM * CONFIG SYS FORMAT COM * KAT EXE KATDB DA1 KATDB DA2 KATDB DA3 KATDB DBD KATDB KE1 KATDB KE2 KATSCAN EXE KATASK EXE KATLOG BAT KATLOOK EXE KATSORT BAT KPRINT EXE MORE COM * RESTORE COM * SORT EXE * VOLSER COM