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Reference Manual For: ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ___/\ ___/\ ___/\ ____/\ ____/\ ___/\ ___/\ ___/\__/\____/\ \ ./ \_ . \ \ __\ \ __\ \_ . \ \ __\ \_ . \ \_ . . \ . \ / |___/ | \/__. \/ ._|_/ |__/ / |___/ | \/ | | / ._| / | \ | \ | \ | \ . \ | \ | \ | | \ | \_______/_/ \__/______/_______/__|___/_______/______/_/ \/ \_/___| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- LASERCOMP v1.3 Copyright (C) 1996 by Jason Laviska, All Rights Reserved. The LASERCOMP Project Began on Feb.O1.1996, "The Excellent Comparator." This version of LASERCOMP was completed and released on July 10th, 1996. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- REQUIREMENTS IBM PC OR 100% IBM PC compatible (8088 or better) processor. 256 kilobytes of FREE conventional memory available. Available disk drive with at least 250 kilobytes free. MS-DOS versions 3.0 or higher or any other compatible operating system. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- TABLE OF CONTENTS General Information ------------------- Definition of shareware . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 The Disclaimer - Agreement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 An Introduction to LaserCompare (LASRCOMP.EXE) ---------------------------------------------- What is LaserCompare? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Installing LaserCompare . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Command line parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Keyboard guide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 Features and Functions ---------------------- Transmitting output to different destinations . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 How LaserCompare Works . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 Registration Information ------------------------ Registering LaserCompare . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 Volume discounts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 LaserArts Support . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 Revisions and Other Information ------------------------------- LaserCompare revisions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 Soon to come . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 Known bugs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 Best regards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 ____________________________________________________________________________ LaserCompare Reference Manual 1 DEFINITION OF SHAREWARE Shareware distribution gives users a chance to try software before buying it. If you try a shareware program and continue using it, you are expected to register. Individual programs differ on details -- some request registration while others require it, some specify a maximum trial period. With registration, you get anything from the simple right to continue using the software to an updated program with printed manual. LaserCompare does not have any trial periods, however, if you find the program useful, please register this low-cost shareware. Copyright laws apply to both shareware and commercial software, and the copyright holder retains all rights, with a few specific exceptions as stated below. Shareware authors are accomplished programmers, just like commercial authors, and the programs are of comparable quality. (In both cases, there are good programs and bad ones!) The main difference is in the method of distribution. The author specifically grants the right to copy and distribute the software, either to all and sundry or to a specific group. For example, some authors require written permission before a commercial disk vendor may copy their shareware. Shareware is a distribution method, not a type of software. You should find software that suits your needs and pocketbook, whether it is commercial or shareware. The shareware system makes fitting your needs easier, because you can try before you buy. And because the overhead is low, prices are low also. Shareware has the ultimate money-back guarantee -- if you do not use the product, you do not pay for it. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- DISCLAIMER - AGREEMENT Users of LaserCompare must accept this disclaimer of warranty: "Laser- Compare is supplied as is. The author disclaims all warranties, expressed or implied, including, without limitation, the warranties of merchantability and of fitness for any purpose. The author assumes no liability for damages, direct or consequential, which may result from the use of Laser- Compare." LaserCompare is a "shareware program" and is provided at no charge to the user for evaluation. Feel free to share it with your friends, but please do not give it away altered or as part of another system. The essence of "user-supported" software is to provide personal computer users with quality software without high prices, and yet to provide incentive for programmers to continue to develop new products. If you find this program useful and find that you are using LaserCompare, you should make a registration payment of $10 to LaserArts. The $10 registration fee will license one copy for use on anyone computer at any one time. You must treat this software just like a book. An example is that this software may be used by any number of people and may be freely moved from one computer location to another, so long as there is no possibility of it being used at one location while it is being used at another. Just as a book cannot be read by two different persons at the same time. You are encouraged to pass a copy of LaserCompare along to your friends for evaluation. Please encourage them to register their copy if they find that they can use it. All registered users will receive a personalized lifetime registration key that will be compatible with any other version. ____________________________________________________________________________ LaserCompare Reference Manual 2 WHAT IS LASERCOMPARE? LaserCompare, The Excellent Comparator, allows you to take two ASCII files which may be of different lengths and compare them for mismatches. Every mismatch will be displayed onto a scrollable window one at a time and the files are then automatically synchronized for the next mismatch. There are many other comparing programs out in the shareware market but, none of them offer the numerous features, low registration fee, and the speed found only in LaserCompare. In the next few pages we try to explain to the best of our knowledge how to basically get LaserCompare up and running, the numerous features and functions, and how to correct any problems that you might have. Note: The unregistered version of LaserCompare is fully functional, the only difference from the registered version is that it will not bother with the message: "Unregistered shareware version of LASERCOMP" (and you will never feel guilty for not registering). ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- INSTALLING LASERCOMPARE Probably the hardest thing to figure out is "How do I install Laser- Compare to my system?" It is quite easy, simply follow these directions: 1. Create a directory of where you would like to store LaserCompare. You can create a directory simply by using the DOS command "MD <name>" or using the Windows file manager, clicking the file menu, select the option: "Create directory..." and finally give it a name such as LC or LASRCOMP, you can always come back later and rename it. 2. Extract all the files that were included in the LaserCompare archive or if you received a disk by mail, just copy the files from the \LASRCOMP\ directory. Note: Please take note that the rest of the directions will assume that you have created the directory of C:\LASRCOMP 3. Choose either one or more of the following directions... A. (Option #1 of 4, Recommended for DOS) To make it easier to use Laser Compare from anywhere in DOS you will need to edit your AUTOEXEC.BAT. Go to the line that contains the PATH= statement and add a semicolon plus the directory with the drive and path that you have just created to the end of the line. The PATH= statement is a indication to which directories DOS should search for its executable files. If you are certain that you do not have a PATH= statement in your AUTOEXEC.BAT, create a new one by typing: PATH=C:\DOS;C:\LASRCOMP I am assuming that your DOS directory is located in the C:\DOS directory and LaserCompare is in the C:\LASRCOMP directory, if they are not, change it so the correct directories are accessed while leaving a semicolons in between them. If you have one already and depending on how many other programs you have installed into your computer, it should look something like this: SET PATH=C:\DOS;C:\WINDOWS;C:\LASRCOMP See your DOS manual for more detials about the PATH statement. ____________________________________________________________________________ LaserCompare Reference Manual 3 B. (Option #2 of 4, DOS) If you do not like typing "LASRCOMP" everytime you want to execute the program you can create a batch file. To create a batch file, use the command EDIT (included in DOS versions 5.0 and up) or another type of file editor along with the batch file name that you would like to create. Note: A file name for a batch file must have the extension of .BAT such as LC.BAT. Make sure that the location of the batch file can be executed from anywhere by including the directory into the PATH= statement. See above direction on details about the PATH= statement. Example batch file: --------------------------------------------------- @Echo off C:\LASRCOMP\LASRCOMP.EXE %1 %2 %3 %4 %5 %6 %7 %8 %9 The %1 through %9 will carry the command