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File Finder/Grouper (FFG) Version 1.54 Shareware Manual Copyright 1992-1993 Thomas G. Vavoso President, EnGamma All Rights Reserved 2407 Cameron Mills Rd. Alexandria, Va. 22302-3302 Telephone (703)548-6869 Compuserve: 71674,1747 GEnie: T. Vavoso File Finder/Grouper (FFG) performs three basic functions: 1) Searches disks/archive files for files based on flexible user-specified search criteria 2) Groups files for processing 3) Groups files for building databases of files If you think you already have a utility program that fills these functions, try the DEMO programs, examine the EXAMPLES.FFG file, and read the section "FFG Compared to Other File Finders", before you decide to put FFG aside. If you want to start using FFG right away read the "Quick Start" section below. Otherwise, skip to "Introduction". Be sure to read the "Shareware" notice on the next page. The registration cost for a single-user license and two years of updates is currently $10. See the FFG.REG file for details. This manual is available in WordPerfect 5.1 format to registered users upon request. File Finder/Grouper 1 (c) EnGamma Shareware Shareware distribution gives users a chance to try software before buying it. If you try a shareware program and continue using it, you are expected to register. Individual programs differ on details -- some request registration while others require it, some specify a maximum trial period. With registration, you get anything from the simple right to continue using the software to an updated program with printed manual. Copyright laws apply to both shareware and commercial software, and the copyright holder retains all rights, with a few specific exceptions as stated below. Shareware authors are accomplished programmers, just like commercial authors, and the programs are of comparable quality. (In both cases, there are good programs and bad ones!) The main difference is in the method of distribution. The author specifically grants the right to copy and distribute the software, either to all and sundry or to a specific group. For example, some authors require written permission before a commercial disk vendor may copy their shareware. Shareware is a distribution method, not a type of software. You should find software that suits your needs and pocketbook, whether it's commercial or shareware. The shareware system makes fitting your needs easier, because you can try before you buy. And because the overhead is low, prices are low also. Shareware has the ultimate money-back guarantee -- if you don't use the product, you don't pay for it. FFG is a copyrighted shareware program by Thomas G. Vavoso, President, EnGamma. The evaluation edition of FFG is offered at no charge to any potential user for evaluation, but after a brief evaluation period users must register. Feel free to share the evaluation edition with your friends and associates, but please do not give it away altered or as part of another system. The essence of "user-supported" software is to provide personal computer users with quality software without high prices, and yet to provide incentive for programmers to continue to develop new products. Disclaimer of Warranty Users of FFG must accept this disclaimer of warranty: FFG is supplied as-is. The author disclaims all warranties, expressed or implied, including, without limitation, the warranties of merchantability and of fitness for any purpose. The author assumes no liability for damages, direct or consequential, which may result from the use of FFG. File Finder/Grouper 2 (c) EnGamma Quick Start 1. Demonstrations - The quickest way to become familiar with FFG or to get ideas for possible uses is run the DEMO program (DEMO.BAT). Go to the disk and directory with the demo batch files in it and enter: demo 2. Examples - See the file "EXAMPLES.FFG" included in the FFG package for a concise listing of many examples. 3. Command Syntax USAGE: FFG [DriveSpec:][PathSpec]NameMask[,NameMask2...][\] [options] "NameMask" can contain one or more extended DOS wild card characters to specify the file name:" * = matches any string of zero or more characters" ? = matches any one character "DriveSpec" can be more than a simple drive letter: - If a '*' is substituted for a drive letter, all but A: & B: are searched and redundant logical (substitute) drives are skipped. - Multiple drives can be explicitly specified (e.g., A-D:, BDF:). - Drives listed after the '*' are excluded (e.g., *M: searches all but M:). - To search for directories instead of files, put a '\' after the NameMask - During the search, pressing the following keys have the following effect: <ESC> will stop the search. <G> will go to (Change Dir) the last found file. <S> will skip the current drive. <B> will cause FFG to beep when done searching. Pressing any other key will pause the search operation. - Either '-' or '/' are acceptable command line option switches. - Options may be in any order, before or after the Search Mask. - There should be no spaces between option switches and their parameters. 4. Built-in Help/Examples - To get a listing of options and command syntax, at the DOS prompt enter: ffg - Usage, help, examples, options ffg /? - Command-line option help File Finder/Grouper 3 (c) EnGamma ffg /?n - Help for option 'n'; (e.g., /?d is help for date option) 5. Finding a File on the Current Drive - To find a file anywhere on the current drive enter: FFG filename.ext where "filename.ext" is the name of the file you want to find. 6. Finding a File on All Hard Drives - To find a file anywhere on hard drives connected to your system enter: FFG *:filename.ext where the '*' is interpreted to mean all non-logical disk drives except A: and B:, which are assumed to be floppy drives. 