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FileCat Users Guide and Reference Table Of Contents 1 Summary of Changes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 2 Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 3 Warranty and Disclaimer. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 4 System Requirements. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 5 Getting Started. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Subdirectories. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Environment Variables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Floppy-Based Systems. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 6 Functions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 The Statistics Area . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 The Help Area . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 The Menu Bar. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 Add. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 Delete . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 Update . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 Label. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 Report . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 Config . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 Rebuild Indexes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 Quit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 7 Reporting. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 Contents of One Disk. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 Files By Name . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 All Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 Disks By Free Space . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 Disks By Category . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 Scratch Disks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 All Disks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 Diskette Insert . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 Appendix A: The FileCat Line Editor. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 Appendix B: The Configuration Options Editor . . . . . . . . . 23 Appendix C: Using a Mouse with FileCat . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 FileCat Registration Form. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 1 Summary of Changes Version 2.50 Added the ability to change screen colours. Increased the number of categories to 32. Changes to the 'Config' Menu to streamline it. On most data display screens, more information will be shown. Miscellaneous small fixes and enhancements. Version 2.03 Fix to correct an error which caused the small window to be left on the screen when replying "N" to the "Catalog Manually" prompt. Version 2.02 Minor fixes to correct parts of the screen not being restored when popup windows were removed. Version 2.01 This version fixes a bug in the reading of certain .ARC files. The bug is caused by some unknown trailer left over on the ARC file which can make FileCat 2.00 catalog files that are not actually present in the ARC file, as well as storing unusual information on them. It will be distributed FREE to all registered FileCat 2.00 users. There is no change to the user's guide, so, to update to version 2.01, just copy FILECAT.EXE to the directory where the current version resides. Version 1.20 Added the Rebuild Indexes function, both as a Main Menu option, and as an option if a data base error occurs. Corrected a bug which caused some problems with deleted records. Improved data base integrity. Improved data entry screens. 2 Overview FileCat is a data base system for files kept on your Personal Computer, whether they are on your hard disk, or on floppies. FileCat provides the following features: 1) Capacity of up to 32,000 files and 3000 disks 2) Ability to index files stored within ARC, ZIP, and LZH compressed files. 3) 32 user-definable categories, and 2 reserved categories (Scratch and Hard Disk). 4) Ability to label a disk. 5) Ability to preview the contents of a disk before cataloguing. 6) Reports to screen or printer. 7) Reports can be generated for: Contents of One Disk Files by Name All Files Disks by Free Space Disks by Category Scratch Disks All Disks 8) Ability to print a diskette insert. FileCat is a user-supported product. After a reasonable evaluation period, if you find FileCat to be a useful product, then you are required to register it. To register FileCat, send a cheque or money order for $30.00 (Canadians, after January 1, 1991, add 7% GST, Ontario residents add 8% sales tax) to: JWL Enterprises 47 Brightly Drive Ajax, Ontario L1T 1S6 A registration form can be found at the end of this document. Allow 2-3 weeks for cheques to clear. When you register, you will receive a fully-functional version of FileCat (the latest). You will be informed of any updates to the product, and will receive updates at a nominal charge. FileCat and this document are Copyright (c) 1988 by JWL Enterprises. 3 Warranty and Disclaimer FileCat is distributed without any express or implied warranties. No warranty of fitness for any particular purpose is offered. The user assumes all risks for the use and operation of FileCat, and shall be responsible for any losses arising from such use. By using FileCat, you agree to the above limitations. IBM, PC-DOS are registered trade marks of International Business Machines Corporation. MS-DOS is a registered trademark of Microsoft Corporation. 