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w1ZGENw0
v1.03
MS-DOS File and Archive Management Utility
(C) copyright 1990 RWare Software Company
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
ZGEN Documentation
Disclaimer:
RWare makes no warranty of any kind, either express or implied, including
but not limited to implied warranties of merchantablility and fitness for
a particular purpose, with respect to this software and accompanying
documentation.
IN NO EVENT SHALL RWARE BE LIABLE FOR ANY DAMAGES (INCLUDING DAMAGES FOR
LOSS OF BUSINESS PROFITS, BUSINESS INTERRUPTION, LOSS OF BUSINESS INFORMATION,
OR OTHER PECUNIARY LOSS) ARISING OUT OF THE USE OF THIS PROGRAM, EVEN IF RWARE
HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES.
By using this program, you agree to these terms.
Trademarks:
PKZIP and PKUNZIP are trademarks of PKWARE Inc.
ARC is a trademark of System Enhancement Associates.
PAK is a trademark of NoGate Consulting.
MS-DOS is a trademark of the MicroSoft Corporation.
4DOS is a trademark of J.P. Software
Turbo C is a trademark of Borland International Inc.
The Rware Software comapany is not associated with the above firms.
License:
ZGEN is distributed under the shareware concept. You are allowed to freely
copy and distribute the unregistered versions of the files ZGEN.EXE and
ZGEN.DOC without modification and in their entirety, and this program is not
misrepresented as free or public domain software. No fee exceeding
$5.00 U.S. may be charged for specific access to this program. You
are granted permission to use this software for a period of thirty
(30) days. At the end that period, you must either register ZGEN or
struggle with your conscience.
Registering:
The registered version of ZGEN does not print the exit message. The
unregistered version is as fully functional as the registered version.
To register ZGEN, fill out this form completely :
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
RWare Software Company
1510 Silver Creek Circle
Norman OK 73071
Name:__________________________________________
Company:__________________________________________
Address:__________________________________________
City:_________________________ State:_________
Zip:________________ Country:________________
Where did you get ZGEN?___________________________________
Computer Brand Name and Model :___________________________
Computer Processor: ( ) 8086/88 V20/30 ( ) 80286 ( ) 80386 ( ) 80486
DOS vendor and version:____________________________________
ZGEN registration costs $20 in North America, $23 elsewhere.
A 10% discount is available for orders over 10 in quantity.
By registering ZGEN, you will be given a 360K 5¼" disk with the latest
registered version of ZGEN, and voice technical support.
Upgrade poilicy:
Upgrades will be offered at the price of the diskette postage and
handling. Rware will send notices of changes in versions to registered
users. The RWare software company reserves the right to discontinue
development of this software.
What is ZGEN?
ZGEN is a directory program that provides an alternative to the DOS
command line. ZGEN gives the user freedom to zip through file directories
and perform various actions on files that might be done from the DOS command
line. ZGEN also has the ability to search through the directories of
various archives programs such as .ZIP files, .LZH files and .ARC/.PAK
files. ZGEN will never directly alter an archive, it is done with
configuration programs.
ZGEN software requirements
ZGEN takes about 140K of free memory to run. ZGEN requires DOS 3.0 or
better, a listing program, and the archiving programs for the archive
types that you use.
For a listing program, I suggest getting LIST written by Vernon D. Buerg.
For a users of 4dos, the internal list command does fine.
Since 4dos is mentioned in this document, and it is an excellent
replacement for command.com, this is the address:
J.P. Software
P.O. Box 1470
E. Arlington, MA 02174
LIST is available as shareware, the latest version is LIST73D.???
Vernon D. Buerg
139 White Oak Circle
Petaluma CA 94952
PKZIP/PKUNZIP, written by Phil Katz is available as shareware.
It supports the .ZIP archive format.
It is usually in an archive called PKZ102.EXE
Later versions of this software may have a higher version number.
PKWARE, Inc.
7545 N. Port Washington Rd.
Glendale WI 53217.
LHARC, written by Haruyasu Yoshizaki is available as freeware.
It supports the .LZH and .LZS archiving formats.
Its current version is in a file LH113C.EXE, available on many BBS's.
PAK, written by NoGate consulting, is available as shareware.
