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CleanZ Control-Z Strip or Replace Utility Version 1.2 Released 12-21-89 Herron Software P.O. Box 1288 Battle Ground, Washington 98604 COPYRIGHT 1988, 1989 Phil Herron. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. DISCLAIMER OF WARRANTY __________________________________________ THIS PRODUCT IS PROVIDED FOR EVALUATION, AS IS AND WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND. THE AUTHOR MAKES NO EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHOR BE LIABLE FOR LOSS OF PROFIT OR ANY OTHER COMMERCIAL DAMAGE ARISING FROM EITHER THE USE OF OR THE INABILITY TO USE THIS PRODUCT. This product should be thoroughly evaluated using backed up or noncritical data and files. ______________________________________________________________ Evaluation Preface Section ______________________________________________________________ Shareware............................................... 0.1.0 What it is............................................ 0.1.1 License Terms......................................... 0.1.2 Registration.......................................... 0.1.3 Benefits, Forms, Registration fees, Quantity discounts, Combined orders Evaluation.............................................. 0.2.0 Evaluation Version.................................... 0.2.1 Evaluation Menu....................................... 0.2.2 Virus Prevention...................................... 0.2.3 _____________________________ 0.1.0 Shareware _____________________________ 0.1.1 The SHAREWARE Concept _____________________________ "Shareware" is a software distribution method which enables the potential user to obtain software at very low initial cost, for evaluation on a trial basis. You can evaluate the software in your own environment, on your own machine, with the programs and data that you normally use. You're not required to become a registered user unless the software meets your needs. Another benefit of Shareware is lower pricing. By minimizing the marketing and advertising expenses associated with more traditional software distribution methods, Shareware products can be priced lower. You don't pay for what you don't need or use. You are encouraged to share the evaluation version of this software with others, so long as you follow the limitations set forth in the LICENSE TERMS section below. 0.1.2 LICENSE TERMS _____________________ This product and its documentation are copyrighted and owned solely by the author, who reserves all rights to any benefits derived from it. It is distinctly separate from, and should not be confused with, those categories of software known as "public domain" or "freeware." You are granted the right to use the evaluation version of this software on a trial basis for a limited amount of time, to decide whether to continue using (and therefore whether to register) the product. You can transmit this evaluation version to associates by copying on diskette or uploading to electronic bulletin board services, so long as the following CONDITIONS are met: (a) The program and its documentation file must be distributed together. (b) The program and its documentation must not be altered in any way. If you wish to include notes for other evaluators, please add them in a separate file and include that file along with the program and documentation files. 0.1.3 REGISTRATION ____________________ When you send in the registration form and fee, you'll receive by return mail a diskette containing the latest REGISTERED version of the program and documentation. BENEFITS OF REGISTRATION The registered version WILL NOT include the Evaluation Menu front-end, startup time-delay or forms-printing sections of this version. Thus it will be more convenient to use, from either the DOS prompt or from batch files. It will also be 12k-15K bytes smaller, for more efficient disk storage and faster loading. The registered version WILL include any new functions or enhancements made to date. You will receive notification of future updates and new products. You will be able to upgrade to newer versions at a reduced cost. REGISTRATION FORM The registration form and a pre-addressed mailing cover can be printed from the "Forms Printing" selection of the Evaluation menu, discussed in section 0.2.2 below. FEES The single-quantity registration fee is displayed on the initial Evaluation Menu screen. Higher quantities are discussed below. QUANTITY DISCOUNTS Each registered copy of this software will be licensed for operation at a single location (on a single terminal or computer) at any one time. If you need to run the software on more than one terminal or computer at the same time, the appropriate number of registrations must be made. Multiple-quantity registration fees are displayed in the "QUANTITY DISCOUNT" section of the Evaluation menu. You can take advantage of quantity discounts by ordering multiple registrations of one program or single registrations of several different programs at the same time. You also save on shipping and handling charges by registering several products together. COMBINED ORDERS You can also take advantage of quantity discounts by combining orders with associates: (1) Complete a separate registration form for each person. Each person's name, address and programs to be registered are needed for support and update notification purposes. (2) Include only one standard shipping and handling charge. Cross out the "Shipping & handling" amounts on all but ONE registration form; the combined