4 System Requirements To run FileCat, the following configuration is necessary: 1) IBM PC or close compatible running MS-DOS 2.1 or PC-DOS 2.0 (or later). 2) 256K available memory. 3) Hard disk (theoretically, FileCat can run on a floppy-based system, but it severely limits the capacity of the data base). 5 Getting Started FileCat consists of 3 files - FILECAT.EXE, FILECAT.DOC, and FILECAT.WP. If you have received them from a bulletin board system, they will probably be in a file called FCATnnn.ZIP, where nnn is the version number of the program. You will need one of the several available ZIP file extraction programs to get them into a usable form. The FILECAT.DOC file is a generic text file which can be printed on any printer that supports form feeds. FILECAT.WP is the same document in Wordperfect 5.1 form, so, if you have Wordperfect, you can use that fine word processor to print it, and get a more readable version. 5.1 Subdirectories On a hard-disk based system, you should set up the following: a) A subdirectory for the executable file FILECAT.EXE b) A subdirectory for the data and configuration files. Note that these CAN be the same. 5.2 Environment Variables FileCat will use the environment variable CATDIR, if it can find it, to determine the location of its data and configuration files. This variable should be set up in your AUTOEXEC.BAT file, using a command such as set catdir=c:\data If the environment variable CATDIR is not found, FileCat will look for (and create, the first time it is run) its files in the current subdirectory. Example. This series of instructions will set up the CATDIR environment variable and start up FileCat: set catdir=c:\data c: cd \util filecat Here, FileCat is executed from the subdirectory C:\UTIL, and will create/locate its data and configuration files in C:\DATA. 5.3 Floppy-Based Systems On a system without a hard disk, place the diskette containing FILECAT.EXE in Drive A:, and put a blank, formatted diskette in Drive B: Then, the following series of instructions is recommended: b: a:filecat This will make Drive B: the default drive, and start the program from Drive A:. On a 1-drive system, this should also work, and DOS should prompt you to change disks. N.B. - if one of your drives is of higher capacity, you should make it the DATA drive (e.g. on an AT-type system with a 1.2 meg drive, reverse the above example, and use drive a: as the data drive). 6 Functions When initially invoked, FileCat will display a horizontally- oriented menu at the top of the screen and a statistics/help area at the bottom. 6.1 The Statistics Area This area gives information on the following: a) The number of disks and files currently contained in the data base. These numbers are updated as a new disk is added or deleted. b) The drive currently being processed. This will show as a letter from 'A' to the value of your LASTDRIVE parameter in your CONFIG.SYS file. If you don't have LASTDRIVE coded, the default is 'E' (or your highest actual drive, whichever is higher). The drive letter is incremented with the F8 key, and decremented with the F7 key. When it reaches its upper or lower limit, it will wrap. c) The current report destination, either 'Screen' or 'Printer'. To change the report destination, use the F9 key. d) Whether FileCat is currently processing compressed files. If ON, any file with extension ARC, ZIP, or LZH will be scanned, and all files within it will be processed. This option is toggled on and off with the F10 key. 6.2 The Help Area This line gives descriptions of the special keys which can be used from the main menu. These keys are: Left/Right Arrows - moves the cursor from one menu option to the next/previous. The cursor will wrap to the first when advanced from the last, and vice versa. F7 - Decrements the drive letter to be processed. If at Drive A, F7 will set the drive letter to the DOS LASTDRIVE setting. F8 - Increments the drive letter to be processed. If at the DOS LASTDRIVE, F8 will set the drive letter to A. F9 - Toggles the report destination between 'Screen' and 'Printer'. F10 - Toggles compressed file processing feature. When ON, FileCat will read compressed (ARC, ZIP, or LZH) files, and catalog each file contained in them. When OFF, only the compressed file itself will be catalogued. 6.3 The Menu Bar The menu bar is a line from which you can access the main functions of FileCat. Each option has one letter highlighted. To reach a particular option, either use the arrow keys and hit ENTER, or type the highlighted key to execute the option. The main menu options are described below: 6.3.1 Add The Add option will add a disk and all its files to the database. Action taken on Library files depends on the setting of the Library Extract indicator. When a disk is scanned, the following actions occur: 1) A check is made whether the disk has a label. If not, you will be asked for a label name, and FileCat will label the disk for you. If it is labelled, FileCat will determine if the disk is already on the data base. If so, you will be asked if you want to recatalogue it. If you do, then the disk and all its files will be deleted, then re-added. This makes it unnecessary to do a separate delete when you change the contents of a disk. 2) Next, you will be asked to choose its category from a list of 32. There are two instances where this is bypassed: a disk which contains no files is automatically put into the SCRATCH category, and a hard disk also has its own category. 