line parameters onto the program LASRCOMP.EXE. So if you were to type "LC.BAT FILE1.TXT FILE2.TXT" it would replace %1 with "FILE1.TXT", %2 with "FILE2.TXT" and so forth. Note: If you use the above batch file and enter more than the nine arguments, only the first nine arguments will be transmitted to the program while the others will be discarded. If you would like a more advanced batch file, see the FAQ section later on in this manual. If you are using a DOS below version 3.3, you cannot use an "@Echo Off" statement in your batch files. In order to overcome this add the following line to your Autoexec.bat file. SET _ECHO=@ Then replace "@Echo Off" with the following in your batch files. %_ECHO%Echo off C. (Option #3 of 4 for 16-Bit Windows). If you will be using Windows freqently you should create a Icon using the LASRCOMP.PIF that was included in the LaserCompare archive. This will set the program up so that it will operate at its best in the Windows environment with any other software that may be currently running. To create an icon you must first select the group you would like the icon to reside. Next, go to the pull down menu called FILE and select NEW. A dialog box will appear asking if you would like to create a group or item. Select the PROGRAM ITEM selection if it is not already highlighted and press OK. On the next dialog box select the box next to "Command Line" (the box where you enter text into) and then press the browse icon. Change to the directory of which LaserCompare is located in. Click on the LASRCOMP.PIF file and then press OK. Next you should go ahead and select the "change icon" icon then the browse icon. Again, change to the directory of where LaserCompare is located in but this time choose the LASRCOMP.DLL file. Choose the icon you wish to use. Now you should have the Command line and a Icon chosen. Finally, press OK for the last time. By this time, you should have created an icon in Windows. If you would like to make any changes, highlight the icon by clicking it with the mouse once and press ALT-ENTER. This will bring up the Properties Menu. If you installed LaserCompare under the C:\LASRCOMP directory, the Command Line should say: C:\LASRCOMP\LASRCOMP.PIF ____________________________________________________________________________ LaserCompare Reference Manual 4 D. (Option #4 of 4 for Windows 32-Bit). Since I am not a Windows 32-Bit expert and I do not have Windows 95, you are going to have to figure out how to create a shortcut or menu item on your own. Be sure to look into the Windows 95 help for assistance. When your done, make sure under the Program tab, that the Command line area contains the correct path to LASRCOMP.EXE and that a ? (Question Mark) is placed after the executable name. For example, if LASERCOMP was located in the C:\LASRCOMP directory, the Command line would appear as the following: C:\LASRCOMP\LASRCOMP.EXE ? 4. That's it. If you any problems occur, review the previous instructions to see if you missed anything, if you continue to have problems, seek help. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- COMMAND LINE PARAMETERS In order to run LaserCompare, you are required to at least specify the two ASCII files that you would like to compare on the command line. If you do not follow this simple guideline, LaserCompare will automatically display its internal simplified command line help file. This brief help file can be called upon at any time by executing a "?" command after LASRCOMP.EXE (or after the batch file name you created if you followed the installation instructions above). There are a quite of few command options in Laser- Compare and each one of them can basically alter the outcome of the comparison or change the way LaserCompare works. The default values are: Abort if files are too different, allow beeps/sounds, stop if (upper/lower) casing is different, run at normal speed, stop if a number of spaces are before/after text are different, (if found) use color, do not strip control or extended ascii characters, and prompt if you are about to overwrite a file. The following command parameters may alter these defaults: @[drive:][path]filename = Command line file. If you do not like entering the same command options over and over everytime you use Laser- Compare, you can automatically have LaserCompare do it for you. You might want to think of this file as a configuration file where all your options will be automatically set everytime you run LaserCompare. You will need to create a ASCII file of any name. Enter all the command parameters that you would like to include into this file. Be sure that you save it in ASCII format which can be done using use DOS's editor or the Windows' Notepad. Now run LASRCOMP.EXE or modify your batch file to include a '@' sign plus the full path of where your new command line file is located. Sample command line file: ---------------------------------------------------------- C:\OUTPUT.TXT /A /B /C /E2 /Y If your file was called LCOM.TXT, and the LaserCompare program was located in the C:\LASRCOMP directory then you would type the following command: C:\LASRCOMP\LASRCOMP.EXE @LCOM.TXT ____________________________________________________________________________ LaserCompare Reference Manual 5 Note: If you do use this feature, only the first 4096 characters (which is about 50 lines at 80 columns of text) of the file will be read before it closes the file. Note: If you do not specify the primary and secondary file for LaserCompare to analyze, any files in the command line file will be treated as if they are the files that are to be compared and not the output file(s). This feature is merely just one way to bypass DOS's 125 character command line parameter limitation. For your information, the command line in DOS cannot exceed 128 characters, however some third party software will, but due to the its programming environment, LaserCompare will only see the first 125 characters correctly. If you do exceed this limitation by accident LaserCompare will inform you of this problem and abort. Another way of extending the command line over command line limitation is storing the command line parameters into the environment. Upon startup, LaserCompare will search for an environment variable called "LSRCMP". If found, it will read the data following the equal sign and append it to the end of the command line string. In order to set a variable in memory you must use the DOS command called "SET" followed by a space and the name "LSRCMP", the equal key, and then the additional commands you would like to use. For example, at the prompt, you can type: "SET LSRCMP=/B". Once you run and compare two files using LaserCompare, you will be able notice that LaserCompare no longer beeps when you prompted to abort the program. This is the same as typing: "LASRCOMP.EXE /B" Once you have set this variable in memory, it will stay there until you shut down your computer or type: "SET LSRCMP=" to clear it from memory. You are not limited to placing only one command parameter in memory, say you wanted to use /B, /C, and /T all at the same time, just type: "SET LSRCMP=/B/C/T". If you get any "Out of Environment Space" errors or similar errors, just simply look in your DOS manual to see how you can increase the amount of environment memory. [drive1:][path1]filename1 and [drive2:][path2]filename2 = The primary and secondary files. These are the files that you would like LaserCompare to analyze and display any differences detween the two. LaserCompare will not write or change any information that may alter the contents of these two files. [[drive3:][path3]filename3] .. [[drive12:][path12]filename12] = Output files. Probably the most unique feature of LaserCompare that (probably) no one has created is the ability to output to ten different output files in ten different locations, during one pass. This makes it easier to create multiple copies to all the nodes on a network, to quickly store backups in different directories, or easily output to each of your disk drives, or whatever it may be, rather than manually copying the output file to each of your destinations and checking to see if it was received. Tech Notes: If you decide to output to any files and you lose power, the output files will probably become unusable because they will not contain any type of end of file markers. If this does occur, you can simply delete the files from the disk or run a disk analysis and repair tool to fix these files. /? = Displays LaserCompare's brief internal help screen and ignore all other command line arguments. This command can be useful if you cannot remember a certain option and/or if do not want to look it up in this reference manual. The help screen will not give any details into the commands nor will it provide any examples which may be found in this manual. I suggest that you experiment with all the commands as well as read this reference manual to fully understand LaserCompare. No slash mark required. ____________________________________________________________________________ LaserCompare Reference Manual 6 Note: In order to execute any command option you are REQUIRED to use the slash mark ("/") before the letter or else it will be reguarded as a file. /A = Disable LaserCompare from automatically aborting if the files are found to be too different. If LaserCompare assumes that the primary and secondary files do not have any common lines within 100 lines apart it will automatically exit the process with the message "Files are too different". The more distinct the two files are from each other the longer the process. However, if you do not mind the wait, you can simply execute the /A option and LaserCompare will keep trying to