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PM-Cat Plus
A Disk File Cataloging Program
by
MegaSoft SoftWare(tm)
&
William C. Scott
Portions by Patrick Michaud
29 January 1992
_______
____|__ | (tm)
--| | |-------------------
| ____|__ | Association of
| | |_| Shareware
|__| o | Professionals
-----| | |---------------------
|___|___| MEMBER
Copyright 1992 by William C. Scott
Page 2
About Our Marketing Process ... (Shareware)
The term "shareware" has come to refer to a class of computer
software that is marketed, basically, on an honor system.
Hopefully you noticed the logo of ASP, the Association of
Shareware Professionals, on the cover sheet of this
documentation file. <ASP> is an organization that was formed
and is supported by software authors and businesses with an
interest in seeing shareware remain a viable means of
marketing high quality software at reasonable prices.
An author's membership in ASP guarantees the end user at least
some protection from the vagaries of earlier and present
'public domain' software. By becoming a member of ASP the
author has promised his/her intention to support the product
after licensing has taken place and already demonstrated to ASP
the product does in fact do what it is advertised to do and is
a fully functional piece of software (not crippled or
restricted).
(See the file OMBUDSMAN.ASP for further info)
The end user benefits by being able to actually try the
software before paying for it. This ensures compatibility
both with the system it is intended for use upon and user.
Both the author and the consumer benefit from the fact that
neither has had to bear the burden of the enormous cost of
adequate advertising. The consumer benefits directly from the
lower cost of the software, the author somewhat more
indirectly in that he most likely would never have been able
to make the product widely available because of a lack of
capital. In many cases you will find the support offered by
ASP authors more comprehensive than would ever be possible
from a large company.
Finally, these ASP authors' products, like PmCat+, are not
public domain nor intended to be free. They are offered in
good faith that they are as good as their commercial
counterparts and the authors do expect to be paid for their
efforts.
Frankly, it is a difficult thing to offer one's work to others
with the understanding you will be compensated *only* when the
customer is convinced your product is worth purchasing.
Please realize that PmCat+ didn't just "happen". We have
spent a great deal of money for compilers, language tools and
hardware that is specifically dedicated to the development of
PmCat+. This does not to even begin considering the many
hours of sitting at the keyboard, tearing out hair trying to
figure out why the obviously simple, isn't! We must, at the
very least, recover our financial investment so that we can
continue to develop programs of this quality.
Page 3
Strictly speaking, if you do like and use PmCat+, we expect
you to license the program after a reasonable trial period
(about 30 - 45 days). We also realize there are those to whom
the $20 license fee would be a burden. For those persons,
please send what you can afford and you will be registered!
Obviously, whether or not you can afford to license PmCat+
is not a consideration we would be so bold as to decide.
We will trust that everyone is being honest with themselves
and us about that matter and will, to the best of our ability,
answer any questions by anyone who wishes to inquire.
For $20.00 you will receive:
1. A copy of the very latest version of PmCat PLUS on 360K
DS/DD 5.25" floppy disk.
2. A copy of PmDelDup, a utility for deleting duplicate or
multiple entries of the same filename in a PmCat
catalog and optionally removing them from disk.
3. A copy of PmConvert which will convert older PmCat files
to the new format used in release 5.2.
4. A copy of PM-Label for making diskette labels and
inserts.
5. Access to the registered user conference on the Melange
BBS with access to the latest (registered) version of
PmCat PLUS
6. Placement on our mailing list to be notified of future
updates.
PLEASE NOTE:
We can provide PmCat+ on 3.5" inch double density or high
density disks as well. There is an additional $2 charge for
the 720K and $4.00 for the 1.44M because of the higher cost of
the 3.5" media.
When you wish to register PmCat+, please send check or Money
Order to the address below:
MegaSoft SoftWare(tm)
522 NW 14th
Pendleton, OR 97801
Msg: (503) 276-6176
See the file PM-ORDER.FRM for an invoice type order form.
Support can be obtained by contacting us in the following ways:
A Message on The Melange BBS : (405) 927-2541
(USR HST14.4 24hrs)
Writing us at : MegaSoft SoftWare(tm)
522 NW 14th
Pendleton, OR. 97801
Leaving a message for : David Chamberlain at
(503) 276-6176
or
(503) 276-4282
This would be the best way as I can call right back!
