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InteliCat(tm) Disk Cataloger "Software Solutions that make Sense"(tm) Copyright (c)1990-91, By Curtis Little All Rights Reserved For IBM PCs, XTs, ATs, PS/2s and 100% Compatibles Table of Contents License . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Warranty . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Acknowledgments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 How to Contact the Support Board . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Required Equipment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Optional Equipment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Using InteliCat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Installation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Setup/Configuring InteliCat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Tutorial . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Starting Up InteliCat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 InteliCat's Main Display Screen . . . . . . . . . . 10 Adding Disks to the Catalog . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 Getting a Report . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 Exiting InteliCat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 Tutorial Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 InteliCat Reference . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 InteliCat Conventions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 Command Line Parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Memory Utilization/Max Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 Environment Variables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 InteliCat Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 Two Files Per Database! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 String Editing Commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 Global Command Keys . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 Using Regular Expressions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 Searching . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 Sorting Records . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 Selecting Specific Records . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 Specifying Logical Conditions For the Selection Criteria . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 InteliCat Menu Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31 Hotkeys . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 Add Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34 Log Floppy Disks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34 Log Multi-Drives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34 Dummy Entry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35 Add/mod Comments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35 Delete/replace Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38 Replace a Disk . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39 Multi-drive Replace . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39 Rename a Disk . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39 Delete a Disk . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39 Delete a File . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39 Zap Database . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40 Search Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40 Browse Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40 String Search . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41 Comment Search . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41 Keyword Search . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41 File Search . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41 Case Sensitivity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42 Reports Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42 Volume Report . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43 Quick Volume Report . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44 File/Ext Report . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44 Quick File/Ext Report . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45 Duplicate Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45 BBS type listing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45 43/50 Line Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46 Configuration Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46 Catalog Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46 Volume Label Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49 Report Output Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50 Report Format Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51 Memory Usage Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54 Archive Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57 Disk Naming Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58 Logging Drive(s) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60 Color Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60 Read/Create New Database . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60 Write Database . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60 Load Configuration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61 Save Configuration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61 Reset to Defaults . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61 Display License . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61 Utilities Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61 Import Comments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62 Merge Databases . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67 DOS Shell . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68 Quit Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68 Appendices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69 Appendix A - Questions & Answers . . . . . . . . . . . . 70 Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73 License You are granted a license to evaluate this software on A SINGLE COMPUTER for a period not to exceed thirty (30) days. If, on or before this time expires, you wish to continue using this software, you must register by sending the registration fee to the author "Curtis Little" for EACH COPY to be used. A message may be displayed to remind you if you exceed the trial use period. The shareware version of this software may be freely distributed as long as the following conditions are met: 1) All files are distributed AS IS and in UNMODIFIED form. 2) No more than a $5.00 handling fee can be charged without the PRIOR written consent of the author "Curtis Little". In addition, it must be clearly stated to recipients that the fee charged is for copying charges only, and does not include payment to the author for the use of InteliCat. 3) InteliCat may not be distributed with or as a part of any other product or software package without the PRIOR written consent of the author "Curtis Little". Registered copies of this software may be used "like a book". Like a book means the software may be used by the REGISTERED OWNER on a single computer at a time. The software can be used by the registered owner on multiple computers providing there is no possibility the software will be used on more than one computer at a time. Just like a book can only be read in one place at a time. Businesses must purchase a site license to use InteliCat on multiple computers. Business and government users of InteliCat must register in order to legally use InteliCat. The 30 day evaluation privilege is extended to non-business users only. By using InteliCat you acknowledge that you have read this agreement, understand it and agree to be bound by it's terms and conditions. InteliCat License 1 Warranty With respect to the physical diskette sent to registered owners, the author warrants the same to be free from defects in materials and workmanship for a period of 60 days from the date of registration. In the event of notification within the warranty period of defects in material or workmanship the author will replace the defective diskette. The remedy for breach of this warranty shall be limited to replacement and shall not encompass any other damages, including but not limited to loss of profit, and special, incidental, consequential, or other similar claims. The author specifically disclaims all other warranties, expressed or implied, including but not limited to implied warranties of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose and the program license granted herein in particular, and without limiting operation of the program license with respect to any particular application, use, or purpose. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHOR BE LIABLE FOR ANY LOSS OF PROFIT, LOST SAVINGS, COMMERCIAL DAMAGE, OR OTHER INCIDENTAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES ARISING OUT OF THE USE OR INABILITY TO USE InteliCat EVEN IF THE AUTHOR (Curtis Little) OR AN AUTHORIZED DISTRIBUTOR OF InteliCat HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES, OR FOR ANY CLAIM BY ANY OTHER PARTY. This agreement shall be governed by the laws of the state of California. 2 InteliCat Warranty Acknowledgments This manual refers to several products: MS-DOS is a trademark of Microsoft Corporation. Brief is a trademark of Underware, Inc. IBM PC, XT, AT, and PS/2 are trademarks of International Business Machines, Inc. ARC is a trademark of System Enhancement Associates PKZIP is a trademark of PKWARE, Inc. PC Board is a trademark of Clark Development Corp. Desqview is a trademark of Quarterdeck, Inc. How to Contact the Support Board InteliCat is supported via an electronic bulletin board system. You may contact the support board 24 hours a day. The support board is: Lost At C BBS (303) 280-1007 In addition you may contact the author (Curtis Little) on (303) 280-1076. Be aware that if I need to call you back I will do so as a collect call. If you have any questions/suggestions regarding InteliCat feel free to call or write. The support board is open to the public, however, registered users will receive priority service. Required Equipment IBM PC, XT, AT, PS/2 or 100% Compatible MDA, CGA, MCGA, EGA, or VGA display adapter Hard disk MS-DOS 2.0 or above Optional Equipment EMS v3.2 or above HIMEM.SYS (or compatible) v2.0+ with extended memory Printer InteliCat, Disk Cataloger 3 Introduction How many times have you wanted to look at that special file, only to find you have to search through hundreds of disks for the one file you need? InteliCat is the solution! With InteliCat in your corner you'll beat the lost file blues, determining the location of files with the touch of a few keys. InteliCat goes well beyond what a standard disk cataloging program does. With InteliCat you're using the most advanced cataloging software available. Here's just a few of the advanced features supported by InteliCat: o InteliCat has a powerful comment import utility designed to automatically pull in comments for your files from an existing listing. Save your typing fingers for better things! o InteliCat automatically locates and imports 4DOS description files for comments as you log disks. Once again, save your typing fingers using InteliCat! o InteliCat can view the files contained in many types of archives (ZIP, ARC, PAK, LHARC, LHA, GIF, ZOO, ARJ). In addition InteliCat allows automatic import of archive comments. Yet another option to saving your typing fingers! o InteliCat supports EMS memory giving you unparalleled performance while allowing up to 32,000 files in each database. o InteliCat supports XMS (extended) memory for large databases on machines without EMS. o InteliCat allows you to select fields based on a complex set of criteria. You can define logical conditions between various field values to find the exact files you're after. o Multi-line comments. InteliCat overcomes the single line comment limitations imposed by other catalogers! InteliCat supports a memo style comment, allowing up to 500 characters describing each file in the database. o InteliCat supports advanced word processing features in it's comment editor. InteliCat's built in comment editor 4 InteliCat Users Guide includes word wrap along with *many* commands similar to those used by the Brief Editor. o InteliCat supports REGULAR EXPRESSION searching. Once you see how powerful regular expressions are for searching you'll wonder how you ever got along without them. o InteliCat supports multi-level sorting. You can sort any field in ascending or descending order. o InteliCat supports the extended 43/50 line mode for EGA/VGA monitors for greater capacity when viewing reports on the screen. o InteliCat supports automatic disk naming. This includes use of a template name. You can have InteliCat name the disks for you instead of being prompted for the name each time you log a disk! o InteliCat provides automatic support for Desqview. InteliCat displays don't bleed through your Desqview windows! o Advanced memory management in InteliCat handles *many* memory shortage problems without aborting the program! o InteliCat continues to be one of the fastest operating cataloging programs available on the market to date. These are just a *few* of the many features that set InteliCat light years apart from other cataloging programs. After trying InteliCat, I'm sure you'll agree InteliCat is setting a new standard for disk cataloging software. This manual explains how to use InteliCat. There are two main parts to this manual as follows: o Using InteliCat o InteliCat Reference The section 'Using InteliCat' covers the use of InteliCat in brief and includes a tutorial to help get new users started. The last portion of the manual is a reference covering the operation of InteliCat's advanced features. InteliCat, Disk Cataloger 5 Using InteliCat This section will get you started using InteliCat. New users should read this section of the manual. For experienced users, the Reference portion of this manual will answer any questions you have regarding the features supported by InteliCat. This documentation assumes InteliCat is installed on a hard disk in it's own subdirectory. Installing InteliCat is described in the 'Installation' section. If you installed InteliCat other than described below, there will be slight deviations from the manual instructions. Installation To install InteliCat you should create a subdirectory on your hard disk to hold InteliCat and it's data files. You should install InteliCat in it's own directory. C:\IC is the suggested directory for InteliCat. To install InteliCat from a compressed ZIP file you should type the following commands at your DOS prompt (end each line by pressing the ENTER key): C: MD IC CD IC PKUNZIP A:IC* (Replace the A:IC* with the