order will be sent to the name and address on that form. (3) Mail all the forms together, with a single check/money order for the total, in one envelope/mailing cover. _____________________________ 0.2.0 Evaluation _____________________________ 0.2.1 EVALUATION VERSION __________________________ This software contains the complete and fully functional version of the program, the latest available at the time of this release. The program itself is identical to the REGISTERED version. An Evaluation Menu and forms-printing section were added to ensure that: (a) Registration information and forms will not become separated from the program file. (b) Users who might be unfamiliar with the process of displaying a file's contents on the screen or printer will have no difficulty learning about, evaluating or registering this product. 0.2.2 EVALUATION MENU _______________________ The program is invoked from the DOS prompt by typing its name and pressing the RETURN or ENTER key. The initial screen displays the warranty section and some information about the program: Program name, Version number, Release date, Single-quantity registration fee. It next displays the Shareware Product EVALUATION MENU. A single key press will select the following functions from the menu: ESC - EXIT to DOS without evaluating this program R - READ the documentation (THIS file) x - EVALUATE this program Q - QUANTITY Discount information F - FORMS printing menu - registration & mailer When you press "R" to READ the documentation, this file will be shown one screen at a time. The display pauses whenever the screen becomes full, and prompts... <downArrow> or Esc The <downArrow> character is similar to the "MORE" prompt in other DOS utilities. It indicates that more is available. Press ESCape to exit back to the Evaluation Menu, or any normal typing key to continue (space bar is a convenient key to use). 0.2.3 VIRUS PREVENTION ________________________ If you'd like to evaluate this software but you're not sure where it's been, you can order a copy straight from the source. See the SHAREWARE PRODUCT CATALOG section at the end of this file. _________________________________________________________________ Table of Contents Section _________________________________________________________________ CleanZ..................................................... 1.0 Introduction............................................ 1.1 Explanation............................................. 1.2 System Requirements..................................... 1.3 Installing........................................... 1.3.1 Help.................................................... 1.4 Syntax.................................................. 1.5 Replacement characters.................................. 1.6 Examples................................................ 1.7 Applications............................................ 1.8 Error Messages.......................................... 1.9 DOS ErrorLevel.......................................... 2.0 Version History......................................... 3.0 Support.................................................... 9.0 Problem Resolution...................................... 9.1 Before Reporting........................................ 9.2 Reporting a problem..................................... 9.3 Custom Modifications.................................... 9.4 Correspondence.......................................... 9.5 Shareware Product Catalog................................. 10.0 ****************************************** NEW in this version ****************************************** "Z" activity indicator is now written to screen each time a control-Z is found in the input file. DOS ErrorLevel is now returned upon termination. Command line switch character can be "-" or "/". ______________________________________________________________ CleanZ 1.0 Control-Z Strip or Replace Utility ______________________________________________________________ 1.1 INTRODUCTION __________________ The personal computer is a convenient note-keeper and organizer. Using a pop-up notepad utility or text editor, you can save ideas, research notes and lists of things in small text files, and have them immediately available. You can separate different subjects into different filenames and, like George Carlin, "keep track of your stuff." Another related use for small text files is in saving selected messages extracted from BBS (bulletin board system) capture files. After you've built up a collection of small files, you may discover that some of them contain related subjects and should be combined. You might want to consolidate some files into larger ones, to gather related notes or to save disk space. A convenient way to combine files is to use the DOS TYPE command, with the special characters >> to redirect output and append it to an existing file. For example, to add the contents of fileTwo.Doc to the end of fileOne.Doc, issue TYPE fileTwo.Doc >>fileOne.Doc from the DOS prompt. The need for a utility such as CleanZ arises when you load the combined file into your text editor; you see the text from the first file, but the second file is missing! Yet, if you look at the file in a DIR listing, its size indicates that it does indeed contain the text from both files. 