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1993-09-20
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CATFILES - BBS file listing cataloguer
Version 3.22a
By Bill Stirling
Copyright 1992,93
All rights reserved
CONTENTS
1. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
2. WHAT IS CATFILES? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
3. PACKING LIST . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
4. SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS AND PROGRAM LIMITATIONS . . . . . . 3
5. INSTALLING CATFILES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
6. RUNNING CATFILES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
7. USING CATFILES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
7.1 THE MAIN MENU . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
7.2 CONFIGURATION MENU . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
7.2.1 General Program Configuration . . . . . . . 10
7.2.2 BBS Specific Configuration . . . . . . . . 12
7.2.3 Set Preferred Screen Colours . . . . . . . 14
7.2.4 Advanced Program Configuration . . . . . . 15
7.3 MAKE/EDIT THE PICK LIST MENU . . . . . . . . . . 18
7.3.1 Select Areas (Default x from y) . . . . . . 19
7.3.2 Select by System Date . . . . . . . . . . . 19
7.3.3 Select by DownLoad Particulars . . . . . . 20
7.3.4 Select by File Name . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
7.3.5 Select by File Extension . . . . . . . . . 20
7.3.6 Select by Word in Description . . . . . . . 20
7.3.7 Select If/Not Viewed . . . . . . . . . . . 21
7.3.8 Save this Pick List . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
7.3.9 Restore a Saved Pick List . . . . . . . . . 21
7.3.10 Reset (Clear) the Current Pick List . . . 21
7.3.11 View Files in the List . . . . . . . . . . 21
7.3.12 Scan Files in the List . . . . . . . . . . 22
7.3.13 Action the Pick List . . . . . . . . . . . 23
7.4 ACTION THE PICK LIST MENU . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
7.4.1 Move Files in Pick List to another Area . . 23
7.4.2 Produce a DownLoad File . . . . . . . . . . 24
7.4.3 Change DownLoad Status . . . . . . . . . . 24
7.4.4 Change Viewed Status . . . . . . . . . . . 24
7.4.5 Remove Files from the DataBase . . . . . . 24
7.4.6 Print Files in the Pick List . . . . . . . 25
7.4.7 Send Pick List to File . . . . . . . . . . 25
7.5 UPDATE THE FILES DATABASE MENU . . . . . . . . . 26
7.5.1 Add Files to the DataBase . . . . . . . . . 26
7.5.2 Reconcile the Files in the DataBase . . . . 28
7.5.3 Scan for DownLoaded Files . . . . . . . . . 30
7.5.4 Configure File Areas . . . . . . . . . . . 30
7.5.5 Tidy up the DataBase . . . . . . . . . . . 31
7.5.6 Recreate the Index Files . . . . . . . . . 32
7.6 USE ANOTHER BBS LISTING . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
7.7 VIEW ALL FILES IN DEFAULT AREAS . . . . . . . . . 34
8. PROBLEMS/SUGGESTIONS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
APPENDICES
Appendix A - Files Created by CATFILES
Appendix B - Support for CompuServe Off-Line Readers
Appendix C - Input File Formats Supported
Appendix D - Automatic Updating of Downloaded Files.
Appendix E - Version History
Appendix F - CATFILES Interchange Format
Appendix G - Using CATFILES with OLX or QModem Pro
1. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Wildcat, Tomcat, OLX and Qmodem Pro are products of Mustang
Software.
Tapcis is a product of Support Group.
OzCIS is a product of Steve Sneed of Ozarks West Software
Telix is a product of Exis Inc.
Procomm Plus is a product of Datastorm Technologies
PKZIP and PKUNZIP are produces of PKWARE Inc.
ARJ is a product of Robert K Jung.
My thanks also to the beta testers on Direct Line who have
found various bugs and made some excellent suggestions.
2. WHAT IS CATFILES?
CATFILES started from my own inability to keep a track of
the thousands of files that are available on various
Bulletin Board Systems (BBS) and CompuServe. I wanted to
keep a record of the files available, which I wanted and
which I already had, I also wanted to be able to search for
files by various criteria but there didn't seem to be a
program which would help me do this the way I wanted. In
particular most boards will have a file containing the main
list of the files and then you can get regular updates - but
again there didn't seems to be convenient way of integrating
the updates with the main list - other than periodically
downloading the main list (especially as the files would
often appear first in an upload directory and then get moved
to it's proper area by the sysop).
CATFILES is a program which will read in the file listings
provided by various Bulletin Boards and CompuServe and will
produce a database of the files.
Once you have created a database you can then search for
files using various criteria, such as a by name or word in
the description.
Using the database you can also mark files which you have
already downloaded, or files which you want to download at
some time.
The program produces one database for each BBS listing or
CompuServe Forum (each listing must be in different
directory).
CATFILES will also keep the database up-to-date by reading
in a 'New Files' listing, if your BBS system produces such
listings, and add them to the existing database.
─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
CATFILES Version 3.22a Page 1
Using CATFILES allows you to select the file areas or
libraries you are interested in and only retain files for
those areas.
Support is also offered for Tapcis and OzCIS if you are
cataloguing CompuServe listings.
CATFILES is copyrighted by the author and is not in the
public domain and all rights are reserved. CATFILES version
3.22a can, however, be freely used (in a non-commercial
environment) and distributed provided that all the files are
included and are unaltered. If you like the program and
feel you would like to make a donation to assure my
continued interest in maintaining CATFILES then a sum of 10
Pounds Sterling (20 US Dollars) would be considered most
generous. This may be sent to:-
W Stirling
Lodge 4
Courtlands
Sheen Road
Richmond
Surrey
UK
TW10 5AX
If you want to use CATFILES in a commercial environment then
contact me.
Whilst every effort has been made to ensure that the program
works well it should be used "as is" and no warranties are
given or implied, nor can any responsibility be take for
damages consequential or otherwise.
─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
CATFILES Version 3.22a Page 2
3. PACKING LIST
Version 3.22a of CATFILES should include the following
files:
File Date Time Size Description
CATFILES.EXE 20/09/93 01:00 669,364 The main program
file
CATFILES.HLP 20/09/93 01:00 59,908 The On-Line Help
file
CATFILES.DOC 20/09/93 01:00 168,681 The documentation
file (this file)
README.1ST 20/09/93 01:00 2,884 Some Notes for those
who have never use
CATFILES before.
ADDFILES.BAT 20/09/93 01:00 353 A sample BAT file to
e x t r a c t a
NEWFILES.DAT file
from the QWK packet
and build a
cumulative file.
4. SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS AND PROGRAM LIMITATIONS
The program requires and IBM or compatible computer, DOS
version 3.xx or later and a hard disk.
Whilst CATFILES will run using a 8086 processor and 640Kb of
memory a 80386 with some EMS or XMS memory is recommended.
The amount of space required on the hard disk will depend on
the size of the file listings you intend to catalogue and
the size of the descriptions (see Appendix A for full
information on file sizes), however here are some examples:-
No Files Total File Size
2,182 1,023,329
6,980 970,847
18,647 2,548,260
It may appear odd that the first example with 2,182 files
takes more space than the second which has 3 times as many
files. This is because the first is a CompuServe catalogue
which has much larger file descriptions than the second
which a simple BBS listing with a single line description.
─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
CATFILES Version 3.22a Page 3
The amount of disk space taken by the CATFILES database, in
total, is about 50% to 60% more than the original ASCII file
list and this is mainly due to the index files since the
actual DBF files are about the same size.
You can save some disk space by using a utility such as
PKZIP or ARJ to compress the files when not in use (see
Screen 3, Section 7.2.1 page 11) and this can reduce the
size taken by the database to about 35% - 45% of those
shown, however it must be remembered that before you can use
such a compressed database you must have, at least, the
uncompressed size free on you hard disk.
The program can be used with databases stored on floppy
disk, however in this case, CATFILES will create a temporary
directory on your hard disk, copy the files from the floppy
into this directory for use and then copy them back after
use. The temporary directory, and the files in it, are then
deleted from the hard disk. This means that, although your
databases are permanently stored on floppy your hard disk
must have, at least, that much free space before you can use
a database. You should also remember that you SHOULD NOT
remove the floppy until you are finished using the databases
on that floppy. If you are changing from a database on one
floppy to a database on another wait until CATFILES tells
you to change floppies.
The program is limited to a maximum of 65,500 files in each
listing and a maximum of 3,999 different file areas or
libraries.
The program requires a separate directory for each database
(BBS listing) you intend to keep (the program will make any
directories if they don't already exist).
A typical directory structure might be:-
<Root>---CATFDIR----+--BBS1--+--MAIN - Main Listing for BBS1
(Prog Directory) | |
| +---CD1 - CD Listing 1 for BBS1
| |
| +---CD2 - CD Listing 2 for BBS1
|
+---BBS2 Listing for BBS2
|
+---CIS--+---FORUM1 - Forum 1 CompuServe
|
+---FORUM2 - Forum 2 CompuServe
5. INSTALLING CATFILES
─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
CATFILES Version 3.22a Page 4
1) Create a Sub-Directory for the program on your hard
disk (not essential but desirable)
2) Copy the CATFILES.EXE and CATFILES.HLP into the
Sub-Directory. It is not essential that you copy the
CATFILES.HLP file but you must if want the On-Line
Help.
3) Make sure you have the statement:- FILES=<nn> in your
CONFIG.SYS file where <nn> is a number greater than or
equal to 20.
4) If you have been provided with an already prepared
database (this should comprise at least three files viz
BBS_REF.DBF, BBS_FILE.DBF and BBS_DESC.DBF) then create
a sub-directory for them and copy the database files
into it.
6. RUNNING CATFILES
You may execute the file either by:-
a) Change to the Sub-Directory and type CATFILES eg:
CD \CATFDIR
CATFILES
or b) Enter the full path to the program eg:
C:\CATFDIR\CATFILES
or c) Put the directory for the CATFILES program in your
"PATH" statement. If you do this then you can run
CATFILES from any drive or directory by just
typing CATFILES.
When you first run the program you will be greeted with an
introductory screen and then CATFILES will ask, since you
are a new user, if you want to search for an existing
database. If you have installed an already prepared
database (as in Section 5.4 above) then answer (Y)es and
CATFILES will go off and look for it.
The way CATFILES searches for database files is by searching
the current drive first, then, if nothing is found, it will
search the drive on which CATFILES.EXE resides (if different
from the current drive) and then if still none have been
found CATFILES will ask the user which drives to search.
─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
CATFILES Version 3.22a Page 5
If you have a very large hard disk or feel unhappy about a
program searching your disk drives you can answer (N)o to
this search question and specifically tell CATFILES where to
find your database in the configuration session next.
After the above CATFILES will ask you to fill out a few
screens of basic information which will be saved in a file
called CATFILES.CFG in the same directory as the program (ie
in CATFDIR in the example shown). You can change this
configuration data later if you want.
Most of this basic information is self explanatory and more
detailed information is given in Section 7.2.1 page 10,
however a couple of things are worth special mention:-
1) Date format to display. This allows you to chose the
format in which you want to see the dates displayed eg
dd/mm/yy or mm/dd/yy. Later you will be asked what
date format is in the input files - the displayed
format can be different to the input file format.
2) The Default Data (or Start-Up) Directory. This
directory will be the database initially in use each
time you run the program (once in the program you can
of course change the database in use).
Since you are just starting CATFILES this directory
will contain your first listings Database. If you
asked CATFILES to search for an existing DataBase then
this should contain the directory where that DataBase
is. If you decided not to have CATFILES search for an
existing DataBase, but you do have one, you may enter
the path to that DataBase now. In any case you can
accept the default shown or enter another directory.
Whenever entering a directory in CATFILES, it is
advisable to enter the FULL path, including Drive, to
minimise any likely confusion. If you enter a relative
drive specification then CATFILES will try to convert
this to an absolute one eg if the current directory is
C:\DATABASE\CATFILES and you enter the drive
specification "..\FILES\BBS1" then CATFILES will
convert this to "C:\DATABASE\FILES\BBS1\".
If you enter a directory in CATFILES which does not
already exist then CATFILES will generally ask you if
you want to create it and if you answer (Y)es then
CATFILES will go ahead and make the directory. If you
answer (N)o then you will be allowed to enter a new
name. CATFILES can create directories several levels
─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
CATFILES Version 3.22a Page 6
deep ie if C:\DATABASE\CATFILES exists without any
sub-directories then you can enter
C:\DATABASE\CATFILES\LEVEL1\LEVEL2\LEVEL3 and CATFILES
will create all the necessary directories.