location and name of the ZIP file version you have). After installing InteliCat on your hard drive, you may create a batch file to simplify the use of InteliCat. To create a batch file for accessing InteliCat you should type the following at your DOS prompt: C: CD \ COPY CON InteliCat.BAT ECHO OFF CLS ECHO One moment - Loading InteliCat! C: CD \IC IC %1 %2 %3 %4 %5 %6 %7 %8 %9 CD \ <F6> 6 InteliCat Users Guide (In the commands above the <F6> means that you should press the F6 key). Instead of using a batch file you may wish to execute InteliCat from any directory on your system. If this is the case, you should modify your path statement to include the InteliCat directory. For instance, assume the following statement is already in C:\AUTOEXEC.BAT: PATH=C:\DOS5;C:\BIN;C:\WP After adding the InteliCat directory the statement should appear as: PATH=C:\DOS5;C:\BIN;C:\WP;C:\IC Under MSDOS 3.0 (or above) InteliCat automatically stores it's data files in the directory it's located in. MS-DOS 2.x users should start InteliCat in the directory they want data files to go in. That's all there is to installing InteliCat! Setup/Configuring InteliCat When you use InteliCat the first time it uses a set of default options supplied by the program's author. A configuration utility included in InteliCat allows each user to customize the way InteliCat works. You may access all configuration information from the 'Configuration' menu. For a full description of the Configuration menu refer to the section "Options Menu" on page 46. Tutorial This section goes into an overview of starting up and using the InteliCat Disk Cataloger. If you are an experienced user you should skip this section (unless of course you're the type that likes to read!) and go directly to the reference section of this manual. Starting Up InteliCat To start using InteliCat simply type the following command at the DOS prompt: IC InteliCat, Disk Cataloger 7 (This assumes that you are either in the InteliCat directory, or that the InteliCat directory is in your path). If you created the batch file as described in the installation section of the manual you should type the following (instead of typing IC): InteliCat When you first start InteliCat you have the option of specifying certain command line parameters. The parameters allow you to control portions of InteliCat's operation during that session. (Note that some of the parameters require a user specified value.) Values shown in brackets (in the table below) show user required variables when you specify the associated parameter. The parameters are: /B Use black and white mode. If you specify this option InteliCat will only use black and white colors (except the opening and end screens of the unregistered shareware version). /C <CFG_FILE> Specifies the name of the configuration file. If you don't specify this option, InteliCat looks for a configuration file named LC.CFG. /D <DATA_BASE> Specifies the name of a data base file. If you don't specify this option, InteliCat looks for the data base named in the configuration file. If there wasn't a configuration file, InteliCat uses a default data base name of LC.DB. /E <999> Specifies the amount of EMS memory (in K bytes) to attempt allocating. If you don't specify this parameter, InteliCat attempts to get as much EMS as the configuration file says to use. If you don't want InteliCat to attempt using EMS for a session you can use (you can also change the configuration file for a permanent effect): /E 0 /M <ADAPTER_TYPE> Specifies the type of adapter to use. Normally you shouldn't use this option since InteliCat is able to detect the adapter properly on start up. If you're not having problems with video output, DON'T specify this option. If you do need to specify the adapter type you should report your adapter type to the support board so future versions of InteliCat will automatically detect the adapter you have. The valid adapters are: MDA, CGA, EGA, and VGA. 8 InteliCat Users Guide WARNING: Setting the adapter to an invalid type for your computer setup will cause unpredictable results! /N This option specifies color mode without snow protection. You should use this option if you have a CGA that doesn't require snow control. (Or if you don't care if there's snow). Screen output is much faster when snow control is off. EGA and VGA adapters don't require snow control. /O This option specifies color mode with snow protection. Video output is *much* slower with this option than with the /N option. /X <999> Specifies the amount of extended memory (in K bytes) to attempt allocating. If you don't specify this parameter, InteliCat attempts to get as much extended memory as the configuration file specifies. If you don't want InteliCat to attempt using extended memory you can use: (you may also change the configuration for a permanent effect) /X 0 You can specify parameters by appending them to the line used to execute InteliCat. The following examples show how to use the command line parameters when starting InteliCat: Example 1: IC /E 0 Example 2: IC /D CURTIS /C MYCFG /N The first example starts InteliCat and tells InteliCat to not attempt using EMS memory. The second example starts InteliCat and tells InteliCat to read a data base called CURTIS (/D CURTIS), use the configuration file called MYCFG (/C MYCFG), and turn off snow control (/N). A registration notice appears when you first start InteliCat (this notice only appears in the unregistered shareware version). After a 7-10 second delay, you may press a key to get past the shareware notice. Next, the main menu screen appears. InteliCat, Disk Cataloger 9 InteliCat's Main Display Screen InteliCat's main menu display screen appears similar to the following: Add Delete/replace Search Reports Configuration Utilities Quit + Volume Label Options -----------------------------------------+ | Write the Disk Name as a Volume Label: | | Use Existing Volume Label as Disk Name: | | Delete Existing Volume Labels: | +---------------------------------------------------------------+ + Catalog Options -----------------------------------------------------+ | Automatic disk naming: No Template: XX999999999 Last: IC000000000 | | | | Keep subdir names: Yes Backup database: No | |Extract archive members: No Extract archive comments: No | | Flag duplicate records: Yes Memory for DOS shell: 256K | |Ask for select criteria: Yes Ask for sort criteria: Yes | | Case sensitive search: Yes Add comments while logging: No | | | |Printer Name: SCREEN Ask for dest at report time: Yes | | Report Dest: PRN | +----------------------------------------------------------------------+ Log Drive(s): A: | C:LC | 0 Disks | 0 Files | 351K Free InteliCat Disk Cataloger Copyright (c)1990-91 Curtis Little All Rights Reserved You will notice there are 5 parts to the main menu screen as follows: 1) Main menu bar (the top line of the screen) 2) Volume label options window (below the main menu bar) 3) Catalog options window (below the volume label options) 4) Status line (just below the catalog options window) 5) Program title and copyright message (bottom of the screen) The main menu bar is the bar displayed on the top line of the screen. This is a pull-down type menu that allows you to access all submenus available in InteliCat. To access one of the submenus 10 InteliCat Users Guide press the ALT key simultaneous with the first letter of the desired submenu. The following submenus are available: 1) Add - This submenu allows you to add disks (scans the files), add comments, and add disk volumes to the database. 2) Delete/Replace - This submenu allows you to delete disks, delete files, replace an existing disk, rename disks, and zap the active database (delete all disks and files). 3) Search - This submenu allows you to browse and search the files for desired entry(s) and set the case sensitivity flag. 4) Reports - This submenu allows you to choose and print any of the built-in reports as well as specify whether InteliCat should use 43/50 line mode for reports sent to the screen. 5) Configuration - This submenu allows you to configure all of InteliCat's options, load/save configuration files, load/write databases, and set the colors used. 6) Utilities - This submenu allows you to use the utility programs that are a part of InteliCat. InteliCat has a comment import utility and a database merge utility. In addition you can shell to DOS from this menu (but as you'll learn later, InteliCat allows you to shell to DOS from *ANYWHERE* in the program by use of a special hotkey!). 7) Quit - This submenu allows you to exit InteliCat. (Pressing ESCape enough times allows you to exit the program as well). Several of the submenu options have hotkeys assigned to them allowing selection of the menu item without traversing the menus. The hotkeys work only while you are on the main menu or a submenu. A detailed explanation of the hotkeys is in the reference section of this manual (see page 33). The option settings window shows many of the most used configuration values. Since the defaults are good in most cases, this manual delays a discussion of the various option settings until the reference section. Refer to the section 'Configuration Menu' on page 46 for details. InteliCat, Disk Cataloger 11 The status line contains a mixture of configuration data and miscellaneous data. The status line contains the following information: Log Drive(s): A: | C:LC | 0 Disks | 0 Files | 351K Free ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ | | | | | (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) 1) Logging drive(s) - the drives scanned when you are logging disks. 2) Active database name (this is the database that is currently being modified). 3) Number of disks in the active database. 4) Number of files in the active database. 5) Approximate free conventional memory remaining in your computer. Note that it is normal for this value to fluctuate. The value displayed is an estimate and changes often as memory is used and released by InteliCat. Adding Disks to the Catalog Now lets go through the steps needed to add disks to the database. This tutorial assumes that the default configuration settings are being used. To log your floppy disks you should press CTRL-L while on the main menu display screen. Optionally, you can traverse the menus manually by pressing ALT-A (while on the main screen) to get to the Add menu. From there choose the first option 'Log a disk'. After choosing to 'Log a disk', InteliCat prompts you to insert a disk in the first logging drive (drive A: by default). After inserting the disk, press the ENTER key to start. InteliCat will prompt for the disk name and then automatically add the disk contents to the active database. After scanning is complete, InteliCat prompts for the next disk. You can continue logging disks by continuing the procedure described above. When you define two different logging drives, InteliCat goes back and forth between them as you log disks. After you're finished logging disks, press the ESCape key to get back to the add menu. You'll find that the ESCape key is a general purpose quit/abort key in InteliCat. Pressing the ESCape key will always drop you back a level in InteliCat. 12 InteliCat Users Guide Getting a Report Now you can try some of the other InteliCat features. Press ALT-R to go to the reports menu and then press the 'E' key to select the quick file/ext report. Alternatively you can press CTRL-Q (hotkey) instead of going through the menus. After you select the quick file/ext report, InteliCat displays the report on your screen. The report shows an alphabetical listing of the files you previously logged. If the listing is longer than one page you can use PgUp and PgDn to move between the report pages. There are other options available at the report page as well. To see one of these press the 'S' key to ask for a search. After pressing 'S', a window pops up asking for the search data. Type in the name of a file that was on one of the disks that you logged and then press the ENTER key. InteliCat will automatically move to the page that has the file and highlight the matching file for you! Press the ESCape key when you're finished viewing the report. Remember that the ESCape key is your general purpose quit/abort key while using InteliCat! Exiting InteliCat To exit InteliCat you have a choice of three methods. You can: o Press ALT-X while on the main menu or a submenu. When you exit in this manner InteliCat doesn't ask you to confirm the action. o Press the ESCape key until InteliCat prompts you to confirm you wish to exit. o Use the Quit submenu to exit. InteliCat doesn't prompt for confirmation when you exit in this manner. Tutorial Summary You now have a general feel for using InteliCat! You may wish to read the reference section, paying particular attention to the section dealing with the options available in InteliCat. As you've already seen, using InteliCat is pretty easy. InteliCat smoothly blends state of the art power with ease of use to provide you with the best cataloger available at any price! InteliCat, Disk Cataloger 13 I firmly believe the best method to learn a good program is by playing around with it. InteliCat's intuitive user interface allows you to experiment and discover most of the features without having to read the documentation. The remaining portion of the document will answer any specific questions you have though. InteliCat Reference This section of the manual covers in detail the various commands and options available in InteliCat. If you're new to InteliCat, you may wish to read the tutorial before reading this reference. This portion of the manual will cover some general information regarding InteliCat followed by a detailed item by item reference. InteliCat Conventions InteliCat employees a uniform set of conventions in it's interaction with the user. In InteliCat the following conventions hold true: o Pressing ESCape from anywhere in the program causes InteliCat to quit whatever it's doing and return to the previous level or menu. For example: Pressing ESCape while on a submenu returns you to the main menu without a submenu displayed. Pressing ESCape on the main menu without a submenu displayed causes InteliCat to ask if you want to exit to DOS. o You select submenus by pressing the ALT key along with the highlighted letter. This method of selecting a submenu works anytime you are on the main menu or one of the other submenus available from the main menu. For example: Pressing ALT-A selects the ADD submenu. You may also use the cursor keys to navigate the submenus. o Anytime you're prompted for a disk name you can press the ENTER key (providing the input field is blank/empty) and a popup list displaying all available disk names will appear. From the volume popup list you can select the desired disk name by highlighting it and pressing the ENTER key. o You may select items on the submenu by using the cursor keys to move the highlight bar and then pressing RETURN, pressing the highlighted letter on the menu item, or by pressing the menu item's hotkey. 