1.2 EXPLANATION _________________ Many text editors and word processors, including the DOS EDLIN utility, mark the end of a text file with one or more control-Z characters (variously known as ^Z, decimal 26, or hex 1A). The control-Z character is also known as EOF, since it indicates "End Of File." If the file is later appended to by some means other than the editor, the added text will appear after the ^Z character. Then when the file is edited, you won't find the appended text; the editor does not look beyond the "End-Of-File" character. A way around this limitation is to delete the ^Z character, or change it to some other character, so your editor will read beyond it to the appended text. CleanZ performs this function by reading the specified file, then writing a new file without the ^Z characters (or optionally changing them to another selected character). It saves the original file with the extension .BAK. 1.3 SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS _________________________ PC, XT, AT or compatible. DOS version 2.1 or later. 80K free memory. 1.3.1 INSTALLING __________________ The program can be run from diskette or from hard disk. No installation is necessary, other than copying the files to a drive and directory of your choosing. 1.4 HELP __________ Can't remember the command line syntax? Issue the program's name without any parameters; it will display a help screen, then return to the DOS prompt. 1.5 SYNTAX ____________ optional replacement character / CleanZ [filespec] [-replChar] ^ ^ Switch character can be either "/" or "-" Where [filespec] is the string needed to reference a file; can also be shown as [d:][path][filename.ext]. The minimum filespec needed is filename.ext. If the file is in another directory and/or on another drive, the drive name and/or pathname must also be given. The complete filespec for a file named ThisFile.Doc residing in drive A: in a subdirectory named ThisSub is A:\ThisSub\ThisFile.Doc For further information on filespecs, see your DOS manual. 1.6 REPLACEMENT CHARACTER ___________________________ The replacement character is optional, and serves as a place marker in the cleaned file. You might use a replacement character if you want to later find the position in the text where a particular file began or ended. If no replacement character is entered on the command line, all control-Z characters found in the file will be simply stripped out. A replacement character, if used, must be preceded by either a dash or a slash character. The replacement character should not be any of these three: < > | which are used by DOS for redirection and piping. Nothing catastrophic will occur if you do use one of them, but the program terminates with an error message: | produces "Syntax Error" > produces "File creation error" < produces "File not found" Aside from the above restrictions, any other standard displayable character can be used, including special characters entered with the ALT key, in ALT-nnn format. 1.7 EXAMPLES ______________ CleanZ a:\docSub\myfile.doc Reads myfile.doc on drive A: in subdirectory docSub; strips all ^Z characters from the file, then stores the cleaned version in the same subdirectory. CleanZ a:\docSub\myfile.doc -~ Same actions as above, except that ^Z characters are replaced by the tilde (~) character. 1.8 APPLICATIONS __________________ This sample application, Combine.Bat, can be used to consolidate two to five files each time it is run. The resulting file is stored in the first filename specified on the command line. Command-line syntax: Combine [File1 File2] [File3] [File4] [File5] Example: Combine Full.Txt 2.doc 3.doc 4.doc 5.doc appends in order the files 2, 3, 4 and 5.doc to the file Full.Txt, then runs CleanZ on the result to convert all control-Z characters to tilde (~) characters. Usage: If the first filespec does not already exist on the disk, it will be created. Then the other files will be added to it. If any of the other filespecs do not exist, they will be ignored; the screen will display the DOS error message, "file not found". Finally, CLEANZ is applied to the first filespec. Its invocation includes the "/~" option, to replace each control-Z with a tilde character; this is included for later editing, to indicate where each file ends and the next begins. Listing of Combine.Bat: ::::---File combining utility - uses CleanZ.Exe echo off If "%2"=="" goto NoSpec If "%1"=="" goto NoSpec echo Will combine specified files into file %1 . . . echo Ctrl-Break to terminate now, or Pause Type %2 >>%1 If "%3"=="" goto CLEANIT Type %3 >>%1 If "%4"=="" goto CLEANIT Type %4 >>%1 If "%5"=="" goto CLEANIT Type %5 >>%1 :CLEANIT CleanZ %1 /~ :::: DIR %1 could be added here to list the finished file goto End :NoSpec echo Syntax: %0 [file1 file2] [file3] [file4] [file5] echo Appends files in this order: 1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + 5. At echo lease two files must be specified; 3, 4, 5 are optional. echo Calls CleanZ.exe to convert any embedded ^Z EOF marks echo to ~ to indicate where each file ends & next begins. :END Notes: 1 - There are several ways to convert the above listing into batch file form. One is to copy this entire file to another named "Combine.Bat", delete everything except the listing, then delete the leading spaces on the left side so each line begins in column one. Another is to display the listing on screen and use a memory-resident notepad to "cut and paste" it into a batch file. 2 - Single colons in the listing mark labels needed for proper operation. Multiple colons denote non-operational comment lines which could be deleted. 