You CANNOT make a floppy disk drive as your default
directory so you must, at least, have one data
directory on your hard disk which CATFILES can fall
back to. This default directory can contain an empty
database if you like so that you can start CATFILES
using an empty DataBase on your Hard Disk and then
immediately change to using another listing which is on
a floppy.
3) If you want to delete the Index files after use. If
you say (Y)es to this option then the program will
build the index files each time you use a DataBase and
then delete them when finished.
This will save disk space but will make things slower
as the index files have to be re-built each time you
use a listing.
4) If you want to use CompuServe listings with an Off-Line
reader such as Tapcis or OzCIS (see Appendix B for what
support means). If you answer Yes then you will be
asked for the directory which contains you OLR program.
If you have an already prepared database then CATFILES
should find this and start using it. If not then the
program will create your first (empty) database in the
directory you have indicated and you will then be asked some
information about this database such as type of listing
(CompuServe or other), name etc.
If it is not a CompuServe listing it will ask about the
format of the input files such as date format and input
format. Initially the date format is "Unknown" - if you
leave it at that the program will try to determine the
format the first time you try to read from the file.
See Appendix C for details of the input file formats
supported.
Once you have entered all this information (see Section
7.2.2 page 12 for full details of the BBS Specific
configuration) you will be taken to the CATFILES Main Menu.
─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
CATFILES Version 3.22a Page 7
7. USING CATFILES
CATFILES uses a number of menus and sub-menus to allow the
user to chose his actions. The contents of these menus may
change depending upon the current status of the database.
For example the main menu will not have the option to 'Make
a Pick List' if the database currently contains no files.
The following description gives details of all the possible
menu options (even if they don't always appear to you).
Remember if you have copied the CATFILES.HLP file into your
program directory you can get context sensitive help at any
time by pressing the 'F1' key.
For all menus you may select an item by using the Up or Down
cursor keys to highlight the option you want and then it can
be selected by pressing the 'Enter' key.
Alternatively each menu item will have one character a
different colour from the rest of the characters - this is
called the 'Hot Key' and you may select any item from the
menu by just hitting the 'Hot Key'.
In all menus the 'Q' key is the hot key to quit this menu
and return to the previous menu (or in the case of the Main
Menu to quit the program completely)
The 'Esc' is generally used to cancel what you are doing and
in the case of menus is equivalent to the 'Q' key.
At all menus you can 'shell to DOS' by using the 'Alt + F10'
combination. When in DOS you can run any program you like
(except another copy of CATFILES). When you are finished in
DOS type 'EXIT' and hit 'Enter' to return to CATFILES. It
should be noted that in order to leave as much conventional
memory available to the user when shelled to DOS CATFILES
swaps almost all of itself to either EMS, XMS or disk
depending on you system configuration. You should be
careful about deleting any files when shelled to DOS - you
should NOT delete the database files in use or the swap file
if it exists.
In general this documentation will just list all the menu
options and then deal with what they do in detail
afterwards.
─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
CATFILES Version 3.22a Page 8
7.1 THE MAIN MENU
This is the first menu you will be taken to when you first
run CATFILES, it is also the menu you will normally go to
whenever CATFILES is started unless you use the advanced
configuration options to change this (see Screen 4, Section
7.2.4 page 17). You must always return to this menu to Quit
CATFILES and return to the operating system.
The top of the screen will show the name of the DataBase in
use (or the directory if you didn't give it a name) and the
number of files in the DataBase.
The options for this menu are:-
"Make a Pick List"
or "Edit the Pick List" - If you have
already made a
list.
"Action the Pick List" - Only if you have
already made a
list
"Update the Files DataBase"
"Use Another BBS Listing"
"Configure Program/DataBase"
"View All Files in Default Areas" Only if you
haven't already
made a Pick List.
7.2 CONFIGURATION MENU
This menu will show the name of the DataBase in use and
number of files in the DataBase at the top.
The possible options for this menu are:-
"General Program Configuration"
"BBS Specific Configuration"
"Set Preferred Screen Colours"
"Advanced Program Configuration"
─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
CATFILES Version 3.22a Page 9
7.2.1 General Program Configuration
This comprises three screens of information and is the
information which the program requires you to give when you
first run CATFILES.
At the end of each screen you will be asked if you are
finished with this screen answering (Y)es will progress you
to the next screen and (N)o will take you back to the last
question on that screen. On any screen you can use the Up
and Down cursor keys to move back and forwards through the
questions and Page Down will take you to the "finished
screen" prompt.
Screen 1
Colour Monitor If the program has detected that you
have a graphics card installed in the
computer then it will ask if you also
have a colour monitor. You should
answer 'Y' or 'N'.
If you have a grey scales monitor you
might want to answer Y and then set the
colour scheme to best suit your screen.
Printer This is asking if you have a printer
attached. Answer 'Y' or 'N'. Since this
version of CATFILES does not do any
printing this answer is incidental.
Printer Port If you say you have a printer then the
program will display the printer port
and ask if you want to change it.
Display Date Format The program will display the format in
which you want the date displayed and
ask if you want to change it. If you
answer 'Y' you will be shown a list of
possible date formats from which you can
choose.
Default Data Path This is where you enter the directory
which stores the database which will be
use every time you start CATFILES. You
cannot enter either Drive A: or B: here
ie you must have a default database
which is on a hard disk NOT on a Floppy
Disk.
─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
CATFILES Version 3.22a Page 10
It is always advisable, whenever
entering a directory in CATFILES, to
enter the FULL path, including Drive, to
minimise any likely confusion. If you
enter a relative drive specification
then CATFILES will try to convert this
to an absolute one eg if the current
directory is C:\DATABASE\CATFILES and
you enter the drive specification
"..\FILES\BBS1" the CATFILES will
c o n v e r t t h i s t o
"C:\DATABASE\FILES\BBS1\".
Delete Index Files If you answer 'Y' to this program then
the program will delete the index files
it uses after it has finished with them.
This will save disk space but will make
the program slower since it has to build
the index files every time it uses a
DataBase.
Sound Off CATFILES is fairly quiet but does give
beeps as prompts or warnings for certain
items. If you answer 'Y' to this the
program will be totally silent.
Screen 2
This screen is related to using CATFILES with CompuServe
listings and an Off-Line reader (sometimes called a
navigation program).
The program first asks if you want to use the program with
an OLR. If you answer (Y)es the program will ask for the
path to your OLR (that is where the '.EXE, file resides.
The program will then show the type of OLR and ask if you
want to change it. If you answer yes to this then a screen
will pop-up to allow you to chose which reader you want to
use (currently the option are Tapcis v5.4, Tapcis 5.41,
OzCIS 1.0 to 1.2a and OzCIS 2.0 to 2.0b).
Screen 3
This screen allows you select whether you wish CATFILES to
use an external file compression utility (such as PKZIP or
ARJ) to compress the database files after they are used (and
of course de-compress them before use). These compression
programs are not supplied with CATFILES but generally
available, as Shareware, from almost every BBS.
─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
CATFILES Version 3.22a Page 11
In order to leave as much memory as possible when running
the compression program CATFILES swaps itself out of
conventional memory to either EMS, XMS or disk depending
upon your computer configuration.
If you say (Y)es to this option you will then be first asked
if you want to compress only the files on (F)loppy disks or
(A)ll files.
Next you will be asked the mask (or program) to use to
compress the files. Unless the directory for your
compression program is in your PATH statement you should
enter the full path and program name and any
command/switches needed eg:
C:\ARCHIVE\PKZIP
or C:\ARCHIVE\ARJ a
Finally you will be asked the mask (or program) to use to
de-compress the files. Unless the directory for your
de-compression program is in your PATH statement you should
enter the full path and program name eg:
C:\ARCHIVE\PKUNZIP
or C:\ARCHIVE\ARJ e
When you have completed Screen 3 you will be asked if you
want to save this configuration. If you answer (Y)es then
any changes you have made will be permanently saved in
CATFILES.CFG and will be effective every time you run
CATFILES. If you answer (N)o then any changes you have made
will be effective for the rest of this session only.
7.2.2 BBS Specific Configuration
This allows you enter details about a new BBS listing or
edit the information about an existing BBS listings
database.
If you are creating new BBS listing database then you will
be shown a pop up screen allowing you to choose if this
listing will contain a 'Normal BBS Listing' or a 'CompuServe
Listing'. You may use the cursor keys to highlight your
choice and hit 'Enter' to select it.
If you choose 'CompuServe Listing' then you will also be
asked for the gateway (commonly CIS) and the forum name.
─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
CATFILES Version 3.22a Page 12
These latter questions will only be asked when you are
creating a new BBS listing. If you want to change these
settings at a later date then you must hit the 'F5' key when
in the BBS Specific configuration screen.
Thereafter you will be presented with three screens of
information.
Screen 1
This screen simply asks for the name or title of the
listing. This is optional and you need not enter a name.
Screen 2
This screen asks for information about the default files
which normally contains listing of files for this BBS.
The first item is the directory which contains the full
listing.
The second item is the default name of the file which
contains your full listing.
When you first read in files to the database or if you
choose to reconcile the database (see Section 7.5.2 page 28)
then this file name and directory will be the initial
default offered (if it exists).
If you are creating this database for the first time the
program will then show you a list of supported file formats
for the input file and allow you to select the type you want
(use the cursor keys to highlight the one you want and press
enter to select it). If you already have chosen a format the
program will show the currently selected format and ask if
you want to change it (see Appendix C for details of the
formats supported).
The program will then show you the date format that it
expects in the input file (this can be different from the
format you want to see the dates displayed) and asks if you
want to change it. Initially this will be 'Unknown' if you
leave it as this then CATFILES will try to determine the
date format of the input file (either now, if the file
exists, or when you first come to read in the file).
One problem about leaving it at unknown is that if the
program finds a date such as 10/01/91 it cannot be sure if
this is 10 January or 1 October. The program will look
through the whole of the input file looking for a date it
─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
CATFILES Version 3.22a Page 13
can definitely identify such as 15/01/92 or 01/15/92 but if
there are none of this type it may guess wrongly.
CATFILES does 'remember' if got a definite date and, if not,
will keep trying every time you try to read from that file
but this could result in some files in the database having
wrong dates.
Screen 3
This screen asks for information about the default file
which normally contains your update listing of files for
this BBS. This file is the one which normally contains your
new files which are to be added to the database (see Section
7.5.1 page 26).
When you select to add files to the database (except for the
first time) then this file name and directory will be the
initial default offered.
The information asked will be the same as for the full
listing. The file format and date format can be different
from the full listing.
Screen 4
This screen allows you to set the directory and name of the
files used by CATFILES to produce 'Download File' listings
and 'Update Database' listing for Normal BBS databases.
By default CATFILES will use the same directory as the
database files and the names DLOAD.LST and CATFILES.DLS
respectively, but you may enter any valid filenames and
directories you wish.
See Section 7.4.2 page 24 for more information on the
Download Files List and Appendix D for more information on
the update listing.
7.2.3 Set Preferred Screen Colours
If you have said you have a colour monitor in the general
program configuration then you will also have this option
available to you.
The screen will show you the five different type of screens
available. One of the screens will have a flashing border
and this is the 'current' screen. You can use the left and
right cursor keys to highlight the screen you want to edit
then press 'Enter'.
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CATFILES Version 3.22a Page 14
You will then be presented with screens of foreground and
background colours to choose from. There are 16 foreground
colour and 8 background colours. All 8 background colours
will appear on the screen but the foreground choices will
scroll to show the extra choices.
If you press enter at any colour to select it then the
appropriate screen colours will change so that you can see
the effect.
Again you can use the left and right cursor keys to select
if you want to change the foreground or background colours.