7. Finding a File on All Drives (including floppies) - To find a file anywhere on the system drives enter: ffg ab*:filename.ext where "ab*" is interpreted to mean search drives A: and B: plus all hard drives. 8. Searching Inside Archive Files (e.g., .ZIP files) - To search all drives and inside all archive files on those drives type: ffg *:filename.ext /z File Finder/Grouper 4 (c) EnGamma Introduction To get a quick idea of FFG's capabilities run the batch files included in DEMOBAT.ZIP or scan through the examples in EXAMPLES.FFG. Here is a basic list of features: - Perform filename searches using extended DOS wild card characters * and ?. For example you can find all files with "doc" anywhere in the name. This search is not possible using standard DOS wildcard conventions. - Easily search all disk drives or only selected drives. - Search for files or exclude files based on file name, date, time, size, day-of-week, and attributes (hidden/system/read only/archive). - Searches popular archive/compressed file formats such as those created with PKZip. - Can execute an arbitrary DOS command for each found file. - Versatile and Customizable Output Formats: - Standard columnar output, which is a basic fixed field output of the various file information items: FILENAME.EXT 12345 1/01/92 23:59 HSRA C:\DIRECT\SUBDIR - Packed format, which allows formation of list files for subsequent processing (e.g., PKZip @file): C:\DIRECT\SUBDIR\FILENAME.EXT - Comma delimited ASCII database file format, which allows databases of found files to be built: "FILENAME.EXT","12345","1/01/92","23:59:00","HSRA","C:\DIRECT\SUBDIR\" - Batch file processing format, which allows sophisticated manipulation of found files as a group: %1 C:\PATH\FILENAME.EXT %2 %3 %4 %5 %6 %7 %8 %9 Within each of the above basic format types the user can further customize the output. (See the detailed reference for the /f option.) - See the section "FFG Compared to Other File Finders". File Finder/Grouper 5 (c) EnGamma FFG Compared to Other File Finders File Finder/Grouper (FFG) performs functions similar to those found in other utility programs, but here are some FFG features that some other file finders lack: 1. FFG uses the DOS wildcard characters '*' and '?' but they have extended function over the DOS counterparts. The extended functionality permits you to search for strings of characters that appear anywhere in the file name. 2. FFG can search for multiple file specifications in a single pass, such as find all BAT, COM and EXE files. 3. FFG permits you to concisely specify multiple file name search masks such as "*[ZIP,ARC,ARJ,LHA]*.[COM,EXE]" to find all archiving programs. 4. FFG can search all disk drives or selected disk drives. 5. FFG can search inside of archive files (ZIP, ARC, ARJ, LZH). (FFG also searches inside XEQ COM library files). 6. FFG can execute and arbitrary DOS command for each file found with or without a user confirmation before execution. 7. FFG finds hidden files and searches hidden directories. 8. FFG searches inside directories with name extensions (e.g., THISISMY.DIR). Some file finders do not search these directories. 9. FFG can move to the disk and directory of the found file (/g option). 10. FFG can search for directories instead of files simply by appending a backslash '\' to the search name. 11. FFG can search by a date range, time range, size range, or day-of-week range using intuitive syntax to specify these criteria. 12. FFG can search by the file attributes or combination of attributes, such as finding all Hidden Read-Only files. 13. FFG can find files based on the day of the week (i.e., Sun - Sat) they were modified/created. 14. FFG permits you to exclude certain files base on name, date, time, size, attributes, day-of-week criteria. 15. FFG can search for files by date relative to today, such as File Finder/Grouper 6 (c) EnGamma all files modified/created 7 to 14 days ago. 16. FFG can search for files relative to the current time of day, such as all files modified/created within the last ten minutes. 17. The asterisk '*' can be used as a wildcard in date and time criteria, such as /d9/*/93 for all September 1993 files and /t13:* for all 1:00pm - 1:59pm files. 18. Current month (M), day (D), year (Y) can be specified in date criteria such as 1/1/Y-6/30/Y, M/D/Y (today) 19. Current hours (H), minutes (M), seconds (S) can be specified in time criteria such as H:M:S (now). 20. Partial dates and times are interpreted, such as 9/93 -> 9/*/93, 5/1 -> 5/1/Y (Y = current year), 92-93 -> all 1992- 1993 files, 9 -> 9:00:00am. 21. Multiple date, time, size, day-of-week, attribute criteria can be specified, which are combined in a logical AND or OR depending on how they are specified. 22. FFG lets you pause (press any key) or interrupt (press <ESC>) the search operation at any time. 23. FFG can be used to produce database files of its output (ASCII comma-delimited files)(/f, option) 24. FFG provides useful default output format options but permits extensive user customization of the output format. 25. FFG can be used to produce output as DOS batch files (.BAT) with DOS replaceable parameters (%1 through %9). The batch file can then be used to execute a arbitrary command against the group of files such as copy, back up, archive, delete, move, edit...). The power and flexibility of this feature is limited only by your imagination. Although some other finders have similar capability, they do not have the same flexibility. 