Page 4
COPYRIGHT NOTICE
PmCat+, copyright 1987-92 by William C. Scott. PmCat+ is NOT
public domain software. You may use, copy and distribute it
freely, but you MAY NOT RESELL PmCat+. A modest fee for
copying may be charged, not to exceed $3.00 exclusive of the
cost of disk, mailer and postage. (See "About Our Marketing
Process" for more details)
DISCLAIMER:
By using this product, the user agrees that neither William C.
Scott nor MegaSoft SoftWare(tm) shall be held severly or
jointly liable for any damages, direct or consequential, that
might arise from the use, inability to use or misuse of PmCat+.
Warranty:
The only warranty for PM-Cat Plus is that the distribuation
disk is free from defects in materials and workmanship. Should
the disk you receive be defective we will replace it at no cost
to you. Simply return the defective disk along with your address
to:
MegaSoft SoftWare(tm)
522 NW 14th
Pendleton, OR. 97801
Note: This warranty only applies to the disk we mail, we cannot
replace disk you receive from any of the authorized
distributors. Contact them for a replacement.
Page 5
TABLE OF CONTENTS
About Our Marketing - Shareware and ASP ............... 2
I. Introduction ...................................... 6
II. Getting Started
A. System requirements ............................. 7
B. Features of PmCat+
1. List of features .............................. 7
2. Explanation of features ....................... 8
C. Installation .................................... 9
D. THINK about these things .......................... 10
III. Cataloging functions
A. Create a new catalog ............................ 12
B. Add to existing catalog ......................... 12
C. Update an existing catalog ...................... 12
D. Save present catalog ............................ 12
IV. Browse functions
A. File information (InfoWindow) .................. 13
B. Read contents of cataloged files ............... 13
C. Volumes listing ................................. 13
D. Directories ..................................... 13
E. Search .......................................... 14
F. Sort ............................................ 14
G. Change catalogs ................................. 14
H. Masks ........................................... 14
V. Printing functions
A. Formatting output ............................... 14
B. Printing ........................................ 16
C. Printer set up string ........................... 16
D. Saving to ASCII disk file ....................... 16
VI. Misc functions
A. Delete volume ................................... 16
B. Erase (delete) file ............................. 16
C. Commenting ...................................... 17
D. Shell ........................................... 17
E. Change volume label ............................ 17
F. Using the .DEF file ............................ 17
G. Using disk numbering ............................ 17
H. Using categories ................................ 18
I. Using Wildcards in PmCat+ ....................... 19
J. Soundex searches ................................ 19
VII. BBS Access ......................................... 20
Page 6
INTRODUCTION
PmCat+ is a floppy and hard disk file cataloging and
browsing program intended for use on PC/XT/AT and compatible
systems.
PmCat+ is a direct descendent of PmCat which was a disk
file cataloging program intended for use only with floppy
disk files. So many users just naturally began using it to
catalog their hard drive files that many requests were made
for features that were obviously hard drive oriented. So, we
decided PmCat+ should accomodate hard drives gracefully.
The original PmCat was written by Patrick Michaud for Mr.
Scott's personal use. Like so many others, He couldn't find a
cataloger that addressed his personal habits adequately
(simple, fast and useful were some of my prime requisites).
When Patrick first wrote PmCat, it was so good that he
and Mr. Scott decided to pat it on the rear and send it out
into the 'real world' as a shareware product ... "as an
experiment" just to see what happened.
Well, about three months later a phone call came to Mr.
Scott from Alfred Glossbrenner who was writing a book about PC
shareware products and wanted to include PmCat in his book ..
which did occur when it was published. Mr. Scott's thoughts
at that point was ... "here's a professional in the PC world
who thinks highly enough of PmCat to choose it over all
those others...gee whiz!" Both Patrick and Mr. Scott were
deeply flattered.
They soon realized their experiment had told then they had
something in PmCat. So they set about making the necessary
improvements to make it palatable and useful to as many people
as possible.
As it turned out, Patrick's studies kept him from doing
much more with PmCat except correcting and cleaning up Mr.
Scott's early code as he learned to program in Turbo Pascal
in order to support PmCat.
Since late 1987, most of the changes made to PmCat have
been a result of Mr. Scott's meanderings through Turbo Pascal
and the PmCat code in response to users requests for changes
/fixes and improvements.