14 InteliCat Users Guide o InteliCat remembers the last menu item used on each of the submenus (during the current session). When you pick a submenu the last used item on the menu is the default option. o InteliCat remembers things such as file selection criteria, sort fields, and search data. When you perform one of the remembered operations a second time, InteliCat will display options that default to what you last used. o InteliCat employs the use of hotkeys to allow selection of some menu items without having to traverse the menus. These hotkeys are active while you are on the main menu or one of the submenus available from the main menu. A complete list of hotkeys is in the section 'InteliCat Hotkeys' on page 33. o Pressing ALT-Z from *any* input prompt shells you to DOS. When you are ready to return to InteliCat you may do so by typing: EXIT o InteliCat uses one string editor for every string you type in. When InteliCat first prompts you to input a string, the editor may display a default value with the cursor sitting at the end. If the first key you press is an input key (i.e. a letter or number) InteliCat will delete the original default value and you will be typing a new string. If the first key you press is a cursor positioning key or command key (i.e. HOME, END, BACKSPACE, DELETE, etc...) InteliCat assumes you want to edit the default value, and doesn't erase it. o When you press the F10 key your answer(s) are saved by the string editor. Alternatively, the ENTER key saves your response when there's only one input field being prompted for. Command Line Parameters When you first start InteliCat you have the option of specifying command line parameters to help control the way InteliCat operates for that session. The following list describes all available options. Note that several of the parameters require a user defined value. Angle brackets surround user defined values required when you specify the associated parameter. The optional parameters are: InteliCat, Disk Cataloger 15 /B Black and white mode. This causes InteliCat to only use black and white colors for screen displays. (The opening does not apply to the opening and closing screens on the unregistered shareware version). /C <CFG_FILE> Names a configuration file to read at start up. InteliCat searches for LC.CFG if you specify a directory name (instead of a file name). At default InteliCat attempts to locate LC.CFG. /D <DATA_BASE> Names a database to read at start up. If you specify a directory name (instead of a file name), InteliCat searches the specified directory for LC.DB. At default InteliCat attempts to locate LC.DB unless you specify a different name. /E <999> Specifies the amount of EMS memory (in K bytes) to attempt allocating. If you don't specify this parameter, InteliCat allocates as much EMS as the configuration file tells it to do. If you don't want InteliCat to attempt using EMS you should use: /E 0 A value of 1 causes InteliCat to allocate as much memory as it can (up to the amount required for 32,000 files). If InteliCat determines more files will fit in conventional memory than available EMS, InteliCat will automatically use the conventional memory instead of EMS. /M <ADAPTER_TYPE> Specifies the type of adapter to use. Normally you shouldn't use this option since InteliCat is able to detect the adapter properly on start up. If you're not having problems with InteliCat's video output, DON'T specify this option. If you do need to specify the adapter type, you should report your adapter type to the support board so future versions of InteliCat will automatically detect the adapter you have. The valid adapters are: MDA (video memory starting at B000h, no snow control), CGA (video memory starting at B800h, snow control), EGA and VGA (video memory starting at B800h, no snow control, 43/50 line mode for reports is available). WARNING: Setting the adapter to an invalid type for your computer setup will cause unpredictable results! /N This option specifies color mode without snow protection. You should use this option if you have a CGA that doesn't require snow control. (Or if you don't care if there's 16 InteliCat Users Guide snow). Screen output is much faster when snow control is off. EGA and VGA adapters don't require snow control. /O This option specifies color mode with snow protection. Video output is *much* slower with this option than with the /N option. /X <999> Specifies the amount of XMS memory (in K bytes) to attempt allocating. If you don't specify this parameter InteliCat allocates as much XMS as the configuration file has set to allocate (up to the amount required to store the maximum number of files InteliCat can handle). If you don't want InteliCat to attempt using XMS you should use: /X 0 A value of 1 tells InteliCat to allocate as much XMS as it needs and is available. If InteliCat determines more files will fit in conventional memory than available XMS memory, InteliCat will automatically use the conventional memory instead of XMS. To specify parameters append them to the line used to execute InteliCat. The following examples show how to use the command line parameters when starting InteliCat: Example 1: IC /E 1024 /D CURTIS /C LITTLE Example 2: IC /N The first example starts InteliCat and tells InteliCat to: (/E 1024) Allocate and use 1024K (1 meg) of EMS memory. (/D CURTIS) Read a database called CURTIS.DB (/C LITTLE) Read a configuration file called LITTLE.CFG The second example starts InteliCat and turns off snow control. Memory Utilization/Max Files One of the main questions users have had about InteliCat is how many files a InteliCat database can have. The answer depends on what kind of memory InteliCat is using for the file records. InteliCat, Disk Cataloger 17 InteliCat recognizes three types of memory: conventional (the first 640K that DOS can use), extended, and expanded memory. In InteliCat the largest user of memory is file records. If configured to do so, InteliCat attempts to store file records in the various types of memory in the following order: Choice Requirements ------ ------------ Expanded EMM driver v3.2+ must be present. More expanded memory must be available (and configured for InteliCat to use than there is available conventional memory). Extended HIMEM.SYS v2.0+ must be present. Additionally, HIMEM doesn't allow extended memory allocation when you're using a VDISK type device driver. More extended memory must be available (and configured for InteliCat to use than there is available conventional memory). Conventional There has to be some memory available. It is important to note that InteliCat does not combine different types of memory storage for the file records - it supports all three types, but will only use one of them in a given session. EMS (expanded) is a better choice than XMS (extended) because of speed considerations. Conventional is the fastest, however, it has the least capacity. Now, back to how many files InteliCat supports in a database. The maximum number of files depends on the type of memory in use as well as the amount available. If you use expanded or extended memory you can have up to 32,000 files in a database (approximately 1.2 meg of memory holds 32,000 files). When file records are in conventional memory, the number of files supported in a database is not an easy thing to explain. Plain and simple, it depends on your *specific* machine setup (i.e. how many TSRs you have loaded, DOS version, how many device drivers you have loaded, etc...). In general you can get about 6000 files in a database on a 640K machine. 18 InteliCat Users Guide Environment Variables When InteliCat starts it first checks to see if you specified the configuration and database using command line parameters. When you don't specify the configuration/database InteliCat next looks for an environment variable to determine what files to read. InteliCat looks at the following environment variables: ICCFG Specifies the configuration file to read (or the directory to read LC.CFG from). ICDB Specifies the database to read (or the directory to read LC.DB from). For example, if you type the following at the DOS command line: SET ICCFG=C:\IC\SECOND and then started InteliCat, it would look for a configuration file called 'C:\IC\SECOND.CFG' unless you specified a different one using the /C command line parameter. InteliCat Files InteliCat maintains several files to keep track of things such as the configuration and the databases. InteliCat data files have an extension that let you know what kind of file you're looking at. Anytime you save a file with InteliCat without specifying an extension, InteliCat uses the default for that type of file. If you specify an extension other than the one listed in the table below, InteliCat will ignore it. The various file types are: Extension File is used for --------- ---------------- .DB Database (Can't override) .CFG Configuration file (Can't override) .IMP Import comment settings (Can't override) .BAK Backup database files (Can't override) Two Files Per Database! Although you only specify the name of a single database, InteliCat ACTUALLY MAINTAINS TWO DATABASES INSTEAD OF ONE. The information about the file names, sizes, etc are in one database, and the comments are in a separate data base. In order to make the use of InteliCat, Disk Cataloger 19 multiple databases as transparent as possible, InteliCat only asks for one database name and tracks both databases from that. THE COMMENT DATABASE HAS THE SAME NAME AS THE "MAIN" DATABASE WITH A '1' APPENDED. If you delete the XXXX1.DB file you will lose all your comments! String Editing Commands There are many places where InteliCat needs to obtain an input string from you. Except for the comment editor, all field input goes through a single string editor. To help you better use the string editor the following is a list of the commands available while you're entering input: Backspace Has the traditional meaning of a backspace (traditional for the PC). This deletes the character to the left of the cursor and moves the cursor one position left. CTRL U Press CTRL U to undo all changes you made to the input field. This restores the original contents of the string. CTRL Y This key combination deletes the entire contents of the input field. DELete This deletes the character that is under the cursor. Down arrow - Moves to the next field in multi-field input. END Moves the cursor to the end of the field. ESCape Aborts input and discards changes to the string you were editing. In multi-field input, changes to all fields are discarded when ESCape is pressed. HOME Moves the cursor to the home position (1st position) of the input field. Left arrow - moves the cursor one position to the left. Right arrow - moves the cursor one position to the right. Up arrow In multi-field input this moves the cursor to the previous field. 20 InteliCat Users Guide TAB In multi-field input this moves the cursor to the next field. BACKTAB In multi-field input this moves the cursor to the previous field. RETURN Press the return/enter key when editing of a field is complete. F10 Pressing F10 exits the editor saving the changes you made to the field(s). If there is a default value for the string, InteliCat places the cursor after the last character in the string. If you desire to edit the default value you should press one of the commands listed above as the first key (if you accidently hit something else remember you can use CTRL U to restore the original value). InteliCat replaces the default value by the new value typed if the first key pressed is a valid letter/number. After the first key you are in edit mode and can type whatever you like. Global Command Keys There are several global command keys provided in InteliCat. The first is the ESCape key. Pressing the ESCape key causes InteliCat to abort the current operation and return to the previous level. For instance, pressing the ESCape key while on a submenu causes the submenu to disappear, returning you to the main menu level. Anytime you want to back out of whatever you're doing in InteliCat you should press the ESCape key. If aborting the current operation would cause you to lose changed data, InteliCat prompts you before aborting. Pressing the ESCape key at a yes/no question is the same as answering the question 'No'. InteliCat also provides a global DOS shell command. *Anywhere* InteliCat is waiting for a keystroke you can press ALT-Z to shell to DOS! InteliCat modifies the DOS prompt to remind you you're shelled out. Typing EXIT at the DOS prompt will return you back to InteliCat. Note that InteliCat uses Switch! allowing you to specify how much memory to make available for the DOS shell. Switch! can make virtually *all* memory used by InteliCat available for the shell. The options section of this manual covers the Switch! feature. InteliCat, Disk Cataloger 21 Using Regular Expressions InteliCat has the most powerful regular expression facilities available in a disk cataloging program on the market today (as of the time of this writing). Those familiar with Brief will feel right at home with InteliCat's regular expressions since regular expression facilities in InteliCat are virtually the same as those used in the popular Brief editor. Any time you're searching for a particular string you're allowed to use regular expressions (this includes the selection criteria and search data discussed later in this manual). For those not familiar with regular expressions, they will be defined here. Basically, even if you don't realize it, you most likely know about some type of regular expressions. For instance, have you ever typed a DOS command similar to: DIR *.DOC This is an example of a regular expression that lists all files that have .DOC as the extension. In short, a regular expression is a pattern that represents character sequences. A regular expression can have two basic types of characters in it. A regular expression consists of normal characters (such as letters and numbers), and regular expression metacharacters. The metacharacters are what gives regular expressions their power. InteliCat supports virtually the same regular expression metacharacters as the Brief editor. These metacharacters are: * Matches any number of occurrences (0 or more) of any character. The * matches as few occurrences as needed to make the rest of the pattern match. g*d matches god, good, gad, and gillard but not: dog, goat ? Matches any single character. c?t matches cat and cut, but not cant @ Matches 0 or more occurrences of the preceding character or pattern. Note that with @, InteliCat considers the fewest possible occurrences of a pattern a match. 