match up the files until a end of file marker has been reached. LaserCompare will NOT match up any blank lines with each other. /B = Disables any beeps and/or sounds that are caused by LaserCompare. If you do not have a PC Speaker or just do not like listening to warning messages or prompting beeps/sounds then feel free to use this option. The only time that LaserCompare will beep are during these times: When the primary and secondary files are found to be too different (and no /A option was used), a error has occurred such as a "File Not Found", or if you are being prompted to answer a question. The /B option will not prevent the speaker from beeping if the keyboard buffer has been overloaded. Laser- Compare will usually filter out the buffer, of any keys that it cannot use or understand. /C = Ignore case differences between the primary and secondary files. Without this command, if LaserCompare was to find two lines that had one or more letters of a different casing, LaserCompare will flag it as a mismatch. Therefore, if LaserCompare found "Dear mr. Malor" in one file, it would NOT equal "Dear Mr. Malor" in another. If you would like LaserCompare to consider the upper-case and lower-case letters equivalent when comparing the files then be sure to enable this function by using the "/C" option. /D = Decrease data line to the first 256 characters. If you are trying to scan files with lines of 256 characters or greater you may get an "Out of String Space" error regardless of how much conventional memory you have available. LaserCompare can only address up to 64k of RAM for string space. This string space includes all the data from the primary and secondary files stored in a viewing buffer. The only way you can continue to compare these files is with the /D option. This will elimate any characters beyond the 256 point. This will mean that it will not check for file differences after the 256 character mark on every line. Even though you may not ever use this option in your life, it there just incase you need it. I have plans on replacing this problem within the next version. /E = Expand all tabs to n spaces. (Default=1 Range=0-9) While I was programming LaserCompare, I ran into one problem: How do I detect how many spaces a tab is equivalent to? It was not long until I found out that it could be anywhere from 0 to 9 (or in advanced programs up to 255). Since there is basically no universal setting everyone is satisfied with, I decided to let you pick a number from 0 to 9. If you do not use the /E option, a default of one tab character will be converted a single space. /F = Run file comparison test in fast/nonstop mode. If you desire speed or you just do not want to sit around looking at all the mismatches, you can use this option so LaserCompare can quickly scan through the two files as fast it can. If you have LaserCompare saving its output to a file or to a printer, it will output all the information as fast as it can. Once ____________________________________________________________________________ LaserCompare Reference Manual 7 you start the /F option, the only available option for you to do is wait for the program to finish or exiting the program by pressing the ESC key. /H = Halt upon the first mismatch or if files are identical. This will make LaserCompare abort itself once a mismatch has occured between the two two files or if the files are completely identical. If the program stops because of a mismatch, you will see the words "-[ Auto Halt ]-" just for your reference. If you are using a batch file to run LaserCompare, you can add Errorlevel statements to redirect the flow of procedures. If NO mismatches occur in during the comparison an errorlevel of 0 (zero) is returned, otherwise the errorlevel becomes 255. Below is a batch file that uses the errorlevel codes to display a message or delete the secondary file depending on the output. Shown below is the /H option in conjunction with a /O option and the ">Nul" command to reduce the amount of screen output which in turns increases processing performance. Example batch file -------------------------------------------------------------- @Echo Off C:\Lasrcomp\Lasrcomp.Exe %1 %2 %3 %4 %5 %6 %7 %8 %9 /H /O >Nul If Errorlevel 255 Goto NOTEQUAL If Errorlevel 0 Goto EQUAL :NOTEQUAL Echo Files are NOT identical. Del %2 /P GOTO END :EQUAL Echo Files are identical. :END Please note that when you are dealing with line labels, many operating systems will reguard "hello" different from "HELLO". If you were to say "GOTO HELLO", but the line label is actually called ":hello", DOS would flag an error. /L = Ignore leading spaces/tabs before each line. There will probably be times where you will not care about leading spaces/tabs such as when you are comparing two documents whose margins are of a different length. By using this option you can eliminate all the spaces and tabs before each line when it is being compared to another file. LaserCompare will NOT display the files without the spaces/tabs, but it will compare line by line without the leading spaces/tabs. You probably will not be using this option often but it may come in handy one day. To ignore trailing spaces/tabs on each line see the /T option later on in this manual. /M = Force monochrome mode even if color was detected. If you are having problems using LaserCompare on your monochrome monitor, it maybe due to the fact that it detected and attempted to transmit in color. By using this option, LaserCompare will still detect for color, but output only in monochrome. There may be a bug in where color monitors that emulate monochrome run LaserCompare fine, but exit with a blank screen. If this is the case, you may have to type the following command line in DOS once you exit LaserCompare: "MODE CO80" for color or "MODE MONO" for monochrome. This will reset all the colors on the screen and give you back a visible C:\> prompt. I have written a few letters concerning this but no one has a solution to this problem nor does it seem like it will be fixed. ____________________________________________________________________________ LaserCompare Reference Manual 8 /O = Output all file differences directly to DOS and override pauses. There may be times where you would like to redirect the output into a standard form so you can read it using another program like DOS's MORE command or into a file viewer. This option will prevent LaserCompare from loading the user interface and output all the mismatches directly to the screen nonstop. Try typing the following command: C:\LASRCOMP\LASRCOMP.EXE FILE1.TXT FILE2.TXT /O |MORE This will use DOS' MORE.COM program to read the output by page onto your screen. You can also redirect the output to a file, printer, or other devices that may or may not be available in LaserCompare, check your operating system's manual for more details on redirecting output. Note: You still have the option of pressing the ESC key to abort the process just as if you did not use the /O option. /Pn = Output results to a printer on LPTn. Default=1 Range=1-3. One of the neatest things about LaserCompare is its ability to output to not only ten output files, but at the same time, three printers (each of them must be connected to a separate LPT port), and the screen. This allows for multiple backups and hardcopies to be created in one pass. Even though as a user you may never have more than one printer connected to your home/office computer it is nice to know that you have the ability to do more than one printer using LaserCompare. Technical Notes: When LaserCompare transmits to more than one printer, it will send one line of information to every printer before proceeding onto the next line. This may slow down the process of printing from the start, but allows all of the printers to fill up their buffers. This will allow all the printers to operate at the same time, rather than one at a time. Be sure that you do not have any type of IRQ conflicts before assigning LaserCompare to work with multiple printers. To check for conflicts, try using a good diagnostics utility. /Q = Quick/nonstop mode. Do not show any file mismatching information. This is much like the /F option, except it will not output any of the mismatching information which may be essential for comparing. The only main purpose of the /Q option is basically to test the two files and tally up the total mismatches as fast as it can. For the fastest results of LaserCompare using the this mode, type: C:\LASRCOMP\LASRCOMP.EXE FILE1.TXT FILE2.TXT /O /Q (Please replace the files FILE1.TXT and FILE2.TXT with the actual files that you would like to compare.) When processing large files, it may seem as if the program freezes, but in the background it is comparing the two files in memory and preparing the output. Depending on the file sizes and the number of mismatches, this could take anywhere from several seconds to a few minutes. If it seems to be taking too long, press the ESC key anytime and abort the program and next time just leave off the "/O" option so you can see what LaserCompare is doing. For fastest results to determine if the files match or do not, use the /H option. See help on the /H option located in one of the previous pages in this manual. /R = Display the locations of the carriage returns onto the screen. If you do not enable the /T option and you see that LaserCompare has flagged a mismatch which looks identical, it may be because there were a different number of spaces or tabs at the end of one or more lines. By using the /R option, you can automatically have LaserCompare display where the carriage ____________________________________________________________________________ LaserCompare Reference Manual 9 returns