It supports the .ARC, .PAK, .SDN and .ZIP file formats.
Its current version is available in a file called PAK250.EXE,
available on many BBS's
NoGate Consulting
P.O. Box 88115
Grand Rapids, MI 49518-0115
ZGEN also supports the backgound print spooler TSR program PRINT.COM
to print files. The program is available with MS-DOS starting at 3.0.
This program communicates through the interrupt 2fh.
Installing ZGEN
To call ZGEN from any directory, place ZGEN in a directory that is specified
by the DOS path enviroment variable. To set the you use a statement
like:
SET PATH=C:\;C:\UTILS;C:\TOOLS
where the directories to be searched are seperated by semicolons. See
your MS-DOS reference manual for more information.
When ZGEN is first executed, it will create a definition file called
ZGEN.CFG in the same directory as ZGEN.EXE. ZGEN will also place
directory tree map files in this directory named ZGEN.TRx where x is a
drive letter, for each fixed device logical drive.
The default configuration assumes that the files PKZIP.EXE,
PKUNZIP.EXE, LHARC.COM, PAK.EXE and LIST.COM are in a directory
specified in PATH.
If you wish to use the internal 4dos command list, change the viewing
program command under options from "list %" to "*list %"
Using ZGEN
To use ZGEN, type ZGEN at the DOS prompt. ZGEN will display the
current directory's file entries. The display is similar to the
information given by the DOS dir command. The top lines displays the
current drive, directory, dos version and the volume label of the
disk. File entries show the filename, size date, time and attributes
of the file. "r" means that the file is read only, "s" means that the
file is a system file, "h" means that the file is hidden, and "a"
means that the file has been changed since last backup. In ZIP file
directories, there will be a "*" beside the attributes if the file is
encrypted. ZGEN also supports 4DOS file descriptions, which are placed
in a hidden file called DESCRIPT.ION The last line displays the number
of subdirectories and files in the currrent directory.
In archive directories, ZGEN displays the full path name of the
current archive file, file spec, and the archive comment on the top
line. The bottom line displays the the number of files inside the zip
file and the file size of the zip file. The entry display is the same
as a normal directory entry except the file comment (if any) is
displayed. The file size denotes the uncompressed size of the file.
Note that currently only ZIP and PAK archives support archive comments.
Moving through ZGEN
You may move the select bar by using the up and down cursor keys and page
by using <PgUp> and <PgDn>. <Home> will place the select bar on the first
entry, <End> will place the select bar on the last entry.
The <Esc> key will take ZGEN to the parent directory of the current directory
or the current directory if viewing an archive.
<Enter> will do a certain action depending on where the select bar is
positioned. If the selected entry is a subdirectory, ZGEN will then move
to that subdirectory. The ".." entry indicates the parent directory and
will postion ZGEN there. If the file is an archive file, ZGEN will
display the directory of the that file. If the file is a .EXE, .COM,
.BAT or a .BTM (under 4dos) file, the file is executed like using the
<Alt-R> option except that you are not prompted for parameters. In
all other cases, the file is viewed the same as using the <Alt-V>
option.
Pressing a letter will move the select bar to the next entry (if any) that
begins with the letter pressed.
Commands:
Most commands in ZGEN are executed by pressing the <Alt> key and a letter.
This means that you must hold the <Alt> key and the letter at the same time.
<+> Marks a file ( for processing by a command )
When a file is marked, the '»' character will appear by the entry.
Marked files are processed by the <Alt-A>, <Alt-C>, <Alt-M>,
<Alt-P>, <Ctrl-T>.
and <Del> commands.
<-> Unmarks a file.
<Alt-A> Create a .ARC/.PAK archive. All marked files, or the currently
selected file will be archived with the .PAK/.ARC file
archiving command.
<Ctrl-A> Force an .ARC/.PAK file directory view.
<Alt-C> Copies (or unzips) a file(s). If no files are marked, then
The currently selected file is copied. ZGEN will display the
directory tree so that you can select a directory to copy the
file or files. ZGEN will ask for confirmation if the verify mode
is on before overwriting any files in the target directory.