22 InteliCat Users Guide go@d matches gd, god, good, goood, gooood, etc.. + Matches 1 or more occurrences of the preceding character or pattern. This is the same as the @ except that one or more occurrences are needed to match. go+d matches god, good, goood, gooood, etc... but not gd, ggdoddd | Matches either the preceding pattern OR the following pattern. b|c matches either b or c this|that doesn't match what you might think though! It matches either thishat or thithat. To see how to do a search for either of the words (this or that) see the next category of regular expression characters. {} Groups characters or patterns together for a search. Grouping characters provides several benefits: 1) Provides a way to control how InteliCat evaluates regular expressions (i.e. like parenthesis in a mathematical equation). 2) Groups a set of text together. For example, in the discussion of the or operator (|) you saw the expression: this|that didn't match the words this or that as might be expected. Using grouping you can make this work as follows: {this}|{that} The example above would find occurrences of this or that. {ok}+ Matches one or more occurrences of the word ok. [] This creates a "set" of characters to search for. There are several powerful forms of the set operator. [~] Matches a character if it IS NOT any of the characters between the [~ and the ]. InteliCat, Disk Cataloger 23 [-] Matches a RANGE of characters. For example, [a-z]. The beginning range character must have a lower value than the upper value. [a-z0-9A-Z]* This example matches all letters (upper and lower case) and numbers. This would match: abra12, 123x134, 23, and hello but not: it's and "first!" [~a-zA-Z] This example matches everything that isn't a letter. \ Override character. The backslash allows you to override the normal meaning of a character. \* searches for the actual character * instead of treating the * as a regular expression as it normally would be. \\ allows you to search for the backslash in a string. \[ allows you to search for the left bracket, overriding the standard usage of the left bracket as the opening of a set definition. The precedence for evaluating regular expressions is as follows (going from highest precedence to the lowest): {} Groups have the highest precedence. InteliCat treats characters inside a group as a single expression. |, @, + Matches from the left to the right. These have the second highest precedence. All other characters have equal precedence with each other. Searching There are multiple places in InteliCat where you can enter data to search for. Anytime you specify you want to search for something, InteliCat displays a search window to get the search options. The search window appears as follows: 24 InteliCat Users Guide + Search Data ---------------------------------------------------------+ |> | | | | Search: ( X ) File/Ext ( X ) Disk ( X ) Keywords ( X ) Comments | | ( ) Search Backward | | | | | <-+ to Search, TAB: Next Field, BackTAB: Prev Field, ESC: Abort | | (Regular Expressions Are Allowed) Case IS significant. | +----------------------------------------------------------------------+ When InteliCat displays the search window, InteliCat places the cursor in the input field waiting for you to type data to search for. If you previously searched for something, the value searched for will be the default string. You should notice there are several fields in the search window. You can get to the fields by using the TAB, BACKTAB, UP ARROW and the DOWN ARROW keys. All fields except the input field are toggles. Pressing the space bar toggles the setting of the associated option. When it is blank it is off. Pressing the ENTER key starts the search. Note that you can use regular expressions in the search data. InteliCat automatically appends a '*' to the beginning and the end of the data to search for (this allows InteliCat to find the data within a string without requiring you to manually add the leading and trailing '*'). If you want the search to be fast, don't search the comment field since InteliCat must read comments from disk. When you search for something InteliCat will remember how you set the various fields. Next time you request a search the settings you made will be the defaults. Sorting Records InteliCat provides the user with flexible and powerful sorting routines. One of the configuration options controls whether or not InteliCat prompts for the sort options when you select a menu item that allows sorting. For this discussion it is assumed that you have InteliCat optioned to ask for the sort options (the default). If you wish to know more about the InteliCat options, you should refer to the section titled 'Configuration Menu' on page 46. Picking one of the following menu items causes InteliCat to prompt you for the sort options: 1) Add/mod comments 2) Delete a file InteliCat, Disk Cataloger 25 3) Browse files 4) File/ext report 5) BBS type listing (There is one more menu item that brings up a different set of sort options. This sort window is covered later in this section). When you pick one of the menu items listed above the following window is displayed when InteliCat is ready to get the sort options: + Sort Options ----------------------------------------------+ | [-]1 - File Name [-]6 - Comments | | [-]2 - File Ext [-]7 - Date & Time <-----+ | [-]3 - Subdir [-]8 - Size | | | [-]4 - Disk Name [-]9 - Archive Name | | | [-]5 - Keywords [-]10 - Archive Ext | | | | | | Enter sort fields separated by spaces (ESC to abort) | | | Use - to specify descending order for a field | | | 0 or BLANK list for no sort | | |> | | +---- ^ -----------------------------------------------------+ | | | Field list input string List of f i e l d numbers you can sort on. InteliCat places the cursor in the input field and waits for you to type a list of field numbers to sort. InteliCat shows any previously sorted fields as the defaults. To sort on more than one field you should type in a list of field numbers separated by spaces. Preceding a field number with a minus sign says you wish to sort the specified field in descending order (no spaces should be between the - and the field number). For example to sort in ascending order on the file name, and descending order on the extension the list you type would be as follows: 1 -2 26 InteliCat Users Guide Assuming you had the following files/extensions, the chart below lists the sorted results using the field list from above: File Names Sorted File Names ---------- ----------------- IC.EXE AUTOEXEC.BAT AUTOEXEC.BAT IC.EXE LC.CFG LC.PRN LC.PRN LC.CFG PKZIP.EXE PKZIP.EXE InteliCat displays a special purpose sort options window when you choose the Volume report. The special sort window appears as follows: + Sort Options ----------------------------------------------+ | [-]1 - Disk Name [-]5 - Free Space | | [-]2 - Keywords [-]6 - Total Space | | [-]3 - Comments [-]7 - Date Indexed | | [-]4 - Used Space | | | | Enter sort fields separated by spaces (ESC to abort) | | Use - to specify descending order for a field | | 0 or BLANK list for no sort | |> | +------------------------------------------------------------+ This sort selection window works like the one discussed above. The only difference is that the items on this window are specific to disks instead of files (since the volume report only lists the disk names in the database). Selecting Specific Records InteliCat provides the user with an extremely flexible method of selecting specific records through the use of selection criteria. One of the configuration options controls whether or not InteliCat prompts for the selection criteria when you pick a menu item that allows selecting specific records. This section assumes you have InteliCat optioned to ask for the selection criteria (the default). If you wish to know more about the InteliCat options, you should InteliCat, Disk Cataloger 27 refer to the section titled 'Configuration Menu' on page 46. Picking one of the following menu items causes InteliCat to prompt for the selection criteria: o Add/mod comments o Delete a file o Browse files o File/ext report o Duplicate files o BBS type listing When you pick one of the menu items listed above the following window is displayed when InteliCat is ready to get the selection criteria: + Selection Criteria ----------------------------------------+ | [-]1 - File Specs [-]7 - Size Range | | [-]2 - Subdirs [-]8 - Archive Members | | [-]3 - Disk Names [-]9 - Files With Keywords | | [-]4 - Keywords [-]10 - Files With Comments | | [-]5 - Comments [-]11 - Archive Files | | [-]6 - Date Range [-]12 - Exclude Disk Records | | | | Enter selection options separated by spaces (ESC to abort) | | & | ! ^ and () to specify logical conditions | | 0 or BLANK list for All Files | |> | +------------------------------------------------------------+ InteliCat places the cursor in the input field and waits for you to type a list of field numbers and logical conditions for performing selection of special records on. If you previously selected records, InteliCat will display the last data you typed as the default. You may select files by any combination of the above listed fields. If you wish to specify more than one field to enter selection criteria for you should type in the list of field numbers separated by the logical operators. InteliCat treats a space between field numbers the same as an '&'. See the section 'Using Logical Conditions for Selection Criteria' on page 30 for details. 28 InteliCat Users Guide Preceding a field number with a minus sign says you wish to exclude files by the specified data for the associated field. Using the negative field causes InteliCat to reject those records that match the criteria entered about the field (no spaces should be between the - and the field number). Depending on the fields you wish to specify selection criteria for, InteliCat prompts you for the selection options. For the fields that require you to specify the selection criteria there are two methods of input. The first method of entering criteria is in the form of a list of data values. This type of input method continually prompts you for additional selection criteria for the field until you press return without typing any data. In this mode the only limit on the number of different criteria you can specify for a field is the available memory. The following fields use this type of input method: o File specs o Keywords o Subdirs o Comments o Disk names You can make full use of regular expressions when entering selection data for any of the above fields. Refer to the section titled 'Using Regular Expressions' for details on the regular expression facilities provided in InteliCat. The second method of input for selection criteria is a range. If you specify one of the following fields you'll be asked for a SINGLE range to use as the selection criteria for the field: o Date o Size When entering selection criteria you should enter values that you want to match in the associated field. For example let's say you want a report listing all executable files, you would enter the following as the selection field list: 1 Next, InteliCat would prompt for the selection criteria for the filespecs. To select executable files the following would be the file specs: InteliCat, Disk Cataloger 29 +--------------- Selection Data : ESCape to Abort ---------------+ | Enter selection File Specs, one per line. Blank line to end. | | | |File Specs (1): *.exe | |File Specs (2): *.com | |File Specs (3): | | ^ | | | | | | | +--------------- | ----------------------------------------------+ | This is the prompt issued by InteliCat for the selection data. Note that pressing return without entering anything gets you out of input mode. When you enter the criteria listed above, InteliCat would only select records that have an extension of EXE or COM. If you had specified other fields InteliCat would prompt for the criteria for those fields, and then select on those fields as well. NOTE: When you use selection criteria that doesn't apply to a disk record (i.e. filename, subdir, archive, etc...) InteliCat automatically includes disk volumes of matched files. If you don't want InteliCat to do this, simply use the 'Exclude Disk Records' criteria. Specifying Logical Conditions For the Selection Criteria One of InteliCat's many unique features is the ability it gives you to combine the selection fields using an algebraic like expression. The following conditions can be specified to combine two or more fields in the selection criteria: 1 & 2 This specifies an AND condition. Use of this operator means that InteliCat selects only those files that meet both the first and second conditions. 1 | 2 This specifies an OR condition. Use of this operator means that InteliCat selects files matching either the first or second conditions. 1 ! 2 This specifies a NOT condition. Use of this operator means that InteliCat selects files matching the first criteria and NOT the second criteria. 