are located on each line. There is basically no advantage over the /R option over the "R" key except that it is activated once the program begins comparing. /S = Strip Control/Extended ASCII characters. (Characters less than ASCii value 32 and greater than ASCii value 128 are discarded.) Let's say you wanted to compare two files which include these control or extended characters in the file such as when reading a WordStar(tm) document using a ASCii viewer. In Wordstar(tm), special characters are used to desinate that the following text will be bold, underlined, or of a different format. If you were to use this /S parameter, these characters will be filtered before compared and showed in their new form onto the screen and any other output locations. /T = Ignore trailing spaces/tabs after each line. This option is a duplicate of the /L option except it removes spaces and tabs after each line when it compares the files. See the /L option help located above for more details about removing the spaces/tabs. /V = Displays and transmits an errorlevel of the version number times ten. For batch file programmers, it may be difficult to write a new and separate batch file everytime a new program arrives. For example, this program, in the first version, you had to wait until the program fully analyzed both files, in version 1.1 I added a /H option, but it did not work correctly at first. Rather than making multiple batch files, you can now make one universal batch file. When using the /V option, a errorlevel will be given by LaserCompare. The errorlevel will be equal to the version number multipled by ten. Most operating systems do not support errorlevels with decimal places so I decided that this was the best way. So if the program is version 1.2, the errorlevel will be of the number 12. Since I do not plan on going beyond version 25.5, there should not be any problems for quite some time. Here is a sample batch file which utilizes this option. Note: If you use any options after /V they will be discarded because the program automatically exits with an errorlevel. Example batch file ------------------------------------------------ @Echo off C:\Lasrcomp\Lasrcomp.Exe /O /V >Nul If Errorlevel 13 Goto LSRCMP13 If Errorlevel 12 Goto LSRCMP12 If Errorlevel 0 Goto OLDLSRCMP Echo Version unknown or error occured. Goto END :OLDLSRCMP Echo Version 1.1 or earlier detected. Goto END :LSRCMP12 Echo Version 1.2 detected. Goto END :LSRCMP13 Echo Version 1.3 detected. :END Be sure that you include an /O option before /V or else LaserCompare version 1.1 will flag an error on /V, display its internal help file, wait for a key to be press, and the rest of the commands will be ignored. ____________________________________________________________________________ LaserCompare Reference Manual 10 /W = Enable Wait/Pause on the summary screen. Mainly for use with batch files. If you are using a batch file that includes the program Laser- Compare and you cannot read what it said on the summary screen before the next program started, then you need to use this option. The /W option will pause and wait for a key to be pressed before finally exiting the program. /Xn = Exclude program from using the last n lines. (Default=0 Range=0-9) This will not permit LaserCompare from using the last n number of lines on the screen. The default is 0 (zero) and the n (integer number) can be from 1 to 9. This was created to allow TSR's that use the lower portion of the screen to run without any type of video sharing and I also noticed that the automatic screen detection may over estimate the correct number of lines on some very old videos cards. If this is the case, use this option along with the number of lines it over estimated. If it was just one, you would type "/X1", for two lines it would be "/X2", and so forth. /Y = Suppresses prompting to confirm you want to overwrite the output files. Just for safety purposes, I have created LaserCompare to prompt you if you are about to overwrite a file. A yes/no choice prompt will appear saying: "Overwrite filename.ext?" (the "filename.ext" will be replaced by the file you are about to overwrite). If you would like LaserCompare to always overwrite over any files that you specify then add the /Y option. As mentioned before, "The author assumes no liability for damages, direct or consequential, which may result from the use of LaserCompare." /Zn = Sets the number of screen lines. No default. Range=1-6 (25,43, 50,28,30,60). This command will make LaserCompare alter the number of lines on the screen and revert back to its original mode when the program has terminated. This can also be useful if you do not like scrolling up and down a file looking at a large mismatching buffer. If you use mode four or above, a /W option will automatically be enabled so you can view the summary screen before it disappears. See the chart below explaining the differences between modes. /Zn Lines Mode Type Auto /W? Video Requirements ------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1 25 Text No Monochrome or better 2 43 Text No EGA or better 3 50 Text No VGA or better 4 28 Graphics Yes EGA Graphics or better 5 30 Graphics Yes VGA Graphics or better 6 60 Graphics Yes VGA Graphics or better Note: If you decide to use the /O option along with the /Zn option, the /Zn option will be disabled to prevent any errors to any files or devices that you may be redirection output to. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- KEYBOARD GUIDE General Keys: A = Automatic Scanning Mode. This mode will automatically jump to the next mismatch if you have been on idle for more than one second. Rather than pressing the space bar until you get to the specific mismatch, you can just press "A" and wait until you find what you want and then press "A" ____________________________________________________________________________ LaserCompare Reference Manual 11 again to turn off automatic mode. This can be useful to look for a certain mismatch without pressing the space bar so many times. D = Shell to DOS. This key will suspend the execution of LaserCompare so you may run a DOS command and come back to resume execution of Laser- Compare. Unpredictable results may occur if you try to modify one or more of LaserCompare's controlled files during your shell. Remember: Once you shell to DOS, you can always return to LaserCompare by typing: EXIT F = Fast Mode. This is basically the same function as the /F option except you may turn this off and back on at any point during the program. The fast mode allows you to skip through all the mismatches as fast as LaserCompare can handle them. At the same time, any files or printers that LaserCompare has control of will be written to during every mismatch as usual. If LaserCompare seems to be delaying while you are printing output, it may be due to the fact that one or more of the printer's buffers are filled. N = Normal Mode. To undo any type of special modes LaserCompare may be in, you can either press the key that started it or simply by typing "N". In normal mode, if you do not press any keys within ten minutes, the next mismatch will automatically appear. Eventually LaserCompare will exit itself after going though all the mismatches which could take anywhere from a minute to several days depending on the files being compared. P = Pause. At some point, especially in multi-tasking environments you may wish to put LaserCompare on hold. While LaserCompare is paused, it will no longer keep constantly watching the keyboard buffer for your next key, or read/write to any files allowing you to run other programs more efficiently. If you do not pause LaserCompare, it will automatcally jump to the next mismatch after ten minutes, or exit the program if its completed. During this period, LaserCompare will only check if any of the memory and time indicators once every two seconds to see if they have been changed and update them as needed. Q = Quick Mode. The fastest way to check the number of mismatches two files is using the Quick Mode. The Quick Mode can be started and stopped using the "Q" key. This key is equivalent to the /Q option however once you use the /Q option, you cannot undo it until LaserCompare has completed its task or you have exited the program. The quick mode will NOT display the mismatches into the viewer nor will it output any mismatches to any output files or printers. It will however output the header and summary to all requested output destinations. R = Show/Hide carriage returns markers. This will enable or disable LaserCompare from displaying where the carriage return markers are. If enabled, LaserCompare will display the carriage returns on all non-blank lines with purple colored opening guillemets (which look like two small less than symbols occupying one space). This can be useful in determining if there are any blank spaces after the text within the file. This will help you locate any trailing spacing differences LaserCompare may pick up if the /T option is not used. You can enable this feature from the start by adding a /R option onto the command line. Z = Redraw screen. This will refreshen the current screen. If you had any TSR (Terminate and Stay Resident) programs that may have interfered with LaserCompare's screen, you can simply press Z and it will start redrawing. ____________________________________________________________________________ LaserCompare Reference Manual 12 You may notice that the memory, date, and clock will take about a second before they are called for, this is due to the fact that LaserCompare calls for these updates once every second. ? or F1 = Help. By pressing this key you can display LaserCompare's internal help file. This help file will