The Pier Shareware 6/The_Pier_Shareware_Number_6_(The_Pier_Exchange)_(1995).iso/035/inimt33b.zip/sysmaint.txt

Text File | 1994-11-09 | 34KB | 650 lines

                         SysMaint
            Copyright 1993, 1994 by Carry Associates

SysMaint is an OS/2 PM program to display and manage *.INI files and
all Extended Attributes. It is distributed by Carry Associates, 990
Ironwood Court, Marco Island, FL, 33937-4458. Telephone number is
813-642-9126. The application was written by and is supported by
Larry J. Martin. You can obtain Technical support by calling the
number above, by leaving an Email on Compuserve for 72662,3616 or for
the same ID in the OS2AVEND Forum Section 1.

SysMaint is an extension of IniMaint and shares many of the same
files with IniMaint. Therefore, some of the discussion below will
appear to apply to IniMaint rather than SysMaint. However, because of
the close relationship between the two programs, the discussion
applies to both programs. SysMaint and IniMaint also share some
common files such as documentation files, the same help file and the
same API DLL. In order to ease compatibility problems with those who
are using IniMaint, these common files will still start with ini...
rather than the expected sys....

The cost for SysMaint is $49.95 for a single user license and $499.00
for an unlimited corporate license. There is a $7.00 shipping and
handling charge to ship a diskette.  Payment can be made via a check
drawn on a US bank, we will invoice against a corporate purchase
order or we will charge either a Visa or MasterCard credit card.

If you are already a licensed owner of IniMaint you can upgrade to
SysMaint for $25.00.

All of the upgrade amounts above are for a single license, the cost
to upgrade a corporate license is 10 times the appropriate single
license fee.

When SysMaint extracts the Extended Attributes from a file or
directory, the Extended Attributes are placed in a file that has an
internal structure and organization that is very similar to the OS/2
INI files. Therefore, when the user is viewing a set of Extended
Attributes, the appearance of the information is very similar to what
you would see when editing an INI file. This makes the discussions
below, which often refer to INI files, equally applicable to files
which contain Extended Attributes.

WARNING WARNING WARNING WARNING WARNING WARNING WARNING WARNING WARNING

SysMaint gives you the ability to make virtually any change you want
to any of the INI files or any of the Extended Attributes in your
OS/2 environment. Making changes to these files must be done with
care because you can do serious and unpredictable damage to your
environment. It is STRONGLY SUGGESTED that you insure that you have a
usable backup of any INI file or Extended Attribute that you modify in
any way.

WARNING WARNING WARNING WARNING WARNING WARNING WARNING WARNING WARNING

The enclosed is Version 3.3b of SysMaint and has the following known
problems and/or incomplete features:

1. The Initial Dialog cannot be dismissed using the Enter Key, the
Mouse must be used.

2. If the Groups Dialog is displayed, a new Group is selected and
then OK is selected without actually making any changes to any of the
Groups or the Applications in a Group, then the Last Group Displayed
is not updated and a subsequent use of the Groups Dialog will revert
back to the previous Last Group.

3. There is no Help available for the standard OS/2 New File Dialog.


                 REPORTED COMMENTS OR PROBLEMS

The following items are problems that have been reported, but cannot
be reproduced or comments that I have received from one or more
users. Any assistance on the problems or additions to the comments is
more than welcome.

1. It was pointed out that although the Cursor in the Value MLE can
be an Insert Cursor, there is no way to Insert information. My
response is that the only way to change the length of a Value is by
using the Replace Value Dialog because changing the expected length
of an INI Key Value can cause unusual and unexpected errors. I
further responded that the only way to change the cursor is to
change it System wide, therefore, changing it only when it is in the
MLE is a non trivial problem and I have not attempted to do it even
though it leaves the apparent conflict between the appearance of the
Cursor and the actual effect when a key is depressed.

                        INSTALLATION

To install the this version you must:

1. Run the Install program that is on the supplied diskette and
follow the instructions in the Readme and as displayed by Install.

2. You may optionally add the entry: SET INIMAINT= to your CONFIG.SYS
file specifying the path and filename of an INI file that you want
SysMaint to use to store it's operational information. If this entry
is not found in the Environment, SysMaint will store it's operational
information in the OS2.INI file.