3) The description of the disk is then shown, and all the files are added to the data base. Sub-directories are not added, but FileCat will scan all subdirectories and process all files in them. The following information is stored on the data base: Disk Label Free Space Disk Size Disk Category File Name File Extension File Date File Size Library Id (if extracted from a Compressed File) Attributes (e.g. Hidden, Read-Only) 6.3.2 View The View option will display the contents of a disk to the screen. Action taken on compressed files depends on the setting of the Library Extract indicator. No updates are made to the data base at this time. This function is designed to give you an opportunity to preview the contents of a disk before adding it to the data base, or printing a diskette insert. As with the Add function, subdirectories are displayed also. 6.3.3 Delete The delete option will delete a disk and all its files from the data base. It is not necessary to put the disk in the drive. Deleted files will be shown as they are deleted. 6.3.4 Update The Update option allows you to change the category of a disk. It does not allow updating of the contents of a disk. To do that, the disk must be re-Added. 6.3.5 Label The Label option allows you to change the volume label of a disk. Can be done prior to adding a disk to the data base, and should be used if you know that the disk has the same volume label as one already existing on the data base, and you want to catalogue both disks. 6.3.6 Report The Report option will bring up the Report submenu. See the Reporting section later in the document for a detailed description of the various reports available. 6.3.7 Config The Config option will bring up the Config submenu. This submenu has 6 items, each of which is discussed below. 6.3.7.1 Data Directory This option informs FileCat of the drive and which is to contain the data base. It is initially set to either the value of the CATDIR environment variable, discussed above, or to the current drive/directory when FileCat is first started. If you wish to move the data base to another directory or drive, change this value. NOTE: FileCat will still look for its configuration file as stated above. WARNING: If you don't have a CATDIR environment variable, then you may run into trouble if you change the data file directory, and then restart FileCat from a directory different from the initial one. FileCat will then think that it is starting for the first time, and will create a configuration file in that directory. 6.3.7.2 Default Catalog Drive This item allows you to change the default drive which FileCat looks at when adding, viewing, or printing an insert for a disk. This can be changed temporarily by using the F7/F8 keys, but using this option will alter it permanently. Key in the new drive letter, and then press the ENTER key to change the option. ESCAPE exits with no change. The new drive letter must be in your DOS LASTDRIVE range. 6.3.7.3 Printer Control Codes FileCat needs to know the codes used to set various options on your printer. These are Compressed Print On/Off, Eight lines per inch, six lines per inch, and Form Feed. The default values are correct for an EPSON/IBM printer, or a printer that emulates one of these. To change a printer control code, first look up the code in your printer manual, then enter it as a string of DECIMAL numbers. For example, the default value for Eight lines per inch is ESC 0 (character "zero"). Enter this as 2748. 6.3.7.4 Categories The Category screen lists all 32 categories, and allows you to change all but categories 21 (scratch) and 22 (hard disk). Each description can be up to 25 characters in length, and its content is entirely up to you. FileCat provides you with a starter set of categories, but you should customize these to your own needs. On this screen, the ENTER key advances you to the next category, and accepts what you've entered. The line editor used in FileCat is described in more detail later in the document. The mouse can also be used to select the category you wish to process, or to scroll the list by placing the mouse on the right side of the window and clicking on one of the 'up' or 'down' arrows. To save your options permanently, use the F3 key after you've made all your changes. ESCAPE cancels all changes. 6.3.7.5 Colours This option allows you to change the various colours FileCat uses for its displays. When this item is selected, a colour selection screen appears. This screen has two components. The first, on the right side, displays the list if configurable items, in their current colour. The second, on the right side of the screen, shows all the colour combinations available. Initially, the first configurable item will be highlighted with a pair of what looks like sideways triangles on either end of the item. To change a colour, first select the item you wish to change by using the arrow keys, and then press ENTER. The current colour combination will then be highlighted in a small box in the colour combination window. Move this box with the arrow keys until the desired colour is selected, and then press ENTER again. The current item's colour will now be changed. When done, press the F3 key to save your changes, or ESC to quit and ignore any changes you've made. 6.3.7.6 Compressed File Search This option is a simple toggle between ON and OFF. If ON, compressed files will be viewed, and their contents added to the data base. If OFF, only the name of the compressed file itself will be catalogued. Set to OFF if you are short on disk space. This option can be toggled dynamically by using the F10 key, but, setting it here makes it the default when FileCat is activated. 