1 ^ 2 This specifies a XOR condition. Use of this operator means that InteliCat selects files matching 30 InteliCat Users Guide only one of the criteria, but not files matching both. Since all operators have equal precedence InteliCat also allows you to use () to group expressions together. To demonstrate how all this fits together lets look at an example. In our example we want to be able to list all *.COM files on the disk "IC000" that have keywords or comments. In addition we want to see all *.COM files on any disk that have a size between 0 and 20,000 bytes whether or not they have comments/keywords. With InteliCat you can easily specify complex conditions like this. To perform this selection you would enter selection criteria of: (1 & 3 & (9 | 10)) | (1 & 7) When prompted for the file specs you would specify *.COM. When prompted for the disk name you would specify IC000. When prompted for the size range you would specify a low value of 0 and a high value of 20000. After getting the size range, InteliCat calmly performs the record selection giving you only those files you wanted to look at. The limitation to the selection criteria is that InteliCat only accepts one set of input for a given field. In the example above we used the '1' field twice, but InteliCat only prompts for the file specs once. InteliCat uses the same file specs in both cases where you specified field 1 in the selection statement. InteliCat Menu Options When you first start InteliCat you are in the main menu mode. InteliCat's menu is a pull-down type menu. You can press the ALT key at the same time as the first letter of the menu item you desire, and InteliCat will display the submenu. Once you have a sub-menu pulled down you can use the arrow keys to change submenus (the ALT key combinations still work as well). While on a submenu you can choose a menu item by using the up/down arrow keys to highlight the desired item and then pressing the ENTER key to select the item. You may also select a submenu item by pressing the highlighted letter for the desired item. The following chart illustrates the various menus available in InteliCat: InteliCat, Disk Cataloger 31 +-------------------------< Main Menu >--------------------------+ | Add Delete/replace Search Reports Configuration Utilities Quit | +----------------------------------------------------------------+ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ | | | \ | \ \ Pressing ALT-A | Pressing \ Pressing \ \ selects the | ALT-S \ ALT-C selects \ \ Add submenu. | selects the \ the Configuration \ \ | Search submenu \ submenu. | | | | / | Pressing ALT-D Pressing ALT-R Pressing | selects the selects the ALT-U selects | Delete/Replace Reports submenu. the Utilities | submenu. submenu. | | Pressing ALT-Q selects the Quit submenu. The following show the items currently available on each of the submenus: +-----< Add Menu >------+ +----<Delete/Replace Menu> ---+ | Log floppy disks (^L) | | Replace a disk (^R) | | log Multi-drives (^M) | | Multi-drive replace | | Dummy entry | | rEname a disk | | Add/mod comments (^C) | | Delete a disk (^D) | +-----------------------+ | delete a File | | Zap database | +-----------------------------+ +----< Search Menu >------+ +------< Reports Menu >------+ | Browse files (^B) | | Volume report (^V) | | String search (^S) | | Quick volume report | | Comment search | | File/ext report (^F) | | Keyword search | | quick file/Ext report (^Q) | | File search | | Duplicate files | | cAse sensitivity: (ON) | | BBS type listing | +-------------------------+ | 43/50 line mode: (OFF) | +----------------------------+ +--< Configuration Menu >--+ +---< Utilities Menu >---+ | Catalog options (^O) | | Import comments (^I) | | Volume label options | | Merge databases | | Report output options | | DOS Shell | | report Format options | +------------------------+ | Memory usage options | 32 InteliCat Users Guide | Archive options | | Disk naming options | | Logging drives | | color opTions | | read/create New database | | Write database | | lOad configuration | | Save configuration | | reset to Defaults | | disPlay license | +--------------------------+ +-----< Quit >------+ | | | | Press <-+ to exit | +-------------------+ An explanation of the submenus follows, however, before going to the submenus, I will give an overview of the hotkeys. Hotkeys Several of the menu items in InteliCat have a 'hotkey' that allows you to select the item without having to traverse the menus. Hotkeys are valid anytime you are on the main menu, or a submenu branch from the main menu. Each of the submenus with an assigned hotkey for an item(s) shows the hotkey next to the item it applies to. The following list summarizes the available hotkeys: Hotkey Function ------ -------- CTRL B Browse files CTRL C Add/modify comments CTRL D Delete a disk CTRL F File/ext report CTRL I Import comments CTRL L Log floppy disks CTRL M Log multi-drives CTRL O Catalog options CTRL Q Quick file/ext report CTRL R Replace a disk CTRL S String search CTRL V Volume report ALT X Exit InteliCat InteliCat, Disk Cataloger 33 Add Menu The add menu contains selections to allow you to add disks to the data base and add/modify comments for the data base entries. Note that by specifying an existing disk name while you are logging a disk you can replace from the add menu! Log Floppy Disks This menu option causes InteliCat to scan a disk adding the file names found to the active data base. After picking this option, InteliCat prompts you to insert a disk in the logging drive. If you have two logging drives, InteliCat asks for a disk in each drive alternatively. After inserting the disk press the enter key to tell InteliCat to scan the disk. If you don't have the options set in a way that InteliCat can automatically name the disk, InteliCat will ask for the disk name (remember the popup list is available if you press ENTER without specifying a name). If you specify a disk that exists, InteliCat will ask if you want to replace the disk. If you desire automatic naming, there are two ways to have InteliCat name a disk. First, if you have automatic disk naming turned on, and second if you have InteliCat set to use the volume name as the disk name (this causes automatic naming if the disk has a volume label). If you configured InteliCat to add comments while logging, InteliCat prompts for the comments after it's finished scanning each disk. Once finished logging the disk, InteliCat will prompt you for the next disk you want to log. (See the section 'Add/mod Comments' on page 35 for details on using the comment editor). After you finish logging disks press the ESCape key to return to the Add submenu. Log Multi-Drives This option works just like the 'Log Floppy Disk' option, except InteliCat prompts for the drive letter to log. Using the multi- drive function of InteliCat makes it easy to log things like hard drives without having to constantly modify the configured logging drives. 34 InteliCat Users Guide Dummy Entry This option is almost like the 'Log floppy disks' option. The difference is this option creates a dummy disk entry (volume name only) in the database. Using this option you can record the existence of a particular disk when you don't want to include the file names. One good example of this would be for logging a master program disk. A program disk is likely to contain many various files (which you probably don't care about), however they are all related to the main program (which is what you care about!). Add/mod Comments This option allows you to add/delete/modify the comments and keywords for each of the entries in the active data base. After choosing this option, InteliCat asks for the selection criteria and sort options (if you configured InteliCat to ask for them). Using the selection criteria you can limit the list of files brought up to those desired (see the section titled 'Selecting Specific Records' on page 27 for details on selection criteria). Next, InteliCat displays the comment entry screen for the first file. While you're editing comments/keywords the following command keys are available (as listed at the bottom of the screen): F2 Copy to clipboard. This copies the current input field to the clipboard buffer. Shift F2 Replace with clipboard. This replaces the current input field with the contents of the matching clipboard field. If the clipboard field is empty, this causes the input field to be deleted. F7 Previous file (with save). Pressing this key causes InteliCat to display the previous file. InteliCat saves the current record automatically if any changes were made to it. Shift F7 Previous file (without save). Pressing this key causes InteliCat to display the previous file. Changes made to the current record are discarded. ALT S Search. Pressing the ALT S key causes the search window to pop-up and allow you to specify the data to search for. This allows you to quickly find a desired file or files. If you modified the current InteliCat, Disk Cataloger 35 record without saving it, InteliCat will prompt before losing the changes. F8 Next file (with save). Pressing this key causes InteliCat to display the next file after saving changes to the current record. Shift F8 Next file (without save). Pressing this key causes InteliCat to display the next file, discarding any changes made to the current record. ALT Z DOS Shell. This is the global command key that allows you to shell to DOS. Ctl PgUp These two keys allow you to move back and forth Ctl PgDn between the two input fields. F10 Save and advance. This advances to the next file after saving the changes to the current file. Shft F10 Exit to the menu. Pressing this key causes InteliCat to return you to the Add submenu after saving any changes to the current record. ESCape Abort to menu. This key causes InteliCat to abort changes and return you to the menu. You are prompted to confirm the action. When you first start, InteliCat highlights the keyword field and waits for you to edit the keywords. While you're in the keywords field, the standard InteliCat string editing keys are active. NOTE: One of the configuration options can be used to keep InteliCat from prompting for keywords. The 'Skip Keywords' option described on page 48 describes this option. When it's turned on (at default it's off) InteliCat will only prompt for comments. When you press the enter key (or the down arrow) you will be in the memo field to enter comments about the current file. While you're editing the comment field, a whole new set of editing commands are available. The editing keys provided while in the comment field are more suitable for editing the large field (i.e. similar to a word processor with automatic word wrap). There are many similarities between the keys in the InteliCat comment editor and the Brief editor. The memo editor commands are as follows: Backspace Deletes the character to the left of the cursor and moves the cursor left one position. (This 36 InteliCat Users Guide is the classic PC action for the backspace key). Delete Deletes the character under the cursor (if mark mode is off). When mark mode is on, pressing the delete key causes InteliCat to delete the marked block. Insert Toggles insert mode on and off. Arrow Keys Moves the cursor the direction of the arrow. Control Right Moves right to the next word. Control Left Moves left to the previous word. Control Space Puts a "hard" space in the document. This insures two words aren't split by the automatic word wrap. (Remember that the report may wrap words at different spots than the screen! This is the answer if you don't want something split.) Home Moves to the start of the current line. Home Home (2 homes in a row) Moves to the start of the displayed window. This is the same in effect as pressing Control Home. Home Home Home (3 homes in a row) Moves to the start of the edit buffer. End Moves to the end of the current line End End (2 ends in a row) Moves to the end of the current window. This is the same in effect as pressing Control End. End End End (3 ends in a row) Moves to the bottom of the comment. PgUp Moves the screen up by a page full (a page is the maximum data that InteliCat can display in the edit window at one time). PgDn Moves the screen down by a page full. Control Home Moves to the start of the displayed edit window. InteliCat, Disk Cataloger 37 Control End Moves to the end of the displayed window full of text. ALT C Centers the current line of text. ALT D Deletes the current line of text. ALT I Inserts the contents of the editor scrap buffer at the current cursor location. Note that the scrap buffer used here is particular to the editor, and has nothing to do with the comment/keyword clipboard buffers. ALT K Deletes from the cursor location to the end of the cursor line. ALT L, ALT M Toggles mark mode (allows marking a block of text). Keypad Minus If mark mode is off this cuts the current line to the scrap buffer. If mark mode is on this cuts the marked block to scrap. Keypad Plus If mark mode is off this copies the current line to the scrap buffer. If mark mode is on this copies the marked block to scrap. Control Y Deletes the current line. (Same in effect as ALT D). Delete/replace Menu The delete/replace menu is where you should go if you desire to delete, replace, or rename a disk that's in the database. This section goes over these three operations as well as an option that allows you to delete individual file records, and an option that allows you to ZAP (erase) the active database. 38 InteliCat Users Guide Replace a Disk You should use this option when you need to replace a disk that is already in the database. This is needed if you modify (i.e. add or delete files) on a disk already in the database. Instead of forcing you to delete the old disk and then add a new one, InteliCat allows you to simply tell it you wish to replace the disk; InteliCat will do the work for you. Now there's no reason to avoid changing the contents of a disk once you've cataloged it! Note that when you replace a disk, InteliCat retains the comments and keywords for all files on the newly logged disk that were on the disk the last time it was logged. Multi-drive Replace This option is just like the replace option except it allows you to specify any drive instead of using the configured logging drives. Rename a Disk This option allows you to change the name of a disk that is in the database. InteliCat prompts for the existing disk name (the old name) and then prompts for the new name you want to use. The new name must be a name that isn't already in the database. Delete a Disk This option allows you to delete a disk from the database. InteliCat prompts for the name of the disk you want to delete. Delete a File This option allows you to delete individual file records from the database. InteliCat prompts for selection criteria as well as sorting options when you select this menu item. After you specify the selection and sort options, InteliCat displays a screen similar to the browse screen. Pressing the DELete key causes the viewed record to be deleted. (If you press the DELete key while viewing a disk record, InteliCat will prompt before deleting the disk). InteliCat, Disk Cataloger 39 Zap Database Choosing this option zaps the entire database (deletes all disks in the database). Because of the potential for massive data loss, InteliCat asks for confirmation before zapping the database. Search Menu The search menu allows you to search for specific files with ease. The options in this menu allow you to search for a file based on any of the following: o File name o Disk name o Keywords o Comments The difference between the various menu items for searching is only in what fields InteliCat searches at *default*. Browse Files This option allows you to browse the database without entering data to search for. Unlike the other options on the search submenu, this option is the only one that allows you to enter a complete set of selection criteria as well as sort options (providing InteliCat is optioned to ask for the selection criteria and/or sort fields). Once you're in browse mode there are several commands available (listed on the status line near the bottom of the screen). The commands include keys such as PgUp, PgDn, Up Arrow, and the Down Arrow for browsing through the files that matched the selection criteria (if you specified selection criteria). In addition you can press the letter 'S' or the letter 'F' to cause InteliCat to prompt you for search data. The search window is displayed if you press 'S' or 'F'. InteliCat prompts for the string to search for in addition to the fields to check. You can change the fields to search (as well as other search options) by using the tab key to move to the option you want to toggle and then press the space bar to toggle the option. 