The Atari Compendium/The Atari Compendium (Toad Computers) (1994).iso/files/umich/apps/dtp/easymove.arc/EASYMOVE.DOC

Text File | 1989-04-23 | 7.7 KB | 135 lines

                        Easy GEM and IMG file Mover v1.2
                          Copyright 1989  Chet Walters


        If you use Easy Draw you know that it's a pain to keep track of
your IMG files and match them with the GEM file that tries to import them.
If it can't find an IMG where it thinks it is then OH OH!  Well, EASYMOVE
will end your hassels with Easy Draw and IMG pathnames!

EASYMOVE will move your GEM file and will read it as it does looking for
and finding the related IMG files.  It will then copy the GEM file to the
destination you choose and will bring along all the IMG files it finds while
at the same time changing the pointers within the GEM file to the new
location of the IMG files.  No more EDIT .IMG INFO!  You can grab images
from anywhere while your working on the file and not need to worry if they
still live there a week from now.  You can put all your images into a ram
disk while your working for fast redraws then just save the GEM file and
run EASYMOVE to get them all to a floppy in drive A: for safe keeping.
Work from any hard drive partition loading images from anywhere on the hard
drive then quit Easy Draw and let EASYMOVE do the painstaking task of
getting all the images in one place.

   There are are two options to choose from at the title box:

    COPY ONLY  - clicking this button will read the GEM file, reset the
               IMG pointers within, write the new file to the destination,
               copy all the referenced IMG files that can be found to
               the chosen path while leaving the original files untouched.
               Use EASYMOVE to put a GEM file and all it's images onto a
               floppy to share with your friends!

    MOVE ALL   - clicking this button will do all the things the COPY button
               does but when it's fininshed, it will DELETE the original GEM
               file and also all of the image files referenced.  Use care
               here!  Make sure you have good media for the destination!
               This is a great way to clean up your hard drive!
           NO WARRANTIES ARE EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED! YOU'RE ON YOUR OWN HERE!

   You can abort the process by pressing any key during the run. One note:
if you click on the DON'T ASK button (you'll see it) the program will never
again ask you for confirmation on any of its moves, copies or deletes
(unless you're inattentive enough to set the source and destination GEM
files to the same name and path!)

Some hints:  I had originally designed this program with the ability to
create folders if desired and then stuff all the IMG and GEM files into it.
However, I found that some (lots actually) of my GEM files shared the same
image files and that took up double disk space.  I found it's best to just
send all the stuff to the root directory or at least the same folder when
using EASYMOVE.  With the way Easy Draw constructs GEM files with the
pointers to image files, they "act" like folders in themselves. If you put
them on the root, then you can easily find the image files for use later on
with other of your GEM creations.

It's best to get in the habit of using EASYMOVE with the root directory of
drive A: as the destination path.  Since the drive specifier MUST be saved
along with the IMG name, if you use this as a constant you'll always know
just where to load the GEM file from so it will be able to find it's IMG's
when it prints.  Also, EASYMOVE does NOT check for the existance of ANY of
the destination files.  It simply overwrites them.  This is actually much
faster than checking for the existance of each and every file copied or
moved.  I've found that 99% of the files, either GEM or IMG, that exist have
unique names and that's as it should be.  If you happen to have two IMG or
GEM files which are different but share the same name, you will lose the
originals on the destination disk.  You'll find that this is an extremely
rare occurance, however.   HOPE YOU ENJOY!



   This program is SHAREWARE and donations are appreciated. Send what you
think it's worth to:

                                Chet Walters
                                PO Box 45
                                Girard, Ohio   44420

                        SUPPORT THE SHAREWARE NETWORK!

If you're generous, you will receive in return the entire NEO STAG utilites
disk as a bonus!   Thanks!

UPDATE:  This program was essentially designed to help hard drive owners be
somewhat more flexible with Easy Draw and to aid in the transfer of GEM
files with their related IMG files onto the floppy in drive A:  However, it
has been brought to my attention that if one wishes to transfer GEM and IMG
files from one floppy to another EASYMOVE's ideal destination (root of A:)
becomes pointless because the drive specifier MUST be stored along with the
IMG name in the GEM files.

  This brings up a thorny problem: if a GEM file originally created on drive
A: is now on the floppy in drive B: while one tries to transfer that GEM
file to the floppy in drive A: (the ideal destination for EASYMOVEs) then
EASYMOVE will look on the floppy in drive A: for the images since the GEM
file says that's where they are.  Now, of course they can't be there yet
since the GEM file (having been originally created on drive A: or having
been previousely moved there by EASYMOVE) is on the floppy in drive B: while
all the pointers within that GEM file point to images that are expected to
be on the floppy in drive A: but aren't since you've placed the floppy
itself in B: for the transfer.  (CLEAR? I thot not. Try to program that!
YIKES!) Anyway, EASYMOVE has now been modified to react to this bizzarre
situation in the proper manner.  Please pay attention:

IF the source GEM file is on a floppy in drive A: or drive B: and the dest-
ination GEM file is to go onto a floppy in drive A: or drive B: and EASYMOVE
cannot find the IMG file called for on the drive to which the source GEM
file itself points (that being drive A: or drive B:) then EASYMOVE will
search the other floppy drive (that being drive A: or drive B:) for the
requested IMG file before it flags it as not being found.  This is just to
accomodate floppy to floppy transfers.  If the source GEM file calls for
an IMG file with a drive specifier (letter) higher than "B" (ie look on the
hard drive or RAMDISK) then the further search will not take place.

  In short (I know, too late already) if you're transferring from floppy to
floppy then EASYMOVE will help you out in keeping the IMG files straight
(you'll need it since the media itself can be moved from drive to drive).
However, if you're transferring from hard or ram drive to floppy or other
partition then no additional searching takes place (you can't actually
remove the media unless you have one of those fancy dancy removeable
flopticals or the like in which case you likely have one dedicated to GEM
and IMG files anyway and your GEM and IMG files will all be in one place for
easy transfer to a floppy or hard drive partition).

REMEMBER: that throughout all this, your best destination for EASYMOVE
transfers to a floppy is ALWAYS the root directory drive A: !Always! If you
use that norm, EASYMOVE can and will be quite friendly and helpful to you.

Version 1.2 notes:  Easy Move will now NEVER delete a file if the source
and destination paths and names are the same. It will merely skip the file
and move on to the next one.  It will still, however, read and reset then
rewrite a GEM file to itself. It will NOT copy an IMG file to itself (this
is only true if the entire path and name match meaning the file is already
where it needs to be) but it will copy and delete any IMG's which may have
the same name but reside in different paths.                  4/22/89