6.3.8 Rebuild Indexes On occasion, FileCat's data base indexes can become corrupted. When this occurs, an error message will be issued, and you will be given the opportunity to recreate them from the base data files (all of the data base files used by FileCat are named 'FILECAT.xnn', where x has values of either D (data) or I (index). The 'nn' characters are replaced by numbers). When the error occurs, FileCat will automatically execute this option if you so specify. In the case of an error condition, the program will halt if another error is detected. In this case, you can retry the rebuild, but, if that fails, you will probably have to delete all the FILECAT.xnn files and recreate your data base by reading all your disks again. The other reason you might want to rebuild the data base is if the files are getting very large, AND you have done a significant amount of deletions. The rebuild process completely recreates the index files, freeing up any space used by deleted records (when a disk is deleted, the space in the file is not automatically freed, but is returned to a 'free space' area, for future re-use). Select this option from the Main Menu if you want to do this. The program will continue when the process is complete. Please note that this process will NOT free up space in the base data files (FILECAT.Dnn), only the index files (FILECAT.Inn). However, performance should improve somewhat. 6.3.9 Quit This option exits FileCat. 7 Reporting FileCat provides many ways to report on the information contained in the data base. When the Report Option is selected, the Report Menu appears. This is a vertically-oriented menu, containing eight different Report Types. These can be selected by using the up and down arrow keys, or by pressing the highlighted letter. The Enter key will then activate the selected option. If a report is too large to fit within the report window (when the report destination is Screen), the word 'More...' will appear in the bottom right corner. Hitting Escape will cancel the report, and any other key will show the next page. When reporting to the printer, the Escape key can be used at any time to cancel the report. You will be notified on the screen when either type of report is complete. The various report types are described below. Note that, for file- oriented reports, the following information is given: File Name Extension Attributes LIB Id (If contained in an Library File) Size Date Time Disk ID For disk-oriented reports, this information is given: Disk Id Category Size Free Space 7.1 Contents of One Disk This report lists all files contained in the data base for one particular disk(ette). You will be prompted to enter the Volume Label of the disk to report on. An error message will be issued if the label you enter is not on the data base. This report contains all the information for both types of reports mentioned above. 7.2 Files By Name This is a file-oriented report, which will list files matching the name you enter. When entering a file name, the '*' character can be used as a 'wild card' character, much as you can us it when using the DOS Dir command. The following are valid file names: a*.com - all .COM files beginning with the letter A xyz.* - all files with a filename xyz, i.e. xyz.com, xyz.exe, and xyz.txt would all be listed. xyzabc.com would NOT be listed. xyz*.* - all files with a filename beginning with xyz would be listed. Here, xyz.com, xyz.exe, xyz.txt, and xyzabc.com would appear. a*.c* - all files with a filename beginning with A, and, an extension beginning with C. NOTE: If used, the '*' must be the last thing entered in either the file name or extension. Thus, a file name such as '*a.*' is invalid. 7.3 All Files This is a file-oriented report which lists all files on the data base. 7.4 Disks By Free Space This is a disk-oriented report which lists all disks on the data base, in descending order by free space. Thus, the disks with the largest available space will appear first. 7.5 Disks By Category This is a disk-oriented report which will show all disks of a particular category. You will be prompted for the category. If an invalid category is entered, or if there are no disks of that category in the data base, an error message is issued. 7.6 Scratch Disks This is really a category report for a special category. It lists all empty disks. 