26. By default, when FFG is searching all disk drives, it skips disk drives that are logical aliases of other physical drives that have already been searched. This avoids reports of multiple copies of a file when in fact there is only one physical copy of the file. 27. FFG lets you use 43- and 50-line video modes on EGA/VGA systems so you can see more on the screen. File Finder/Grouper 7 (c) EnGamma Usage and Examples FFG [DriveSpec:][PathSpec]NameMask[,NameMask2...][\] [options] FFG is currently not case sensitive. However, as features are added in future releases case may be used to distinguish options. Therefore, use of lower case is recommended. In many of the examples provided in this manual mixed upper and lower case is used for clarity only. DriveSpec tells FFG which drives to search. If DriveSpec is not specified the current disk is searched. A simple DOS drive letter designation can be specified (e.g., C:) or a list of drives can be specified (e.g., ABC:). Also, a '*' can be used to mean all drives except A: and B: and logical substitute drives. When '*' is used, it can be combined with an explicit search list (e.g., ab*:); the drives that are explicitly listed will be searched first. If you wish to specify "all drives but..." then list the drives to exclude after the '*' (e.g., *cd). Finally, a range of drives may be specified (e.g., a-z:). If any drives that are explicitly specified cannot be accessed, such as empty floppy drives, FFG reports them as inaccessible. See the following DriveSpec examples. PathSpec tells FFG which directory to use as the search starting point. The specified directory and all descendent subdirectories will be searched unless the NO RECURSION option (/r) is specified. See the following PathSpec examples. NameMask gives FFG a file name pattern to look for. Multiple name masks can be specified by separating them with a comma (',') sign. NameMask can use DOS wildcard characters '*' and '?', but they have extended functions. The '*' will match zero or more characters and the '?' will match exactly one character. The period that separates the file first name and the filename extension is treated as any other character in the name. If a terminating backslash is appended to the list of NameMasks, FFG will search for directories in lieu of files. See the following NameMask examples. NameMasks can also include alternative patterns to concisely specify multiple masks that have common elements. For example, rather than specify "*.BAT,*.COM,*.EXE", you can use "*.[BAT,COM,EXE]". The bracketed contain different possible alternatives for that part of the NameMask. Brackets can be nested. Here are two more complicated examples: File Finder/Grouper 8 (c) EnGamma 1. Let's say you want to see all files which have names that are variants of "CONFIG" or an abbreviation of it. Here's how you might specify it: "*C[[O,]N,]F[I,]G*", which is equivalent to specifying: "*CONFIG*,*CONFG*,*CNFIG*,*CNFG*,*CFIG*,*CFG*" 2. Let's say you want a listing of all archiving programs, including batch files that perform and archiving function. Here's how you could specify it: "*[ZIP,ARC,ARJ,LHA,PAK,ZOO]*.[EXE,COM,BAT]" The above is equivalent to specifying 18 separate NameMasks: "*ZIP*.EXE,*ZIP*.COM,*ZIP*.BAT,...,*ZOO*.COM,*ZOO*.BAT" NOTE: Slashes can be used instead of commas as in "*.[BAT/COM/EXE]". This permits a NameMask to be passed to FFG as a parameter to a batch file. This would not otherwise be possible using commas because DOS considers the comma to be a batch file command-line argument delimiter. Drive Specifier (DriveSpec) Examples: These examples illustrate the different ways to specify which disk drives should searched. ffg filename - Searches current drive ffg c:filename - Searches drive C: ffg *:filename - Searches all drives but A:, B:, and logical substitute drives. ffg ab*:filename - Searches all drives but logical substitute drives ffg a-z:filename - Searches all drives ffg ec*:filename - Searches E: then C: then all other non- logical drives but floppies ffg *c:filename - Searches all non-logical drives but C: and floppies ffg d*m-z:filename - Searches D: then all non-logical drives except M: through Z: File Finder/Grouper 9 (c) EnGamma File Path Specifier (PathSpec) Examples: These examples illustrate the different ways to specify the directory where the search should start. ffg filename - Searches from root directory ffg \filename - Searches from root directory ffg \DOS\filename - Searches from \DOS directory ffg .\filename - Searches from current directory ffg ..\filename - Searches from parent of current directory ffg \filename /r - Searches only the root directory, no subdirectories File Name Mask (NameMask) Examples: These examples illustrate the different ways to search based on the file name. ffg *.* - Searches for all files ffg * - Searches for all files (identical to *.*) ffg *\ - Searches for all directories ffg *bat - All files ending in 'BAT' (Finds: BALLBAT, WOMBAT, AUTOEXEC.BAT...) ffg *.bat - All files with a '.BAT' extension. (Finds: BALL.BAT but will NOT find BALLBAT) ffg *read*me* - All files with 'read' anywhere in name followed by 'me' (Finds: READ.ME, PLS- READ.ME, README, README.COM, READU.NME, YOUREAD.ME) ffg *help*,*hlp* or ffg *h[e,]lp* - All files with 'help' or 'hlp' anywhere in the name. (Finds: WINHELP.EXE, SETUP.HLP, PRINTHLP.EXE...) ffg *c*f*g* - All files with 'c', 'f', and 'g' in order in name. (Finds: CONFIG.SYS, MIDIMAP.CFG, CFGSAVE.DLL, MYCFG.DAT, MYCONFG.FIL...) ffg *. - Finds extensionless files ffg ????.* - Finds files with exactly four characters in File Finder/Grouper 10 (c) EnGamma first name. (Finds: DATA.IN, DATA.OUT, TASM.EXE, TEST...; Doesn't find: TEST1, TST.DAT...) ffg *bat?* - Finds files with 'BAT' anywhere in name but at the end. (Finds: BATLIB.COM, MYBAT.DAT, BALLBATS...; Doesn't find: BALLBAT, AUTOEXEC.BAT) ffg ?????? - Finds all files having exactly 6 character names, including the period if the file has an extension. (Finds: SCRAPS, GO.BAT, SAVE.C) ffg * /x*.bat - Finds all files but DOS batch files (.BAT) ffg *win*\ - Searches for all directories with 'WIN' anywhere in the directory name ffg *arc*.