Shareware Super Platinum 8/Shareware Super Platinum 8.iso/mac/ARCHIVE/AFE11.ZIP;1/AFE.DOC

Text File | 1993-09-06 | 7.8 KB | 199 lines

6 September 1993

AFE.CMD - Archive Front End, a FREE(!) OS/2 2.x REXX and V-REXX program
which provides a visual front end for the handling of ZIP and LZH files.

   Contents

     A. Program Features
     B. Assumptions
     C. Installation
     D. Notes on Running the Program
     E. Cautions and Limitations
     F. Disclaimer



A. Program Features

     - create or selectively update archives

     - view selected files in an archive

     - print selected files in an archive

     - virus scan an archive file

     - unarchive member files selectively or in entirety

     - supports Drag 'n Drop or double-click of archive files to start

     - detects ZIPs or LZHs within an archive and allows you to
       selectively unarchive them.



B. Assumptions

     - REXX support is installed.  See the OS/2 documentation on how
       to use "Selective Install" if you need to add it.

     - IBM's Free(!) VREXX package is installed.  You can find this on
       IBM's NSC Bulletin Board and many Electronic BBSes which feature
       OS/2 Shareware and Freeware for download.

     - You have OS/2 native programs that support archiving and
       dearchving in the .ZIP and .LZH files.  The defaults used in this
       program are the Free(!) Public Domain utilities ZIP (currently
       ver. 1.9) and UNZIP (currently ver. 5.0) for OS/2 and LHA
       (currently ver. 2.2)for OS/2.

     - You haven't deleted E.EXE, the native OS/2 System Editor. This is
       installed by default with OS/2 in the \OS2 directory.  This program
       uses E as a file viewer.  It works well for that purpose.       file.

     - You have a virus scanner installed.  This program uses McAfee's
       OS2SCAN.EXE, a Shareware utility, as the default.  If you plan to
       use something else, it must support command line switches that do
       similar things to SCAN's.  Especially important, are the abilities to
       write a report to a file and to set an return code upon exit
       denoting whether it detected a problem or completely okay.  The
       program looks for rc 1 for any kind of problem, and 0 if all okay.

     - "Workdrive" (see Vars.txt) should be HPFS if EAs are to be
       preserved.



C. Installation

     1. Copy AFE.CMD to a pathed directory.  If you're going to use
        the included icon, you can copy it to the same directory to make
        things easy.

     2. Create a program object for AFE.CMD, and set it to start
        minimized and hide for minimized behavior.  Set associations to
        *.LZH and *.ZIP.

     3. Adjust variables in the AFE.CMD file for your ZIP, UNZIP, LZH,
        unLZH, SCAN programs, and drives and directories where archives
        are stored, worked on, unarchived, etc..  See the VARS.TXT file
        for an explanation of what these variables represent and how to
        change them.  These variables can be found on lines 8 thru 20
        of AFE.CMD and only should be changed in this one place.

     4. (Optional) Set the font in "E" to SYSTEM VIO.  This makes viewing
        plain text files easier because of its even spacing.

  I have the program object along the bottom of my Desktop since I use it
  everyday.  I use a Shareware File/directory manager that supports
  drag 'n drop from its file list which makes it super easy to start my
  program by highlighting the file name and dragging it to my program
  icon.  Plus, if I want to start the program from its first menu to
  create an archive, I don't have to dig into a folder to start it.



D. Notes on Running the Program

  You're not going to get a detailed description here, as the program is
  fairly self explanatory.

     There are three simple ways to start the program.  You can double-
     click its program object, drag a ZIP or LZH file to its program
     object, or double-click on a ZIP or LZH file.

     If you chose the first, your menu will give you all the available
     choices of activity.  If you chose one of the two latter, you will
     be presented with a secondary menu with the name of the archive file
     with which you started the program.  From this secondary menu, the
     cancel button (or ESC) will take you back to the primary menu.

     In most cases cancel (or ESC) will take you back to a higher level
     menu.  There are two exceptions of note.  If you cancel from the
     highest level menu you will terminate the program (duh!).  The other
     exception is less obvious.  If you are creating an archive and have
     chosen to select specific files to include, "Cancel" will complete
     the file selection process (after you have selected and "okayed"
     each desired file).  The program will then take the desired archiving
     action.

     When selecting files to include in an archive, make sure that you
     highlight AND "Okay" each file you want!  As mentioned above,
     "Cancel" from this dialog will not add any more files to the list
     even if it is highlighted.  Actually, there is a remminder of this
     on the titlebar of the file selection dialog. If you have not yet
     chosen any files, you'll be returned to the top level menu.

     Limitations of VREXX prevent highlighting multiple files!

     If a virus infected file is detected, the program will alert you with
     noises, the \$temp directory will be purged, the program will
     terminate, and the scan report log will be displayed.

     Any dialog box may be moved around the screen by dragging it by its
     titlebar.  While you are viewing a file in E, you can continue using
     the program to do anything else, including viewing a file from
     another archive.  You will just start another copy of E.  F3 to quit
     the editor.



E. Cautions and Limitations

  Upon extracts, files in the UNARCdir of the same name as files being
  extracted, will be overwritten.

  Due to limitations of VREXX (can't have multiple copies running), if
  you try to drag mutliple files to the program icon, only one will be
  processed, other copies if the program will bomb quietly.  However,
  the archive name of the one that succeeded will appear on the first
  dialog box.

  What the program doesn't Do (besides the obvious)

     - Handle self extracting archives

     - Allow existing archives to create directories

     - Start more than one copy of itself (see above)

     - Allow creation of path information in newly created archives

  Of course, with some ambition, some knowledge of REXX, you might be
  able start from here and add on your own features.

  If you find what you think is a bug please contact me via email.  I have
  spent many hours building and reworking this program, and would
  appreciate any feedback, positive/negative.  There are several ways to
  email to me.  If you have internet access, send mail to:

     [e-mail]

  If you have access to ILINK, send a message (in the OS/2 conference)
  to "Howie Weiner".

  I log onto a few BBSes on an everyday basis.  You can leave mail to
  "Howie Weiner" on ATT-PAC Auntie BBS in Dublin, Ca., [phone],
  H-D-M Auntie BBS in Concord, Ca., [phone], or Sempervirens PC
  Board BBS in Pittsburg, Ca., [phone].



F. Disclaimer

     LIKE ANYTHING ELSE THAT'S FREE, AFE.CMD IS PROVIDED AS IS AND
     COMES WITH NO WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED.
     IN NO EVENT WILL THE AUTHOR BE LIABLE FOR ANY DAMAGES RESULTING
     FROM THE USE OF THIS SOFTWARE.

 You can do anything you want with this program.  If you pass it on to
 someone else or a BBS, please include all files, including this document.

 If you decide to make your own modifications to the program (beside the
 variables), PULLEEZE remove my name from it!

 KEEP OS/2in' it!

 H.M. Weiner