Now PM-Cat Plus has changed hands and is being handled
by MegaSoft SoftWare(tm) in Pendleton, Oregon. This change
was based on the need for features and support that Mr.
Scott could no longer give to the product.
MegaSoft SoftWare(tm) is dedicated to providing high
quailty software at a resonable cost. We will support PMCat+
to the best of our abilities and provide the end users with
those features they request ( If possible ). We are looking
forward to the feedback and support of our users and thank
you for making PMCat Plus what it is today!
Page 7
Minimum System Requirements:
IBM PC/XT/AT or compatible, 384K RAM, one floppy disk
drive. Hard drives and subdirectories are supported.
Suggested extra system features:
More Memory! - PmCat+ *will* run in only 384K but 512K or
640K is strongly recommended.
Color monitor - either CGA, EGA or VGA makes fuller use of
the different menu options easier.
Mouse - these rodents are down in price to about $30 on
the bottom line of pricing and make a lazy man's
use of a computer much more palatable.
Disk caching - these programs are fairly common and many are
either public domain or shareware. This can
speed up PmCat+ because of its use of
overlays.
FEATURES
* Use categories to group your files
* Use numbering of disks through volume labels or a separate
disk number ... or both!
* Catalog contents of archived files
* View files, archived or not while in PmCat+!
* Context sensitive help
* Mouse support
* Include and/or exclude files (read/view/print)
* Delete individual files from catalog and Now Disk!
* Delete volumes from catalog
* Find Free Space on cataloged diskettes
* Assign a DRIVE:\PATHNAME to be a VOLUME
* Read subdirectories and labels, too
* Comment each file with up to 80 characters
* "Rubber-stamp" for comments for duplicate files
* Sort catalog by filename, ext, size, path or date
* Supports WILDCARD ("*" and "?") searches of files
and comments
* User configurable printer formatting
* Automatic update of catalog when disks are reread
* User customizing of color, catalog name, ASCII filename
* Relabel diskette if desired
* Create ASCII disk file with user-assigned name
* Multiple catalogs with your specified names
* Erase an entire disk
* Coming Soon...... The support of Expanded/Extended or
virtual memory.
Page 8
Explanation of features:
The detailed explanation of each menu function is listed
in the later part of the manual. This portion explains
the general use of the keyboard and/or mouse to access
those options. NOTE: Some features are listed in the
file CHANGES.DOC included with this disk. They will be
incorparated into these documents when we re-write them!
The HELP function is toggled ON/OFF by pressing the 'H'
key on the keyboard or the right AND left buttons of the
mouse at the same time or <F1>. This function does not
toggle in the shareware distribution copy.
Each menu can be accessed through three functions, the
HOT KEY, the MENU BAR or the mouse.
On each menu item, one letter is capitalized. Pressing
that letter or character on the keyboard will select
that menu item and cause it to be executed.
On each menu, one item is indicated at a time by the bar
selector or MENU BAR. The MENU BAR is moved using the
RIGHT and LEFT keyboard arrow keys. When the bar is on a
item, pressing <ENTER> on the keyboard will select that
item and cause it to be executed.
Where appropriate the RT/LT, UP/DN arrows, PgUp/PgDn and
Home and End keys are active for the screen instead of
the menu area, as well as functions available to do the
same things on the menu with the mouse.
The cursor within the menu area (which you will see if a
mouse is present) is the mouse cursor. Use your mouse
to select an item by placing the cursor on the item name
or within 1 space on either side and pressing the left
mouse button. If HELP is turned on, another click of
the left button is necessary to execute the function.
This was done to allow you to see what the operation
does before you execute it. When HELP is turned off,
the second click is not necessary.
Pressing the RIGHT mouse button is the same as pressing
the <ESC> key on the keyboard.
Page 9
The following items are essential only to the browsing and
archive extraction functions of PmCat+.
The defaults installed in PmCat+ will look for the other
files it may require, in the current directory. (The
directory you are in when you run PmCat+). The defaults
referred to involve the following programs and locations.
1. Text viewer/editor - PMLIST.COM
2. ARC extractor - program for extracting the contents
of .ARC files. ARCE.COM is default.
3. ZIP extractor - program for extracting the contents
of .ZIP files. PKZIP.EXE is default.