7.2.4 Advanced Program Configuration
This will allow you to set your own preferences in the way
which CATFILES works. You will be presented with five
screens of information. On each screen you may move up and
down the requested information using the Up and Down keys,
or you may hit the 'Esc' key to finish. You may also use
the Page Up and Page Dn keys to go back or forwards
When you reach the end of a screen CATFILES will ask if you
have finished with this screen. If you answer (N)o it will
go back to the first item on this page. If you answer (Y)es
then it will either:-
Go forward a screen
Go back a screen if you had previously pressed Page Up
or Will ask if you want to save this configuration if you
had previously pressed 'Esc'
Instead of answering (Y)es or (N)o to the "Finished this
screen" you may press the 'F5' key which will allow you to
enter a screen number and you will jump straight to that
screen eg go from screen 1 to screen 5 or from screen 4 to
screen 2.
Screen 1
This deals with your preferences for outputting pick list to
either a file or the printer and allows you to set the
number of characters per line left margin etc..
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Screen 2
This screen deals with how you want to handle the reading in
(or adding) of files to the database.
There are two ways you can add files to the database either
automatically or manually.
The first question asked is if you want to add files to the
database automatically. If you answer (Y)es then every time
you start CATFILES or use another database it will check to
see if the default update file (as specified on Screen 3 of
7.2.2) has been modified and if so will start to read it in.
Note: If you set the auto adding to yes then CATFILES will
try to auto add to every database you use unless there
has been no file name specified as the default update
file.
The second question is if you want to be prompted during
automatic adding of files. This means do you always want to
be asked if you want to view the files as they are added, if
you want to delete the input file when it has been read in,
or if you want to reduce the files size to Zero bytes.
If you answer (N)o to this item then every time CATFILES
will 'remember' what you did the last time during an
automatic input and do the same the next time. If you
haven't already set the default prompts for an automatic
read for a particular database then CATFILES will ask you
once and then repeat it thereafter.
If you specify no here then you will not be prompted for all
database - BUT the default responses can be different for
each. For example you can have one database set to View
files as they are added, don't delete the input file when
done but reduce to zero bytes and another set to not Viewing
files as they are added and delete the file when done.
The third question deals with prompting for manual adding of
files (ie you have selected Add files to Database from the
Update Menu) and is basically the same as for automatic
input. It should be noted that the manual defaults, as well
as being different for each database are/ can be different
from the auto adding defaults.
During a manual read CATFILES will always prompt you for the
input file name even if you have set prompting to (N)o.
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Screen 3
This screen deals with how you want to handle scanning of
drives or directories for downloaded files.
The first question asks if you want to automatically scan
for downloaded files every time you start CATFILES or use
another database.
The second asks if you want to be prompted during an
automatic scan. This means if you want to be asked for the
drive/directory to scan and if you want to scan
sub-directories. Again the defaults for these can be
different for these latter can be different for each
database.
The third question asks if you want to be prompted during
manual scan. Unlike the auto/manual adding of files the
defaults for manual and auto scan are the same.
The fourth question asks if you want to use only the file
name when checking for downloaded files. Normally CATFILES
checks to see if the file on the drive/directory has the
same name as one in the database AND is approximately the
same size (within 2k)
If you answer (Y)es to this question then CATFILES will
ignore the size of the files.
Screen 4
This screen permits you to set which screen you want to see
every time you start CATFILES or use another database.
Normally CATFILES will start at the Main Menu, however using
this screen you can change this.
You can have different start-up screens for databases with
files and databases without files.
Screen 5
This Screen lets you see and change the default prompts for
use with both manual and automatic adding of files. This
screen ONLY deals with the current database.
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7.3 MAKE/EDIT THE PICK LIST MENU
This is the real "heart" of CATFILES and from here you can
select the files you are interested in by various means.
This menu will show you the name of the DataBase and the
number of files currently in the pick list.
The possible options for this menu are:-
"Select Areas (Default x from y)"
"Select by System Date"
"Select by DownLoad Particulars"
"Select by File Name"
"Select by File Extension"
"Select by Word in Description"
"Save this Pick List"
"Restore a Saved Pick List"
"Reset (Clear) the Current Pick List"
"View Files in List"
"Scan Files in List"
"Action the Pick List"
The action taken by any of these options will vary depending
on whether there are files currently in the 'Pick List' or
not.
If there are no files in the 'Pick List' then selecting,
say, by file name will make a list of all files in the
default areas with the names you specify.
If there are currently files in the 'Pick List' then the
selecting by files by, say name again, will eliminate all
files from the current pick list which do not match the
names you specify.
Also, if there are files in the 'Pick List' and you select
to find, say, by word in the description and no files match
that word then the 'Pick List' will be unchanged.
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CATFILES Version 3.22a Page 18
7.3.1 Select Areas (Default x from y)
The (Default x from y) will only be shown if there are no
files currently in the 'Pick List'.
If you select this item you will be shown a list of all
areas or libraries which currently contain some files along
with the number of files in that area.
The areas selected will be flagged. You may use the cursor
keys to move up and down the list (the list will Scroll if
there are more than 16 available areas).
When the area you are interested in is highlighted you may:-
Hit the 'Space' to toggle the flag
Hit the '+' to include the area
Hit the '-' to exclude the area
When you have selected the areas you are interested in then
hit 'Enter' to action your selection. Alternatively you may
hit 'Esc' to cancel with no action.
The first two items in the list are "All Areas" or "No
Areas". These cane be used to quickly select all but one or
two areas by selecting All Areas and the deselecting the
ones you don't want or conversely just one or two areas by
selecting "No Areas" and then selecting the ones you want.
If there are no files currently in the list then you will be
asked if you want to pick all these files now or wait until
you make a second search criteria.
7.3.2 Select by System Date
If you select this item you will be allowed to select all
files, either before a specified date or after a specified
date. (the system date is normally the date that the file
was uploaded to the BBS.
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7.3.3 Select by DownLoad Particulars
If you select this item you will be shown a list of possible
options these include:-
All files already downloaded
All files NOT already downloaded
All files downloaded before a specified date
All files downloaded after a specified date
All files marked as wanted for downloading
All files NOT marked as wanted for downloading
7.3.4 Select by File Name
If you select this item you will be asked to enter a list of
file names you want to look for.
This is the first part of the file name (ie not the file
extension) so the names you enter should not contain the '.'
but can contain wild cards ('?' and '*').
You may enter as many names as you want just keep typing the
names you want and press 'Enter' at a blank name to finish.
The program will select from this list based on 'OR'
selection ie if you enter 'A*' and 'B*' it will select all
files beginning with A or B.
Because of the way the files are indexed the program will be
significantly faster if you can specify the start of the
filename ie it will find all files which match 'A*' faster
than all files which match '?A*' even if there are the same
number of files in each choice.
7.3.5 Select by File Extension
This is exactly the same as selecting by file name except
that the selection is based on the file extension.
7.3.6 Select by Word in Description
This is similar to the select by file name. If you select
this item you will be asked to enter a list of the words you
want to find.
The search is not case sensitive so if you enter 'WORD' it
will find 'WORD', 'Word' and 'word'. It also ignores spaces
at the end or start of the string and will include sub words
ie entering 'ZIP' will also find 'ZIPPED' and 'UNZIP'.
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7.3.7 Select If/Not Viewed
When you 'look' at a file, either when they are being added
to the DataBase or when you View files in the pick list then
they are marked on the DataBase as 'Viewed'. Using this
option you can select all files which you have not already
looked at or all files which you have already looked at.
7.3.8 Save this Pick List
If you select this item you will be allowed to save the
current list to disk for later recalling. If there are any
saved list already you will be presented with a list of the
saved files which you can select from to overwrite, or you
may create a new one.
You will be asked to enter a short description of the list.
7.3.9 Restore a Saved Pick List
This will only appear if the program has found previously
saved lists.
If you select this item you will be shown a list of the
previously saved files (newest first) from which you can
select. If there are already files in the Pick List then
those in the saved list will be added to the current list
(unless they already in it).
Using this option you can also delete saved Pick Lists. If
you highlight the list you want to delete then hit the
'Delete' key you will be prompted to confirm that you want
to delete this list and if you answer (Y)es the list will be
deleted from the disk.
7.3.10 Reset (Clear) the Current Pick List
If you select this item then the current list will be
cleared or emptied.
7.3.11 View Files in the List
If you select this item you will be shown all details of the
files in the list one after another.
In the file view screen only a maximum of 10 lines, each
with 76 characters will be displayed. If there is more you
may use the Up and Down Cursor keys at anytime to scroll the
description.
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CATFILES Version 3.22a Page 21
When viewing a file in the list the program will ask you if
want to delete the file from the list (only from the Pick
List NOT from the DataBase). If you answer (N)o then you
will be asked if you want to change anything. If you answer
(Y)es you will be able to mark the file as downloaded or as
wanted for downloading or add a comment or note to the file.
When the program is asking if you want to delete the file
from the list you can hit 'F5' and the program will then
allow you to jump to a specific file in the list.
You may also use the following 'Hot Keys' when viewing a
file:
Alt + "N" To attach a Note or comment to
the file.
Alt + "D" or Alt + "*" To mark a file as downloaded.
Alt + "W" or Alt + "+" To mark a file as wanted for
downloading.
7.3.12 Scan Files in the List
This option will only be shown if there are more than one
file in the list.
If you select this item you will be shown a list of the
files in the list with an abbreviated (one line) description
of the file. You may Scroll up and down this list.
To the left of the filename will appear the following:-
* If the file has already been downloaded.
+ If the file has been marked as wanted for downloading.
When any particular file is highlighted you may hit 'Del' to
remove the file from the list (again just from the pick list
and not from the database). You may also hit 'Enter' which
will show you the full details of the highlighted file.
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CATFILES Version 3.22a Page 22
When in the scanning list or when the full details of a file
are showing you may again use the following 'Hot Keys':
Alt + "N" To attach a Note or comment to
the file.
Alt + "D" or Alt + "*" To mark a file as downloaded.
Alt + "W" or Alt + "+" To mark a file as wanted for
downloading.
7.3.13 Action the Pick List
If you select this option then you will be take to the
"Action the Pick List" sub-menu (see Section 7.4 pages 23
to 26 for more details).
7.4 ACTION THE PICK LIST MENU
This menu will show you the name of the DataBase and the
number of files currently in the pick list.
The possible options for this menu are:-
"Move Files in Pick List to another Area"
"Produce a DownLoad File"
"Change DownLoad Status"
"Change Viewed Status"
"Remove Files from the DataBase"
"Print Files in Pick List"
"Send Pick List to File"
7.4.1 Move Files in Pick List to another Area
If you select this item you will be shown a list of the
available areas. You use the cursor keys to move up and
down the list to highlight the area you want. Then use the
space bar to flag it and press 'Enter' to action it. All
files in the list will then be moved to the selected area.
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CATFILES Version 3.22a Page 23
7.4.2 Produce a DownLoad File
This option will only be offered if there are 100 or less
files in the list.
If this is a 'Normal BBS Listing' then the program will look
for the file specified on Screen 4 of the BBS Specific
Configuration (DLOAD.LST in the DataBase directory by
default. See Screen 4 Section 7.2.2 page 14).
If the file is found then you will be offered the choice of
overwriting the existing file or adding to it.
If the file is not found CATFILES will create it.
The program will then write the names of the files in the
list to this file. This is an ASCII file with one entry per
line.
If this is a CompuServe listing and you have selected an OLR
to use with it then CATFILES will produce the appropriate
type of file for the OLR selected. See Appendix B for
details of the support offered.
7.4.3 Change DownLoad Status
If you select this item you will be allowed to mark all
files in the list as:
Already DownLoaded
Not DownLoaded
Wanted for DownLoading
Not Wanted for DownLoading
7.4.4 Change Viewed Status
If you select this item you will be allowed to mark all
files in the list as either already viewed or Not viewed.
7.4.5 Remove Files from the DataBase
If you select this item the you will be asked to confirm
that you want to delete the files. If you answer (Y)es then
the files in the list will be permanently deleted from the
DataBase.
This is one way of deleting files from a DataBase ie make a
list of the files you want to delete then 'Action' this
list.
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CATFILES Version 3.22a Page 24
7.4.6 Print Files in the Pick List
If you select this item you be able to print the details of
the files in the pick list.
The first thing you will be asked is the type of listing you
want to produce as follows:-
Simple List of just File Names This is as it says a list
of the file names in the
pick list with one file
per line.
Single line File List This will produce a list
similar to the one you
get when you 'Scan' a
pick list. There will be
one file per line with
each line containing the
file name, the size, the
date and a short
description.
Full File Description This will give the full
file description.