[com,exe]- Search for all 'arc' programs File Finder/Grouper 11 (c) EnGamma Alphabetical Listing of Command Line Options/Switches Quick Reference: Option Switch Function /a Attributes of File /b Beep when file found, prompted, and/or done /d Date of File /e Execute Command for each find /f Format of Output /g Go to directory /h Hidden directories /p Page at a time /q Quiet/no screen output /r Recursion (subdirectory search) /s Size of file /t Time of file /v Video mode # of lines /x eXclude Files /z ZIP and other archive file search /1 Find only 1 file File Finder/Grouper 12 (c) EnGamma Options - Detailed Reference: /a Attributes of File /aAttrMask[[,|']AttrMask...] - include only files matching specified attributes AttrMask = is a string composed of H,S,R,A,'.' H = hidden attribute set. S = system attribute set. R = read-only attribute set. A = archive attributes set. ! = before one of the above, it means not set . = "specified attributes period"; unspecified attributes must not be set; The period must be at the end of the string, e.g. /aHR. = hidden AND read only files with no other attributes set. Attribute Examples /aR - Read-only files /aH - Hidden files /a!S - All but System files /aA - Files with Archive bit set /aHR - Files that are both hidden and read- only /aHR. - Hidden&Read-only files with no other attributes set /aH!R - Hidden files that are not read only /a!H - Files that are not hidden /a!H!R - Files that are neither hidden or read-only /aHR!S!A - Files with only hidden and read-only attributes (same as /aHR.) /a!H /a!S /a!R - Normal files (not Hid AND not Sys AND not Read-only) /aHS,SR,HR /a!H,!S,!R - Any two of H, S, R, but not all three /b Beep - Beeps the system speaker for specified events /b[F][P][D][E] - Beeps when: F = a file is found P = user is prompted D = program is done running E = Error if /b is specified alone beeps will occur for all of the above File Finder/Grouper 13 (c) EnGamma /d Date of File /dDateRangeStr[[,|']DateRangeStr...] - include only files matching specified date range where DateRangeStr is one of the following: mm/dd/yy - only files matching mm/dd/yy m1/d1/y1-m2/d2/y2 - only files matching this date range inclusive -mm/dd/yy - only files on or before this date mm/dd/yy- - only files on or after this date T - Relative: only files with Today's date nT-Tm - Relative: n days before TODAY to m days after today nT-mT - Relative: n days before TODAY to m days before TODAY [Su|Mo|Tu|We|...|Sa] - only file matching specified day of the week. Can also specify a range in this way. Use alone or in addition to above date options. Asterisks may be used in lieu of mm,dd,yy date elements to ignore an element. The characters M, D, Y can be used in lieu of numeric mm, dd, yy elements to use the current month (M), day (D), year (Y). If some elements are left off assumptions are made as follows: If an element is left off and its separator '/' is used then the current value for the missing element is assumed (e.g. 9//93 -> 9/D/93). If one separator is missing (i.e., xx/yy) a guess is made based on the values used for xx and yy: If it is possibly a mm/yy value, then mm/*/yy (any day) is assumed. If it is possible a mm/dd value then mm/dd/Y (current year) is assumed. If it's neither of the above then its a dd/yy value and M/dd/yy is assumed. Similar guesses are made if both separtors are missing (i.e., xx): If xx is possible a year then */*/yy is assumed. If xx is possibly a day, then M/dd/Y is assumed. Date Examples /d1/1/93 - Files dated 1/1/93 /d1/1/80-12/31/80 - Files having a 1980 date /d-12/31/92 - Files dated 1992 and earlier /d1/1/93- - Files later than 1992 /dT - Files dated TODAY /d6T-T - Files dated in the last 7 days /d14T-7T - Files dated 7-14 days ago /dSu - Files dated on a Sunday /d6T-T /dFr - Files dated last Friday /d6T-T /dSa-Su - Files dated last Weekend File Finder/Grouper 14 (c) EnGamma /dM/D/Y - Files dated today (same as /dT) /d// - Files dated today /d1-15 - Files dated 1st-15th of this month /d80-85 - Files dated between 1980 and 1985 /d7/92-12/92 - Files dated in second half of 1992 /e Execute Command for each find /e[!][CommandStr] - Execute a command for each found file. where CommandStr is either: 1. Not specified, in which case the found file itself is executed. It is assumed the found file is executable, otherwise the command will not execute. 2. It is a DOS command string including optional Format Specifiers. The Format Specifiers are the same as those used for output formatting (see /f description) except that they must be preceded by a '%' character to distinguish them from normal characters. For example, to represent the full file name, %n would be used. Spaces are represented with %_ and double quotes are represented by %'. These two special specifiers are required to avoid DOS interpreting the space and double quotes when you enter them as FFG options. Inside batch files, two percent signs %% are required to avoid having DOS interpret the % as a replaceable parameter. The command is executed from the disk drive and directory of the found file. Confirmation - Normally FFG asks the user to confirm whether the command should be executed. However, if the '!' is specified, the command will be executed for all found files without asking the user for confirmation. When confirmation is on, the user is given the following options: 1. <Y>es - Execute the command 2. <N>o - Skip the command execution 3. <A>ll - Execute the command and turn off subsequent confirmations 4. <S>hell - Shell to the DOS prompt 5. <ESC> - Quit Execute Command Examples: /e - Execute each found file