4. ZOO extractor - program for extracting the contents
of .ZOO files. ZOO.EXE is default
5. PAK extractor - program for extracting the contents
of .PAK files. PAK.EXE is default
6. LZH extractor - program for extracting the contents
of .LZH files. LHARC.EXE is default.
7. Scratch path - a drive/directory path where the
files extracted from an archive will
(Choose carefully! .. the be written while you view them. You
extracted file will be cannot edit files from within an
deleted later..suggest a archive and update the archive with
'SCRATCH' directory) the changed file from PmCat+.
8. Target drive - This is the drive on which PmCat+ will
try to find the file chosen, using
the pathname information stored in
the PmCat+ catalog. The default is
drive 'A'.
NOTE: NO decompressing code is in the PmCat+ program. It is
assumed if you have files stored with a compression
program, that program can be executed from the DOS
command line and thereby used to extract files.
PmCat+ just acts as a messenger between you and the
archiving program by sending the filename to extract
to the program you have said will extract it.
If you don't know how to configure your system using
PATH and don't want to deal with it (for whatever reason),
just place copies of the appropriate programs from the
above list in the same directory as your PmCat+ files and
catalog.
Page 10
Things to consider BEFORE you start building your catalog:
The new features added to PmCat have made a great deal
of flexibility in structuring your catalog possible.
These very same features will likely confuse you if you
decide to use them without proper consideration. They
CAN be ignored and everything done as always with PmCat,
but they are there if you want or need them.
The features most likely to offer confusion are the DISK
number and CATEGORY function.
As of version 5.3, these are NOT written to the disk in
any manner. They are a form of notation to aid you in
keeping track of things with your disk collection.
CATEGORIES - these are assigned to the volume when you catalog
it. All files on the volume will have the same category
in your PmCat data file. You may Edit the categories of
Files or Volumes once cataloged by using the Edit
function in PmCat. Presently, if you update the volume,
you will lose those Edited categories and the category
will once again be whatever you assign to the volume.
This will be fixed in a future release..but be aware it
is a limitation of sorts just now.
Assigning a category - when you Update a volume, there
is a menu choice of CATEGORY. Select this and pick one
of the existing categories or use the Update key to
create a new category. DON'T FORGET to save the new
definitions to your .DEF file if you use CATEGORIES
other than the defaults!
DISK NUMBERING - in the early stages of testing, this seemed to
create the greatest confusion. Actually, it is a rather
easy and powerful feature once you understand what it
does.
There are three modes for Disk Numbering, OFF, MANual,
and AUTOmatic and these are reflected on the Update
Screen window. They are changed by selecting Numbering
from the menu and using the arrow keys to select the one
you want.
If you select OFF, a number of '0' will be assigned as a
placeholder in the data file and otherwise ignored.
If you select MANual, the number that is shown above the
window as Disk # will be assigned to the disk when it is
cataloged. You may assign a new or different number just
by typing it in.
If you select AUTOmatic the number you set is
automatically incremented each time a disk is cataloged.
You may set the starting number in the same way as for
MANual ... just type it in.
Page 11
There is also an option called Duplicate Disk Numbers Allowed
which is a YES/NO choice. It WILL NOT PREVENT
duplicates, it merely checks for them as an aid to you.
If this is set to YES, the option is essentially
inactive... since YES indicates you want to allow
duplicates.
OK, when YES and when NO? Let's take, for example, a
situation where you want to store your disks in strict
numerical order (as many do). Each disk has a small
sticker or other marking indicating its numeric order
in your catalog. In such a case, every number is likely
to be unique and you would NOT want to allow duplicate
Disk Numbers.
Alternatively, perhaps you have your disks stored or
referenced alphabetically by categories, such as GAMES,
BASIC, etc. In this case you can catalog your disks
using CATEGORIES and AUTOmatic numbering with duplicate
disk numbers allowed. You might catalog 5 games disks,
as GAMES 1 thru GAMES 5 and your BASIC disks in the same
manner. As the categories grow, it is a simple matter
to add GAMES 6, GAMES 7 and so on to your library. PmCat
will allow you to view only the GAMES category disks if
you like by selecting the <L>imit option in the <V>iew
window. Just place the cursor on a file with the category
you want to limit your viewing to, and press <L>. The
catalog will be searched an only the GAMES (?) will be
displayed. (If you print at this point, only the selected
category will be printed, as well)
Page 12
CATALOGING FUNCTIONS
CREATE A NEW CATALOG: <R>ead, <W>rite on Main Menu
Any time PmCat+ <R>eads a catalog from disk, you are shown
the current catalog name and prompted for a catalog name. If
you wish to use the catalog name shown, just press <ENTER>.