7.4.7 Send Pick List to File
If you select this item you be able to send the details of
the files in the pick list to an ASCII file (unless you
chose the CATFILES Interchange Format).
Again the first thing you will be asked is the type of
listing you want to produce and the list is the same as with
printing with the additional format:-
CATFILES Interchange Format This special format
which will allow you
to produce a file
which CATFILES can
read back in to
another Database.
See Appendix F for
further details.
You will then be asked the directory that you want the
output file to be placed in (the default is the same
directory as the database) and then the name of the file
which you want to place the output listing in. If you don't
give a file extension to the output file name then .PRN will
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CATFILES Version 3.22a Page 25
be added if it is an ASCII listing and .CIF if it is a
CATFILES Interchange Format.
If the output file already exists you will be asked if you
want to Append (add) to the existing file or Overwrite it.
7.5 UPDATE THE FILES DATABASE MENU
This menu allows you to select how you want to update the
DataBase manually.
The DataBase can also be updated automatically. If the
Listing is a CompuServe listing then refer to Appendix B for
details of the support of OLR, if not then refer to
Appendix D for details of how the program can be made to
update automatically.
The top of the screen will show the name of the DataBase in
use (or the directory if you didn't give it a name) and the
number of files in the DataBase.
The options for this menu are:-
"Add Files to the DataBase"
"Reconcile the Files in the DataBase"
"Scan for DownLoaded Files"
"Configure File Areas"
"Tidy up the DataBase"
"Recreate the Index Files"
7.5.1 Add Files to the DataBase
If you select this option then you will be presented with a
screen which will allow you to enter the path and file name
you want to read in. The path or directory will normally be
that which you specified during the configuration of this
listing (see Screen 2 Section 7.2.2 page 13) and also, if it
exists the default file name you specified.
You may change the directory by hitting the 'F4' key.
When the screen is waiting for you enter the file name you
may hit the 'F9' key and CATFILES will show you a list of
files in the current directory which seem as if they might
be valid input files (it will exclude files with the
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CATFILES Version 3.22a Page 26
extensions .EXE, .COM and .BAT and also files which do not
have a carriage return + line feed pair at least every 159
characters).
If the file you specify is not one of the default files (as
specified during the configuration) then the program will
ask for the file format and will try to determine the date
format. Unless the file you specify is in CATFILES
Interchange Format which is automatically recognised or this
is a CompuServe database, in which case CATFILES will assume
that it is either in long or short format.
When you have entered the above information the program will
then ask if you want to view the files as they are added.
If you answer (Y)es then you will be shown each new file as
it is found and you will be asked if you want to add it to
the DataBase. If you answer (N)o then all new files will be
added to the Database without asking.
If you decide to view the files while they are being added
then as each new file is found you will be asked:-
a) If you want to add the file
b) If you want to mark the file as wanted for downloading
c) If you want to add a comment or note to the file
You can cancel this at any time by hitting 'Esc' when the
shows you a new file and is asking you if you want to add
the file.
The program then proceeds to read in the file and add any
new files to the DataBase. You may cancel the reading of an
input file by hitting the 'Esc' key at any time.
If this database is for CompuServe listings, then, before
reading in the file you have specified, CATFILES will look
for a file in the same directory as the input file and with
the same name but with the file extension '.SEC'. If
CATFILES finds this file then it will read this first
looking for the numbers and names of the forum libraries.
During the reading of the input file CATFILES will update
your database under the following circumstances:-
a) The file is not currently on the DataBase then it will
be added (unless you have specified that you do not
want to keep files for this area).
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b) The file is on the DataBase but in a different area ie
the last time you read in a file FILE1.XXX was in the
say 'Uploads' Area but is now shown as in 'DOS
Utilities' then FILE1.XX will be moved to the new area
- unless you have specified that you do not want to
keep files for this new area, in which case FILE1.XX
will be deleted.
c) This is a newer version of the file. If the old
version is marked as downloaded then the new version
will be added to the DataBase. If the old version is
not marked as downloaded then the new version will
replace the old version.
When CATFILES has finished reading in the input file you
will be asked if you want to delete the input file (unless
you have cancelled the reading by hitting 'Esc').
If you answer (N)o to deleting the input file, CATFILES will
ask if you want to reduce the file to Zero Bytes long. If
you answer (Y)es to this then the input file will still
exist, with the same date and time, but will be empty. This
is useful with a package such as Tapcis which relies on the
date and time of the CAT file to know how many days to
suggest when you are getting a new or updated catalogue from
CompuServe.
If you have hit the 'Esc' key to cancel reading in the input
file or if you said (N)o to both deleting the input file and
reducing it to zero bytes, then CATFILES will save how much
of the input file has been processed.
The next time you come to 'Add' files to the DataBase
CATFILES will check to see if the file you last read still
exists and if it was cancelled part way through, or if you
read it fully and it appears to have been added to, then the
program will offer you the opportunity of continuing to read
the input file from where you left off. This is useful
when, for some reason you don't want to delete the input
file then, later, add to the file by getting new files
CATFILES then doesn't need to read the whole file only the
part it hasn't already read..
7.5.2 Reconcile the Files in the DataBase
This is a special form of the Add files to the DataBase.
Using this option you can read in a completely new file
listing and any files which do not appear in the new 'full'
listing will be deleted from the DataBase. Files will not,
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CATFILES Version 3.22a Page 28
however, be deleted from the DataBase, even if they are not
in the input file, under the following circumstances:-
a) They have been marked as downloaded.
b) They are in an area/library which you have
specifically flagged as being excluded from the
reconciliation (see Section 7.5.4 page 30)
c) Files are in an area which you have said you do not
want to keep files (see Section 7.5.4 page 30). This
is because when you specify that you do not want to
keep files for an area you are asked if you want to
delete any files which are already in that area - if
you said (N)o to that question it is assumed that you
want to keep them for some reason.
The advantage of performing a reconciliation, rather than
deleting all files in the DataBase and reading in your new
listing is that you will retain all the 'special' file flags
or marks such as download details etc.
The input screen and questions are the same as the Add Files
to the DataBase (Section 7.5.1 page 26). The only
difference is that there are two extra stages.
The first stage precedes reading the input file where
CATFILES goes through all the existing files and sets a
special flag.
The second stage comes after reading the input file where
CATFILES goes through the input file and deletes any files
which were not in the input file. Before proceeding with
this CATFILES will ask you if you want to see each file
before deleting it. If you answer (Y)es then CATFILES will
show you each file prompt you before deleting it.
After deleting any files CATFILES will then check the file
areas and it will delete any areas which no longer contain
any files (it assumes that these areas no longer exist on
the BBS), unless the area has been 'flagged' to be excluded
from the reconciliation.
As with adding file to the DataBase you can cancel the
reconciliation process part way through by hitting the 'Esc'
key, but unlike Adding you cannot resume it later on from
where you left off.
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7.5.3 Scan for DownLoaded Files
If you select this option the program will ask you for a
Drive or Directory to search.
Once you have entered this the program will ask if you also
want to search sub-directories of the Drive/Directory
entered.
Once you have answered these the program will then scan the
directories specified looking for files which appear to be
the same as any in the current DataBase.
If any are found the program will display details of the
file found and the file in the DataBase and ask you if they
are the same. If you answer (Y)es then the program will ask
for the DownLoad Date (by default it will be the date of the
file on the disk and then mark the file on the DataBase as
downloaded.
7.5.4 Configure File Areas
Selecting this option allows you to display a list of all
the files areas or libraries and add new areas, delete
existing ones, specify that you do not want to keep files
for an area or say that you want to exclude an area from the
reconciliation process.
CATFILES will show a list of all the areas which you can use
the cursor keys to scroll through. As each area is
highlighted then the bottom of the screen will show the
current status of this area. If you press 'Enter' then you
will be take to the bottom of the screen and be allowed to
edit the configuration information.
The following information will be required:-
a) Include in Reconciliation. If you answer (N)o then
the area will be excluded from the reconciliation.
This is useful if you have access to some special
areas on the BBS which are not are not normally
included in your 'complete' listing.
b) Do you want to keep files for this area. If you
answer (N)o then any files contained in this area in
future listings will be ignored. If you decide that
you do not want to keep files for this area, and the
area currently contains files, then you will be asked
if you want to delete all the files currently in this
area or delete them.
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You can of course delete an area completely but if you
do that then the next time a listing contains this
area name it will automatically be added to the
DataBase again ie CATFILES has to 'know' about the
area before it can ignore it.
c) Do you want to delete the area.
7.5.5 Tidy up the DataBase
As files and areas are added to the DataBase they are given
a unique ID number or 'handle'. This handle is allocated
sequentially so that if you add 100 files to an empty
DataBase the next handle to be used will be 101. If you
delete 99 files the next handle to be used will STILL be
101.
The biggest handle available for files is 65,500 and for
file areas is 3,999.
As a consequence of this, if you add files then delete some
then add more etc, you can reach a point where, although you
have less than the maximum number of files or areas you
might have no more handles left.
If you reach this point then you must tidy the DataBase.
Tidying the DataBase means the program will go through the
DataBase and re-number all the files and areas starting from
one.
This process can take some time and should not be
interrupted or else you may corrupt your DataBase.
In addition the tidying operation will also:-
Look for files which are no longer in valid areas and
these will be put in the "Undefined Area".
Look for file description which have don't have a
corresponding file and delete them.
Re-count the files in each area.
All of the last three should not really be required since
the program should normally keep all this up to date - but
the DataBase might have become corrupted.
An example of this might be if the program 'crashes' when
reading in an input file. CATFILES counts the number of
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CATFILES Version 3.22a Page 31
files in each area but only updates this count in the
DataBase files when the read terminates 'normally'. If the
program does not get a chance to update these counters then
you might have a situation where the database has thousands
of files but each of the areas showing fewer than you
expect, or even none. Tidying the DataBase will correct
this.
7.5.6 Recreate the Index Files
If you select this item the program will re-create the index
files for the current DataBase.
This should not normally be required since the program
should keep the indexes but they might become corrupted.
If the program starts to give peculiar results then this
might be worth trying.
You can also delete the index files in DOS and CATFILES will
re-built them the next time it uses this DataBase.
7.6 USE ANOTHER BBS LISTING
If the file CATFILES.DIR containing your list of available
directories containing databases exists then CATFILES will
pop up this list to allow you to select from. If the
directory you want is not in this list (eg you want to
create a new one) then you can hit 'Esc' and you will be
presented with an entry screen to allow you to enter the
path you want.
If the file CATFILES.DIR does not already exist you will go
straight to the screen to allow you to type in the path you
want - while at this point you can get CATFILES to create a
CATFILES.DIR file for you by hitting 'F9'. You will then be
asked which drives you want to search and CATFILES will then
search them looking for databases and build a CATFILES.DIR
from the result. CATFILES will only search drives C upwards
and will not allow you to search floppy drives A: and B:.
If you want to include drives A: or B: in your CATFILES.DIR
you must add them manually (see later)
If you are entering a the directory from the entry screen
you should enter the full path including drive.
It is always advisable, whenever entering a directory in
CATFILES, to enter the FULL path, including Drive, to
minimise any likely confusion. If you enter a relative
drive specification then CATFILES will try to convert this
─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
CATFILES Version 3.22a Page 32
to an absolute one eg if the current directory is
C:\DATABASE\CATFILES and you enter the drive specification
"..\FILES\BBS1" the CATFILES will convert this to
"C:\DATABASE\FILES\BBS1\".
If the specified directory does not exist you will be asked
if you want to create it.
If the specified path doesn't already contain the necessary
DataBase files they will be created and you will be taken to
entering the details about this BBS (see Section 7.2.2
page 12 for more details). This is the way you create new
(empty) listings.
As already mentioned, once CATFILES.DIR exists the program
will then display the list of available directories from
which you can choose by highlighting the one you want and
pressing 'Enter'.
As stated in Appendix A you can make or edit CATFILES.DIR
using a wordprocessor which will create ASCII files.
CATFILES will only create or add entries in CATFILES.DIR for
hard disk drives (ie not the drives A: or B:). If you want
to have CATFILES display the Drive A: or Drive B: then you
should manually edit CATFILES.DIR and add a line "A:" and/or
"B:". You only need one entry per floppy drive (without the
quotes) and each entry should be on a separate line. When
CATFILES reads the directory file and it finds an entry for
A: or B: it checks to see if that drive contains a disk and
if the disk contains one or more valid database directories.