40 InteliCat Users Guide After finding the first match, you can press 'A' or 'N' to move to the next matching record. Note that InteliCat only checks the search data against the files that matched the selection criteria originally specified. String Search The string search is another way to enter browse mode. The difference is that this option doesn't give you a chance to specify selection criteria or sort options. Instead, InteliCat displays the search window and prompts for the search data. When you use the string search option the search window has the defaults set to search ALL fields that you can search. You can manually override the fields to search by tabbing to the option and toggling it's value with the space bar. Comment Search The comment search option is just like the string search option except at default InteliCat only searches for a match in the comments. As with the string search, you can override the fields to search by manually changing the options. Keyword Search The keyword search is like the other search options except at default InteliCat only searches for a match in the keywords. File Search The file search is like the other search options except at default InteliCat only searches for a match in the file names. InteliCat, Disk Cataloger 41 Case Sensitivity This option toggles the case sensitivity of the searches in a case sensitive field (the filename, disk name, and the directory aren't case sensitive). When the case sensitivity flag is ON, InteliCat doesn't find a match if there is a difference in case. You can tell the setting of this option by looking at the menu item. Note: InteliCat also displays the case sensitivity flag on the main screen in the options window. Reports Menu The reports menu contains all the menu items to choose for the various reports built in InteliCat. Before going into the various reports, there are several features of the reports that will be overviewed. One of the first things that you may notice about the reports is the use of the printer name 'SCREEN'. InteliCat ignores the printer path anytime the name of the printer is SCREEN (if you don't have InteliCat optioned to ask for the report destination), in which case output goes to the screen. When you send a report to the screen there are some special commands available at the end of each display page. When you're at the end of a page of output directed to the screen the following commands are available: ESCape Aborts the report and returns you to the report submenu. S Begins a search. If InteliCat finds the search data, it automatically displays the page of data the matching file is on and highlights the match. F Does the same thing as S. N Finds the next match after using the S or F commands. A Does the same thing as N PgUp/Up arrow - Moves to the previous page of the report. Any other key moves you to the next page of the report. Note that when you are on the last page of the report you must press ESCape to exit. 42 InteliCat Users Guide NOTE: If the fields you have set to print can cause a record to occupy more than one line on the report, InteliCat will not go up by an exact page when you press the PgUp/Up arrow. You can control the fields to print, page size, and field widths by changing the report options (from the Configuration menu). See the discussion on page 51 for details. Note that the page width setup doesn't effect output that goes to the screen. One last note about the reports menu is that when you select one of the quick reports, InteliCat won't prompt for sort data or selection criteria regardless of the InteliCat settings. The quick reports automatically sort the data in a predefined manner (as noted in the discussion below of the individual menu options). Volume Report The volume report is a report that lists all the disk volumes that are in the database. InteliCat doesn't list individual files on this report. When you select the volume report, InteliCat asks for the sort options (providing you configured InteliCat to ask for the sort options). The following is an example of the volume report: InteliCat Disk Volume Report - 12:12 am December 23, 1990 Pg 1 Disk Name Used Space Free Space Total Space Files Indexed --------- ---------- ---------- ----------- ----- ------- IC000000001 222,208 140,288 362,496 0 12/22/89 IC000000002 197,632 164,864 362,496 1 12/22/89 IC000000003 240,640 81,920 322,560 2 12/22/89 IC000000004 361,472 1,024 362,496 13 12/22/89 IC000000005 196,608 165,888 362,496 6 12/22/89 IC000000006 351,232 11,264 362,496 74 12/22/89 IC000000007 360,448 2,048 362,496 22 12/22/89 IC000000008 353,280 9,216 362,496 39 12/22/89 IC000000009 220,160 142,336 362,496 31 12/22/89 IC000000010 230,400 132,096 362,496 12 12/22/89 IC000000011 23,439,360 10,004,480 33,443,840 1,104 12/22/89 Note that InteliCat prints comments and keywords for the volume report if you have the options set to print comments and keywords. (See the discussion of the Options Menu - report options on page 51 for details). InteliCat, Disk Cataloger 43 Quick Volume Report The quick volume report is the same as the volume report with the exception that it automatically sorts the volumes by disk name. File/Ext Report The file/ext report is a report that lists all the files that are in the database. When you select the file/ext report, InteliCat prompts for the selection criteria as well as the sort options (providing you configured InteliCat to ask for the options). You control the fields that InteliCat prints as well as the field lengths by the report options (see Report Options on page 51). The following is an example of the file/ext report: InteliCat File/Ext Listing Report - 12:12 am Dec 23, 1990 Pg 7 File Name Disk Name Size Date Time Archive --------- --------- -------- ---- ---- ------- CATOPT.BAK IC000000011 8,042 12/06/89 09:08:48 pm CATOPT.C IC000000011 8,029 12/06/89 09:12:34 pm *CATOPT.C IC000000011 6,015 09/11/89 08:21:42 pm *CATOPT.C IC000000011 8,042 12/18/89 05:05:24 pm This is the current version of the source for the InteliCat Options Menu handler. All of the options are handled in this module. *CATOPT.C IC000000011 6,032 09/05/89 09:18:34 pm CATOPT.OBJ IC000000011 7,901 12/18/89 05:08:02 pm CATOPT1.C IC000000011 2,924 09/04/89 01:26:50 pm *CATOPT1.C IC000000011 2,924 09/11/89 08:20:42 pm *CATOPT1.C IC000000011 2,924 12/18/89 05:05:24 pm CB.EXE IC000000011 37,322 09/15/89 03:00:00 pm CBERR.H IC000000011 6,773 09/28/88 04:17:10 pm CBFIND.C IC000000011 1,192 08/20/89 12:18:28 am CBKEYCMP.C IC000000011 12,349 09/11/89 08:20:42 pm *CBKEYCMP.C IC000000011 12,334 09/05/89 07:29:06 pm CBL. IC000000011 2,026 08/07/89 06:23:32 pm CBL.BAK IC000000011 2,065 08/07/89 06:28:00 pm CBL.CM IC000000011 2,484 10/23/89 05:19:54 pm CBL.M IC000000011 3,693 10/23/89 05:09:16 pm *CBL.M IC000000011 3,732 10/23/89 05:19:50 pm CBL.OLD IC000000011 1,338 05/01/89 02:00:34 pm 44 InteliCat Users Guide Quick File/Ext Report The quick file/ext report is the same as the file/ext report except when you choose the quick file/ext report InteliCat doesn't prompt for the selection criteria and sort options. InteliCat automatically sorts files when you select this option. Duplicate Files This report gives you a listing of the files that are possible duplicates. InteliCat considers files to be duplicates if the name and extensions match. Just because you have two files with the same name doesn't necessarily mean you have duplicate files, but the odds are high identically named files will turn out to be duplicates. The duplicates report looks the same as the file/ext report (the fields printed as well as the layout). BBS type listing This is a report formatted in a fashion similar to that used by several BBS programs (i.e. ProDoor). Using this option along with the correct field width settings you can create a ProDoor dir from a InteliCat data base. This allows Sysops to download files to a disk, use InteliCat to log them, import comments from the listing of the originating board, and then automatically create the dir entries required for ProDoor! The report option settings required to produce a ProDoor DIR file are: Lines Per Page: 0 Left Margin: 0 Right Margin: 78 Action for a Newline: CRLF File Name Width: 0 or 12 File Size: 7 Modification Date Width: 0 or 8 Comment Width: 0 Field Gap: 2 Note that when you choose the BBS type listing the fields printed will always be: File name, File size, File Date, Comments - No matter what fields you have the options set for. This listing is currently only useful for ProDoor type directories. InteliCat, Disk Cataloger 45 43/50 Line Mode This option toggles the use of 43/50 line output for reports going to the screen. Note that you can only turn this option on if you have an EGA/VGA or equivalent adapter. Configuration Menu The configuration submenu has all the items that allow you to change the settings in InteliCat. This section of the manual explains each of the menu items available via the configuration submenu. Catalog Options This menu choice allows you to set many of the miscellaneous options. The options you can set by choosing Catalog Options are as follows: 1) Case sensitive search: This option is the case sensitivity flag. When case sensitivity is on InteliCat doesn't match a string being searched for unless the string and case match. If you turn on the case flag, InteliCat considers Hello to be different from hello. At default this option is 'Yes'. Note that the filename, disk name, and subdirectory fields aren't case sensitive no matter how this option is set. 2) Add comments while logging: This option determines whether InteliCat prompts for comments immediately after each disk logged. At default this option is 'No'. 3) Ask for select criteria: This option specifies whether or not InteliCat should prompt for the selection criteria when you choose a menu item that allows selecting special records. The following menu items allow selecting special records: o Add/mod comments o Delete a file o Browse files o File/ext report o Duplicate files 46 InteliCat Users Guide o BBS type listing At default this option is 'Yes'. 4) Ask for sort criteria: This option specifies whether or not InteliCat should prompt for the sort options. If this option is OFF, InteliCat will never ask you for the sort options. When this option is turned on the following menu items cause InteliCat to prompt for the sort items: o Add/mod comments o Delete a file o Browse files o Volume report o File/ext report o Duplicate files o BBS type listing At default this option is 'Yes'. 5) Keep subdir names: This option specifies whether or not InteliCat should collect subdirectory names. If this option is 'Yes', InteliCat tracks the directory names of each file. At default this option is 'Yes'. 6) Memory for DOS shell: This option is the amount of memory that you want to make available for the DOS Shell. Note that InteliCat uses Switch! to allow you to free as much memory as you like for the DOS shell. Thanks to Switch!, InteliCat is capable of freeing virtually all memory used (by InteliCat) making the memory free for the DOS shell. Switch! saves the memory used by InteliCat to EMS if enough EMS memory is available, otherwise Switch! saves the memory to a disk file. If you don't want InteliCat to use Switch!, specify the amount of memory to make available for the shell as 0K. At default this option is 256. InteliCat, Disk Cataloger 47 Remember that the DOS shell can be invoked *any* time InteliCat is waiting for a keystroke by pressing the ALT- Z key. 7) Backup database: This option specifies whether or not InteliCat should backup a database before saving changes made. InteliCat keeps the changes to the main database resident in memory until you specify to write them or exit the program. The comments are in a disk based database that changes as you make modifications. If backups are ON InteliCat will copy the contents of the main database and comment database to .BAK files before saving changes. For instance, if you are using LC.DB (the default database): Physical Databases Backup Databases ------------------- ---------------- LC.DB LC.BAK LC1.DB LC1.BAK (Remember from the introduction that InteliCat stores data in two separate databases. The comment database has the same name as the main database with a '1' appended. That's why database names can only be seven characters long). At default this option is 'No'. WARNING: InteliCat OVERWRITES existing backup files when it performs the backup. This is important to remember, because in the event InteliCat detects a corrupted comment database it makes automatic corrections. When you exit the program, InteliCat replaces any backups previously made with the new backup (which will be the corrupt files!). 8) Skip input of keywords: This option specifies whether or not InteliCat should allow you to skip the input of keywords while you're editing comments/keywords. When you set this option to 'Yes', InteliCat will only prompt for comments. When this option is 'No', InteliCat prompts for both keywords and comments. At default this option is 'No'. 9) Import 4DOS desc. files: This option specifies whether InteliCat should automatically import comments contained in 4DOS descript.ion files as it logs disks. When this option is 'Yes', InteliCat considers files named descript.ion to be 4DOS comment files, and imports the comments they contain as the disk is logged. 48 InteliCat Users Guide At default this option is 'Yes'. Volume Label Options The volume label options item allows you to specify how InteliCat should handle volume labels. The following options can be set: 1) Write the disk name as a volume label: This option specifies whether or not InteliCat should write the disk name to the disk as a volume label. If you set this option to 'Yes', InteliCat will automatically create a volume label on the disk using the disk name (if a volume label exists, InteliCat will delete it first). Note that the volume name creation will fail if you specify a disk name that doesn't obey the rules for naming a volume (as explained in your DOS manual). At default this option is 'No'. In summary, when this option is on InteliCat will attempt to write the disk name as a volume label to every disk you log. 2) Use existing volume label as disk name: This option specifies whether or not InteliCat should treat an existing disk volume label as the disk name. If you set this option to 'Yes', InteliCat automatically names disks that have a volume label. This has precedence over automatic disk naming using the template (described later). At default this option is 'No'. When this option is on and you log a disk that has a volume label, InteliCat will use the volume label as the disk name inside the database. If the disk exists, InteliCat asks if you want to replace it. If you also set the option to delete volume labels, InteliCat deletes the existing volume label *after* using it for the disk name. 3) Delete existing volume labels: This option specifies whether or not InteliCat should automatically delete existing volume labels as it logs disks. At default this option is 'No'. When this option is on InteliCat will delete existing volume labels from every disk you log. This is a handy way to get rid of existing volume labels. Note: InteliCat overrides this option if you have the option set to write the disk name as a volume label. InteliCat, Disk Cataloger 49 Report Output Options This menu item allows you to change the options that have to do with where and how report output will be done. The following items can be set by choosing this menu option: 1) Ask for dest at report time: This option determines whether or not InteliCat will prompt for the output destination each time you request a report. If you set this option to 'Yes', InteliCat will ask if you want output to go to the screen, a file, or the configured destination. This option overrides the use of SCREEN as a printer name. When this option is 'No', InteliCat will use the printer name to determine whether output goes to the screen. At default this option is 'Yes'. 