If using a mouse, place the mouse cursor on the ENTER menu
item and press the right button.
To specify a name of your choosing just start typing it in
and press <ENTER> or press the left mouse button when
complete. A filename with wildcards is acceptable and will
place you in the 'pick list' with the appropriate files to
choose from.
To select a catalog from the files on disk, select or type
the asterisk ('*') and press <ENTER>. This will present
you with a 'pick list' from which to choose.
This sequence of events first occurs when you run PmCat+. It
also happens each time you <R>ead from or <W>rite to the
disk.
ADD FILES/UPDATE CATALOG: <U>pdate menu option on Main Menu
<U>pdate appears only on the first menu (Main Menu) you
encounter in PmCat+. Choosing this option takes you to a
window where you may
1) Read files from a drive which you specify by pressing
the appropriate letter on the keyboard or choosing it
from the menu ... or
2) Change the volume label of a disk drive by using the
'#' symbol on the menu or from the keyboard.
SAVE CURRENT CATALOG TO DISK: <W>rite on Main Menu
<W>rite will save the current catalog to disk from the
Main Menu.
Page 13
BROWSE FUNCTIONS: <I>nfo, <V>olumes, <D>ir, <SPACE> on Command Menu
These are the functions you will use to find files and view their
statistics, comments and contents of the actual file if desired.
<V> menu selection from Command Menu will cause a list of volumes
contained within the current catalog to be displayed. The
volumes may be sorted just as though they were filenames (which
really is what a DOS volume label is ... with the appropriate
attribute set).
<D> on Command Menu will show the list of files contained within that
directory-type object. If it is a directory then the files are
shown. If it is a compressed file then the contents of the
archive are shown if you cataloged the disk with archive reading
turned on.
<SPACE> - pressing the spacebar will allow you to view the
contents of the file that is currently being pointed to by the
selector bar in the window. Check to make sure the file is
located on the drive indicated on the line just above the menu.
If it needs to be changed, just press the appropriate key to
select the right drive and then press <ENTER>. What happens at
this point is partly dependent on which program you have chosen
to run (the text viewer/editor you specified or accepted in the
Set Defaults area).
Page 14
SEARCH: <F>ind, <N>ext on Command Menu
These functions are used to find files by filename, an entry in
the Comments field and they are also used to find free space on
a volume when the list of volumes is displayed. SEE NOTE ON PAGE
16 ABOUT SOUNDEX SEARCHES.
<F>ind will first prompt you to select whether you wish to
search for a file based on filename, comments or free
space. The free space choice is an invalid choice if a
list of volumes is not being displayed.
<N>ext will find the next entry matching the search
criterion you provided for the <F>ind command.
SORT: <S>ort on Command Menu
<S>ort can be selected only from Command Menu while PmCat+ is
running. However, turning autoSort ON while setting default
filenames and paths will cause a sort by filename when you
move from Main MENU to Command Menu to occur automatically.
After selecting <S>ort from Command Menu, you will be prompted to
choose among filename, ext, size, date and path as the
options on which to sort. Select one..
Then you will be prompted for sort order - ascending or
descending. Descending puts the largest value first which
would be appropriate for volume free space (that's the Size
of volumes) but not for alphabetically arranged data.
CHANGE CATALOGS: <R>ead on Main MENU
This procedure is identical to the initial reading of a
catalog when you enter PmCat. It first clears the memory
of the existing catalog and then prompts you for a new
catalog name which you may enter using the keyboard or pick
list function.
MASKS: <M>ask-set on Mask Settings Menu (arrow keys disabled in menu)
The Mask function consists of two portions, Include and
Exclude and act as a filter. It works on those files you
wish to View, Print or Catalog using PmCat+ when either of
its actions are turned ON.
Include and Exclude may be toggled ON or OFF independently
of each other by selecting them from Mask Setting MENU.
Page 15
If both are selected, Include takes precedence. Remember,
if you turn both ON, NOTHING will be INCLUDED, except what
you specify and the same goes for EXCLUDE. This can be
tricky until you get used to it.