If the selected file(s) are in an archive, the the
unarchiving command is used for the archive type. If the
selected entry is a directory, ZGEN will xcopy the contents
of the directory to another directory ( like the DOS xcopy
command ). If there is a description for the file, the
description is moved also.
In archives, the archive command is used to unarchive the file.
<Alt-D> Changes the current drive. ZGEN will prompt you to change to any
valid logical drive.
<Ctrl-D> Describe a file. This allows you to create or edit the select
file or directory description. This is like using the describe
command in 4DOS. 4DOS is not needed for file descriptions.
File descriptions are stored in a hidden file called
DESCRIPT.ION. If the selected file is inside an archive, the
archives' description command is invoked.
<Alt-E> Edit function key definitions. You may define various
programs or command to execute from ZGEN and assign them to
the function keys F1-F10.
The information that you assign to a function key will be executed
as if you typed the same information at the DOS command line with
a few minor execeptions. If no directory information is included
with program name, the file is first searched for in the current
directory, and then in the directories specified in the dos PATH
variable.
Batch files ( files with the ".BAT" extension ) must be denoted in
the definition by including the extension ".BAT". Note that
When a batch file is run, a second copy of command interpeter
is invoked to run it.
Function key definitions may use the macros %, %., %:, %a, %p.
These macros expand to:
% name of the selected entry
%. name of the selected entry without extension
%: name of the current directory
%a name of the archive file that is being viewed
%p pause after program execution
* (start of command) invoke command interpeter for this
command
examples:
I use an editor that has the file name q.exe. It exists in a
directory specified by PATH. To edit the currently selected
file from ZGEN, I assign a key the statement "q %".
To change an archive file comment in a ZIP archive that I am
viewing, I assign a key the statement "pkzip -z %a"
You can also use statments that use redirection and piping by
invoking the command interpeter. For example, to sort a text
file and view the output via list, I use:
*type % | sort | list /s
WARNING: Do not execute TSR ( memory resident ) programs from
function keys. If a TSR is executed, it will claim a memory block
that will split free memory into two parts. When ZGEN terminates
and may lock up the system or prevent other programs from loading.
<Alt-F> Find a file. ZGEN will prompt you for a file name. The DOS
wildcards '*' and '?' may be used. ZGEN will search all of the
directories of the current drive for the file specified. After
a conventional file search, ZGEN will search the directories of
all the archive files on the current drive. After a match is found,
ZGEN will display the directory that the file is in and move the
select bar to the entry. If <Alt-F> is pressed again, ZGEN will
ask if it should continue the search. If Answered <N> (for no)
ZGEN will prompt you for another file name to search for.
<Alt-G> Changes the current directory. ZGEN will display the
directory tree for a directory to change to. This is the
same as using the DOS 'cd' or 'chdir' command. ZGEN will
load the directory specified.
<Alt-H> Shows help screen. This will show a pop-up window of commands.
<Alt-K> Allows you to create a subdirectory in the current directory. You
will be prompted for a directory name.
<Alt-L> Create an LZH archive. This will invoke the lzh file archive
command on the selected file or files.
<Ctrl-L> Force an LZH directory view of the selected file.
<Alt-M> Move files. This option will allow you to move files to any other
drive/directory. Note that you can use this command in an
archive, but the files will only be unarchived and not
deleted.
<Alt-O> Change configuration. This will allow you to change the colors
in ZGEN and to specify different commands for viewing and
archive managment. You may also choose a directory sorting
method, specify displaying file names as lower or upper case
and specify whether or not to display hidden files.
You also set the viewing program and the archiving options
from here. These options use the same macros as the function
key defintions.
unarchive : command to unarchive a single file from an
archive. %a is substituted with the name of the archive
file, and % is the name of the file inside the archive.
archive : command used to archive a single file.
view : command used to view the selected file in an archive.
print : command used to print the selected file in an archive.
describe : command used to create a comment for selected file
in an archive. Note that LHarc does not support file comments.
unarchive with pwd. : This command is used to unarchive a
file that is encrypted. Currently ZIP files are the only
archives that indicate encryption in the file directory. The
special macro %e will ask prompt you for the password and
place it in the command. You may leave this command blank.