w/confirmation /e! - same as above without confirmation /eREN%_%P\%N%_%F.NEW - => ren d:\path\fname.ext fname.new /eDEL%_%P\%N - => del d:\path\fname.ext /eMD%_NEWSBDIR - => md newsbdir (make new subdirectory) File Finder/Grouper 15 (c) EnGamma "/eCOPY %P\%N A:" - => copy d:\path\fname.exe a: (note that by quoting the entire command option, including the /g, you can avoid having to use the space Format Specifier, %_) /f Format of Output /fxFormatStr There are four basic types of output formats supported by FFG: Columnar output (the default), Packed path, ASCII Comma delimited and Batch File. Within each of these types there is much flexibility in defining the precise output (see Format Strings below). Examples of each are: 1. Columnar Output (/fc, this is the default format) FILENAME.EXT 12345 1/01/92 23:59 HSRA C:\DIRECT\SUBDIR 2. Packed Path Output (/fp) C:\DIRECT\SUBDIR\FILENAME.EXT 3. ASCII Comma Delimited Database Output (/f,) "FILENAME.EXT","12345","1/01/92","23:59:00","HSRA","C:\DIRECT\SUBDIR\" 4. Batch File Output (/fb) %1 C:\PATH\FILENAME.EXT %2 %3 %4 %5 %6 %7 %8 %9 Here is a detailed description of the output formatting options: /fxFormatStr x = C Column - Fixed field width columnar output ("NSDTAP" default) P Packed - Merge all fields together ("PN" is default) , Comma - Comma-delimited ASCII database format B Batch File - Format for batch processing with %1, %2.... S Summary - Summary Control - This option determines whether a summary report is displayed and is used independent of the other /f option switches. The 's' must be followed by '.' or '!', which have the following meanings: File Finder/Grouper 16 (c) EnGamma . - Summary only ! - no summary (good for when you are redirecting output and don't want the summary report to be redirected to the file). FormatStr is a string composed of Format Specifiers: n, f, e, s, d, t, a, p, '.', 'r', ':', '\' or '_' where: f = file First name (e.g. if file is FNAME.EXT then "FNAME" is displayed) { c = Comments/File Descriptive notes e = file Extension (e.g. if file is FNAME.EXT then ".EXT" is displayed) s = Size of file d = Date of file t = Time of file n = Full FileName, including extension (e.g., FNAME.EXT) a = file Attributes e.g. "H-R-" for a hidden and read-only file; *ZIP, *ARC for files found in ZIP and ARC files p = full Path to file, including disk drive (trailing backslash '\' is excluded for all but Comma-delimited output) r = diRectory path without drive (trailing backslash '\' is excluded for all but Comma-delimited output) . = period put in output _ = blank space ' = single quote translated to double quote (/e option only). % = to get a % sign (/e option only) \ = backslash directory separator : = drive on which file was found (e.g. C:) 0-9 = (meaningful with the /fB option only) inserts a corresponding DOS .BAT file replaceable parameter %0-%9 (e.g. 1->%1); Formatting Examples 1. /FCnsdtap displays output in fixed Columns (the default) as follows: FILENAME.EXT 12345 1/01/92 23:59 HSRA C:\DIR\SUBDIR 2. /FPpn displays results in a Packed format as follows: C:\DIR\SUBDIR\FILENAME.EXT 3. /F, displays Comma-delimited results for import into a database as follows: "FILENAME.EXT","12345","1/01/92","23:59:00","HSRA","C:\DIR\SUBDIR" File Finder/Grouper 17 (c) EnGamma 4. /FB1_2_p\n_34_5 provides format for later Batch file processing: %1 %2 C:\DIR\SUBDIR\FILENAME.EXT %3%4 %5 5. /FB1_p\n_f.2 > changext.bat creates a batch file with lines as follows: %1 C:\DIR\SUBDIR\FILENAME.EXT FILENAME.%2 Which could then be used as follows to change the extension of all found files to ".NEW": changext rename NEW 6. /F, /FS! displays comma-delimited output without summary information. 7. /FS. displays summary information only /g Go to directory of first found file When this option is used, FFG changes the current disk drive and directory to the drive/directory of the first found file. No other files are found. If the first found file is in an archive file (/z option used), FFG changes to the disk and directory of the archive file that contains the found file. If searching for directories instead of files, FFG changes into the found directory (makes it the current directory). /h Hidden directories /h[.|!] Hidden directories are searched by default. The following modifications are possible: /h - toggle hidden directories search option (i.e, hidden directories will be skipped since the default is to search them) /h. - only hidden directories are searched /h! - do not search hidden directories /p## Page at a time /p[##] pause after every ## lines of output; ## is optional; This option causes output and searching to pause after ## lines of screen output. If ## is not specified, 23 lines File Finder/Grouper 18 (c) EnGamma will be assumed. If ## is set to 0, there will be no pause (as though /p were not used at all). ## = blank - pause after 23 lines of output. ## = 0 - continuous output - don't pause (this is the default if /p is not specified) ## = 1 - pause after each found file (useful for providing an opportunity for user interaction ## = other # - pause after ## lines of output. /q Quiet - Suppresses all but specified output events /q[M][T][S][F] - Suppresses output for all but: M = Spinning meter T = program title line S = Output summary F = Found File if /q is specified alone all output is suppressed /r Recursion (subdirectory search) By default FFG recursively searches all descendent directories of the starting directory in the directory tree structure. When the /r option is used only the starting directory is searched. /s Size of file /sSizeRangeStr[[,|']SizeRangeStr...] - include only files matching specified size where SizeRangeStr is one of the following: Size - only files of this size MinSize-MaxSize - only files within this size