If so then these directories are, temporarily, added to the
list for display.
If you are currently using a database on Drive A: then an
entry also appears which say "Different Disk in A:" if this
option is chosen then the current database on Drive A: is
closed and copied back to the original floppy and then a
message will appear which will ask you to ensure that the
next disk is in Drive A: at which time you swap disks.
When the program is displaying the list of available
directories you can 'force' CATFILES to update this by
hitting 'F9' again. This will cause CATFILES to scan your
drives again.
Once CATFILES.DIR has been created the program will normally
keep it up to date by adding any new DataBase directories as
you create them.
─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
CATFILES Version 3.22a Page 33
7.7 VIEW ALL FILES IN DEFAULT AREAS
This item will only appear in the Main Menu if there is no
files currently selected in the Pick List.
This can be considered a special form of generating the Pick
List and will create a Pick List of all the files in the
currently selected areas and then take you straight into
'Scan' the Pick List.
This is functionally equivalent of:-
a) Select 'Make a Pick List'
b) Select 'Select Areas' and press 'enter' without
changing anything and say (Y)es to select all files
now.
c) Select 'Scan Files in Pick List'
8. PROBLEMS/SUGGESTIONS
If you have any problems with CATFILES or have any suggested
improvements (such as new input file formats etc) then
please contact me and I will see what I can do.
I can usually be contacted on the Direct Line BBS in London
(where I go by the name Bill Stirling).
Number Lines Speeds
081-845-8228 3 300/1200/1200-75/2400/9600/14400(v32)
HST 9600/14400/16800 HST MNP5/v42bis
081-841-4114 3 300/1200/1200-75/2400 MNP5
081-841-1847 1 3/12/2400/9600 + HST 96/14.4
MNP5/v42bis
081-842-2030 1 3/12/2400/9600 + HST 96/14.4
MNP5/v42bis
081-842-4176 1 3/12/2400/9600 + HST 96/14.4
MNP5/v42bis
081-845-5811 1 3/12/2400/9600 + HST 96/14.4 MNP5
Direct Line is also a member of Power-Net and TheNet in the
UK and WildNet messaging networks.
─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
CATFILES Version 3.22a Page 34
I can also be contacted on CompuServe as ID NO 100014,3335
or in the following forums
CIS:UKCOMP
CIS:UKFORUM
CIS:CLIPPER
If CATFILES should crash with an error then it will usually give
you an error message followed by a list of routines with line
numbers in brackets after each routine eg:
BASE/1001
Called from AREADFILE (1000)
Called from VINPFILE (300)
Called from MAINMENU (500)
If you take a note of these and provide me with a brief
description of what you were doing at the time I will try to
reproduce and correct the problem.
─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
CATFILES Version 3.22a Page 35
Appendix A - Files created by CATFILES
CATFILES creates various files for its use at various times.
Some of these files are 'permanent' and others are 'temporary'.
Permanent Files
CATFILES.CFG This is the general program configuration
file and is created in the same directory as
the CATFILES.EXE files when you first run the
program.
CATFILES.DIR This file is also created in the same
directory as the program file and contains a
list of directories in which you have
listings databases.
This file will not be created unless and until you
first ask the program to show you a list of
directories which contain listings (see
Section 7.6 page 32).
Once created then CATFILES will keep it
up-to-date.
This is a simple ASCII file and can be added to or
edited by you. It contains one directory per
line. Each entry should be the complete path
including Drive.
BBS_*.DBF These are the main database files and three
such files are created each time you make a
new listings database. These files will be
created by CATFILES in the database
directory. The size of the files will depend
on the amount of information stored. The
files are:-
BBS_REF.DBF The reference file and contains
details of file areas or libraries,
name of the listing etc.
The size of this file will be 45
bytes for each area or library plus
a small overhead.
BBS_FILE.DBF The file containing the main
details of the files in the
database name, size etc.
─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
CATFILES Version 3.22a A-1
The size of this file will be 39
bytes for each file in the database
plus a small overhead.
BBS_DESC.DBF The file containing the file
descriptions.
The size of this file will be 64
bytes for each 60 characters in the
file description (no description no
entry) plus a small overhead.
BBS_*.?DX If you chose NOT to delete the index files
after use then there will be one of these
files for each 'DBF' file in the database
directory.
If you chose to delete the index files after use
then there will be one file for each 'DBF' file
but these will be created in the program directory
and will be deleted after use.
The size of these index files will depend on the
size of the corresponding 'DBF' file. The minimum
size is 2560 bytes.
The index for the BBS_FILE.DBF will be about 70%
of the size of the 'DBF' file.
The index for the BBS_DESC.DBF will be about 10%
of the size of the 'DBF' file.
BBS_COMP.BBS If you choose to use a compression utility to
compress the files after use then this will
be the name of the compressed file containing
the individual files.
DLOAD.LST If you are using a 'normal BBS listing' then
you can make a pick list of the files you are
interested in and if the list contains less
than 100 files you can select 'Action the
Pick List' from the Main Menu and then
'Create a DownLoad File' from the sub-menu.
CATFILES will then create the file you specified
in the BBS Specific Configuration (or DLOAD.LST in
the DataBase directory by default) which contains
a list of the file names in the 'Pick List'. You
can then use this with a comms package to automate
your file downloading.
─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
CATFILES Version 3.22a A-2
PICKSAVE.nnn One option you have when you make a 'Pick
List' is to save that list, or restore a
previously saved list.
These files are saved in the DataBase directory
with the name PICKSAVE.nnn where nnn is a number
eg PICKSAVE.001, PICKSAVE.002 etc. The program
will create these files and you can re-use them.
Temporary Files
PICK_LIS.* The program will create two files PICK
LIS.DBF and PICK LIS.IDX in the program
directory, to contain information about the
files in the current 'Pick List'. These files
will be deleted when you quit CATFILES, or
when you 'Use Another BBS'.
X_0nTEMP.* CATFILES will make number of these files
during a 'Tidy' of the DataBase to hold
temporary copies of the DataBase files.
These files will be created in the DataBase
directory.
These files should be deleted by CATFILES after
they are no longer needed.
─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
CATFILES Version 3.22a A-3
Appendix B - Support for CompuServe Off-Line Readers
There are quite a number of programs which can assist you in your
use of CompuServe and these programs are generally called On-Line
navigation programs. Some such programs can also be called
Off-Line Readers since they allow the user to read most of their
mail and/or Forum messages off-line. These latter programs also
allow the user to decide which files he wants to download prior
to going on-line so that the actual on-line time is minimised.
In this area CATFILES can "work with" such programs by allowing
the user to select the files they want to download with CATFILES
and then CATFILES can produce a special file which the off-line
reader can process to actually do the download.
Currently Version 3.22a of CATFILES offers support for two such
Off-Line reader or navigation programs and these are Tapcis
(version 5.4 and 5.41) and OzCIS (versions 1.0 to 1.2a and
2.0 to 2.0b).
Support for Tapcis
The support for Tapcis takes the following form:-
a) If you have transfer logging enabled in Tapcis then
Tapcis will create a file called XFER.LOG which contains
details your file transfers.
When you use a CompuServe listing in CATFILES, and
provided the listing contains some files then CATFILES
will look for XFER.LOG and update the DataBase by marking
the files found in the XFER.LOG as DownLoaded.
Once CATFILES has read XFER.LOG once (for each CompuServe
listing) it will remember the date, time and size of the
XFER.LOG file and will only update from it if there a
newer version and then will only read the 'new' bit.
b) You may make a list of files (a 'Pick List') which you
want to download and, provided the Forum is in one of
your PARAMS.* files it will allow you to create (or
modify an existing) "DOW" script file so that the files
can be downloaded by Tapcis.
CATFILES will search all your PARAMS.* files, starting
with PARAMS.CIS first then any others in date order
taking the newest first looking for one which contains
the forum name which you want to download from. When
CATFILES finds relevant PARAMS file it will create the
"DOW" file and then modify the PARAMS file so that Tapcis
will show that there are files to be downloaded.
─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
CATFILES Version 3.22a B-1
Support for OzCIS
CATFILES currently offers support for OzCIS versions 1.0 to 1.2a
and 2.0 to 2.0b
OzCIS v1.0 and v1.2a splits the CompuServe file catalogues into
one file per file section so that a short form catalogue might
have 10 files called <forum>.S1 to <forum>.S10 and a long form
catalogue might have 10 files called <forum>.L1 to <forum.L10>.
To read these files into CATFILES you could read each individual
file one at a time, so with a forum called OzCIS you could read
in OzCIS.S1 then OzCIS.S2 etc (or if you have long form listing
OzCIS.L1, OzCIS.L2 etc). Whilst this will work it means multiple
reads and it is easier to create a single large catalogue and
then read that in and delete it when done. For example to create
one large catalogue from all the short form listings type:-
COPY OZCIS.S* OZCIS.CAT<Enter>
or for long form listings:-
COPY OZCIS.L* OZCIS.CAT<Enter>
OzCIS v 2.0 maintains the catalogues as one large file called
<forum>.CAT for long listings and <forum>.LST for short listings
so a single file is already available for reading. OzCIS v 2.0
also creates files called <forum>.CUP and <forum>.LUP to contain
updates to the long and short listing respectively - these files
can also be read into CATFILES.
Once a database has been produced in CATFILES then support is
similar to that provided for Tapcis and takes the following
form:-
a) When you use a CompuServe listing in CATFILES, and
provided the listing contains some files then CATFILES
will look for any OzCIS log files (of the form
MMM-YY.LOG) and update the DataBase by marking the files
found in the log files as DownLoaded.
b) You may make a list of files (a 'Pick List') which you
want to download. CATFILES will then search your
HOSTS.DB file to find the location of your FORUMS.DB(s)
files. Once CATFILES has found all your FORUMS.DB it
will search them looking for one which contains details
of the Forum listing in use. CATFILES will then allow
you to create (or modify an existing) "DL", in the
specified OzCIS forum directory, so that the files can be
downloaded using OzCIS.
─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
CATFILES Version 3.22a B-2
There are two other ways that CATFILES can integrate with OzCIS.
With both version 1.x and version 2.0x you can specify CATFILES
as one of the external programs. To do this you select
(C)onfiguration from the main menu, then (E)xternal maintenance
and then Add. You then fill out the resultant screen as
follows:-
┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│Title Catfiles Cataloguer │
│CmdLine C:\CATFILES\CATFILES.EXE │
│Use 2nd Shell? N Prompt at Exit? N Get Parameters? N │
└──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
The CmdLine should obviously be completed with the path to your
copy of the CATFILES.EXE program.
With OzCIS version 2.0x there is an additional method of CATFILES
support and that is you can specify CATFILES as your default
catalogue manager instead of the internal OzCIS one. This means
that when you select "Forums" from the main OzCIS menu and then
"Downloads/Catalogs" and then "Select from Catalog" you will run
CATFILES.
When you are in the General Program Configuration of CATFILES and
at Screen 2 you have said that you want to use it in conjunction
with OzCIS v 2.0 and then tell CATFILES the path to your
OZCIS.EXE file then CATFILES will look for an OZCIS.INI file, and
if found CATFILES will then read this file to see if this copy of
CATFILES.EXE has been specified as the CatalogMgr. If not then
CATFILES will ask you if you want to modify your OZCIS.INI file
so that CATFILES becomes the default catalogue manager. If you
answer (Y)es then CATFILES will take a back-up copy of your
existing OZCIS.INI file and then modify the OZCIS.INI file so
that there is a line similar to this:-
CatalogMgr=C:\CATFILES\CATFILES.EXE.
─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
CATFILES Version 3.22a B-3
Appendix C - Input File Formats Supported
CompuServe
CATFILES supports both standard Long and Short listings.
CATFILES does not however keep information on the "KEY
WORDS" or the uploader ID number.
When you read in an input file CATFILES will look for a file
called <forum>.SEC in the same directory as the input file.
If this file is found CATFILES will read this file first
(before reading the input file proper) looking for details
of the names and numbers of the libraries in this forum.
Other BBS listings
All file formats should have the following general form:-
<File Area Name>
<one or more file descriptions>
<Next File Area Name>
<one or more file descriptions>
The file listing can include ANSI colour codes as these will
be removed.