include a brief help of the available keys and some of the screen layout. The internal help will not display as much information that can be found in this documentation. Ctrl-Alt-T = Troubleshooting Mode. When enabled, you will see a message towards the lower right corner of the screen flashing and then disappearing. This message will inform you when LaserCompare is asking the operating system the current time, and ready for your next key. You will also see on the first line on the screen that the memory is no longer displaying the available memory, but the amount of memory that LaserCompare is using for its variables. ALT-X = Automatically exit program without any confirmation. If you think the "Abort Program? (Y/[N])" prompt is too slow, you can just hold down ALT and press "X" to quickly exit. All files will automatically close and all printer buffers will finish up to where you lefted off. You cannot press ALT-X during these times: 1. While you are being prompted to overwrite a file. 2. If it is in the process of saving a file or transmitting data to a printer. If this is the case, the ALT-X key will be held into a buffer until these primary tasks are done. MISMATCH VIEWER KEYBOARD COMMANDS Arrow Keys (Up, Down, Left, and Right) = When LaserCompare is about to display a mismatch, there are times when the viewing window will turn out to be too small. If this is the case, LaserCompare will allow the use of the arrow keys to allow you to move to a different section of the window. For everytime you press the up or down arrow, LaserCompare will scroll up or down one line. The left and right arrows will scroll the text in increments of five characters in the direction of your arrow. If you have reached the edge of the viewing window, the available arrow key box will dim the arrow or arrows according to which edge you have encountered. The viewing window can consist of 204 lines (this includes 100 lines of text files from each file and the four lines to indicate the beginning and end of the file). Horizontally there are up to 32767 columns. Page Up/Down = If you think that LaserCompare may be a little slow when scrolling line by line, you can jump up or down an entire window by pressing either Page Up or Page Down respectively. Note: When using these keys, LaserCompare will move up/down a screen full minus one line so you can easily find where you left off reading. Ctrl-Up Arrow/Ctrl-Down Arrow= These keys are identical to the Page Up/Down keys except that they will scroll up/down line by line until you have moved a page in length. Home/End = To quickly go to the beginning or the end of the window you can simply use the Home and End keys. The Home key will jump to the first line on the first column while the End key will jump to the last line on the first column from anywhere in the viewer. ____________________________________________________________________________ LaserCompare Reference Manual 13 TRANSMITTING OUTPUT TO DIFFERENT DESTINATIONS LaserCompare has the ability to transmit output up to 14 different destinations allowing it to be one of the most flexible programs on the current market. These 14 destinations include 10 files, three printers, and the screen. In order to output up to 14 handles you first must be sure that you have your FILES= setting to at least 25 or greater depending on your operating system. LaserCompare was extensively tested under a DOS based operating system with the FILES= setting at 25. To edit the number of FILES= your operating system can handle you will need to modify your CONFIG.SYS file and look for the line containing the word "FILES" and alter the number if necessary. You will have to reboot after you have saved any changes in the CONFIG.SYS file in order for the modifications to take effect. If you would like to transmit output a alternate device or program such as a modem or a file viewing program you can use the /O option and the redirection commands. To learn more about redirecting output, refer to your operating system's manual. If you are unfamiliar with the /O option, take sometime and look back a few pages in this manual and read on how to make LaserCompare output directly to DOS. MULTIPLE FILES To output to multiple files, you are required to list the file names on the command line that would like created AFTER the primary and secondary files. If you wanted to just to create one output files called O1.TXT, you would type: C:\LASRCOMP\LASRCOMP.EXE FILE1.TXT FILE2.TXT O1.TXT This will output a file to whichever directory you are current at. Now lets say you do not want to change drives to where you wanted to output it to. To output a file to the "A" drive of the directory of "OUTPUTS", you would add the drive destination "A:\" followed by the path "OUTPUTS\" before the file name. Such as: C:\LASRCOMP\LASRCOMP.EXE FILE1.TXT FILE2.TXT A:\OUTPUTS\O1.TXT However, if you need additional backups, say you wanted to create O1.TXT in the directory you are in, O2.TXT onto the current directory of "A:" drive, and O3.TXT in root directory of "C:" drive, you would type: C:\LASRCOMP\LASRCOMP.EXE FILE1.TXT FILE2.TXT O1.TXT A:O2.TXT C:\O3.TXT LaserCompare will analyze both the primary and secondary files and transmit output not only to the screen (default) but to the files O1.TXT, A:O2.TXT, and C:\O3.TXT. You can create up to a maximum of ten output files in ten different locations. If you run out of space typing out all your output files, look under the section called COMMAND LINE PARAMETERS for ways to bypass the limitation. By default, if LaserCompare has found a file that matches one of the output file names then you will be prompted if you would like to overwrite these old files. To avoid the prompt confirming that you would like to overwrite see the help concerning the /Y option in one of the previous pages in this manaul. Note: Files FILE1.TXT and FILE2.TXT are to be replaced with the actual files that you would like to compare. ____________________________________________________________________________ LaserCompare Reference Manual 14 MULTIPLE PRINTERS Now that you have learned how easy it is to create multiple output files, it would be helpful to learn how to output to more than one printer at one time. This can be handy for creating multiple hardcopies for backup purposes or whatever it may be. In order to tell LaserCompare that you would like it to output mismatches to a printer you are required to use the /P option. To have LaserCompare send output to a printer on LPT port 1 you would type: C:\LASRCOMP\LASRCOMP.EXE FILE1.TXT FILE2.TXT /P1 While you are viewing a mismatch LaserCompare will transmit the output to a printer. As you move to another mismatch, LaserCompare will then send the next mismatch information to the printer. This allows you to view each mismatch step by step and allow any printers to start decreasing some of the printer buffer between steps. If you would like it to print all the mismatches without delay then I would recommend that you press "F" to quickly scan through the entire file (or better yet, use the /F option which makes LaserCompare skip keyboard buffer checking.) To print to more than one printers you can simply type the last command line above and add the following options: /P2 (for a printer on LPT port 2) and /P3 (for a printer on LPT port 3). Your command line will be similar to: C:\LASRCOMP\LASRCOMP.EXE FILE1.TXT FILE2.TXT /P1 /P2 /P3 Technical Notes: When LaserCompare is dealing with one than one printer at a time, it will send one line of data to every printer before transmitting the next line. This allows each of the printer buffers to fill up evenly rather than waiting for one printer to finish before the next printer can begin. The only problem is if one printer is lagging behind in speed, it will slow down any faster printers or printers with larger buffers in the process. In conclusion I decided that it was better to run all three printers at the same time rather than one after the other. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- HOW LASERCOMPARE WORKS This section of the manual deals with the internal functions and features used in LaserCompare. This will help you to understand how the program briefly works. If you run across any errors while you are using LaserCompare try to pinpoint where the error occurs using the information below. Once LaserCompare has begun, the first thing it does is initialize the video using a series of routines to detect the screen resolution, if color is available, and the type of card. If it detects that it is in any unknown modes it will try to revert to the standard 80x25 screen. Afterwards, the command line you have may or may not given will be analyzed. If you do not include the two required file arguments the internal help file will be displayed and the program will exit. The next procedure is to translate the command line and check to see if you have registered the program. Once completed, LaserCompare will set up the screen according to any command line arguments and your hardware. The next part of LaserCompare is to check and compare your files for mismatches. ____________________________________________________________________________ LaserCompare Reference Manual 15 The first two files will always be considered the file to be compared and opened up as if they were in binary format. The binary reader will allow LaserCompare to test entire files 8096 bytes at a time rather than line by line as with some other file comparing software. While it is analyzing both files, it will tally up the total number of lines in both files. Once a mismatch has occured it will count the rest of the lines in the file, revert the binary reader to a ASCII reader for a more reliable report, and display the file date and lengths in bright red if a file has a different date stamp, amount of bytes and/or lines in the files. If any output files or devices exists, it will output them in the following order: the screen, any file(s) in the order according to the order in command line, and finally the printers from LPT ports 1 to 3. By default, LaserCompare will output to the screen only. This can be overcome depending on your command line. A ">NUL" will prevent LaserCompare from even displaying itself onto the screen. If you are saving to a slow disk drive, or multiple drives, you may see the words "Saving Output File:" followed by the file handle used by LaserCompare. If you have used any of the /Pn options you will see the message "Transmitt'n Line:" followed by the line number of the current mismatch buffer. If you are in the normal mode it will be ready for your next key, otherwise it may continue to the next mismatch until the program has completed. In normal mode, if you do not press a key within ten minutes, it shall continue to the next mismatch and output to all the required destinations. This will loop until the comparing processing is done. Once completed, you can then exit the program and view the summary status located on the last screen. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS (FAQ) If you have a question that you would like to ask me, check the list of questions below that are already answered so that I do not have to answer to any similar questions. Format of a FAQ: Num. Q. = Question asked concerning LaserCompare. A. = Answer. Answers may result in the problem(s) being fixed and may give you one or more possible solution(s). 1. Q. What is a FAQ? A. A FAQ is an acronym for Frequently Asked Questions, which lists commonly asked questions and their answers. FAQs may also give away important details and information that you would not know otherwise. 2. Q. What are the file limitations of LaserCompare? How large can my files be? A. Like every other piece of software there are limitations, and Laser- Compare is no different. LaserCompare has the ability to open a very large file depending on your operating system with a maximum of 922,337,203,685,477 lines. As for output files, LaserCompare will continue to write to the drive until your out of disk space. So, to sum it all up, you will probably will not reach the limit for quite sometime. I have not had the chance to try any ASCII files that were greater than 400 megabytes in length due to the fact that I ran out of disk space very quickly. ____________________________________________________________________________ LaserCompare Reference Manual 16 3. Q. Why does it take so long to compare two totally different files than the time it takes to compare two exact duplicates? A. First off, when LaserCompare begins, it will count the number of lines in both the primary and secondary files. If LaserCompare encounters a mismatch, it will revert to its line by line counter which may be slower, but reliable. If it does not find a mismatch, the program will come to the conclusion that the files are identical. 4. Q. When I let LaserCompare output mismatches to my Laser printer, nothing happens until I exit. Other programs seem to print out fine. What could be wrong? A. Laser Printers do not start any type of printing until all of the conditions are met: 1. They are warmed up and ready, 2. They have ink & paper, and/or, 3. The memory buffer is filled or a complete page of text is ready to be printed. Unlike Daisy Wheel, Dot Matrix, Ink Jets, and other line by line printers many Laser Printers wait until the entire document is done or a page is ready to be printed. This allows you, the user, not to have to wait for multiple warmups, and allows the software to complete it tasks so the printing can take place in the background. When you are stepping through each mismatch, LaserCompare only sends the data to your printers that it has found up to the point in your files that are being compared. As soon as a page is filled, or you exit the program, it will start printing. I would recommend that you use the /F option so LaserCompare will quickly scan through the file and output all mismatches as soon possible. 5. Q. Sometimes it seems like it does not update the date and time when it actually changes? What can I do to fix this? A. Nothing. When LaserCompare is at idle, it will check on the memory, date, and time to make sure they are correct. If you are running Fast Mode (which can be activated by the "F" key or the /F option) then to speed up the process, LaserCompare bypasses asking DOS what is the current status is. If you would like LaserCompare to tell you when its checking the system information you can press the following keys all at the same time: CTRL-ALT-T this will set the time/keyboard checking to ON. Towards the lower right on the screen you should see the message "Active" and then disappearing every two seconds. If you do not, then LaserCompare was probably too busy comparing mismatches or was not checking the keyboard buffer. Make sure you do not turn the trouble shooting mode to ON while you are in type of special modes such as Auto, Fast, Quick, etc, for it may not respond to those key combinations. 6. Q. Just how fast is LaserCompare compared to other comparing programs? A. Usually LaserCompare ended as the fastest of the programs, however it really depends on the number of mismatches and the complexity of the files being compared. This chart shows you LaserCompare versus DOS' File comparing program. Test consisted of two files of 5000 lines with a random number from 0 to 9 on each line. Speed Tests (Time in Seconds) LAS FCP ----------------------------------------------------------- One file to itself .55 .16 Two files with one ending mismatch 1.6 .22 Two files with one beginning mismatch 2.8 .22 ____________________________________________________________________________ LaserCompare Reference Manual 17 Two identical files .60 .22 Two different files (Output to a file only) 6.2 2.3 Two different files (Output to screen only) 12 51 Time to determine if files are identical .55 .16 Time to determine if files are different .60 2.3 ----------------------------------------------------------- Average Time (Margin of Error: 0.05 seconds) 3.1 7.1 Legend: LAS = LaserCompare 1.2 FCP = Dos' File Compare Source: The Software Workbench, Issue 1 - DOS Comparing Programs. 7. Q. Are you planning on making a Window's 3.1x, Windows NT/95 version of LaserCompare? A. Right now, No. But if I see at least a few people supporting this software I may be willing to create a separate windows version that would be able to use the same registration key later on in the year. In the meantime, you can use the .PIF and the .DLL files that were included in the archive to create a program icon in Windows. I currently have not purchased any type of Windows programming languages such as Visual Basic for Windows. 8. Q. How can I make LaserCompare just tell me one thing: Are the files the same or different? A. LaserCompare uses errorlevel codes with it exits. If there are one or more mismatches, the errorlevel with equal 255, otherwise, the errorlevel will become 0 (zero). To write a batch file to use these errorlevels you would type something similar to the following batch file: Example batch file -------------------------------------------------------------- @Echo Off C:\LASRCOMP\LASRCOMP.EXE %1 %2 %3 %4 %5 %6 %7 %8 %9 /O /H >NUL If Errorlevel 255 Goto NOTEQUAL If Errorlevel 0 Goto EQUAL :NOTEQUAL Echo Mismatches found. GOTO END :EQUAL Echo No mismatches. :END 9. Q. How can I use more than the nine command line arguments into my batch file(s)? A. Simply use the command called SHIFT into your batch files as shown below. The SHIFT command changes the position of replaceable parameters in a batch program. In this batch file, the %1 will be continuously loop and save it into a file until the command line is empty. Example batch file ------------------------------------------------ @Echo Off If Exist LCDATA.TMP Del LCDATA.TMP >Nul If "%1"=="" Goto ERROR :START If "%1"=="/?" Goto SHOWHELP ____________________________________________________________________________ LaserCompare Reference Manual 18 If "%1"=="" Goto RUNLC Echo %1 >>LCDATA.TMP SHIFT GOTO START :ERROR Echo No Command Line Parameters! :SHOWHELP C:\LASRCOMP\LASRCOMP.EXE /? Goto END :RUNLC C:\LASRCOMP\LASRCOMP.EXE @LCDATA.TMP :END If Exist LCDATA.TMP Del LCDATA.TMP >Nul This batch file will first check to see if the LCDATA.TMP file exist and delete it. Next, it will check for your command line arguments and append them into a file. If you did not enter any command parameters or one of the parameters is a "/?" then the batch file will execute LaserCompare's internal help system. If you enter a "?" (without the slash), do not worry, LaserCompare will detect this later on. After it has created a file with your parameters, it will use the file as a command line file for LaserCompare and run. LaserCompare will take this file, read it, convert it over to a command line in memory, and run itself using the new parameters. As soon as LaserCompare has completed its task, the batch file will resume and delete the LCDATA.TMP file. Please note that this batch was designed around LaserCompare and may not work for other software that do not support the '@' function in the command line. 10. Q. I am using a 386 based computer system and LaserCompare seems to be running a little slow. What can I do with my software setup that will increase its performance? A. If you are not, try using a disk cache program such as DOS's Smartdrive that will read files ahead of time and write