The menu (Mask Settings) for changing the MASK functions is
accessed thru the <S>et defaults option of Main Menu.
At Mask Settings MENU:
Exclude - toggles the exclude list ON/OFF
Include - toggles the include list ON/OFF
Clear - clears the item pointed to by the bar cursor
<ENTER> - allows you to input a new or change the old item.
PRINTING: <P>rint on Print Defaults, <P>rint on Command Menu,
<D>isk from print
FORMATTING OUTPUT: (arrow keys disabled in menu)
<P>rint selected from Printer Defaults opens a window to allow
the specification of format parameters for your printed catalog.
Start-col is the column of the printed page on which the
field will begin.
Width is how many characters the field will occupy on
the printed document. This can be any width you wish,
but if it is less than required for any field except
comments, it will be truncated (chopped off).
Comments will print col the width you specify and repeat
until on the next line until all actual comments for
that file are printed. Then it will begin printing the
next entry. Comments are left justified.
Filename is a 12 character field consisting of the
filename, a period and the file extension. It is right
justified.
Size is a number that will occupy 10 spaces. It is right
justified.
Date will occupy 10 spaces, MM/DD/YY format.
Path can be up to 65 characters and is the path to the
file on its particular volume.
Volume is the volume name from which the file was read.
It may be up to 11 characters and is left justified.
Page 16
PRINTING: <P>rint on Command Menu
PRINTER SET UP STRING: <*> on Print window menu
<*> - will prompt you for a new string of characters
which will be sent to your printer before printing of
the catalog starts. Each character must be in decimal
form and preceded by a '#' and followed by a space.
e.g., #27 #15
Up to 20 characters may be used here.
ASCII DISK FILE: <D> on Print window menu
<D> - will cause the output which would normally go to
your printer, to be sent to the disk as a file with the
name you specify in ASCII format. It can be easily
edited and/or printed at a later time.
MISC FUNCTIONS:
DELETE VOLUME:
<D> - chosen at Main Meny will open a window with all the
volumes in your current catalog. To delete a volume, use
the UP/DN arrow keys and select it with the bar and press
<ENTER>. You will still be given an opportunity to abort
the operation at this point by answering Y/N on the menu.
Obviously this operation is not final till you save the
modified catalog to disk...but at that point, it is
permanent.
ERASE FILE:
<K>ill a file from Command Menu. It is the same process as
deleting a volume from Main MENU. The difference in the two
operations is, when you Erase a file, the slot it occupied
on the screen is shown >>DELETED<< instead of removed
altogether. As with volume deletion, the operation is not
final until you save the modified catalog to disk.
Page 17
COMMENTING FILE:
<C>omments may be added to files *and* volumes. To comment
a volume you just select the <V>olume list from Command Menu
and select <C> from the menu. A small editor aids you in the
input of your comments. A 40x2 window accepts your
comments. The UP/DN arrow keys will move between the lines,
the HOME/END keys are active and INSERT is the standard
mode (there is NO overstrike mode). DELETE works as well.
PgUp/PgDn will accept your comments and immediately place
you in the comments field of the preceding or succeeding
file, ready to type more comments.
OPERATING SYSTEM (Shell):
<O> - from Command Menu will execute a call to create a temporary
shell in DOS so you can copy, delete, inspect and otherwise
wreak havoc on your poor unsuspecting system. If enough
memory is not available, this feature will refuse to work.
CHANGING VOLUME LABEL:
<#> - chosen when in the <U>pdate section, will read the
present disk label, tell you what it is and ask you if you
wish to change it. You MUST have a drive selected for this
feature to function.
USING THE .DEF FILE:
This option, frankly can be tricky if you want a different name
than PMCAT.DEF. PmCat+ will *always* look for 'PMCAT.DEF'
when it is run, if it isn't found the internal defaults are
used. The option of providing the alternative .DEF files was
to cover the possibility that someone might want an
alternative color set or other defaults on occasion.
Frankly, I use PMCAT every day and never use this option, but
it was an option that was so simple to offer and doesn't get
in the way of anything else, that it was put in.
USING DISK NUMBERING
There are three aspects to using the disk numbering feature of
PmCat PLUS. First, what number to assign the disk and second,
how to assign that number. Finally, you decide whether to
allow duplicate disk numbers or not.