If a file description is found without a previous Area Name
the file will be put is a special area called "Undefined
Area" and you can move them later.
File Area names are limited to 40 characters.
All file descriptions must comprise, at least, a file name,
a size and a date.
Filename: This must be a valid DOS filename and must be in
upper case for it to be recognised as such.
Size: This is the file size, and depending on the file
format, can be in Bytes (with or without commas) or
in k.
Date: This is taken as the System Date ie the date the file
was loaded on the BBS system. Except for certain
cases (see the detailed file format descriptions for
─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
CATFILES Version 3.22a C-1
the exceptions) this should be in one of the following
formats:-
dd/mm/yy
dd-mm-yy
dd.mm.yy
mm/dd/yy
mm-dd-yy
yy.mm.dd
yy-mm-dd
─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
CATFILES Version 3.22a C-2
Below is given details of the file formats currently supported
for normal BBS listing:
FORMAT 001
A typical example of this format is the two line file listings
produced on WILDCAT BBs
The file Area Names recognised in this format should be of the
form:-
1) **** <Area Name>
2) New files in area "<Area Name>"
3) <Area Name> followed by a line eg
<Area Name>
------------------------------------------
The file descriptions recognised are of the format:-
<FileName> <Size in Bytes> <Date> | Description Line 1
<Other Stuff> | Description Line 2
<Other Stuff> | Description Line 3 etc
or
<FileName> <Size in Bytes> <Date> Description Line 1
Description Line 2
Description Line 3 etc
Example of File Format 001:
<START OF EXAMPLE LISTING>
-----------------+
Listing of all Files | These Lines
on MYBBS | are ignored
as at 01/01/92 |
-----------------+
**** General MSDOS
FILE1.ZIP 12,345 01/02/91 | This is a sample file 1
LAST DL: 01/01/91 NO DLS: 1 | Rest of the Description
New files in area "Graphics"
FILE2.GIF 523,123 01/02/91 This is the first line of description
This is the second line of the description
This is the third line of the description
─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
CATFILES Version 3.22a C-3
Anti-Virus Software
------------------------------------
FILE3.ZIP 12,345 01/02/91 | This is a sample file 3
LAST DL: 01/01/91 NO DLS: 1 | Rest of the Description
<END OF EXAMPLE LISTING>
─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
CATFILES Version 3.22a C-4
FORMAT 002
This format is identical to Format 001 with the exception that
the file size is in k Bytes instead of Bytes.
A typical example of this format is the one line file listings
produced on some WILDCAT BBs. Although these are generally one
line listings (ie one file per line) this format supports
multi-line descriptions.
Example of File Format 002:
<START OF EXAMPLE LISTING>
-----------------+
Listing of all Files | These Lines
on MYBBS | are ignored
as at 01/01/92 |
-----------------+
**** General MSDOS
FILE1.ZIP 13k 01/02/91 | This is a sample file 1
New files in area "Graphics"
FILE2.GIF 511k 01/02/91 This is the first line of description
This is the second line of the description
This is the third line of the description
Anti-Virus Software
------------------------------------
FILE3.ZIP 13 01/02/91 | This is a sample file 3
LAST DL: 01/01/91 NO DLS: 1 | Rest of the Description
<END OF EXAMPLE LISTING>
─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
CATFILES Version 3.22a C-5
FORMAT 003
A typical example of this format is the listings found on some
GT-BOARDS
The file Area Names recognised in this format should be of the
form:-
1) Files located in Directory -<Area Name>
2)
┌────────────────────┬───────────────────┬──────────────────────┐
│1░░░░░▒▒▒▒▓▓▓▓▓████ │ <Area Name> │ █████▓▓▓▓▓▒▒▒▒▒░░░░░ │
╘════════════════════╧═══════════════════╧══════════════════════╛
The file descriptions recognised are of the format:-
<FileName> <Size in Bytes> <Date> <Date> [2] | Description Line 1
<Other Stuff> ^ ^ | Description Line 2
<Other Stuff> | | | Description Line 3
etc
| |
This Date is ignored----------+ |
|
This is taken as the File Date-------+
Example of File Format 003:
<START OF EXAMPLE LISTING>
-----------------+
Listing of all Files | These Lines
on MYBBS | are ignored
as at 01/01/92 |
-----------------+
Files located in Directory -I:\general
----------+
File Name Size Date | This line is ignored
----------+
ALLFILES.ARJ 14,636 04/25/91 07-13-92 [152]
| All files on this BBS
ALLFILES.BBS 46,872 04/25/91 07-13-92 [39]
| All files on this BBS
ALLFILES.ZIP 15,553 08-22-91 07-13-92 [60]
┌──────────────────┬────────────────────────┬───────────────────┐
│1░░░░▒▒▒▒▓▓▓▓████ │ Anti-Virus Software │ ████▓▓▓▓▒▒▒▒░░░░░ │
╘══════════════════╧════════════════════════╧═══════════════════╛
─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
CATFILES Version 3.22a C-6
FILE1.ARJ 8,951 03/27/91 01-21-92 [ 3]
| First part of this file description
| Second part of this file description
FILE2.EXE 2,833 09-13-91 01-21-92 [ 2] from: My Name
| First part of this file description
| Second part of this file description
<END OF EXAMPLE LISTING>
─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
CATFILES Version 3.22a C-7
FORMAT 004
The file Area Names recognised in this format should be of the
form:-
Directory <Area Name>
The file descriptions recognised are of the format:-
<FileName> <Type> <Size in Bytes> <Date> Description Line 1
Note: This type of listings is one of the exception to the
normal date formats and the Date in this type of listing
is of the format "yymmdd"
Example of File Format 004:
<START OF EXAMPLE LISTING>
Directory PD1:<MSDOS.4DOS>
-------------+
Filename Type Length Date Description | These lines ignored
=========================================== |
-------------+
FILE0001.ZIP B 7964 920716 Description of File 1
FILE002.ZIP B 8332 900323 Description of File 2
<END OF EXAMPLE LISTING>
─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
CATFILES Version 3.22a C-8
FORMAT 005
This format has the same area name header as format 003 but the
file format is of the form:-
<FileName> <Size in K> <Date> <Number> <Description>
The <Number> field is ignored
<START OF EXAMPLE LISTING>
-----------------+
Listing of all Files | These Lines
on MYBBS | are ignored
as at 01/01/92 |
-----------------+
┌──────────────────┬────────────────────────┬───────────────────┐
│1░░░░▒▒▒▒▓▓▓▓████ │ Anti-Virus Software │ ████▓▓▓▓▒▒▒▒░░░░░ │
╘══════════════════╧════════════════════════╧═══════════════════╛
FILE1.ARJ 89k 03/27/91 001 First part of this file description
Second part of this file descr.
FILE2.EXE 28k 09/13/91 004 First part of this file description
Second part of this file description
<END OF EXAMPLE LISTING>
─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
CATFILES Version 3.22a C-9
FORMAT 006
This a specific form of Format 1 for use with Wildcat 2 line
listings. It assumes that each file is a two line listing of the
form:-
Line 1
bits 1-12 the file name
bits 13-21 the file size
bits 25-32 the date
bits 36- the first part of the description
Line 2
bits 36- the second part of the description
This can be use for Dline listings (and possibly others) and
will process them about 30% faster than a type 1 format -
but is less forgiving of slight variations of format.
─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
CATFILES Version 3.22a C-10
FORMAT 007
This will read in files with the format as follows:-
<START OF EXAMPLE LISTING>
File: FILE001.EXE Date: 01/01/91 Downloads: 1
Size: 24,800 Last Accesss: 02/01/91 Cost: 0
From: John Doe Free DL: No
Area: General DOS Offline: No
Keys: KEYWORDS
Desc: Line one of the description
Lines two of description onwards
----------------------------------------
File: FILE002.EXE etc
<END OF EXAMPLE LISTING>
─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
CATFILES Version 3.22a C-11
Appendix D - Automatic Updating of Downloaded Files.
When you use a DataBase (either the default start-up database or
when you change database) which is a 'Normal BBS Listing' the
program will look for a file (specified in the BBS Specific
Configuration but by default called CATFILES.DLS in the same
directory as the database files).
If this file is found the program will read the contents looking
for lines which have a valid file name (in upper case) as the
first entry on the line and which also contains the word
SUCCESSFUL (the latter can be in upper/lower or mixed case).
If any such lines are found, the program will look for that file
on the database. If the file is also found on the database, and
is not already marked as downloaded then it will be so marked and
the download date will be the date of the CATFILES.DLS file.
Once CATFILES.DLS has been read by the program it is deleted.
Example of a CATFILES.DLS:
<START OF EXAMPLE LISTING>
Start you Zmodem transfer now
FILE1.ZIP - SUCCESSFUL! 1500 CPS
FILE2.EXE - SUCCESSFUL! 240 CPS
FILE3.ARC Successful
<END OF EXAMPLE LISTING>
This update file can be prepared in a couple of ways:
1) Using a wordprocessor to prepare an ASCII file which
contains the list of downloaded files. This is
convenient if you have just created your file listing and
have a big list of files already downloaded.
2) If you are using a Wildcat board the format described is
that produced by Wildcat after you have downloaded your
files so you can use your comms package to capture the
screen output to CATFILES.DLS (you can do this as part of
a script file or manually).
For example in Telix the ALT+L and Procomm Plus the
ALT+F1 switches the screen capture/log on. So when you
are the files download menu hit ALT+L or ALT+F1 and enter
the name of the capture/log file (giving the full path to
your database directory) eg C:\CATFILES\BBS1\CATFILES.DLS
─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
CATFILES Version 3.22a D-1
then start your download session and when finished hit
ALT+L or ALT+F1 again to switch the capture/log off.
─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
CATFILES Version 3.22a D-2
Appendix E - Version History
Version 3.00C - First generally released Version
Version 3.01a
1) Removed a bug which prevented reading from Input files of
less than 512 bytes.
2) Added the option of reducing the input file to zero bytes
long instead of deleting it. This is useful when using
CompuServe files in association with Tapcis.
3) Removed a bug which meant that a CompuServe listing was not
always updated from the Tapcis XFER.LOG.
4) DataBases stored on floppy disk (drives A: or B:) will now
be copied to the hard disk (to a temporary directory called
%TEMP%) before being used and will be copied back to the
floppy after use. The temporary directory (%TEMP%) will be
a sub directory of the directory which contains the program
files and will be created if it doesn't already exist and
deleted after use.
5) Added the option of being able to pack/unpack the database
files using a compression utility such as PKZIP/PKUNZIP.
(Note that because the packing routine must run in the
memory left by CATFILES certain programs may not run eg ARJ
will NOT run PKZIP/PKUNZIP will run on a 640k machine).
This is set in the General Program Configuration
6) Previously CATFILES would only allow you to create a
"download" file (in the Action Pick List sub-menu) if there
were less than or equal 40 files in the pick list - this has
been increased to 100 files.
7) Previously, if using databases on floppy disk, and changing
from one database to another CATFILES would not give you
time to change floppies - this has now been added.
8) Removed a bug which could give problems when 'scanning' the
pick list.
9) Added the ability to 'Scan' pick list of less than 15 files.
10) Added another support for another input file format (005).
Version 3.01b
─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
CATFILES Version 3.22a E-1
1) If you were using the 'Packing' option on the hard disks and
selected F9 when changing BBS then it would not find
directories which had packed listings. This has been
corrected.
2) Previously when using the 'Packing' option on hard disks
CATFILES would unpack the listing and then delete the
BBS_COMP.BBS file.
This meant that when you quit CATFILES or changed BBS the
files would always have to be recompressed. Now CATFILES
will only delete the BBS_COMP.BBS file if there is less than
1Mb free on the disk and therefore will only recompress your
files if:
a) it had to delete BBS_COMP.BBS because of lack of space
or b) any of the files have been changed.
3) Added support for the new form of Tapcis 'DOW' files as
included in version 5.41 (this is set in the General Program
Configuration).
4) When Adding a new file area in the 'Configure File Areas'
option the program will now ask you to confirm you really
want to Add a new area.
5) Changed the layout of the 'Make Pick List' Sub-Menu so that
the View and Scan files in the list are at the bottom of the
menu and stand apart from the other menu items.
