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Text File | 1993-07-27 | 13.2 KB | 368 lines

The GATHER.DOC Page 1 Version 1.01 July, 1993 _______ ____|__ | (R) --| | |------------------- | ____|__ | Association of | | |_| Shareware |__| o | Professionals -----| | |--------------------- |___|___| Member TeleShare/GATHER is an ASP member Shareware product. Gather gathers specified files from specified directories and copies them to a destination directory. This allows one to collect copies of crucial files, such as the AUTOEXEC.BAT, into a central directory for transfer to another computer as a backup and for ongoing remote maintenance and diagnosis. You can also use gather as a form of ongoing backup program by running it as a TSR or resident program. When run as a TSR you can direct GATHER to periodically gather files as specified in a response file, or on the command line, to a specified directory and/or a diskette. You may discover that gather occupies too much ram to be generally kept resident. If so, consider periodically using it in a batch file instead, you should find that it is MUCH faster than other software that you use for similar purposes. Please also note that gather is designed so it CAN copy files over themselves, which effectively destroys them. If you wish to avoid destroying files, do not copy them over themselves. This product is designed to be user friendly, AND it is often quite useful to be able to protect information by over writing it. If you think that you need optional protection for this purpose, please say so. The Gather command line: Usage gather [-time -show -clock -tsr @name -fname -d\A_DIR\ ...] -clock for the on screen clock. -days10 the number of days to the oldest file to gather. -d\DIR\ the destination directory. -fname to copy the named file. You may use * as in *.dbf. -h this help. -n reName copied files. A number is inserted into the name. The GATHER.DOC Page 2 -path to search along the PATH for one or more files. -redir use DOS screen output to allow file redirection. -show to show filenames as they are copied. -time the repeat or delay time between file copying. -tsr to run as a TSR or resident program. -unload to unload the TSR from ram. @some_file to use a response file listing the files to copy. You may also use / as the switch character instead of -. Gather is designed to use the GATHER.CFG configuration file, but this release only uses command line parameters. These switches are explained further below: -DAYS10 the number of days to the oldest file to gather. If a file was last changed 9 days ago, and gather is run with -DAYS10, the file will be gathered. -D\dir\ the destination directory. This tells gather to copy the file(s) to that directory. Its a good idea to include the drive as in -dD:\TRANSFER\. -Fname to copy the named file. You may use * as in *.dbf. Use this to copy a specific file, such as -fADDRESS.DBF, or a group of files, as in -f*.DBF. Use the @response_file method when you want to gather more files or more specifically. -H this help. You may also use /H -? and ?, or even a blank command line. -N to reName copied files to minimise overwriting previous copies. The renaming inserts a number into the file name, with consecutive files having a consecutive number inserted. The seed number is based on the current second at the time of the start of the copying. Files ROSTER, SALARY.DBF, and WORKS.WKS will be renamed to ROSTER.20, SALARY21.DBF, and WORKS22.WKS if copying starts at 11:30:20. If LASTNAME.DBF was the 180th file copied, it would become LASTN200.DBF, since 20+180 = 200. Numbers above 999 restart at 0. Using this scheme might appear attractive but it can consume disk space rapidly. -PATH to search along the PATH for one or more files. This instruction tells gather to look through every directory along your machine's current path for the file(s). Some uses of this switch are incompatible with other switches, with the idea that if you use *.* or the like, then you do not really mean to copy every file along the path to the destination directory. The GATHER.DOC Page 3 -REDIR DOS screen display, to allow redirection to a file. If you are also using -clock, the clock will continue to write using the bios, with the program dynamically changing screen drivers back to dos after each time update. A side effect of this setting may be a change in gather colours. The default is to use bios output. -SHOW to show filenames as they are copied. The source and destination directories are included. -TIME15 the repeat or delay time between file copying. The default is 60, with an allowable range between 10 and 100000 seconds. This value is the 'sleep' time for gather when it is running as a TSR, and is the file update time when gather does short term file copies. Use -time60 to force gather to copy files that have been updated in the past 60 seconds. Note that this is the actual tsr sleep time, it only becomes active at the given intervals, and only for the length of time necessary to do the given task. If you want a longer time, yell with an explanation, its easy to change. You might also consider using the @response_file method. -TSR to run as a TSR or resident program. Gather takes about 100K when running as a TSR. It is designed for speed, and interactive use