unarchive list : command used to unarchive a file with a list
of files. A temporary ascii text file is created containg a
list of files to be unarchived. The name of this file
replaces the % parameter. Note that if this entry is blank,
the unarchive command is used instead.
archive list : command used to archive files in a list. As
with the unarchive list command, the archive command will be
used instead if this entry is left blank.
aliases : This is a list of file specs delimited by spaces
to tell ZGEN which files are to be treated as this archive
type. They can use either the * or ? wildcards. A file spec
can be like *.Z?? or MYSTUFF.LIB or C6E50000.*
<Alt-P> Print file (or files). This command will print the selected files
to the default printing device. If the print spooler PRINT.COM
has been installed ( available with MS-DOS 3.0+ ), the file name of
the file to be submitted to the print spooler for printing.
For archived files, the archive print command is used.
<Ctrl-P> If the print spooler ( PRINT.COM ) has been installed, this
function will display the contents of the printer queue and put
the print spooler on hold. The first file being displayed is the
one currently being printed. Files may be deleted from the queue
by selecting the file and pressing <Del>. <Ctrl-C> will cancel
all files in the queue.
<Alt-Q> Quits ZGEN and returns to DOS.
<Alt-R> Execute (or Run) a file. This command will not work if viewing a
archive file directory. You may execute either a .COM, .EXE
or .BAT, or .BTM ( Under 4Dos ) file that is currently
selected. If the selected file meets the requirements, a
pop-up window will prompt you for any parameters for the
program.
WARNING: Do not execute TSR's with this command. This may cause
unpredictable effects with the operating system.
<Alt-S> Switch screens. This will allow you to view the DOS screen. This
command is useful in that you may want to see the output of a program
after executing it.
<Alt-T> Toggles the state of the verify mode. If the verify mode is toggled
off, ZGEN will not ask for confirmation to overwrite or delete files.
<Ctrl-T> Change file attributes. This command will not work on archives.
ZGEN will offer a window of actions to perform on various file
attributes. Pressing the letter of the file attribute toggles the
the state of the file attribute between no change, set and clear.
This action will be performed on all the marked files, or if none
are marked, the currently selected file.
What file attributes mean:
Read Only - The file cannot be changed or deleted by DOS
Archive - The file has been changed since last backup.
This bit is cleared by programs such as the
DOS's BACKUP and other backup utilities.
This bit is set whenever a change occurs to
the file.
Hidden - The file is hidden by the DOS dir command and
other commands.
System - The file is a system file such as IO.SYS and
MSDOS.SYS. There should be little need to change
this bit on most files.
<Ctrl-V> Allows you to change or create the volume label of the current
drive.
<Alt-X> Quits ZGEN and returns you to DOS. This command will also restore
the directory and drive that you were in when ZGEN was first executed.
<Del> Pressing the delete key will delete the marked files or the current
entry if none are marked. If the selected entry is a directory, the
directory is removed (including any contents). You will be asked for
confirmation before deleteing any files if the verify mode is on.
In archives, the delete command is invoked.
<Alt-V> View selected file. If ZGEN is currently displaying an
archive directory, ZGEN will execute the archive's viewing
command. On conventional files, the currently selected view
program is executed.
<Ctrl-Enter>
This command will run the selected file if it is a .EXE or
.COM program and terminate ZGEN.
<Ctrl-Z> Force ZIP directory view.
<letter> Pressing a letter will move the select bar to the next filename
that matches letter.
<\> This will place you in the root directory of the current
drive.
Subdirectory Tree display
The subdirectory tree is displayed when you select the <Alt-G>, <Alt-C> or
<Alt-M> commands. ZGEN will display a tree of the subdirectories of the
current drive. While veiwing a subdirectory tree, there are a few commands
available.
<Alt-D> Change drive. You will be prompted for a drive letter and then
that selected drive's tree is displayed.
<Alt-K> Make a subdirectory. This function will prompt you for a
subdirectory name that will be placed in the currently selected
directory.
<Alt-P> Print directory tree structure.
<Alt-R> Reread directory. This function will rebuild the tree being
viewed. This may be necessary if the directory structure has
been altered by programs other than ZGEN.
ZGEN Error Messages:
Invalid Directory
- An invalid directory was specified. This error may
occur if a floppy disk was swapped on ZGEN.