to the drive during the background. This will allow LaserCompare to read the file data from memory rather than disk and allows data written to a disk while its processing its data. If you are running any TSR (Terminate and Stay Resident) programs such as a pop up clock, virus monitor, instant calculator, etc, in memory it may slow down Laser- Compare and may increase performance when they are removed. Be sure that you are not shelled from any programs such as Windows, Word Processors, or other applications which use up lots of memory. By running it in plain DOS, you will not have to worry about any "Out of Memory" errors nor slow down when another program is processing data. 11. Q. Are you planning on creating a configuration program for LaserCompare? A. No, or at least I am not planning on it. If you need any of the commands such as the /C option to ignore case differences then I would recommended that you make a command line file. By entering this file using with an '@' sign in front of the file name it will read the file contents and use them as its additional command arguments. Or you can modify your AUTOEXEC.BAT and set the environment "LSRCMP" and have equal to the "/C" command. See the section COMMAND LINE PARAMETERS for more details about both of these ways to make LaserCompare default differently. ____________________________________________________________________________ LaserCompare Reference Manual 19 12. Q. What are some example files that I can use to compare? A. If you use Windows, everytime you install something new your Win.Ini and sometimes your System.Ini files are modified. Usually the Setup programs will inform you on what your old Win.Ini files were renamed to, such as Win.000. Once you have installed it, try using Laser- Compare and see what it added or changed in the Win.Ini and the old .Ini file. If you do any type of programming and one day decided you wanted to undo the last few steps, but you have already saved it, you can compare the differences with your backups. Just run LaserCompare to see where the last few changes had taken place and possibly it may save you time from rereading or rewriting your entire source code. Another time you can use LaserCompare is when you have downloaded a nice program and you found out that there were changes in their huge instruction manual, (or a small manual such as the one you are reading..<G> ). If you take their old manual and LaserCompare it with the new one, you will be able to find where they added or changed probably much times faster than reading both manuals from the beginning. 13. Q. How big is your source code and what do you use to write your programs in? Have you made any other programs? A. As of 7/O1/96, the source code is 2,525 lines or 89,406 bytes long. I wrote the program in Assembler for some of the detection routines and some of the video output and Visual Basic for DOS because it will be much easier to translate the source code to Visual Basic for Windows whenever I can afford it. Yes, I have written another program called LaserPost for BBSes, however, it was not too successful since most BBSes already have built in autoposters and many sysops did not want an autoposter because people would cuss or advertise in it (even though LaserPost could filter up to 9999 custom phrases and deletes any advertising). I have spent about 800-900 hours on LaserPost, there are quite a few features and it has its own modem interface program so it will work on 99% of the BBSes out there. The lastest version is 1.6. If you are interested, search for the filename: LPOST160.ZIP. 14. Q. Why does it tell me "Files are Different" but it did not show any mismatches? A. The "Files are Different" indicator works by checking the file's status and then checks if any mismatches did occur. If the file's date stamp, number of bytes, or numbers of lines are different, or if LaserCompare finds a mismatch, it will flag the "Files are Different" indicator. If you use the /H switch, LaserCompare will only Halt and send an errorlevel of 255 for mismatches found in the actual text only. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- REGISTERING LASERCOMPARE If you find that LaserCompare to be useful or worth keeping I urge you to register and support the shareware concept. Registration costs only $10 (Payment must be in United States Funds Only). ____________________________________________________________________________ LaserCompare Reference Manual 20 The top reasons to register LaserCompare: - All new program updates will be usable with your lifetime key. - You'll will not feel guilty for using LaserCompare without paying. - You'll increase the probability of future improvements on LaserCompare. - For every registration, you'll increase my wage about $0.005 an hour. - Nearly every penny will go into registering other shareware products. - If you don't, people will laugh at you because you cannot afford $10 (US) If you have registered my previous program, LaserPost, before March 1st of 1996 then feel free to slash the price of LaserCompare down to $5.00 (US) for one copy (for yourself or business only). This is just one way of saying thank you for all that you have helped. I will be making one or two more revisions of LaserPost before I decide to either sell off the program or keep it to myself until a later date. To register, print out a copy of the REGISTER.FRM file. If you are planning to use a word processor to edit the form, please be sure that you lower the side margins so it will fit onto one page first. To print out a copy of REGISTER.FRM, type the following at the prompt (while you are in the directory where you installed LaserCompare): COPY REGISTER.FRM >>PRN The registration process may take up to 1-3 weeks depending on your location and any extra comments/requests. Registrations are processed on the day they are received and mailed on the next day. Send your completed registration form in mail along with $10 (check or money order only) to: LaserCompare Registration Jason Laviska 510 Tupelo Drive Melbourne, FL 32935-6371 Once you receive your key, you cannot return it for any type of refund or exchange. If you find that you are having problems with your key then we will send you a replacement as soon as possible. Do not expect any extra features to be enabled since, by demand, the shareware version is a fully functional/non-crippled version. The only difference from the registered version and the non-registered is you will not be annoyed by the little message on the bottom of the screen. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- VOLUME DISCOUNTS If you know of someone that is considering on registering LaserCompare you may be able to receive a group discount if all of the orders are processed at the same time. For multiple user ordering: Have each person submit a registration form with their personal information, and send it all the forms in one envelope. Make sure that the unit price has been altered to the correct discount price according to the chart. If this program is to be used on more than one computer such as in a school or in a business then registration copies should be purchased a volume. To convert the REGISTER.FRM file to a group registration form, change the unit price ($10.00) to the price of each copy according to the chart below. Indicate the quantity that you would like purchase and then fill out the rest of the form as usual. ____________________________________________________________________________ LaserCompare Reference Manual 21 Discount Prices: ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Number of Copies: O1-O3 O4-O9 1O-15 16-25 26-5O 51-99 1OO+ Price of Each: $1O.OO $9.5O $9.OO $8.5O $8.OO $7.OO $6.OO Percentage Saved: 0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 30% 40% ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- LASERARTS SUPPORT If you encounter any problems or you have suggestions on how we should improve the quality of LaserCompare please drop a message. In case of a problem should occur give all the steps you have taken to correct this problem first before writing to us, plus give us a brief summary of your hardware and what version you are using. Be sure that any questions you write do not appear in the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) section before writing or I may decide not respond to your question. Before submitting any suggesting, simply check the 'soon to come' section of of the manual before writing. I accept email from both registered, non-registered, and users who have no plans on registering LaserCompare. Internet e-mail address: jason.laviska@outdoor.com If you do not have access to internet email, send a postage stamp letter to: Jason Laviska, 510 Tupelo Drive, Melbourne FL 32935. If you are going to register, feel free to write any questions or comments on the back of the registration form. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- LASERCOMPARE REVISIONS Reference: > = New feature(s) added into the current program. + = Expanded or enhanced feature(s). * = Fixed problem(s). - = Feature(s) deleted. (Perhaps replaced by something better.) Please tell your friendly local sysops to delete any older versions of LaserCompare that may exist off their online services. This will help other people in downloading only the newest versions of LaserCompare, save some of that precious disk space for more releases of LaserCompare, reduce the number of complaints about missing features that were not included in the manual and lower the number of bug reports sent to me concerning older versions, and you may even get an brief 'Thank You' note from your sysop. Version 1.3 - 107K - O7/1O/96 - Several miscellaneous additions. > Sorry for the late release, but I ran into a few problems with a gitch in detecting the correct type of video. > Added a .DLL file, this file contains several icons for Windows and offers more choices than the .ICO file. > Added F-key support for all the key commands. Instead of pressing "A" for Auto, you can now press F2. Listing of keys is available by pressing the F1 key or the question mark ("?") for help. > Added the /S command parameter which will strip out Control and Extended ASCii codes from text. + Added a pause onto the error screen, which can be activated if a /W (Wait/Pause) parameter is used. ____________________________________________________________________________ LaserCompare Reference Manual 22 + Added the "Command Line:" information to the error screen. This may help you in figuring out what went wrong and make it easier to report any problems in email. (I have had a few people say the program messed up before it started comparing or upon exit, but could not give me the command line that they used which helps me in fixing it.) * Fixed "Bad file name or number" when a output location was used with the /H switch. - Removed .ICO file, this file has been replaced by a .DLL, a file which contains several icons. Version 1.2 - 106k - O6/O1/96 - Suggestions and all known problems fixed. > Lower price offer for those who have already registered LaserPost. See the section concerning "Registering LaserCompare" for more details. > This version only: With permission, I have included a file from The Software Workbench that rates this program along with other known file comparing programs. > LaserCompare will now check the environment settings to search for an additional command line arguments. See "Command line parameters" for more details. This is just another way to make LaserCompare auto default to different settings. > Added the /V option which will display and transmit an errorlevel to your batch files informing them on what version of LaserCompare is being used. Great for writing one batch file for all versions. > Added "-[ Auto Halt ]-" message which will appear if you use the /H option and if a mismatch was found. > Added the /Z4, /Z5 and /Z6 to the existing /Z option. This will allow you to run LaserCompare in a graphics modes. Will not work in Windows unless you have LaserCompare in a full screen. > Added "Z" key which will now redraw/refreshen the entire screen. > Message "Type EXIT to return..." now appears if you shell to DOS. > Added the File Date Stamp onto the top status bar. + Did some rearranging on the top status bar to include the File Date Stamp and more room to display a larger number of bytes and lines. + Added the ALT-X key allowing you to quickly exit without any prompts. + You can now press the F1 key instead of the "?" mark to bring up the internal help file. + Enhanced internal help file to include some screen layout information. + Fixed blank screen problem when returning from a Dos Shell. + LaserCompare now removes quotations marks from the command line. Some people have been typing "FILE1.TXT FILE2.TXT" (with quotes) in order to create one long %1 variable in their batch files. * Fixed problem with LaserCompare ignoring the extra data from one file if the other file reached an End of File marker. * Fixed LaserCompare from timing drive speed while being prompted to overwrite a output file. * Fixed and increased the speed of the file buffers for the primary and secondary files. * Fixed the timing systems from flagging an Overflow error when it was nearing midnight. * Fixed "Unregistered ..." message located on the bottom of the screen. * Fixed the command line file from creating a "Path Not Found" error if a another command parameter followed it. * Fixed the /H option from always telling you that the files were never identical. * Fixed the "Q" command from stopping before the comparison test was completed. * Fixed the available arrows from disappearing when you entered the help ____________________________________________________________________________ LaserCompare Reference Manual 23 screen. * Fixed the multiple parameter batch file in the FAQ to work correctly when a "/?" was given as a option. * Fixed monochrome screen from displaying some wrong colors. Version 1.1 - 98k - O5/O1/96 - Many additional features and some fixes. > Added file: LASRCOMP.PIF has now been included, for use with Windows. Please use this file in the command line of a progman item rather than the .EXE file, this will allow you to enter parameters during every program execution. > Added file: LASRCOMP.ICO. An icon file for Windows. > Added the key "?", this will activate the internal help screen located within the program concerning the available keystrokes. > Added the /D option which elimates anything after 256 characters on every line reducing the memory used by LaserCompare. > Added the /H option which automatically aborts the program if a mismatch was found or the files are identical. Mainly for batch files to determine if the files compared are identical or not. > Added the /R option which automatically shows the carriage returns. > Added the /W option for batch files which will pause and wait for a key before the program terminates. > Added the /X[n] option which will force the program not to use the last n number of lines on the screen. If auto detection over estimates the number of the lines on the screen, try using this command. > Added the /Z[n] option allowing you to change the number of lines on the screen up to 25, 43, or 50 depending on your display adapter. > Added "Output Files: ..." to the screen "Files are too different". + LaserCompare will now scroll sideways until the longest line has reached the end of the screen. + Duplicate LaserScan'n will now always compare files regardless of files differences and will automatically synchronize LaserCompare close to the first mismatch between the primary and secondary files. + Line tallying is now done while it is checking for duplicates. + Changed the "CR:ON" and "CR:OFF" to a dim or highlighted "CR" flag. + Added the message "Creating Output File:..." when a output file is created by the program. + If you have a slow disk drive LaserComp will inform you on the progress when it is saving one or more file(s). + Included the progress indicator for the printer to inform you on the current line of data being transmitted to the printer. + Increased reading/writing buffers from 512 to 4k bytes of memory allowing the program to analyze for mismatches more than accessing disk drives. * Fixed and improved some of the batch files in this manual. * Fixed the "Bad or Missing File" error when saving to a output file. * Fixed the /E option from activating the fast mode. * Fixed the /Q option from not aborting if the files were too different. The following revisions have been summaried to save paper and disk space: Version 1.O - 94k - O4/O1/96 - First release. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- SOON TO COME - (Later on in the year...) A Windows version, or another operating system, of LaserCompare. ____________________________________________________________________________ LaserCompare Reference Manual 24 - Perhaps, a fast built-in word counting subprogram. - Support sites for all my programs to only those who are seriously interested. - New video detecting routines for Mono, Ega, Vga, and Herclues video cards and monitors to replace Microsoft's(R) code. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- KNOWN BUGS (Miscellaneous Features) - LaserCompare will stop if a EOF (End of File) marker has been placed before the end of the file. - LaserCompare cannot accept files with lines over 32767 characters. - If you use the /Z5 or /Z6 options in Windows, be sure that you will be in a full screen. Otherwise, Windows will flag an error and prompt you if you would like to continue in a full screen. - If a file is dated before January 1, 1753 or after December 31, 2078, you can expect LaserCompare to miscalculate the date. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- BEST REGARDS - My teacher, Mr. Ross Decker, for getting me started in this project and all my friends at Brevard Community College for stealing . . . I mean borrowing evaluation copies of LaserCompare. :-) - Thanks to the people who responded from the International Batch File Echo for their support in the creation and the editing of the batch files found in this reference manual. - The people of Ziff-Davis Interactive for their support in distribution to many major networks and for their complete evaluations. - Ray L. Kaliss of The SDN Project for his help in worldwide distribution. - Walnut Creek's Simtel MSDOS CD-Rom service and CD distribution. - Matt Anderson and The Software WorkBench magazine for rating LaserCompare the Top Overall DOS Comparing Program. - To all of the registered users/colleges of LaserCompare: Ross Decker Brevard Community College ...and the registered sysops of the BBS utility, LaserPost, including: James Becker of Irresistible BBS William Herrington of SaddleBag BBS Yoel Pagan of The Realm BBS Stanley Mo of The Guyzer On─line Erick Gardner of Shadow Land BBS Dan Thompson of Cherokee Nation Erna J. Frenzel of Rebel Base Joseph Bernard of Last Impressions ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- NOTES Windows is a registered trademark of Microsoft Corporation. Microsoft is a registered trademark of Microsoft Corporation. Trademarks of other companies mentioned in this documentation appear for identification purposes only and are the property of their respective owners. ____________________________________________________________________________ LaserCompare Reference Manual 25