6) In the Scan Files you can now use the 'Home' and 'End' keys
to go to the first or last file in the list (these can only
be used if there is more than 15 in the list but you can
still scan less than 15 files).
7) Added the option of being able to output files in the Pick
List to and ASCII file in one of three formats. (see the
Action Pick List sub-menu)
8) If you call up the help when you are being asked what file
input format you want you will now get example of the file
formats.
Version 3.01c
1) When scanning a disk for down loaded files CATFILES will now
'remember' the drive/directory you last used and offer that
as the default instead of offering the current drive. This
─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
CATFILES Version 3.22a E-2
information is stored with the BBS files and so can be
different for each database.
2) You can now change the gateway and forum names on an
existing CIS listing by going into the BBS configuration and
hitting the 'F5' key.
3) When 'Scanning' files in a Pick List the will now display:-
an '*' if the file has already been downloaded
or '+' if the file has been marked as wanted for
downloading
Version 3.10a
1) When outputting the Pick List to a file CATFILES would only
allow you to enter a maximum of 11 characters for the
destination file name this has been increased to 12
characters.
2) The index file for the main file details has been changed
from BBS_FILE.IDX to BBS_FILE.CDX. The first time you use a
database with the old index files CATFILES will
automatically detect the old index files and create the new
index format.
The result of this change is the CDX file will be up to
twice the size of the old IDX file, but the effect is that
adding files to the database will be up to 3 times as fast.
3) Made some modifications to program coding which should speed
up adding files to the database when the CATFILES finds new
file areas in the input file. This will be most noticeable
for databases which have quite a number of file areas.
4) Added support for what I have called CATFILES Interchange
Format. This is an non-ASCII file format. If you select to
output files in your Pick List you will now be offered a
fourth choice which is the CATFILES Interchange Format.
If you select to Add Files or Reconcile your Database
CATFILES will automatically detect any input files in this
format (irrespective of the specified input format).
CATFILES will also process it's own format faster than any
other input format.
I have added this format for a number of reasons:-
a) If, for any reason in the future, I decide to modify
the structure of the CATFILES databases then this will
─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
CATFILES Version 3.22a E-3
provide a convenient means of transferring from the
old database structure to the new.
b) Previously there no convenient method of transferring
files from one database to another (especially if one
was a Normal BBS Listing and the other was a
CompuServe listing). You can now do this with this
format.
c) If, for any reason, you wish to Archive a database you
can use this format since the file size is smaller
than either a raw listing or the DBF files.
Version 3.10b
1) There was a problem in V3.10a if you 'tidied' a database in
that all the areas would apparently contain no files even
although the top of the screen said it did. This would
cause CATFILES to crash if you tried to make a pick list.
This has been corrected and if you corrupted your database
in this way running the 'Tidy' in V3.10b will restore your
old database.
2) Because of the changes in V3.10a the EXE file size has
increased by about 20k which means that if you were using
the compression option then it may no longer run due to
"Insufficient Memory". This could result in any changes made
to the Database not being saved (ie the 'zipped' file would
not be updated). I can't cure this (not without spending
money!!!) but I have instituted a couple of checks which
(should) check to see if the zipping or unzipping seems to
have been done and if not CATFILES will abort and leave your
changed files intact.
Version 3.11a
This was quite a major revision.
1) Added some slight mods so that a 'new' user can download a
DBF and CATFILES would make some default assumptions
2) If CATFILES thinks you are a first time user (no
CATFILES.CFG exists) it will put a 'welcome' screen and
explain that they are going to be asked a few general
configuration question.
Also CATFILES will 'look' for any directories which already
have database files in them (ie if they have downloaded one)
─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
CATFILES Version 3.22a E-4
3) If scanning a drive/path for downloads CATFILES will NOT now
ask you if you want to scan sub-directories if none exist in
the path you specify. Also some changes made to speed up
this function.
4) Another option has been added to the Main Menu called View
all Files in Default Areas. If you select this then
CATFILES will go to the Pick List Menu, make a Pick List of
all files in the currently selected areas (or all files if
none selected) then go straight into 'Scan' Mode. When you
quit 'Scan' mode you will stay at the Pick List Menu until
you Quit as normal.
This Menu option will not appear at the Main Menu if you
have already created a Pick List.
Again this is primarily aimed at the 'first time' user.
If you select this item - you can stop it building the 'Pick
List' at any time by hitting the 'Esc' and it will go into
scan with how ever many files it had 'picked' before you hit
'Esc'
As an aside to this you can stop building the 'Pick List' by
hitting 'Esc' if you have selected certain areas and said
(Y)es to picking all these files now. This is for people
like me who select all areas and then (mistakenly) say (Y)es
to picking them now and CATFILES goes off and starts making
a list with x thousand files!!
5) If you now select to 'Use Another DataBase' CATFILES will
now go straight to the pop-up menu of available Databases
(if CATFILES.DIR already exists). If you 'Escape' this
pop-up screen without making a choice (ie you want to create
a new database) or if CATFILES.DIR doesn't exist then you
will get the normal entry window.
6) Added the ability to Print Pick Lists as well as send them
to a file (with the same three ASCII formats as file
output).
This option will only appear if you have said that you have
a printer in the General Program Configuration. I have
tested this for LPT1 & LPT2 but have no access to a computer
with a printer attached to any of the Comms Lines to try it.
There is no fancy error checking of the state of the printer
so if the printer has a problem it will only offer you the
choice of Quit or Retry and if you Quit - it will Quit
CATFILES (but no damage to databases)
─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
CATFILES Version 3.22a E-5
7) Added another menu choice to the Configuration Menu called
'Advanced Program Configuration'. If you don't set anything
using this option CATFILES will work as before.
If you select this option you will be presented with 4
screens of options/defaults
8) You can now attach a comment to a file (two lines of 60
characters each).
You can do this in one of two places:
a) If you are 'viewing' files as they are added to the
database then CATFILES will ask you if you want to add
the file and if you answer (Y)es then it will ask if you
want to mark for downloading - then it will ask if you
want to add a comment.
b) If you make a 'Pick List' then 'View' the files - if you
reply (Y)es to Do You Want to Change Anything? one of the
options will be to add a comment
This is the only way you can edit comments
As an aside to this I have changed the CATFILES Interchange
Format to support comments. Normally I try to make things
backwards compatible - but since, probably no one uses this
yet then v3.11a cannot read earlier versions of CIF file.
If you have some CIF files the you must read them in to a
database with 3.10b and then upgrade to 3.11a and read them
out again.
Version 3.11b (Issued as Delta Patch [CATDELTA.EXE])
1) There was a problem of the automatic display of the
CATFILES.DIR this has been corrected.
Version 3.11b (Issued by Delta Patch 1 [CATDELT1.EXE])
1) Corrected a problem that could cause overwriting of the
screen when display the CATFILES.DIR where the directory
names were shorter than 28 characters.
2) If you had set prompting to (N)o in either auto adding or
manual adding CATFILES would still prompt if your previous
answer to any question was (N)o - this has been corrected.
Version 3.11c
─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
CATFILES Version 3.22a E-6
1) There have been problems reported that CATFILES has
apparently failed to create directories under certain
environments (OS/2 and Novell). This has resulted in a run
time error.
CATFILES now does some additional checks to see if a
directory exists before trying to either open the database
files (or create them if them don't exist).
If these tests fail then CATFILES will abort with a message
saying that the directory doesn't exists and that you will
have to create them manually - ie it doesn't cure the
problem, just makes the reason for the failure clearer.
2) There were problems under OS/2 (and probably under Novell)
that if you printed a Pick List then the printing wouldn't
actually take place until you had exited CATFILES.
I have added some changes to (hopefully) cure this.
3) I have added a Screen 5 to the Advanced Configuration which
allow you to view and set the default prompts of the current
database which will be used for auto/manual adding of files.
This is only for the current database. If you want to check
the settings for other databases you must use them first.
4) I have added some changes to the Advanced Configuration to
make moving around the screens easier. You can now:
Hit 'Page Up' on any screen - it will then ask if you
have finished with this screen and if you answer (Y)es
then it will go back one screen.
If, when it is asking if you are finished with the
screen, you hit the 'F5' key you can enter a screen
number to go to eg directly from screen 1 to screen 5, or
from screen 4 to screen 2.
5) You can now delete saved Pick Lists. To do this you select
Restore a saved list and when the one you want to delete is
highlighted hit the 'Delete' key and you will be prompted to
confirm that you want to delete it.
You will stay in the Restore list until
a) You have deleted all available Pick Lists.
b) You select a list to restore.
─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
CATFILES Version 3.22a E-7
c) You hit 'Esc' to cancel the restore.
6) When scanning a drive or directory for downloaded files and
CATFILES finds a likely candidate then it asks you if this
is the same file. Previously the default for this was (N)o
this has now been changed to (Y)es.
7) Previously CATFILES would never do an Auto-Add if the last
file you read in manually was not the default file and the
read was not completed (eg cancelled by the user) even if
this other file had been subsequently deleted.
CATFILES now checks to see if the interrupted file has been
deleted and if so will now do an Auto-Add.
8) When CATFILES thought you were a new user it would search
ALL drives it could find looking for possible databases.
This could cause problems if you had lots of drives and
directories.
CATFILES will now ask you if you want to search drives
first. If you answer Yes then CATFILES will search the
default drive and if none have been found it will search the
drive that CATFILES.EXE is on (if different). If still none
have been found then it will prompt you if you want to
search other drives.
For the same reason, CATFILES will now prompt you for the
drives to search if you hit 'F9' to re-built the
CATFILES.DIR file.
Version 3.11d
1) The problems with CATFILES failing to create a directory
under OS/2 and Novell were not, as I had previously thought,
a problem with the actual creation routines, but a failure
of CATFILES to detect that the directory doesn't exist in
the first place - this has been corrected.
2) When making a pick list of all files Before/After a certain
date the 'After' option will be the highlighted default.
3) There was a problem that if you had selected your OLR as
TAPCIS 5.41, then CATFILES was not reading and updating from
you XFER.LOG, if present. This has been corrected.
4) You can now go straight from the 'Pick List' menu to the
'Action Pick List' menu and back again.
─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
CATFILES Version 3.22a E-8
5) There was a potential problem for new users, in that during
the general program configuration the user could 'Page Down'
past the default directory, which might not exist. You
cannot do this now.
6) Executable file size has been reduced by about 4k.
Version 3.20a (Rev 1) - Second Generally released version
1) When saving or restoring a Pick List the message would
appear on the screen on the wrong line and remain there this
has been corrected.
2) There was a potential problem when doing a 'Tidy' on a
database with more than 160 file areas this has been
corrected
3) If sending a pick list to a file as a single line format
then the resultant line length in the output file was one
less than specified. This has been corrected.
4) If you specified a line length of more than about 80
characters for printing, or sending to a file then you would
not necessarily get the line length specified. This has
been corrected.
5) If you didn't have CATFILES.DIR and tried to create it from
the 'Use Another BBS' prompt the screen got a bit scrambled.
This has been corrected.
Version 3.20b
This version uses the latest versions of the compiler (5.2b) and
the database driver (1.1c) and also a new linker.
1) There was a problem running CATFILES under DOS 6.0 when
using EMM386 with the NOEMS switch which could cause the
program to crash unless you set the environment variable
CLIPPER=E:0. This should no longer be necessary (in fact
CATFILES will benefit from the presence of some EMS memory).
2) 'Hot' keys were added to permit editing the comments, or
toggling the Downloaded or Wanted for Downloading flags when
'Scanning' a Pick List. These are:-
Alt + 'C' Add or edit a Comment
Alt + 'D' or Alt + '*' Toggle the Downloaded Flag
Alt + 'W' or Alt + '+' Toggle the Wanted for
downloading
─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
CATFILES Version 3.22a E-9
The '*' and '+' are the keys on the keypad.
3) Added a new two new file formats (FORMAT 006 and 007)
4) Added the ability to 'Shell to DOS' from any of the menu
screens by using ALT + F10 keys. When in DOS you can run
any program you like (except another copy of CATFILES).
5) Previously if you wanted to produce a 'Download' file from a
'Pick List' in a Normal BBS listing then CATFILES would
always create this file as DLOAD.LST in the same directory
as the database files.
Similarly when opening a database for a Normal BBS listing
CATFILES would look for and read a file CATFILES.DLS in the
same directory as the database and use this file to updated
the downloaded files.