range inclusive -MaxSize - only files this size or smaller MinSize- - only files this size or larger MinSize, Size, MaxSize can use suffixes K, M, G as abbreviations of 1 Kilobyte, 1 Megabyte, and 1 Gigabyte (e.g. /s1K-25M) Size Examples /s0 - empty files /s1M- - very large files (>= 1 megabyte) /s-500 - tiny files (<= 500 bytes) /s1K-2K - 1024-byte to 2048-byte files /s-500 /s!0 - smaller than 500 bytes but not empty /s-500,1M- - tiny or very large files File Finder/Grouper 19 (c) EnGamma /t Time of file /tTimeRangeStr[[,|']TimeRangeStr...] - include only files matching specified times where TimeRangeStr is one of the following: hh:mm:ss - only files matching this time h1:m1:s1-h2:m2:s2 - only files within this time range inclusive -hh:mm:ss - only files on or before this time hh:mm:ss- - only files on or after this time nN, Nm - n minutes before now, m minutes after now - can be used as min or max in time ranges Times must be specified using a 24-hour clock (i.e, 23:00 instead of 11:00 PM). Time ranges may span 0:00 (midnight). Asterisks may be used in lieu of hh,mm,ss time elements to ignore an element. The characters H, M, S can be used in lieu of numeric hh, mm, ss elements to use the current hours (H), minutes (M), seconds (S). If some elements are left off assumptions are made as follows: If an element is left off and its separator ':' is not used then '0' is assumed for that element (e.g., 9 -> 9:00:00). However, if the separator is specified then '*' is assumed for that element (e.g., 9: - > 9:*:*) Time Examples /t-8:00 - Earlybird files (before 8am) /t17:00-8:00 - After-hours files /t17:00- - Evening/night files /t8:00-17:00 - Workday files /t10N- /dT - Recent files (within last 10 minutes) /t9:*:* - Same as range 9:00:00-9:59:59 /t9-10 - Same as 9:00:00-10:00:00 /t9:-10: - Same as 9:*:*-10:*:* /t:: - Same as *:*:* /t9:10: /v[2][4][5] - Change video lines to 25, 43,or 50 2 = 25 lines 4 = 43 lines (EGA and VGA only)(43 even if its VGA) 5 = 50 lines (VGA only) if /v is specified alone the video mode is toggle between the 25 and the maximum number of lines supported (43 or 50 depending on whether video is EGA or VGA). File Finder/Grouper 20 (c) EnGamma /x Exclude Files /xFileMaskList - exclude all files in FileMaskList, where FileMaskList is a list of file specs separated by ',' commas. For example, /x*.bat,*.exe,*.com or /x*.[bat,exe,com] If multiple /x option switches are specified, a file will be excluded only if it matches all of the separate /x criteria. For example, /x*boy* /x*dog* will exclude the files BOYDOG.DAT, DOGBOY.DAT, but not BOYS.DAT or DOGS.DAT. To exclude files that contain either 'BOY' or 'DOG' in the name specify: /x*[boy,dog]*, which is equivalent to /x*boy*,*dog* /z ZIP and other archive file search /z[.][ArcExtList] - Search inside archive files. . = search ONLY inside archive files. ArcExtList = list of file extensions to treat as archives. e.g., /zZIP,ARC,LZH,ARJ,COM Archive Examples /zZIP - Limits archive search to ZIP files /zARC,LZH - Limits archive search to ARC and LZH files /z. - Limits search to only archive files File Finder/Grouper 21 (c) EnGamma Bugs/Known Deficiencies/Future Improvements 1. An option for finding files containing a specified text string is planned. 2. Further date options are planned such as /dLASTYEAR 3. A date-time option is planned (i.e., /t12/1/93@13:47-) 4. A more general way of specify logical expressions of search criteria is planned, which will allow mixing and matching different criteria. File Finder/Grouper 22 (c) EnGamma Miscellaneous 1. Options can be specified using either '/' or '-' as command line switch characters. 2. FFG is not case sensitive, but future releases may distinguish letter case as new features are added. Use of lower case letters is recommended. 3. During a search the following keys have a special function: <ESC> - Aborts/interrupts the search <G> - Goes to the disk and directory of the last found file. If searching for directories, the found directory will be made current. <S> - Skips to the next disk drive <B> - Causes a beep when search complete any other key - Pauses the search operation 4. While searching, FFG displays the drive currently being searched and indicates progress with a spinning run meter. The meter is updated one increment each time a new directory or a new archive file is searched. When the meter slows, it is indicative of either a directory with many files or an archive file. 5. Summary Report - FFG displays a summary report of the search operation. It includes: - Total bytes inside all found files. - Disk space occupied by found files including unused space due to the disk cluster/block size. If the file is in an archive, then there is no adjustment made for cluster size. - Number of directories searched. - Number of directories in which files were found - File NameMasks used for the search - File NameMasks excluded from the search - Date/Time/Size/Attribute masks if used - Number of archive files searched - Number of archive files in which files were found 6. Logical Combination of Search Criteria - Currently, search criteria of different types (e.g., size and date are different types) are combined in a logical AND expression. That is, for a file to match it must match all criteria. However, within a single command line option of one type (e.g., /d), multiple comma-separated criteria are combined in a logical OR expression. 7. One Floppy Systems - When a floppy drive is specified to be searched (e.g., ab*:FILENAME or ab:FILENAME or a:FILENAME or File Finder/Grouper 23 (c) EnGamma b:FILENAME), FFG will search the system's only floppy drive regardless of whether one or both floppies were specified. The summary will report whichever logical drive letter DOS was using at the time to refer to the drive. (This might be B: if, prior to running FFG, you tried accessing floppy drive B:.) 