                     GETTING STARTED

If you did not obtain your copy of SysMaint to address a specific
problem or you are not familiar with INI files, Extended Attributes
and the kinds of things that SysMaint allows you to do with them,
then it is strongly suggested that you review the Getting Started
entry in the Help file along with the other General Help subjects.

                        OPERATION

The application can be run in either of two modes. Normal Mode will simply
run the application in the normal manner, starting with the INI File that was
current that last time the Application was shut down. Tools Mode will run a
specifc function and, once that function is complete, the application will
automatically exit.

                        TOOLS MODE

The Install Program created a Tools Folder. This Folder contains an Icon for
each of the Tools that is appropriate to this application. In order to run a
specific Tool all you need to do is click on the appropriate Icon. If the
Tool starts with a Menu, for example Copy, you will see the Menu appear on
the Desktop and the Tool will execute once a Selection is made. If the Tool
involves a Dialog, for example Repair INI File, the Dialog will appear on
the Desktop and the Tool will terminate as soon as the Dialog is dismissed.
If the Tool simply does some function, for example Backup the Desktop, then
the function will run and then terminate.

The purpose of the Tools is to make it much easier for the user to use the
various features of the application without having to navigate through all of
the Menus. There is no difference between running a feature via the Tools and
selecting it from the Menu while running in Normal Mode. The Tools run the
exact same EXE file as the Normal Mode does, the only difference is that the
Tools pass a parameter to the EXE file telling to to run in Tools Mode and
which Tool to run.

                       NORMAL MODE

To run SysMaint simply start it by clicking on the SysMaint.EXE file
or start it from the Group to which it has been added. When SysMaint
first comes up, it will default to editing the INI file that is
identified by the system as the user INI file. This is normally
C:\OS2\OS2.INI. The name of the current file is always displayed in
the TITLE bar of the main window.

SysMaint can also be started with an initial INI file specified on
the command line. This allows SysMaint to be started with a new file
by using the command line, but also allows for it to be started by
dropping a file on the ICON on the desktop or double clicking on an
INI file, once the association is set up.

SysMaint will locate the window in a default location, but you can
move and or size the window as you choose. When SysMaint is shut
down, it will remember the file that it was currently working with as
well as the size and location of the window and will restore all of
these the next time it is run.

There are a number of SysMaint functions which will take some time
to execute. For example, the maximum length Key Value that SysMaint
will load into the Key Value Window is 60,000 bytes. Since each line
only displays 8 bytes, this comes to 7,500 lines and it takes well
over a minute. There are other similar types of functions, although
the example is the longest. During these long operations, it is not
possible to do any other SysMaint operations. However, the long
functions are done in separate threads and the Message Queue is not
blocked, therefore it is possible to go do some other, non-SysMaint,
function during this time. In addition, since there are a number of
reasons why a user might not want to wait until the lengthy function
is completed, for example, it might have been selected in error,
any SysMaint operation that takes a long time and displays the Wait
Pointer can be terminated by hitting the ESC key.

SysMaint will normally store the current operating information such
as the size and position of the windows, that INI file that is
currently being edited and a large number of other items, in the User
INI file, OS2.INI. This is sometimes not a convenient location, since
this file gets completely replaced when a new version is installed
and a problem with the OS2.INI file would mean that SysMaint would
not run. SysMaint will use a different INI file and will create the
file, if necessary, if an Environment Variable SysMaint= is placed in
the CONFIG.SYS file or in a CMD file that executes SysMaint. For
example, if the user wanted SysMaint to use the file SysMaint.INI in
the C:\OS2\APPS subdirectory, they would code:
    SET INIMAINT=C:\OS2\APPS\SYSMAINT.INI

                   MAIN WINDOW DESCRIPTION

The Main Window contains three standard child windows. Two of these
windows are Listboxes and the third is a MLE.

The upper left Listbox will always contain the list of Applications
for the current INI file or Current set of Extended Attributes.

The upper right Listbox will contain the list of Key Names for the
Application that is currently selected in the Application Listbox.

The MLE, at the bottom, will contain the hex and ASCII display of the
contents of the Key Name that is selected in the Key Listbox.

The Cursor will normally be forced to the MLE and the value of the
data can be modified by changing either the hex or the ASCII fields
of the MLE. The cursor cannot be moved to any portion of the MLE that
does not contain data that can be modified and any modification to
one type of data, hex or ASCII, will immediately be reflected in the
other data.