1.9 ERROR MESSAGES ____________________ <filename.ext> - file not found. Cannot open input file. Cannot create output file. <filename.ext> - cannot process file with BAK extension - rename. The file's extension must be changed before it can be processed. CLEANZ renames the input file's extension to .BAK, then creates a new output file using the original filename and extension. Switch delimiter must be "-" or "/". Missing replacement character. 2.0 DOS ERRORLEVEL ____________________ Upon termination, the program returns a DOS ErrorLevel value which indicates how the program ended, and which can be used for subsequent operations in a batch file. For further information, see the "IF ERRORLEVEL" batch command in your DOS manual. ErrorLevel list: 0 - Successful completion. 1 - No parameters specified on command line. 2 - Input file not found. 3 - Missing replacement character 4 - Illegal switch delimiter (must be "-" or "/"). 5 - Input file with .BAK extension cannot be processed. 6 - Cannot open input file. 7 - Cannot create output file. 3.0 VERSION HISTORY _____________________ 1.00 Initial release. 1.07 Command line switch character "-" added; now either "/" or "-" is legal to delimit the replacement char. 1.12 DOS ErrorLevels added. 1.2 "Z" activity indicator is now written to screen each time a control-Z is found in the file being cleaned. _________________________________________________________________ 9.0 Support _________________________________________________________________ 9.1 PROBLEM RESOLUTION ________________________ Please document and report any anomaly in program operation, whether it's a genuine "bug" or just some feature of the program that particularly "bugs" you. If you're the first person to document and report a problem that we agree needs attention, you'll receive a free upgrade with the correction when it's been made. If you're a registered user, you'll get the upgraded registered version; if you haven't yet registered, you'll get the upgraded evaluation version. 9.2 BEFORE REPORTING ______________________ Things to try prior to reporting a problem: 1 - Reread the documentation to make sure you understand what we thought we understood when we wrote it. 2 - If the system reports "Bad command or file name" when you attempt to run the program, its executable file (or at least the file name you specified) was not found. First, make sure no typos or misspellings have crept into your command line; next, try changing your PATH setting, or make the drive & directory where the program resides the "current" drive & directory. 3 - If the program is being run from a batch file, try deleting lines previous to the line that actually invokes the program, to see if some prior activity is causing the problem. 4 - If you have any memory-resident or "TSR" utilities installed (pop-up calculators/note pads, keyboard enhancements, etc.), try removing them from memory and running the program again to see if the problem reoccurs. 9.3 REPORTING A PROBLEM _________________________ If the problem persists, please document it as completely and accurately as possible; we have to be able to duplicate it before we can begin to resolve it. Include at least the following: 1 - Version of DOS you are using. 2 - Machine type, drives, memory, etc. 3 - Programs executed prior to the problem. 4 - Problem program's name and version number. 5 - Where and how you obtained the problem program. 6 - Address and/or phone number where you can be contacted. 7 - Anything you can think of that might relate to the problem; for example, listings of your AUTOEXEC.BAT and CONFIG.SYS files, or any batch files used to run the program. 8 - Any relevant printouts. NOTE: If you're a registered user, you'll find the utility UserResp.Exe on the distribution diskette; it can be used to print a pre-addressed mailer and a problem report. If you have not yet registered, send problem reports to the address below (or print the pre-addressed mailer from the Evaluation Menu). 9.4 CUSTOM MODIFICATIONS __________________________ If you need custom modifications to this software for your particular application, please write to the below address with complete details of your requirements. 9.5 CORRESPONDENCE ____________________ We welcome any comments or suggestions you might have concerning improvements and future enhancements to this product. Send all correspondence and orders to: Phil Herron P.O. Box 1288 Battle Ground, Washington USA 98604 _________________________________________________________________ 10.0 Shareware Product Catalog _________________________________________________________________ This section contains a list of our other Shareware products; it may be updated whenever products are added or changed. ____________________________________________ If you'd like to try any of the programs in this catalog, but can't find them locally, you can order evaluation copies straight from the source... Five programs and their associated documentation will fit on each 5.25 inch 362Kb diskette; the basic single-disk fee of $4.00 covers the cost of the first disk, shipping and handling. Add an additional dollar for each additional disk of programs you want to evaluate ($4.00 for 1 to 5 programs, $5.00 for 6-10, $6.00 for 11-15, etc.; all payments in U.S. funds). If your address is outside the U.S. and Canada, add an additional $3.00. Include your mailing address and the names of the programs. By return mail you'll receive the latest versions of those programs for evaluation. ____________________________________________ "Shareware" is a software distribution method which enables the potential user to obtain software at very low initial