Invalid Drive
- The drive specified is not valid. This may be reported after
a critical hardware error.
Can't find 'XXXXXX.XXX'
- Program that was to be executed was not there. Be sure that the
program has a fully specified path name and is spelled correctly.
Not enough memory to exec 'XXXXXXX.XXX'
- There was not enough memory to execute the specified program. This
error might occur if there are too many TSR programs in memory or
ZGEN is executed from another program.
Error in the exec of 'XXXXXX.XXX'
- Some other error occured in the exec of the specified
program.
Unable to Copy
- The destination disk is may full or write protected, or the
you are attempting to overwrite a file with the readonly bit
set or a subdirectory with the same name.
Unable to remove 'XXXXXX'
- ZGEN is unable to remove a sub directory. You cannot remove
a directory that is on the path to the current directory or
directories with the readonly bit set.
Unable to delete 'XXXXXX'
- ZGEN is unable to delete a file. The file may be read only, or
the disk is write protected.
Print spooler queue full, file not submitted
- The print spooler program PRINT.COM has reported that the queue
is full after an attempt to submit a file. Try waiting until a
file is done printing or increase the queue buffer size for PRINT.COM
with the /Q: option. The default buffer size is 10 file names and
can be increased to 32. Refer to your DOS manual for more information.
Print spooler busy, file not submitted
- The print spooler program has reported that it is busy. Try waiting
and then try again.
File name is too long, file not submitted
- The name submitted to the print spooler is too long. This could happen
if the file is deeply nested in the subdirectory structure.
File not found by the print spooler
- The print spooler reported that it could not find the file
Path not found by the print spooler
- The print spooler reported that the path name of the file could
not be found
Too many open files, file not submitted
- The print spooler has reported that there are too many open files
to print the file. Try increasing the files parameter in the
your systems config.sys file. Refer to your DOS manual for more
information.
Access denied, file not submitted
- The print spooler was denied access to the file. The file was probably
locked.
Drive invalid, file not submitted
- The print spooler has reported that the drive is invalid in the file
submitted to it.
Unexpected print spooler error %x
- The print spooler returned an unexpected error code.
Drive is no longer valid
- Reported after a disk access that resulted in a critical error. You
will be prompted select a new drive.
Invalid .ZIP file
- .ZIP file has a corrupted directory format. Try using PKZIPFIX to
repair the .ZIP file.
CRITICAL ERRORS
These are errors reported by DOS on I/O operations.
NOTE: You are offered three choices when an I/O occurs.
Abort - will terminate the program and return you to DOS
Fail - will allow ZGEN to continue.
Retry - Allows you to retry the operation.
Disk is write protected
- ZGEN is unable to make any changes to a diskette because the
write protect tab is covered. Replace the diskette with a
empty formated Diskette and Retry.
Drive/Device not ready
- Printer is off line or a diskette door is open. Close the drive
door or set printer on line and press retry. If it is your hard disk,
try rebooting and/or refer to your DOS manual.
General Failure (unformated disk?)
- The diskette is probably not formatted. Replace and retry or press
Ignore to return to the previous drive. If the diskette is formatted,
it may be a hardware problem with the drive.
Out of paper
- Printer is out of paper. Replace paper and retry or press Fail to
abort printing.
Unknown unit
Unknown command
CRC Error
Bad request structure length
Seek error
Unknown media type
Sector not found
Write Fault
Read Fault
- These are symptoms of hardware problems or DOS corruption. Try rebooting,
and/or refer to your DOS manual.
Not enough Memory
- ZGEN has run out of dynamic memory. This error should rarely
occur. One solution is to reduce the maximum number of
files in a directory or zip file.
Notes about ZGEN:
If you should ever encounter a bug in ZGEN, or have a suggest to improve the
software, feel free to notify the author.
Thanks to Rod Wilson and Darin Fox for Beta testing. Thanks to Rex
Conn for some info providing information on 4dos.
ZGEN was written by Robert Mashlan entirely in Turbo C v2.0. All library
routines with exception of the Turbo C standard library were written by
Robert Mashlan.
History:
11-12-90 version 1.03 first public release of ZGEN