2) Use 43/50 line mode for screen reports: This option determines whether InteliCat will display reports going to the screen using 43 or 50 lines (only available on EGA/VGA adapters). At default this option is 'No'. 3) Report Dest: This option is the "configured" logical device or path you want report output to go to. The report destination is where output of all reports go (unless the printer name is SCREEN, or you use the Ask for Destination option to override). You can specify any DOS device/file for the report output. For example: Printer path Sends output to ------------ --------------- LPT1 First parallel port. Normally, this is where your real printer is. COM1 First COM port. This is where a serial printer or a modem normally is. C:\TEST.PRN This specifies to send the output to a file in the root directory of drive C: called TEST.PRN. At default this option is: PRN. 4) Printer name: This option is where you can specify the printer name to InteliCat. The name SCREEN is a special case of the printer name. If you specify the printer 50 InteliCat Users Guide name as SCREEN the report will go to the screen instead of the path specified. Any other printer name causes InteliCat to use the specified printer path. In the future InteliCat may have a database of printers, and use the printer name to locate the control codes that allow InteliCat to take advantage of the printer's capabilities for custom reports. At default this option is: SCREEN. Report Format Options The report format options item allows you to change the fields printed as well as the page setup information. After choosing this menu item you will be in a multi-field input mode where the following options may be changed: Left margin This is the left margin of the report (in character spaces). At default this option is 5. Right margin This is the right margin of the report (in character spaces). At default this option is 78. Note that the right margin must be less than or equal to the actual physical right margin on the printer. Top margin This is the number of lines to leave blank for the top margin. At default this value is 2. Bottom margin This is the number of lines to leave blank for the bottom margin. At default this value is 1. Formfeed ok This option specifies whether or not the printer supports formfeeds. If this option is 'Yes', InteliCat will send a formfeed to advance to the next page. If you set this option to 'No', InteliCat prints line feeds to advance to the next page. At default this item is 'Yes'. Action for a new line: This option specifies what character or character sequence is needed to advance the print head to the next line (at the start print position). The possible values are: CR (carriage return), LF (linefeed), or CRLF (both a carriage return and a linefeed). At default this option is CRLF. InteliCat, Disk Cataloger 51 Lines per page: This option specifies how many lines there are on the page. At default this option has a value of 60 (which works properly on LaserJet printers and dot matrix printers if Formfeed OK is on). Note that the default value leaves a few extra unused lines on the bottom of a dot matrix page which can normally hold 66 lines. If you don't have a LaserJet, you may wish to change this option. (Note: Specifying zero causes the output to be continuous). Pause at the end of a page: This option allows you to use InteliCat with a single sheet printer. If you set this option to 'Yes' InteliCat will prompt you to press a key after each printed page. At default this option is 'No'. Flag duplicate records: This option specifies whether or not InteliCat should flag duplicate records on the reports. When you set this option to 'Yes' InteliCat will display a * beside entries that it considers to be duplicates. The way you sort the records (and the report layout) affect the way InteliCat finds duplicate records. InteliCat considers a record to be a duplicate if the first field on the report matches that of the previous record. The following is a sample of a report with duplicate flagging turned off, and then with it on: With Flag duplicate records set to no: InteliCat File/Ext Listing Report - 12:12 am Dec 23, 1990 Pg 7 File Name Disk Name Size Date Time Archive --------- --------- -------- ---- ---- ------- CATOPT.BAK IC000000011 8,042 12/06/89 09:08:48 pm CATOPT.C IC000000011 8,029 12/06/89 09:12:34 pm CATOPT.C IC000000011 6,015 09/11/89 08:21:42 pm CATOPT.C IC000000011 8,042 12/18/89 05:05:24 pm CATOPT.C IC000000011 6,032 09/05/89 09:18:34 pm CATOPT.OBJ IC000000011 7,901 12/18/89 05:08:02 pm CATOPT1.C IC000000011 2,924 09/04/89 01:26:50 pm CATOPT1.C IC000000011 2,924 09/11/89 08:20:42 pm CATOPT1.C IC000000011 2,924 12/18/89 05:05:24 pm CB.EXE IC000000011 37,322 09/15/89 03:00:00 pm With Flag duplicate records set to yes: 52 InteliCat Users Guide InteliCat File/Ext Listing Report - 12:12 am Dec 23, 1990 Pg 7 File Name Disk Name Size Date Time Archive --------- --------- -------- ---- ---- ------- CATOPT.BAK IC000000011 8,042 12/06/89 09:08:48 pm CATOPT.C IC000000011 8,029 12/06/89 09:12:34 pm *CATOPT.C IC000000011 6,015 09/11/89 08:21:42 pm *CATOPT.C IC000000011 8,042 12/18/89 05:05:24 pm *CATOPT.C IC000000011 6,032 09/05/89 09:18:34 pm CATOPT.OBJ IC000000011 7,901 12/18/89 05:08:02 pm CATOPT1.C IC000000011 2,924 09/04/89 01:26:50 pm *CATOPT1.C IC000000011 2,924 09/11/89 08:20:42 pm *CATOPT1.C IC000000011 2,924 12/18/89 05:05:24 pm CB.EXE IC000000011 37,322 09/15/89 03:00:00 pm At default this option is 'Yes'. The next items on the report options screen allow you to specify which fields to print on the report as well as the field widths. The values you specify for fields to print don't effect the Volume report (except for the keywords and comments fields). Since the various fields should be self explanatory, they won't be gone over in detail here. You should be aware that InteliCat prints the fields in a fixed order. All fields that you wish to print are printed in the order they appear on the report format options input screen. Briefly, if you set all fields to print, InteliCat prints them in the following order: File name, subdirectory, disk name, file size, modification date, modification time, archive name, keywords, and comments. The field width value allows you to control how many columns each field occupies on the report. If you specify a width of zero, InteliCat will use the default width for the field. Note that if you print both keywords and comments, InteliCat (at default) shifts the comments around on top of the keywords field for records that don't have keywords. To avoid this you can set a field length for the keywords field. Setting the field width reserves that many columns on the report for the field. Double Space: Specifies whether or not InteliCat should double space the report. At default this option is 'No'. Truncate Long Lines: Specifies whether or not you want long lines truncated. If you specify 'Yes' InteliCat chops off all fields after reaching the right margin InteliCat, Disk Cataloger 53 (except for keywords and comments which InteliCat prints beginning the second line). At default, InteliCat doesn't truncate lines. Field Gap: Specifies the number of spaces to print between each field on the report. At default the field gap is 1. Memory Usage Options This menu item allows you to set the options that have to do with how InteliCat allocates and uses memory. The following options can be set after choosing this menu item: 1) Maximum Files, Disks, Subdirs, and Keywords These four options allow you to change the maximum number of files, disks, subdirectories, and keywords InteliCat can handle. The greater the maximum for each of these, the greater the amount of required memory. If there isn't enough memory available to change to the specified amount, InteliCat gives you the option to save the amount in a configuration file. Note that if you exceed the amount that InteliCat can allocate at program start up, it will take *much* longer to initialize since InteliCat will have to adjust memory usage until it finds an amount that will work. You should be aware that each disk you configure will use one of the file slots as well (the file slot is where InteliCat stores the disk name). So, if you ask for 3000 files and 300 disks you will only be able to use 2700 of the file slots for actual files. At default there are 3000 files, 300 disks, and 300 dirs. Note that if InteliCat runs out of memory and all the allowed files/disks/dirs aren't in use InteliCat will adjust the amounts allocated to overcome the memory shortage (a message window will inform you that InteliCat adjusted memory allocation). The maximum number of files supported by InteliCat depends on your system setup and the type of memory that is being used. With EMS or extended memory you can have up to 32,000 files in a single database. With conventional memory there isn't really an exact maximum since it is completely dependant on the EXACT amount of free memory on your system (i.e. any TSRs, device 54 InteliCat Users Guide drivers, etc you have will change the amount available). In general, I've found that a typical 640K machine will usually hold around 6000 files. 2) Amount of EMS to use This option allows you to specify how much EMS memory InteliCat should try to use when it first starts up. EMS is the first choice InteliCat attempts to use. If enough EMS is available (and you configured InteliCat to use it), InteliCat will use it whether or not the other option settings tell InteliCat to use extended memory. The value specified is the amount of K memory you want InteliCat to use. It is important to note here that: o EMS memory is allocated in blocks of 16K. InteliCat rounds the amount of EMS used to an even multiple of 16. o InteliCat only uses one type of memory to hold the file records in. Therefore, InteliCat uses EMS instead of conventional/extended memory, and not in addition to. o If InteliCat finds there is more conventional free memory available than EMS, InteliCat will not use EMS. o InteliCat will not allocate more EMS (no matter how much you specify) than it requires to hold the maximum number of files. It takes about 1.2 meg of EMS to hold the maximum 32,000 files. InteliCat looks at the EMS value only when it first starts (InteliCat doesn't use changes until the next time it's loaded). If you specify an amount greater than what is available on your system, InteliCat will issue a warning message when it is initializing. There are several useful values that specify the amount of EMS you want InteliCat to use. They are: 0 A value of zero causes InteliCat to not attempt allocating EMS. 1 A value of 1 tells InteliCat to allocate the maximum amount of EMS available (up to enough to store the max number of files). InteliCat, Disk Cataloger 55 A negative value tells InteliCat to attempt allocating the amount specified, but keeps InteliCat from issuing a warning if the specified amount isn't available. Any other value causes InteliCat to attempt allocating the exact amount of K bytes specified (upto the amount required for the max number of files). If InteliCat can't allocate the amount specified it will issue a warning. 3) Amount of Extended to use This option allows you to specify how much extended memory InteliCat should try to use when it first starts up. Extended memory is the second choice InteliCat uses. If EMS is available (and you configured InteliCat to use it), InteliCat will use EMS instead of extended. Extended memory is slower than EMS, so EMS is the better choice if you have it. The value specified is the amount of K memory you want InteliCat to use. It is important to note that: o InteliCat works with extended memory using the XMS v2.0 specifications. This means that you must include HIMEM.SYS in your CONFIG.SYS file, and that VDISK type drivers can't be in use. o InteliCat only uses one type of memory to hold the file records in. Therefore, InteliCat uses extended memory instead of conventional/EMS memory, and not in addition to. o If InteliCat finds there is more conventional free memory available than the amount of XMS available (or configured for InteliCat to use), InteliCat will not use extended memory. o InteliCat will not allocate more extended memory (no matter how much you specify) than it needs to hold the maximum number of files. (Approximately 1.2 meg is enough to hold the 32,000 files) InteliCat only attempts extended memory allocation when it first starts (InteliCat doesn't use changes until the next time it's loaded). If you specify an amount greater than what is available on your system, InteliCat will issue a warning message when it is initializing. 56 InteliCat Users Guide There are several useful values that specify the amount of extended memory you want InteliCat to use. They are: 0 A value of zero causes InteliCat to not attempt allocating extended memory. 1 A value of 1 tells InteliCat to allocate the maximum amount of extended memory available (up to enough to store the max number of files - approximately 1.2 meg). A negative value tells InteliCat to attempt allocating the amount specified, but keeps InteliCat from issuing a warning if the specified amount isn't available. Any other value causes InteliCat to attempt allocating the exact amount of K bytes specified (upto the amount required for the max number of files). If InteliCat can't allocate the amount specified it will issue a warning. Archive Options This menu item allows you to set the options that tell InteliCat how to handle Archive files. The following options can be set after choosing this menu item: 1) Extract archive file members: This option specifies whether InteliCat should look inside ARChives to determine the names of the files contained in the archives. When you have this option set to 'Yes', InteliCat adds the names of all the files inside the archive to the database (flagging them as members of the archive). InteliCat is capable of viewing files in the following formats: LHARC LHA ZIP GIF ARC ARJ PAK ZOO InteliCat only checks to see if a file is an archive if it's extension matches one of the configured extensions. See the discussion on ARChive extensions on page ? for details. If you set this option to 'Ask' InteliCat will prompt if you want to expand each archive encountered. InteliCat, Disk Cataloger 57 At default this option is 'No'. 