The actual data in the INI or Extended Attribute file is not changed
until the user selects the Update Item on the Action Menu or selects
a different Key or Application in the same INI or Extended Attribute
file. At this time, you will be asked to confirm that you want the
INI or Extended Attribute file modified, unless you have turned the
warning option off, see below.

                 SysMaint POPUP MENUS

In addition to the standard menu entries described below, each window
has a Popup Menu that will appear when the standard action is taken,
clicking once with the Right Mouse Button is the default. Each of the
three primary windows has its own Menu and the Menu will contain those
items which are general to the entire Application and those that
apply to the entries in that particular window. Most of the items on
these menus are discussed below, however, there are three items on
each menu that are unique to the Popup Menus and they are:

1. Explain will attempt to give the user an explanation of the
meaning of the currently selected Application and Key. Not every
Application will have an explanation, but an attempt has been made to
explain all of the standard OS/2 entries as completely as possible.

2. Write Window to a File will cause the entries in the window in
question to be written to a file, so they could be reviewed without
SysMaint running.

3. Print Window will cause the entries in the Window to be printed on
the default printer.

                 SysMaint MENU OPTIONS

The various SysMaint Menu options are:

1. File gives the user the ability to change INI or Extended Attribute
files, refresh the current INI or Extended Attribute file, Dump the
contents of the SysMaint variables, compare two INI or Extended
Attribute files and Exit from SysMaint.

The Compare option allows the user to Compare two INI or Extended
Attribute files on any one of three different levels:

   A. List Applications that are in one INI or Extended Attribute file,
      but not the other.

   B. A. above plus any Key Names that are in one file, but not the
      other.

   C. A. and B. above plus any Key Values that are in both files, but
      are not equal.

The differences are displayed in a Listbox within a Dialog that
allows the user to print or write a listing of the Listbox contents
and/or create an INI or Extended Attribute file with some or all of
the Applications or Keys that have differences.

2. Options will display a Dialog that gives you the ability to:

   A. Turn off the display of the opening SysMaint Dialog.

   B. Turn off the dialogs that will ask for confirmation before
      Deleting or Modifying the contents of the Current INI or
      Extended Attribute file.

3. Groups will display a Dialog that allows you to define and manage
the various Groups for this INI or Extended Attribute file. A bit of
explanation is needed here. SysMaint gives the user the ability to
arrange the applications in any INI or Extended Attribute file into
Groups. These Groups can then be used in a number of different
SysMaint areas and greatly ease the problems of handling an INI or
Extended Attribute file with a large number of applications. For
example, the OS2.INI or Extended Attribute file might be divided into
two Groups, System and Private. The System Group would be the
applications put in the file by OS/2 Install and the Private Group
would be the remaining applications. More or fewer Groups could be
defined. How the user can use Groups within the SysMaint structure
will become more clear below. The Groups Dialog gives the user the
ability to define new Groups, to add and delete Applications and
Delete Groups.

The procedure for establishing a new Group is to select Groups in the
Group Dialog, select New Group, and supply a name. Once this is done,
the Title of the Dialog will show the current Group and the new Group
will be added to the Group Menu. You add Applications to the Group by
selecting them in the Listbox.

The Listbox will display a specific Group or, if you want to know if
there are any Applications that are not in a Group, will display all
Groups. A single Application can be a member of up to 5 different
Groups at any one time, so it is possible to define overlapping
Groups.

4. Size will calculate the minimum amount of Disk Space that would be
required for an INI or Extended Attribute file that contained a
selected set of Applications in the current INI or Extended Attribute
file. When this item is selected, the user will be asked what he
wants to Size. There will always be several choices, the various
standard INI or Extended Attribute files, the current file and the
currently selected Application. If there are any Groups defined, then
they will be included among the selections. If there are more than
one Group defined, then there will be an All Groups selection.

5. Actions gives the user the ability to do a number of things:
   A. Update Current Key will write any changes that have been made
      to the data in the MLE into the current INI or Extended Attribute file.