Also, the disk numbering feature is separate from the
sequential numbering of the Volume Labels from within PmCat
PLUS. These numbers are part of the catalog record but are
NOT written to the disk.
When you catalog a disk with disk numbering active and have
decided NOT to allow duplicates, PmCat PLUS will check for
the existence of both that disk number and the volume label
with which it is associated and issue a warning when it finds
duplication of either.
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How To Number:
OFF - means ignore the function. A number of '0' is
assigned in this case.
MAN - manual entry of the number. You do this by simply
beginning to type the number desired for the disk
immediately prior to cataloging that disk. When
you make the first keystroke, a small text line
will appear on the screen one line above the menu.
If you wish to abort the process, just press <ESC>
and the old number will be left unchanged.
Remember, in this mode you MUST ENTER THE NUMBER
for it to be assigned.
AUT - in this mode, each time a disk is read, the number
that will be assigned to the next disk is
generated auto- matically by incrementing the
prior disk number by one. This feature may be
overridden by manual entry of the number as
described above, for any disk. Upon entry to
PmCat PLUS, the number is set to zero, unless it
has been saved in the DEF file.
USING CATEGORIES
A category may be assigned at the same time the disk number
above is assigned, though neither is dependent on the use
of the other.
The category list is accessed by choosing either <C>ategory
from the Update window menu or <E>dit from the View window
menu.
In either case, to set a category for the item of interest,
just place the cursor bar on the category you wish and
press <ENTER>. The list of CATEGORIES will automatically
be sorted. They will be saved to your .DEF file when you
exit PmCat PLUS.
If you wish to have different categories than those in the
defaults, just select <U>pdate from the menu while viewing
the category window and type in the new category. A
category name is limited to 10 characters.
When a category is assigned to a volume before it is read,
all files on that volume are assigned the same category by
default.
The category of any file or volume may be changed by
choosing the <E>dit function in the View window menu.
In order to limit your viewing or printing of files based on
their category, just place the cursor on a file that has
the category you want and select <L>imit from the View
window menu.
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USING WILDCARDS:
PmCat+'s wildcards are a bit more flexible than DOS's. E.g.,
if you type *ca*.* with DOS's dir command, it will show ALL
files. It sees the first '*' and then looks for the '.'
and extension wildcard. If you used that same wildcard in
PmCat+ it would find all files with 'ca' anywhere in their
filename (not extension).
When searching for a string in Comments, don't forget to
precede it with a '*' unless you are certain the first
character of the comments you want will match the first
character of the string you search for.
Where '*' assumes ALL characters match, '?' assumes the
match of only a SINGLE character.
SOUNDEX SEARCHES:
When you chose the <F>ind option from Command Menu, you will see
four options; filename, comments, size and soundex. The
soundex search functions only on filenames and from the
first character. With those limitations in mind, you can
type in a key that simply 'sounds' like the one you want,
and PmCat PLUS will locate that file for you.
To find a string of characters within a string you must
use the wildcards as described above.
Soundex searches work in a very unique manner. The first
character (alphabetic) and a numeric code for the rest of
the search string, which is generated by the Soundex routines
based upon phonetic approximations, are combined into the
patter which is searched for. You will find it matches
things you don't expect and doesn't on some things you
expect. A bit of experience in using it can make it a
useful tool, however.
Basically, type in the word you wish to find, or the closest
spelling you can imagine. The Soundex search may well
surprise you with its effectiveness.
Page 20
PmCat PLUS and Melange BBS :
Support and access is given to registered users on the
Melange BBS ( Mr. Scott is changing the name at this time to
a different name ) the number will remain the same for a bit.
Once a registered user calls, he/she will be given access to
the registered user conference and have access to the
latest version of PmCat PLUS (registered). So, if you plan
to get the updates, it would be good planning to call and
just leave a quick note to let me know you want to be given
access. I'll do so for you as quickly as possible.
Even on your first call, you have unlimited download
privileges, so don't hesitate to give a ring.
All the files may not be commented, but PCBoard allows the
user to look into and read files within archives...even
download the docs of a program without getting the whole
thing! ... and you *can* browse the contents of any
archived file while on line.
Registered PmCat users will have other benefits on the
Melange BBS. Unregistered users are more than welcome, but
will come under 'normal' restrictions.