Both of these file names and directories are configurable
from a new Screen 4 in the 'BBS Specific Configuration'.
6) Fixed a number of bugs.
Version 3.20d
1) There was a problem when displaying a full file description
in that although CATFILES would store a large file
description it would only display a maximum of 10 lines
(each of 76 chars). This has now been corrected - if, when
displaying a full file description, you now use the Up or
Down cursor keys you can scroll through the full file
description.
2) Previously you could only use the 'Hot Keys' to change the
downloaded, wanted for download and comments when scanning a
list of files in a Pick List. You now may also use these
hot keys whenever a full file description is being shown.
There was also a potential problem with the use of the
'Alt+C' Hot Key combination to add comments. To overcome
this, and at the same retain some connection between the Hot
Key and its action, I now call the file Comments 'Notes' and
use the Alt+'N' as the Hot Key combination associated with
it.
5) Support was added for OzCIS v1.0 to v1.2a (a OLR for use
with CompuServe).
6) Fixed a number of bugs.
─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
CATFILES Version 3.22a E-10
Version 3.21a - Third Generally released version
1) There was a problem that when using FORMAT001 with the a
Wildcat two line file listing that when the file size got to
1Mb or above the file name and size ran together eg
FILENAME.ZIP1,000,000 10/01/93 | File Description
If this happened CATFILES would ignore such files - this was
corrected.
2) During a reconciliation CATFILES would delete any file areas
which contained no files after reconciliation, even if the
reconciliation file contained that area name. This has been
corrected.
Version 3.21a (Rev 01) - Fourth Generally released version
1) Fixed a small bug which caused the program to stop until the
'Esc' key was hit when CATFILES was trying to determine the
date format of an input file.
Version 3.22a - Fifth Generally released version
1) There was a problem if you changed the default path or file
names for the DownLoad list file or Update list file in that
this got reset to the defaults the next time you read an
input file. This has been corrected.
2) Support has been added for OzCIS version 2.0/2.0a
3) When CATFILES asked a New user if it should search for an
existing database files then previously it would search for
EVERY directory on the drive looking for EVERY occurance of
CATFILES databases and then only use the first. CATFILES
will now stop searching as soon as it makes a find.
4) In the various configuration screens (General, BBS Specific
and Advanced) I have changed the titles Page 1, 2, 3 etc to
screen 1, 2, 3 etc. This is to avoid confusion with page
numbers in the documentation.
5) Previously when CATFILES displayed a list of file areas for
a normal BBS listing (such as Select Areas in Pick List or
Configure File Areas) the list would be sorted
alphabetically but the sort was case sensitive ie "GIF"
would come before "Games" and "ZOO" before "amiga". This
has now been sorted.
─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
CATFILES Version 3.22a E-11
Appendix F - CATFILES Interchange Format
The following is a description of the CATFILES Interchange Format
Byte 1 & 2 <EOF> == ASCII 26 == HEX 1A
Bytes 3 - 14 The string $_CATFILES_$ in upper case
Byte 15 Format used in this Interchange file Currently only
ASCII 1 is valid
Byte 16 Type of original File entry where
1 == Normal BBS listing
2 == CompuServe listing
Bytes 17 & 18 16 bit unsigned integer giving the length of the
following header. Currently headers are not used
and so these two bytes are zero
Then subsequent entries as follows:-
Byte 1 Type of entry where
1 == Area Name
2 == File Description
Byte 2 & 3 Number of bytes in this entry (excluding 1st 3) as a
16 bit unsigned integer (maximum 65535)
For a Type 1 entry (Area Name) the following applies:-
Byte 4 & 5 The Library Number (only for CompuServe Listings)
Rest The Library/Area Name
For a Type 2 entry (File entry) the following applies
Bytes
4 - 11 The file name (eight characters)
12 - 14 The file extension (3 characters)
15 - 18 A 32 bit unsigned integer giving the file size
19 A single byte giving the accuracy of the file size
where:-
ASCII 0 == exact size to nearest byte any other number means
the number of 128 byte blocks ie ASCII 1 == 128 byte
accuracy, ASCII 8 == nearest 1024 (k)
─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
CATFILES Version 3.22a F-1
This means that 1024 in bytes 15-18 with the following in
byte 16 means:-
0 - file is exactly 1024 bytes long
1 - file is between 897 and 1024 bytes long
8 - file is between 1 and 1024 bytes long
20 - 27 The system date as a character string in the format
YYYYMMDDD.
28 - 35 The date downloaded as a character string in the
format YYYYMMDD. This should be 19000101 for a BBS
generated listing.
36 The file status - this should normally be zero for BBS
generated listings, but is used internally by CATFILES to
reflect if the file has been downloaded, wanted for
downloading, viewed etc.
37 Indicates the number of bytes of comments at the end of
the file description (max 255 bytes)
Rest If this is a Normal BBS listing as indicated by Byte 16
then this contains the file description (less comments at
the end).
If this is a CompuServe listing as indicated by Byte 16 then
the first byte indicates the length of the Title (maximum
255 bytes) then follows the title and the balance is the
description (less comments at the end).
─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
CATFILES Version 3.22a F-2
Appendix G - Using CATFILES with OLX and QModem Pro
OLX and QModem Pro are Off-Line Readers (OLR) by Mustang Software
(actually Qmodem Pro is a complete Comms/OLR package) for use
with normal BBS systems which can provide 'QWK' packets. Both
these programs (and possibly some others) only unpack the QWK
packet when actually reading the contents and when finished
leaves the packet as is. The result is that the NEWFILES.DAT
remains 'locked up' in the QWK packet and inaccessible to
CATFILES.
There are a number of possible ways to overcome this problem but
as an example I include with CATFILES the BATCH file
ADDFILES.BAT. This batch file could be invoked manually every
time you download a QWK packet or invoked as part of your
download script. The batch file just unpacks the NEWFILES.DAT
from the relevant QWK packet and then appends it to a running
file which takes all the accumulated NEWFILES.DAT until you run
CATFILES when you can read in the cumulative or total file and
delete it.
This appendix gives a description of how the batch file works.
The batch file assumes that the QWK packet is called DLINE.QWK
and is in the current directory, that the total or cumulative
file will be called DLINE.TOT, and will be put in a directory
called C:\CATFILES\DLINE\. All of these assumptions can, of
course, be changed to suit your own requirements.
@ECHO OFF
SET CATFXX=C:\CATFILES\DLINE\
The SET CATFXX line sets up a temporary environment variable
which contains the directory where the combined or total
file listing is to be placed (and where CATFILES will look
for it)
The example here shows the directory C:\CATFILES\DLINE\ but
can be whatever you want but there MUST be a backslash at
the end and there MUST NOT be any spaces either side of the
equals sign.
IF NOT EXIST DLINE.QWK GOTO END
If there is no QWK file to process go to the end and do
nothing.
PKUNZIP -o DLINE.QWK NEWFILES.DAT
Use PKUNZIP to extract the NEWFILES.DAT from DLINE.QWK (both
will be/are in the current directory). Note this assumes
that PKUNZIP.EXE is either in the current directory, or on
you PATH statement
─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
CATFILES Version 3.22a G-1
IF NOT EXIST NEWFILES.DAT GOTO END
If there has been no Newfiles.Dat extracted just skip to
end.
IF EXIST %CATFXX%DLINE.TOT GOTO ADD
If there is a Total file already skip to the ADD function,
if not continue with the next instruction.
COPY NEWFILES.DAT %CATFXX%DLINE.TOT
OK there is no total file already so just copy the
Newfiles.Dat in the current directory to the desired
directory with the new name.
ERASE NEWFILES.DAT
Delete the Newfiles.Dat now that we have copied it.
GOTO END
Jump to the end.
:ADD
The next few lines are what we do if a Total already exists.
COPY /a %CATFXX%DLINE.TOT + NEWFILES.DAT %CATFXX%DLINE.TOT
Copy the old Total file plus the Newfiles.Dat to a new Total
file.
ERASE NEWFILES.DAT
Delete the Newfiles.Dat file now we are finished with it.
:END
SET CATFXX=
Reset the temporary environment variable to blank.
─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
CATFILES Version 3.22a G-2
Index
Adding Files to DataBase Files from Pick List 22
Automatically 16 Index Files 7, 11, 32
Manually 26 Saved Pick List Files 21
Advanced Configuration DOS Shell 8
Adding Files 16 DOS Version 3
Default Prompts 17 Files
General 15 Adding to DataBase 27, 28
Print/File Preferences 15 Adding to the DataBase 26
Scanning for Downloaded Compressing DataBases 11
Files 17 Created by CATFILES A-1,
Start Up Menus 9, 17 A-2, A-3
Areas Default Inputs for a
Configuring 30 DataBase 13
Delete 29, 31 Default Inputs for
Keeping Files for 30 DataBase 14
Maximum Number per Deleting from DataBase 24
DataBase 4 Deleting Indexes after
Move Files to a Use 7, 11
different 23 Input Format 7, C-3, C-5,
Selecting for Pick List 19 C-6, C-8, C-9, C-10, C-11
Automating CATFILES 16, 17, D-1 Input Formats 13, C-1, C-2
Colour Maximum number per
Monitor 10 DataBase 4
Setting Screen 14 Outputting Pick List to 25
Comments, Adding 22, 23, 27 Packing List 3
Compressing DataBases 11, A-2 Producing a Download
CompuServe list 24
File Formats 27 Removing/Deleting from
File Listings 11, 12, 27 DataBase 24
Files for Download 24 Scanning for Downloaded 30
Forums 12, B-1, B-2 Sizes 3, A-1, A-2
Navigation Programs 7, 11, Statement in CONFIG.SYS 5
24, B-1, B-2, B-3 Temporary A-3
Configuration Viewing the Pick List 21
Advanced Program 15 Viewing while adding 16, 27
BBS Specific 12 Floppy Disks 4, 7, 10, 12,
General Program 10 32, 33
Menu 9 Format
Screen Colours 14 CATFILES Interchange 25,
Creating DataBases 12, 13, 33 F-1, F-2
Date Date 6, 7, 10, 13, 14
Display Format 6, 10 Input File 7, 13, 27, C-1,
Input File Format 7, 13, C-2, C-3, C-5, C-6,
14, 27 C-8, C-9, C-10, C-11
Select by System 19 Help
Select files downloaded File 3, 5
by 20 On-Line 8
Default Data Directory 6, 10 Problems/General 34
Delete Hot Keys 8, 22, 23
File Areas/Libraries 29, 31 Mark Files
Files from DataBase 24, as Downloaded 22-24, 30,
29, 30 B-1, B-2, D-1
as Viewed 21, 24 Manually for Downloaded
as Wanted 22-24, 27 Files 30
Menu Shell to DOS 8
Action the Pick List 23 Support 34
Configuration 9 Tapcis 7, 11, 28, B-1
General 8 Updating DataBase
Main 9 Adding Files 26-28
Make/Edit the Pick List 18 Automatic Adding Files 16
Setting Start Up 17 Automatic Marking Files
Update the Files as Downloaded C-12, D-1
DataBase 26 Automatic Scanning for
OLR (Off-Line Reader) 7, 11, Downloaded Files 17
24, B-1, B-2, B-3, G-1, G-2 Configuring File Areas 30
OzCIS 7, 11, B-2, B-3 Menu 26
Pick List Reconciling 28, 29
Actioning Files in 23 Recreating the Index
Changing Download Status Files 32
of 24 Scanning for Downloaded
Changing Viewed Status Files 30
of 24 Tidying the DataBase 31, 32
Clearing 21 View
Make/Edit Menu 18 Files in Pick List 21
Moving Files to another Files while Adding 27
Area 23
Printing Files in 25
Producing Download File
from 24
Producing File from 25
Removing/Deleting Files
from DataBase 24
Resetting/Clearing 21
Restoring a Saved List 21
Saving 21
Scanning Files in 22
Selecting by Area 19
Selecting by Download
Particulars 20
Selecting by File
Extension 20
Selecting by File Name 20
Selecting by System Date 19
Selecting by Viewed
Status 21
Selecting by Word 20
Viewing Files in 21
Printer
Set Up 10, 15
Printing the Pick List 25
Problems 34
Scanning
Automatically for
Downloaded Files 17
Files in the Pick List 22