   B. Delete Application and Delete Key will do the obvious.

   C. Add Application, Add Key and Replace Key Value are all the same
      function except entered at different points. Add Application
      will ask for the name of a new Application to add to the
      current INI or Extended Attribute file and then fall through to
      the Add Key, since the Applications must have at least one Key.
      The Add Key will ask for the name of the new Key and then fall
      through to the Replace Key Value, since any Key Name must have
      an associated Value. This will cause the Key Dialog box to be
      displayed. The Application and Key Names will be shown at the
      top of the Dialog, followed by the current length of the data,
      the ASCII representation of the data and the hex representation of
      the data. This is the only option that will change the length of
      a Key Value. Care must be taken when doing this, as many
      applications depend on knowing the length of the INI items. As
      the ASCII or hex values are changed, the changes will appear in
      the other window and the length will be updated. The only
      exception is when only a single hex digit is entered. The ASCII
      window is not updated until two hex characters are entered.

   D. Rename and Duplicate Key give the user the ability to change
      the name of an existing Key or to make a duplicate copy of the
      Key using a different Key Name.

   E. Copy and Move will ask the user to select a Target File for the
      Copy/Move and will then give the user the same choices as Size
      above. The selected Applications will then be moved or copied
      to the Target INI or Extended Attribute file, which will be created, if it does not
      exist. This function is done Key by Key, so it will sometimes
      take some time. However, the PM message queue is not blocked
      while the move/copy is being done. The actual move or copy is
      done by a separate program INICOPY, that can also be run as a
      batch program, see below.

   F. Backup allows for an easy Backup of the System INI file, User
      INI file or both the System and User INI files. Once the user
      has selected names for the normal backups for the two files,
      these files will be presented as the default for additional
      backups. The user can set an Option that will bypass asking
      the user if he wants to use the defaults. This selection will
      always delete the target files before doing the backup, which
      is one of the ways it varies from the Copy selection.

6. Recover contains a list of capabilities designed to give the user
the ability to recover from corrupted INI or Extended Attribute files.
These capabilities are:

   A. Change User and/or System INI files give the user the ability
      to change the INI files that OS/2 is currently using to new
      files. The primary use of this capability is to allow the user
      to make changes to the User or System INI files that he knows
      need to be made, but cannot make to the current User or System
      Files because of protection built into OS/2. Great care must be
      exercised when doing this, but it will sometimes represent the
      only way that problem entries can be removed from an INI file.

   B. Repair inconsistencies between the INI files and the Desktop.

   C. Condense the Current INI file, the System INI file, the User
      INI file or both the System and User INI files. The Condense
      is necessary because of the way updating is done to the INI
      files. The updating will leave empty areas in the INI files and
      these areas tend to get fragmented, thus causing the overall
      size of the INI file to grow, sometimes grow very large.
      Condensing the System or User INI files is not a simple task,
      since they cannot be copied or erased while they are being used
      by OS/2. This item switches the files to the copies long enough
      to erase the old files and copy a condensed backup to the
      original names. The only problem this causes is that it will
      reset the desktop to the boot desktop. This function is removed
      for Version 2.1 of OS/2 and beyond, since the handling of the
      INI files was changed to automatically remove the empty space.

   D. There are two items to Test for and Reset the condition where
      the User and System INI files cannot be updated. When this
      condition is found, the user will be asked if he wants to
      correct the condition and, if he answers yes, the User and
      System INI files will get changed so that they will be able
      to be updated. The process involves making a copy of the INI
      files and switching to them, so it takes a minute or so and
      involves resetting the Desktop.

7. Find allows the user to search the Application Listbox, the Key
Name Listbox, the Key Value MLE, all of the Key Names in the current
INI or Extended Attribute file, all of the Key Values for the current
Application or all of the Key Values in the current INI or Extended
Attribute file for either an Ascii string or a Hex value.

8. The Desktop menu has a number of entries that are associated with
the maintenance of the Desktop.

   A. A Defaults Dialog that allows the user to set various Default
      entries and values for the Desktop Items.

   B. Reset Desktop will simply reset WPS and is normally used for
      testing purposes. However, there are certain kinds of manual
      changes that can be made to the OS2.INI and OS2SYS.INI files
      that require that the WPS be reset in order for them to become
      effective and this entry will accomplish the reset.

   C. Backup Desktop will make a Simple Backup of the Desktop. This
      menu item will maintain the number of backup generations
      currently specified in the Desktop Defaults.

