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1989-03-12
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DISKOVER Users Manual Feburary 2, 1989
DISKOVER (C) Copyright 1986, 1989 by Karson W. Morrison
DBA Caleb Computer Consultants
Written by Karson W. Morrison
Documentation by Dex Hart, Miami Fl.
This program is licensed subject to the following conditions:
1. The program DISKVR5X and its derivatives may not be copied
or shared. It is for the use on one CPU. The user-
supported version DISKVR4X and its derivatives maybe copied
and shared subject to the following included conditions:
1. This program may be copied ad lib providing the
owners copyright notice and disclaimers of warranty
are reproduced in full.
2. Copies of the program may not be sold, the only charge
may be for copying services. (No more than 10 dollars)
3. That all copies furnished to others include the
program, DISKOVER.DOC, and the README.1ST files, and
that the DISKOVER.DOC file contains the form to be
used when registering the program with the author.
2. The authors copyright notice are not to be removed.
3. The program and documentation is supplied as-is and the
author disclaims all warranties, expressed or implied,
including, without limitation, the warranties of
merchantability and the warranties of fitness for any
purpose.
4. The author further reserves the right to make changes to
the program or documentation without obligation to notify
any person or organization of such changes.
DISKOVER Users Manual Feb. 2, 1989
DISKOVER (C) Copyright 1986, 1989 by Karson W. Morrison
DBA Caleb Computer Consultants
Written by Karson W. Morrison
Documentation by Dex Hart, Miami Fl.
What is DisKover? _________________
DisKover is a utility which prints sleeve inserts for floppy
disks. This seemingly simple objective is accomplished with
style and lets you find programs and files without inserting a
disk in your computer and without using a complex disk filing
program. DisKover does some other neat things too, but we'll get
to those later. This program is for PC/XT/AT and compatible
computers. A dot-matrix printer or HP LaserJet capable of
condensed print (17 cpi or similar) is required.
We've discovered most users don't want (or need) what is
essentially a data base (disk filing) program just to locate a
file. The filing system we ourselves use (and we have a LOT of
floppies) is to use plastic 50-75 disk storage boxes with
dividers. We label the dividers with headings such as 1-2-3, BBC
Utility, Hard Disk Utility, DOS, Data Base, Word Processing, Back
Up and so on. The idea is to roughly cluster disks by type.
Sample DisKover (Ver. 5.0) printed on HPLaser Series II Printer
When you use DisKover, you get a sleeve insert with a neat,
double-column, condensed-type printout of a sorted disk
directory. This is a full-info printout, with files sorted (your
choice of sort type with version 5.0) and time and date stamped.
The time and date of insert creation is also included, along with
disk free space and a plus--bytes occupied by the files. Plus
volume-ID, if present. The program does not give you a file
count, but then you're looking at them. Using DisKover makes for
a simple system, and finding a particular program rarely takes
more than a few seconds--find the general category (which
"shoebox") and then scan just a few disk inserts. You quickly
DisKover the file you want. ________
Diskover Users Manual Page 2
DisKover prints your directory listing inside a disk-sized
border--just cut on the dotted lines and your insert will slide
neatly into the sleeve, "Kovering" your disk. If the file count
exceeds the size of a floppy, the length is doubled, with a neat
fold-line indicated. The need for this is rare, but when you
know you face a disk loaded with files, it's neatest if you print
that one at the top of a page, to prevent the intrusion of a perf
line. (If you do get a perf line inside a DisKover printout, the
program is smart enough to skip to the next top-of-form so the
alignment is retained; you can either redo the cross-perf
printout or just reinforce the perf line backside with
transparent tape.)
Normally, two DisKovers are printed per page. Perf skip and form
feed are automatic, of course. And when you exit, your printer
is on the original perf-line and reset to default mode. Neat and
tidy...."well-behaved."
File Explosion: _______________
One of the neatest tricks DisKover can do is split out (explode)
*.arc and *.lbr files. If you so elect. If you're not a software
freak and don't download programs from electronic bulletin
boards, this may not mean much to you. Let's explain: ARC means
an "archive" file (LBR stands for "library"), which is simply a
group of files individually squeezed and then collected into one.
This is done to allow a multi-file program to be downloaded via
your modem in a single step (only one file name) and more quickly
because the *.arc file is much smaller than the sum of its
unsqueezed parts (you don't want to waste Bulletin Board System
(BBS) time--and you may be on long distance).
Once downloaded, you will split and unsqueeze the *.arc file at
the same time, with a single command, easily, fast, and reliably.
There are single purpose programs from Phil Katz or Vern Buerg
that do only this. You may have received the text you are now
reading as part of an ARC'd DisKover version (version 4.x) from a
friend, a user group, or a bulletin board.
Sometimes you split up a file, look at it, and want to save it
even though you have no immediate use for it. So save just
the *.arc file and discard the rest. Yet you may elect to list
all the files in the arc when you create the sleeve insert with
DisKover even though the "members" of the arc file have not been
extracted. DisKover prints the arc contents without disturbing
the arc file or filling your floppy with actual files. You save
a lot of floppy space this way and also keep all the program
members in one place--nothing gets lost.
If you have the full-size ARCHIVE.EXE utility itself (which
allows you to create arc files, and even run a program from
within an arc file, you may go in and read the doc or "read- ______
me" file without even bothering to un-arc the whole....IF you
know it exists and what the name is. With DisKover you will.
Diskover Users Manual Page 3
If you have a hard disk and split up an *.arc file to try it out
and later want to discard it, how do you know which files on your
crowded directory belong together? The easiest way is to look at
the floppy containing the *.arc file in question, read the
DisKover insert, and you'll find a complete list of the files in
question. Deletion then becomes easy and safe.