more than as a background backup program. Gather is also designed to be very quickly and easily changed for custom purposes. -UNLOAD to unload the TSR from ram. Eg: gather -unload @some_file to use a response file listing the files to copy. You simply list the files to be copied as a list in the given text file. A sample that includes the autoexec.bat, config.sys and equip.log follows (equip.log is generally used to store information about your machine, often to be send to another machine). AUTOEXEC.BAT CONFIG.SYS EQUIP.LOG This version of gather does disk space checking, but does not check the destination for sufficient space to copy a file. It uses a 'fast write' to the bios, instead of using DOS or direct screen writing. Use -redir for DOS screen output. P.C Softsmith distributes an interactive TOUCH program that allows you to alter the time and date of any file to any other time and date, which can be useful when used for software development and for 'backups' with gather. The GATHER.DOC Page 4 SUPPORT For technical support, either call (604) 433-5189, or write to Suite 606 - 6455 Willingdon Avenue, Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada, V5H 4E4. Both registered and soon to be registered users currently get the same support without any arbitrary time limit. You may also try leaving a Compuserve message at 75020, 2664, or better yet send email to INTERNET:vic_williams@mindlink.bc.ca P.C. Softsmith (604) 433-5189 Suite 606 - 6455 Willingdon Avenue, Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada, V5H 4E4 Please consider reporting the circumstances of ANY problems that you discover, preferably in written form, to technical support. Some possible problems: The TSR option will not run after MSWindows is running. If you must do this, ask for such a version, or just run it ahead of Windows. It can be reset to do so, but it will then be unusually agressive running under DOS. You might possibly create a situation where gather runs out of internal memory. Gather has the capability to have such memory usage altered at start-up, but this version does not include such a command line switch. Yell if you find such a need. The -SHOW option overwrites your program's screen. Sorry, but the other options would require delays so humans could see the message. Try avoiding the -SHOW option. The clock appears in the wrong place. Please wait for a version using the gather.cfg configuration file. It repeatedly copies the same file to the backup directory. Yes, if you are using the -days option, it is following your instructions. It takes too much memory away from my usual applications. Try running it in a batch file during gaps in your work. There are some nifty small background TSR backup programs around. It does not check the available destination disk space before The GATHER.DOC Page 5 copying a file. If you believe that this is a major problem, please indignantly say so, in order to encourage its addition to the next release. From a software developer's viewpoint this is the start of adding an unlimited number of features with the next likely feature being to add priorities for copying individual files. A complication is that such ongoing backups often overwrite previous copies of the same file, so a simple disk space check is not sufficient. This product is Copyright (C) 1993 P. C. Softsmith all rights reserved. It is distributed as shareware and must be distributed with this documentation. It is normally distributed with other P.C. Softsmith materials that further explain the shareware process. If you wish to distribute it with your software or are unable to find the other documentation that should accompany this file (such as the SHR_WARE.DOC, FILE_ID.DIZ, and the VENDOR.DOC) please contact whoever gave you the software or P.C. Softsmith. If you just want to use this product on its own, you may license its use for $US 10.00. History: Version 1.00 was released in June, 1993. Version 1.01 adds the -N rename switch and a larger stack. ASP Introduction: Please also carefully read the accompanying SHR_WARE.DOC document. "This program is produced by a member of the Association of Shareware Professionals (ASP). ASP wants to make sure that the shareware principle works for you. If you are unable to resolve a shareware-related problem with an ASP member by contacting the member directly, ASP may be able to help. The ASP Ombudsman can help you resolve a dispute or problem with an ASP member, but does not provide technical support for members' products. Please write to the ASP Ombudsman at 545 Grover Road, Muskegon, MI 49442 or send a CompuServe message via CompuServe Mail to ASP Ombudsman 70007,3536." THE DOCUMENTATION AND ASSOCIATED SOFTWARE ARE DISTRIBUTED AND SOLD WITH NO WARRANTIES, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, REGARDING ITS MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PARTICULAR PURPOSE. THE INFORMATION IN THIS DOCUMENTATION IS SUBJECT TO CHANGE WITHOUT NOTICE AND DOES NOT REPRESENT A COMMITTMENT ON THE PART OF THE VENDOR. OTHER PRODUCT AND BRAND NAMES MENTIONED ARE TRADEMARKS OR REGISTERED TRADEMARKS OF THEIR RESPECTIVE HOLDERS. The GATHER.DOC Page 6 SPECIFICALLY XBASE IS THE GENERIC DATABASE INDUSTRY REPLACEMENT FOR THE REGISTERED TERM 'DBASE' OWNED BY BORLAND INTERNATIONAL.