   D. Create Backup CMD file will generate a CMD file using the name
      that is specified in the Defaults Dialog and generate a CMD
      file that will create a Simple Backup of the Desktop, including
      maintenance of the number of generations that are specified in
      the Defaults.

   E. Create Restore CMD File will create a CMD file that can only be
      run when the PM Shell and WPS are not active, such as after a
      boot from a diskette. This CMD file will accept a generation
      number as a parameter and, if no generation is specified, will
      default to generation 01, tell the user that the default is
      being used and only do the restore with the default if the user
      hits the enter key.

   F. Restore the Desktop ID will fix the problem where the Desktop
      Menu has lost the items which are unique to the Desktop, such
      as Shutdown. This condition is caused by a problem in the
      Extended Attributes for the Desktop Directory and this menu
      item will fix that problem.

   G. Restore Desktop Directory will restore the Desktop Directory
      structure from any one of the generations of Simple Backup
      files created by the Backup facilities of SysMaint. While this
      can be done while WPS and PM are active, it can cause a problem
      if there is anything else running at the time.

   H. Restore Desktop INI Files is similar to the item above, except
      it will restore the OS2.INI and OS2SYS.INI files from the
      backup. Once again, it can be done while WPS and PM are active
      but problems can occur if other things are running while this
      restore is being done.

9. Extended Attributes is the menu used to access Extended Attributes
for a file, directory or a group of files and/or directories. The
menu structure has two levels. The first selection is the function
desired and this will cause a second menu to appear which will allow
selection of which files and/or directories the function should apply
to. All of these are described more completely in the on-line help
files.

Many of the Extended Attribute functions involve taking the Extended
Attributes from one set of files and/or directories and adding them
to another set of files and/or directories. In order to do this,
SysMaint must have a way of deciding which files and directories
match each other. The basic way this is done is by removing the base
information from each path and doing the compare on the remainder of
the name. For example, if the Extended Attributes for all of the
files and directories in the C:\OS2\SOURCE directory were to be
copied to the D:\TARGET directory, then the file
C:\OS2\SOURCE\FILE.NME would be determined to match
D:\TARGET\FILE.NME and the Extended Attributes for the FILE.NME file
would be copied from one file to the other. In addition, the
directory C:\OS2\SOURCE\SUBDIR1 would be determined to match
D:\TARGET\SUBDIR1 and the directory Extended Attributes would be
copied from one directory to the other.

Aside from the functions that act on the Extended Attributes, there
are a few utility functions on this menu:

   A. Defaults will present a Dialog box that allows the user to set the
      various defaults for the Extended Attribute menu operations.

   B. Describe Current File will tell the user the selection criteria
      used to create the set of Extended Attributes that are currently
      being displayed in the window. This information is kept in special
      control areas of the file and is not visible, thus the need to give
      the user some way of verifying the source for the current set of
      Extended Attributes.

   C. Update From Current File will use the Extended Attribute
      information in the currently displayed file and the internal control
      information to Join the displayed Extended Attribute information to
      the files and/or directories from which it was extracted. For
      example, if a user want to modify the Extended Attributes for some
      files and/or directories they would use View to extract the Extended
      Attributes to a temporary file, use the normal editing capabilities
      to make the desired modifications and then use Update to replace the
      Extended Attributes for the files and/or directories.

The available functions are:

   A. View allows the user to view and, if desired, modify the Extended
      Attributes.

   B. Test will examine the Extended Attributes for the selected set of
      files and/or directories and present a window that will tell the user
      whether the Extended Attributes are valid or invalid.

   C. Save will copy the Extended Attributes to a save file which can
      later be used to View the Extended Attributes or can be used to Join
      them back to the original files and/or directories.

   D. Copy will Copy the Extended Attributes from one set of files
      and/or directories to another set of files or directories. The
      Extended Attributes of the original files are not modified. The
      Extended Attributes will be attached to files and/or directories on
      the Target based on the name matching algorithm described above.

   E. Move does exactly the same thing as the Copy does with the
      exception that the Extended Attributes for the Source files and/or
      directories will be deleted.

   F. Split does the same as Move, except the Extended Attributes are
      added to a file that can be Viewed or used to Join the Extended
      Attributes to another set of files and/or directories.