cost, for evaluation on a trial basis. You can evaluate the software in your own environment, on your own machine, with the programs and data that you normally use. You're not required to become a registered user unless the software meets your needs. ____________________________________________ PROGRAM SPECIFICATIONS AND REGISTRATION FEES MAY CHANGE WITHOUT NOTICE. ____________________________________________ ChkD v1.1 Check_Disk_space reports disk drive space usage. It reports drive cluster size, then drive space TOTAL, FREE and USED by actual value and by percentage. It is faster and more convenient than the DOS "dir" or "chkdsk" utilities for displaying drive information. ChkM v1.1 Check_Memory_space reports standard system memory (RAM) space usage. It reports memory space TOTAL, FREE and USED by actual value and by percentage. It is faster and more convenient than the DOS "chkdsk" utility for displaying system memory information. CleanOut v1.3 CLEANOUT searches all directories of the default drive for file(s) specified on command line (wildcards * and ? are legal). Each time a matching file is found, the user is prompted for disposition: Delete or Save. File contents, either text or binary, can be VIEWED before deciding. A single press of the "S" key saves a file; a double press of the "D" key deletes it. An optional mode allows deletions without confirmation. Useful for cleaning out .BAK file leftovers, among others. CleanTxt v1.1 CleanTxt converts WordStar text files to straight ASCII. It strips out certain control characters, and will optionally expand tab characters to the appropriate number of spaces. CleanZ v1.2 Most text editors won't read files beyond the first control-Z end- of-file character. Control-Z's can become embedded in a text file when several files are combined using the DOS "type" command. CleanZ will strip out each control-Z, or it will optionally replace each with a seldom-used character, to ease the task of locating the former boundaries in combined files. FindF v1.1 FindFile searches the default drive for specified files, and writes the file information to screen or disk. Useful for locating misplaced files or for generating a listing of all files and subdirectories on the default drive. Gen v1.2 Gen replaces several trial-and-error methods of building specific- sized files for printer, storage or timing tests. It generates files of any size from zero to twenty million bytes, much faster than typing random characters into a text editor. Besides generating files on disk, it can send a specific number of characters directly to the console screen, printer or other DOS device. KeyCode v1.1 KeyCode responds to each press of a key or combination of keys by displaying the key or combination pressed, its associated Ascii character (if any), key type (normal or extended), Ascii code and Scan code. KeySet v1.1 KeySet's interactive mode displays the current settings of the CapsLock, NumLock, ScrollLock and PrtSc (Print Screen) keys, and allows them to be changed. The command line mode directly sets the keys to specified states, allowing use of a batch file for presetting at system bootup or between applications. PrinTest v1.2 PrinTest repetitively displays the status of ports assigned to parallel printer interfaces. It can be used to isolate problems to the printer interface card, the cable or the printer itself. It reports printer and port number, status byte and status condition. Qscr v1.2 QuickScreen converts a single text screen to an executable file for more rapid display. The resulting .COM file will write a screen of text much faster than batch file ECHO statements. Useful for setting up compact menu systems, demos and tutorials. ScanF v1.1 Scan_File speeds up the search for ASCII text strings within executable files. It filters out the unintelligible control and extended characters, allows user definition of minimum string length for display, and pauses after each screen of information. ScanM v1.1 Scan_Memory speeds up the search for ASCII text such as ROM copyright statements and machine identification, anywhere within standard system memory space. It filters out the unintelligible control and extended characters, displays each string longer than three characters, and pauses after each screen of information. Split v1.1 Split breaks huge text files down into smaller ones that will fit into your text editor or onto a diskette. Useful for working on large files with a limited-filesize memory-resident notepad utility. StoRm v1.1 STOrage_RooM reports the amount of disk space required for storage of a specified file or group of files on any disk, using any version of DOS. It takes into account all of the factors involved in determining file storage size. It locates files specified on the command line and determines their actual total size and the amount of room needed to store them. Useful for determining the number of files that will fit on a disk. PhLBL v0.75 (not yet released) Label printer using text stored in ASCII files. Each label/card/ tag can contain embedded commands for date, time, series (nn OF nn), consecutive serial numbering, left margin, and selectable printer attribute for each line; 5, 10, 12, 17 or 20 characters per inch pitch, normal/bold/underlined on Epson compatible dot-matrix printers. _______________________________________________________________ | | | COPYRIGHT 1989 Phil Herron. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. | |_______________________________________________________________|