7.7 All Disks This is a disk-oriented report listing all disks on the data base. 7.8 Diskette Insert This option can only be used when the report destination is set to 'Printer'. It does not use the data base, but reads from the selected drive, and produces a 'table of contents' of the disk, which can then be cut out and inserted into the jacket. This, of course, only works for 5.25" diskettes. First, you are prompted for a title, which can be up to 40 characters in length. This title will appear on the top line of the insert. Disk-oriented information will appear on the top of the insert, followed by a dashed line. The file-oriented information appears next. The root directory is shown first, then any files in the root. Any subdirectories follow in a similar fashion. If there are a large number of files on a diskette, as can occur when the diskette contains several compressed files, and compressed file processing is ON, a fold line will be printed. Appendix A: The FileCat Line Editor At various times during the use of FileCat, you will be prompted to enter lines of information, such as Volume Labels, Diskette Insert Titles, Etc. When you are entering this information, you an use these editing commands: <Enter> - Accept what you've keyed in. <Esc> - Quit without changing line. <LeftArrow> - Cursor left one character <Ctrl-S> <RightArrow> - Cursor right one character <Ctrl-D> <Ctrl-LeftArrow> - Cursor left one word <Ctrl-A> <Ctrl-RightArrow> - Cursor right one word <Ctrl-F> <Home> - Cursor to beginning of line <Ctrl-Q><S> <End> - Cursor to end of line <Ctrl-Q><D> <Del> - Delete Character at Cursor <Ctrl-G> <Backspace> - Delete Character to left of Cursor <Ctrl-H> <Ctrl-Backspace> <Ctrl-End> - Delete to end of line <Ctrl-Q><Y> <Ctrl-Y> - Delete entire line <Ctrl-X> <Ctrl-Home> - Delete from beginning of line <Ctrl-T> - Delete word to right of cursor <Ins> - Toggle insert mode on and off. The cursor will appear larger when in insert mode. <Ctrl-R> - Restore original contents of line <Ctrl-Q><L> Appendix B: The Configuration Options Editor When setting the various options, and entering your customized categories, you will be using a special data entry editor. When you are entering this information, you can use these editing commands: <Enter> - Accept what you've keyed in, and move to the next field on the screen. <Esc> - Quit without changing anything. <CtrlBreak> <LeftArrow> - Cursor left one character. If at the <Ctrl-S> beginning of a field, it will move to the end of the previous field. <RightArrow> - Cursor right one character. If at the <Ctrl-D> end of a field, it will move to the beginning of the next field. <Ctrl-LeftArrow> - Cursor left one word. If at the beginning <Ctrl-A> of the first word in a field, it is moved to the beginning of the last word in the previous field. A 'word' is any series of non-blank characters followed by one or more blanks. <Ctrl-RightArrow> - Cursor right one word. If at the end of <Ctrl-F> a field, it is moved to the begin- ning of the first word of the next field. <Home> - Cursor to beginning of field. <Ctrl-Q><S> <End> - Cursor to end of field. <Ctrl-Q><D> <Del> - Delete character at cursor. <Ctrl-G> <Backspace> - Delete character to left of cursor, for <Ctrl-H> character strings. Delete character at <Ctrl-Backspace> cursor for numerics. <Ctrl-End> - Delete to end of field. <Ctrl-Q><Y> <Ctrl-Y> - Delete entire field. <Ctrl-X> <Ctrl-Home> - Delete from beginning of field to cursor. <Ctrl-T> - Delete word to right of cursor. <Ins> - Toggle insert mode on and off. The cursor will appear larger when in insert mode. <Ctrl-R> - Restore original contents of field. <Ctrl-Q><L> <Up Arrow> - Move cursor to the last field above the <Ctrl-E> current one that starts at a screen column less than or equal to the column where the cursor is currently located. <Down Arrow> - Move cursor to the next field below the <Ctrl-X> one that starts at a screen column less than or equal to the column where the cursor is currently located. <Tab> - Move cursor to the beginning of the next <Ctrl-I> field. <Shift-Tab> - Move cursor to the beginning of the previous field. <Ctrl-PgUp> - Move cursor to the first field on the <Ctrl-Q><R> screen. <Ctrl-PgDn> - Move cursor to the last field on the <Ctrl-Q><C> screen. Appendix C: Using a Mouse with FileCat FileCat fully supports the use of a mouse in the Menu Bar, the data entry screens, and the configuration screens. When FileCat is started, it checks for the presence of a mouse. If detected, a mouse cursor will be initially activated at the left side of the menu bar. This cursor is a block shape, its colour selectable by you. General Mouse Usage In general, the mouse can be used as follows: - using the LEFT mouse button is the same as hitting the ENTER key. - using the RIGHT mouse button is the same as hitting the ESCAPE key. Specific uses of the mouse are: 1) To select a menu item with the mouse: - move the mouse left or right until the mouse cursor is over the required menu item. Then, click the LEFT mouse button to select the item. - within the report submenu, move the mouse up or down until the mouse cursor is over the required item. Then click the LEFT mouse button. To return to the main menu bar, either click the RIGHT button, or move the mouse cursor to another menu item, and click the LEFT button. 2) Within the CONFIG Function: - Moving the mouse cursor to an option, and clicking the LEFT mouse button will select that option for processing. - For the Compressed file processing option ONLY, clicking the LEFT button will toggle between Y and N. FileCat Registration Form Name: ______________________________________________________ Company: ___________________________________________________ Address: ______________________________________________________ City: _________________________________________________________ State/Province: _______________________________________________ Zip/Postal Code: ______________________________________________ _____ copies of FileCat @ $30.00 ___________ 7% GST (Canada only after Jan 1, 1991) ___________ 8% Sales Tax (Ontario Residents) ___________ Total ___________ Available only on 5.25" diskettes.