8. FFG can be renamed. FFG will recognize the new name and display it in the usage screen if you are using DOS 3.0 or later. 9. Conventions - Several options attach special significance to '!' and to '.'. Generally, '!' is used to represent "negation"/"logical not"/"turn off". Generally '.' is used to represent "only"/"these period"/"no others". 10. Commas and batch files - As shown in several of the example batch files, FFG can be used in batch files to build some special or general purpose utilities. However, there is an annoying problem with encapsulating FFG in a batch file that arises because of the the use of the comma ',' as a delimiter for search criteria. The problem arises because when a comma is used in an argument to a batch file command, DOS interprets it just like a space and it is not passed on to FFG. To sidestep this problem, FFG accepts alternatives to the comma as follows: For Name criteria (including /x option) you can use a slash "/" instead of the comma. For date, time, size, day-of-week, and attribute criteria, you can use a single quote "'". Note that there is no problem using commas inside a batch file; the problem arises when including commas in a command line argument to a batch file. 11. FFG was developed using Borland C++ 3.1. File Finder/Grouper 24 (c) EnGamma Revision History For those who are interested here is how FFG has evolved: Vers Date Description of Change ---- 1.5x 10/29/93 - On one-floppy systems only the floppy drive that is physcally present is searched when A:, B: or both are specified 10/28/93 - Disabled unnecessary scan of floppies during an all hard drive "*:" search. 10/26/93 - Improved Archive search speed by 20% or more 1.53s 10/25/93 - Made shell look for comspec env variable vice assume command.com - Sets PROMPT=[FFG] %OLDPROMPT% as reminder when shelling to DOS 1.53r 10/24/93 - Converted to overlaid EXE to reduce memory requirements to ~140K - Bug Fix: Add memory allocation checks to avoid lockups on low memory - Adds shell-to-DOS option to the execute-w/confirm-prompt 1.53p 10/13/93 - Makes 43-line video mode possible w/VGA 1.53o 10/11/93 - Overhauled help. Provided help option /?. 1.53l 9/25/93 - Add video mode detection switching and reset 1.53j 9/3/93 - Now unlimited number of /d, /t, /s, /a args allowed - Adds /tN function and other expanded time capability (/th:m:s, /t*:*:*) - Bug Fix: /dSU- wouldn't find all files - Adds current date for month, day or year (m/d/y) - Adds wild date capability: '*' for month, day or year - Adds exclude for date - Bug fix: eliminates empty comma fields for ZIP when Z not specified - Adds exclude for time 1.53c 8/12/93 - Efficiency improvements to do only file info checks required - Bug fix: where /dSaturday was interpreted as TUesday because of 'saTUrday' 1.53b 8/9/93 - Cleaned up help screen errors 1.53a 8/9/93 - Adds size range exclude capability 1.53 8/4/93 - Adds range capability to day-of-week date specs (e.g., /dSA-SU) - Adds NOT capability for attributes switch - Fixes bug (since 1.52) that caused /a switch to not work 1.52 7/29/93 - Overrides recursion switch (/r) if a wildcard path is used - Adds limited wild path capability (usage will likely change) - Keeps running meter visible when output redirected to a file - Improves Archive search speed for small archived files - Improves Archive search efficiency - Adds on-the-fly ability to turn on beep-when-done switch - Further modularization of display functions - Puts commas in all summary numbers - Speeds up search when NameMask can use DOS wildcard conventions - Adds Z format specifier to enabling using archive name in output & commands - Permits use of '/' in lieu of ',' for separating bracketed alternatives. Needed to avoid having DOS interpret the comma as a delimiter when FFG NameMask is specified as an argument to a batch file. - More graceful handling of errors in use of brackets with alternatives. - Adds capability to specify bracketed alternatives: *[zip,arc]*.[com,exe,bat] - Improves appearance of directory search output so that all subdirs at one level are displayed together. - Adds ability to specify double quote with /e as %' - Further internal modularization - Adds /1 "Find One Only" option File Finder/Grouper 25 (c) EnGamma - Adds a /b "Beep" option for beep on F-ind, P-rompt, D-one - Fixes bug w/ /p when 0 or non-number specified which cause divide error 1.51 6/7/93 - Added /e "Execute Command" switch, which allows a command to be executed for each found file - Switched to large memory model and size changed from 80K->110K - Fixed bug where archive files streams weren't being closed properly - Attributes field for files in Archives now shows archive type (e.g., *ZIP, *LZH) - Improves response to user keypresses during search inside archives - /e Executes commands from disk/directory of found file - Adds Quiet option /q w/options (m,f,s,t) to restore display of meter, files, summary, title - Adds a skip remainder of drive search feature - Further modularizes FFG - Fixes bug in /q switch, which wasn't suppressing found files 1.50 5/10/93 - Fixes bug where /g option did not change into found directory 1.49 5/9/93 - Cause all drive not ready errors to be ignored (Failed) - Determines whether drives are logical drives at one time to improve the reliability of the logical drive determination - Fixed bug where only first of multiple drive ranges in DriveSpec were considered. For example, a-df-z:*.