   G. Join takes the Extended Attributes in a Saved, or Split file and
      rejoins them to the files and/or directories selected. If the
      Extended Attributes are not Joined to the original files and/or
      directories, then the matching algorithm above will be used to
      determine which files and/or directories to update.

   H. Compare will compare the Extended Attributes for one set of files
      and/or directories to those for another set of files and/or
      directories. The matching algorithm described above is used to
      determine which sets of files and/or directories should be compared
      to each other.

   I. Compare to Saved EAs will compare the Extended Attributes for a
      set of files and/or directories to the Extended Attributes in a Saved
      or Split EA file. This can be used to see what kind of changes were
      made to the Extended Attributes for a set of files and/or directories
      because of some action on the Desktop.

Once the function is selected, the list of what type files and/or
directories the function should apply to is presented. These
selections and their effects are:

   A. Single File will perform the function against a single file. The
      user will be presented with a file selection dialog that will allow
      them to select the file.

   B. Single Directory will perform the function against a single
      directory. The user will be presented with a modified file
      selection dialog that will only show the drive and directory entries.
      The directory must be selected by double clicking on the desired
      directory. Simply selecting the directory and then clicking on OK
      will not work because of the way that the file selection dialog
      handles the various messages.

   C. All Files in Directory will perform the function against all the
      files in a selected directory. The user will be presented with a
      modified file selection dialog that will only show the drive and
      directory entries.  The directory must be selected by double clicking
      on the desired directory. Simply selecting the directory and then
      clicking on OK will not work because of the way that the file
      selection dialog handles the various messages.

   D. All Directories in Directory will perform the function against
      all the subdirectories in a selected directory. The user will be
      presented with a modified file selection dialog that will only show
      the drive and directory entries.  The directory must be selected by
      double clicking on the desired directory. Simply selecting the
      directory and then clicking on OK will not work because of the way
      that the file selection dialog handles the various messages.

   E. All Files & Dirs. in Directory will perform the function against
      all the files and subdirectories in a selected directory. The user
      will be presented with a modified file selection dialog that will
      only show the drive and directory entries.  The directory must be
      selected by double clicking on the desired directory. Simply
      selecting the directory and then clicking on OK will not work because
      of the way that the file selection dialog handles the various
      messages.

   F. All Files in Directory and SubDirs. is the same as C. above,
      except that SysMaint will include not only the files in the
      directory but any files found in any subdirectory of the selected
      directory.

   G. All Directories in Directory and SubDirs. is the same as D. above,
      except that SysMaint will include not only the subdirectories in the
      directory but any subdirectories found in any subdirectory of the selected
      directory.

   H. All Files & Dirs. in Directory and SubDirs. is the same as E.
      above, except that SysMaint will include not only the files and/or
      subdirectories in the directory but any files and/or subdirectories
      found in any subdirectory of the selected directory.

   I. All Files on Drive will perform the function against all the
      files on a selected drive. The user will be presented with a
      modified file selection dialog that will only show the drive
      entries.  The drive must be selected followed then the OK box.

   J. All Directories on Drive will perform the function against all the
      directories on a selected drive. The user will be presented with a
      modified file selection dialog that will only show the drive
      entries.  The drive must be selected followed then the OK box.

   K. All Files & Directories on Drive will perform the function against
      all the files and/or directories on a selected drive. The user will
      be presented with a modified file selection dialog that will only
      show the drive entries.  The drive must be selected followed then the
      OK box.

                             INICOPY

INICOPY is the program that is used by SysMaint to do the actual
COPY/MOVE operations. This option is implemented as a separate program
so that the user will have the ability to make copies of INI or Extended Attribute files,
including the User and System INI or Extended Attribute files, at any time during the day.

The parameters expected by INICOPY are:

Required Parameters:

-Ifilename  - The fully qualified path and filename of the Source,
              Input, INI or Extended Attribute file.

-Ofilename  - The fully qualified path and filename of the Target,
              Output, INI or Extended Attribute file. The Target will be created if it does
              not exist.

Optional Parameters:

-Fx         - Function requested - Default is C(opy)
              C = C(opy)
              M = M(ove)

-E          - COPY/MOVE Entire INI or Extended Attribute file - Default

-A          - COPY/MOVE All Groups

-Ggroup     - COPY/MOVE Specific Group

-Sapp       - COPY/MOVE Specific Application

-T          - Use Fast Copy. This is only valid if -E is also specified