* would have searched only drives A:-D: 1.48 5/8/93 - Fixes bug where "/fb." displays 0s and 1s instead of a period '.' - Adds result codes: 1 = found, 0 = not found (and others for errors) - Adds new output format specifier 'n' for full file name (same as "f.e") - Changed Abort/interrupt message to appear even if summary display turned off 1.47 5/4/93 - Adds "Bytes Occupied" based on disk cluster size to summary report 1.46 5/1/93 - Fixes bug where root directory files were reported to be in current directory - Updated help screens 1.45 4/27/93 - Improves speed of archive file searches 1.44 4/22/93 - Adds ability to search by day of the week on files were last modified or created 1.43 4/14/93 - Fixes bug where trailing backslash was displayed when ':' used as an output format specifier 1.42 4/14/93 - Allows extensionless files/dirs to be found without putting period in spec - Made some display changes including: - no terminating period '.' is displayed for extensionless files - Adds '\' as format string specifier so it can be appended to the directory path as a separator (needed mainly for subsequent batch processing because some DOS command and programs choke on the trailing backslash. - User-specified batch file output is packed by default - Adds key to resume screen-Page-at-time feature from paused screen 1.41 4/12/93 - Adds directory name search capability w/ '\' - Other internal improvements 1.40 4/1/93 - No significant changes 1.39 4/1/93 - Adds capability to search .ARJ archives - Fixes bug where *. didn't find extensionless files 1.38 3/29/93 - Cleans up old ARC file searches so garbage files not reported as found in archive - Fixes bug in skipping to next file in an archive file - Fixes bug in ARC search, which missed SQUASHED files 1.37 3/29/93 - Adapts GoTo function semantics for archive file searches, so it changes to the directory containing the archive file 1.36 3/28/93 - Adds capability to search XEQ.COM libraries with /z option - Adds archive extension list to /Z so that the archive file types to search can be File Finder/Grouper 26 (c) EnGamma explicitly specified, e.g. /zZIP,ARC - Changed name from Flexible File Finder (FFF.EXE) when a PC Magazine Utility by the same name and similar function was discovered. 1.35 3/27/93 - Adds capability to search .ARC archives (ARC, PKARC) 1.34 3/27/93 - Adds capability to search .LZH archives (LHARC) 1.33 3/21/93 - Adds archive /Z (only ZIP for now) file capability (PKZIP) 1.32 3/3/93 - Improves Today feature to handle Today + n (Tn), Today - n (nT) 1.31 3/1/93 - Adds "Today" feature to date switch, e.g. /dt for all files with today's date 1.30 2/23/93 - Fixes bug with time switch, /t 1.29 2/15/93 - Tunes spinning run meter - Updates formatting examples for rev 1.25-1.26 /fb features - Implements the running meter as separate "SpinMeter" class/object - Editorial changes to summary output formatting - Changed K suffix to mean 1024 bytes vice 1000 and similar changes for M, G abbreviations in file size - Fixed extra file display bug when ESC pressed from pause screen (bug from v1.22 GoTo mods) 1.28 2/12/93 - Adds spinning run meter to indicate program is working and not hung 1.27 2/8/93 - Fixes /fb (Batch File) format to enable more than just file.ext output - Adds ':' (Drive) and 'R' (Directory) formatting options so these subelements of the path can be extracted 1.26 2/7/93 - Fixes bug with time /t switch that causes hours > 16 to be treated as h-16 - Allows /t Time Range to span midnight such as 23:00-01:00 1.25 2/4/93 - Adds Batch file output format /fB 1.24 2/4/93 - Adds ability to expand drive ranges A-D: -> ABCD: - Changes output format type specifiers for Column 0->C, Packed 1->P, Summary !->S 1.23 1/31/93 - Improved summary display - Fixed bug associated with displaying large (100M+) files - Added directory count tally to summary 1.22 1/28/93 - Adds internal option (not yet implemented for user) to treat no drive spec as *: (all drives) - Adds user GoTo interrupt which changes to directory of most recent found file 1.21 1/26/93 - Removed case sensitivity of command line switches 1.20 1/25/93 - Fixes bug (v1.16) where non-wild specs aren't found! 1.19 1/25/93 - Adds additional usage/help screens 1.15 12/07/92 - Restores function recursion switch /r which was inadvertently deleted in 1.14 - Adds hidden directory search switch and searches hidden directories - Adds /f! to suppress summary info display 1.18 1/23/93 - Uses + to separate multiple filespec masks 1.17 1/23/93 - Adds capability to specify multiple exclude filespec masks 1.16 1/23/93 - Adds capability to search for multiple filespec masks 1.14 12/06/92 - Object-oriented improvements - Fixes bug introduced in 1.13 which caused /g switch to not work 1.13 11/24/92 - Fixes bug where drives are accessed even after <ESC> is pressed 1.12 11/24/92 - Fixes bug with /g switch when file is in root directory - Fixes bug where one file per drive is found after <ESC> pressed 1.11 11/22/92 - Adds comma-delimited ASCII database format - Improves default output formatting for /f, /f0 /f1 1.10 11/21/92 - Improves User keyboard pausing/interrupt. 1.09 11/18/92 - Adds /t (time range) switch - Adds /g (GoTo) switch 1.08 11/17/92 - Adds /a (attribute) switch - improved File Finder/Grouper 27 (c) EnGamma - Adds /d (date range) switch 1.07 11/16/92 - Adds /s (size range) switch 1.06 11/16/92 - Internal Programming methodology changes - Adds /r (no recursion) switch 1.05 11/15/92 - Adds ability to specify drives before wildcard drive: ab*lmn 1.04 11/14/92 - Adds command line parameter capability - Adds /x (exclude spec) switch - Adds limited attribute filtering (-a) - Adds /p (screen pauses with prompt) (-p##) - fixed bug where mask is longer than prospect file *????????* 1.03 11/11/92 - Formats "bytes occupied" with commas - Adds file attributes to display 1.02 11/09/92 - Fixes bug that causes root directory files to appear in default directory File Finder/Grouper 28 (c) EnGamma