2) Extract archive comments: This option specifies whether or not InteliCat should attempt to pull comments out of archives. InteliCat is capable of extracting the comments out of all supported formats that allow comments in the archive. This allows you to add comments to files without having to type them, by using the comments contained in the archive. You may also set this option to 'Ask' to have InteliCat prompt if you want the comments pulled from each archive. At default this option is 'No'. 3) Archive extensions: This is where you configure the extensions you want InteliCat to treat as archives. At default the extensions InteliCat considers as archives are: ZIP LZH PKA PAK ARC GIF ARJ ZOO Disk Naming Options This menu option allows you to specify the options dealing with how disks are named. The following options can be set after choosing this menu item: 1) Only allow upper case disk names: This option specifies whether InteliCat will allow lowercase letters in disk names. When this option is 'Yes', InteliCat forces disk names to uppercase. At default this option is 'Yes'. 2) Use automatic disk naming: This option specifies whether or not InteliCat should automatically name disks using the template. When automatic disk naming is on, InteliCat will use the template to generate a unique name for each disk as it's logged. The method InteliCat uses to generate a name is by sequentially increasing the last name used (based on the template) until a unique name is generated. Examples of this are in the description of the template and last name used option. At default this option is 'No'. 3) Template: This is the template InteliCat uses to generate a disk name when you are using automatic disk naming (the option explained above). InteliCat expects the template to be composed of Xs and 9s. The X character is essentially a place holder, and the 9 58 InteliCat Users Guide character is a character that InteliCat can sequentially increment. For example, consider the following template: XX999 This specifies a template for a five character disk name. The first two positions represent characters not changed by InteliCat when it generates a name. The last three positions represent numeric characters subject to change when InteliCat generates a name. At default this option is: XX999999999. 4) Last: This is the name of the last disk added to the database with automatic naming. InteliCat uses the name in conjunction with the template described above. To see how it works consider the following examples to see how InteliCat would generate a disk name: Template Last Generated Name Disk -------- ---- -------------- ---- XX999 IC000 IC001 1st IC001 IC002 2nd ... IC099 IC100 100th X9XX9 L0DB0 L0DB1 1st L0DB1 L0DB2 2nd L0DB9 L1DB0 10th InteliCat displays an error and prompts for the disk name if it is unable to generate a unique name. At default this option is: IC000000000. It is important to note that InteliCat stores the LAST value (as well as the template) in the configuration file. This means that when you save the database the last value is not automatically saved, so the next time you start InteliCat the last value will revert to what was stored in the configuration file. Note that this does not cause a problem because InteliCat will automatically increment the last value until a unique value is generated the first time it names a disk. (For example, if you logged 100 disks using autonaming, then exit InteliCat and later go back in the last value would be the same as before you logged the disks. When you logged the next disk, InteliCat would increment the last name to 101). InteliCat, Disk Cataloger 59 5) Use existing volume label as disk name: This option specifies whether or not InteliCat should treat an existing disk volume label as the disk name. Note that this option is also available from the 'Volume Label Options' menu item. Logging Drive(s) Choosing this menu item allows you to change the drive(s) that InteliCat uses for logging disks. If you specify two different drives, InteliCat alternates between them for logging the disks. Color Options The color options item allows you to change the colors used by InteliCat. When you pick this item, InteliCat prompts via menus for the colors to change. Read/Create New Database This option allows you to create or read a new database into memory. If there were any changes made to the database that was already in memory, InteliCat saves the changes before reading the new database. If the database name you specify doesn't exist, InteliCat will ask if you wish to create the new database. NOTE: InteliCat forces the extension to .DB, ignoring all other specifications. Write Database This option writes the current database to disk. If you haven't made changes since the last save, InteliCat displays a message. Note that InteliCat automatically saves the database on exit, however, this option allows you to manually save progressive changes as you make them. 60 InteliCat Users Guide Load Configuration This option allows you to load a new configuration file. You should note that if the maximum number of files, disks or directories is less than the number that are already in memory (or if InteliCat can't rearrange the memory settings due to a memory shortage), a warning will be issued, and the maximum numbers will be left as they were before you loaded the configuration file (all other options will be set as indicated in the configuration file). Save Configuration This option allows you to save the current configuration to a file. When you pick this option, InteliCat prompts for the name of the file to save the configuration to. InteliCat forces the extension of a configuration file to .CFG, ignoring all other specifications. Reset to Defaults Picking this option causes InteliCat to reset the options to the default values. Note that this doesn't change: Maximum number of files, disks, directories Use of EMS/XMS for that session Name of the active database Display License This option displays the registered user name associated with your copy of InteliCat. Shareware versions are indicated as unregistered trial use versions. Utilities Menu The utilities menu contains the utility type functions. There are three options on the Utilities submenu: Import comments, Merge Utility, and DOS Shell. There are many additional utilities planned for the future. New utility functions will be added to the menu as they are created. This section of the manual documents the options available on the utilities menu. InteliCat, Disk Cataloger 61 Import Comments This option allows you to import comments from an ASCII text file. This provides a convenient way to add comments to the database without having to manually type them. You can easily incorporate the descriptions from BBS listings into a InteliCat database. Listings to import must meet several conditions. The following conditions must be met: o The listing must be in columnar form. That is the file names must always start in the same column, and the comment field must always start in the same column. o For multi-line comments, the comments must remain in an even column. ProDoor and Auntie are two BBS systems that produce listings with multi-line comments that will work with the import comment routine. For example: TEST.ARC 12212 12-12-89 This is an example of a multi-line comment that can be imported by InteliCat without problems. TEST.ARC 12212 12-12-89 Uploaded by: Sysop This is another type of comment that InteliCat can import. TEST.ARC 12212 12-12-89 This is an example of a multi-line comment that can't be imported by InteliCat. InteliCat can import the first and second examples. InteliCat can't import the third example however. If you have a listing that InteliCat can't directly import (such as the third example from above), there's still hope. George Hawkins, a InteliCat user, wrote a public domain utility called CT that can translate many different comment formats into the columnar type required by InteliCat. CT is available as CT.ZIP (or CT.LZH, CT.ARC, etc...) on many BBS systems throughout the world. If you can't find CT elsewhere, it is available on the InteliCat support BBS and can be downloaded by first time callers. Included with InteliCat are several sample setup files for some of the different BBSs directly supported by the import utility. 62 InteliCat Users Guide o Tab size is assumed to be eight characters (this is the usual case for editors). When you choose the import option the following screen is displayed: + Import Comments ---------------------------------------------------+ | | | Comment setup file: C:\IC\IC.IMP | | InteliCat database to use: C:\IC\LC.DB | | File with the comments to import: C:\LOSTATC.DIR | | | | Starting column of file name: 1 end column 12 | | | | Starting column of comment: 32 end column 69 | | | | Character that ends filename: A (Any alpha means n/a) | | Comment line offset from file line: 0 | | | | Replace existing comments (Y/N/Ask): Ask first Ignore Ext: Yes | | PgUp/PgDn: Change windows, F10: Proceed | +- Sample comment file text -----------------------------------------+ F 1 f 2 3 C 4 5 6 c7 v23456789.1v3456789.123456789.1v3456789.123456789.123456789.12345678v. LC10 ZIP 189110 12-26-89 DS InteliCat V1.0 is the premiere of the *best* cataloger available. Has powerful features including multi- line comments, auto disk naming, and *many* other unique features! 123456789.123456789.123456789.123456789.123456789.123456789.123456789. ^ 1 ^ 2 3 ^ 4 5 6 ^7 F f C c (InteliCat displays the sample comment file text after you specify a valid file to import). Initially, InteliCat places the cursor at the name of the comment setup file. If the file you specify exists, InteliCat reads the rest of the settings from the file (i.e. they default to the last values used). If the file doesn't exist, InteliCat will ask if it is ok to create the file. If you answer 'Yes', InteliCat creates the file when you exit (if you abort out before importing the comments, InteliCat doesn't save the settings file). Use of the settings file allows you to create different import configurations for each of the file formats that you import. The fields that are available are as follows: Comment setup file: This is the name of the file used to hold the configuration for importing comments. InteliCat allows you to have InteliCat, Disk Cataloger 63 multiple setup files (i.e. you could have one with the defaults set properly for each type of listing you import). In addition, InteliCat automatically saves any changes made to the settings if you don't abort out of the import utility. If you use a wildcard in the setup file name InteliCat will display the built in file manager and allow you to select the file from the list of matching files. InteliCat database to use: This is a display only field that is automatically populated with the name of the current database to remind you which database is in use. You can only import comments to the active database. File with the comments to import: This is the name of the file that contains the comments you want to import. You have to enter the name of an existing file here to get past this field. As soon as you enter the name of an existing file, InteliCat fills the bottom of the screen in with the ruler lines. InteliCat also displays part of the file between the ruler lines. On the ruler lines you'll note InteliCat displays pointers to let you know where each of the fields (i.e. file name and comment text) starts and ends. Uppercase letters show the starting column (F for file and C for comment) and lower case letters show the ending column. If you don't see one of the start/end pointers it is because it doesn't lie between the columns that are currently displayed on the screen. Note: You can scroll through the file to be imported by pressing the PgUp or PgDn keys to switch windows to the bottom window. Once you go to the bottom window you can use the up and down arrow keys to scroll through the file. In addition, the left and right arrows allow you to view columns other than the 80 that fit on the screen. Scrolling through the sample file is slow, but is handy when you need to do so. Pressing PgUp or PgDn returns you to enter the fields for the import settings. If you use a wildcard in the name, InteliCat will display the file manager allowing you to select the file from the list of matching files. Start and end columns of the file: These two fields allow you to define which columns the file name occupies in the file listing. The extension can be separated from the name by multiple spaces or a period. Note that these two types of separators can be intermixed without problems. As you adjust the start and end columns the arrows on the ruler lines move to show you where the file name is expected to be. The start MUST be before the end 64 InteliCat Users Guide value or InteliCat will issue an error message. The setting of the option 'Character that ends filename' plays a role in how InteliCat determines the filename. Please refer to the text on that option for additional information. Start and end columns of the comments: These two fields allow you to define where in the file listing the comment is located. As you adjust the values, the arrows on the status line move to show where the comment field is expected. The start column MUST be before the end column or InteliCat will issue an error message. In addition, the file name location must start in an area that the comment doesn't occupy. For example, the following type of listing can't be imported by InteliCat: FILENAME.EXT COMMENT TEXT ....................... InteliCat can't import the above data because it wouldn't be able to tell when it reached a new file name. Character that ends filename: This option specifies what character InteliCat should consider as a marker for the end of the filename. An alpha character (letters a-z) means there isn't a specific filename terminator (i.e. the filename is a fixed length as specified by the start and end columns). Any non-alpha character tells InteliCat to consider it found the end of filename when it sees the specified character (i.e. filenames in the list to be imported aren't a fixed length). If you set this option to a non- alpha character, InteliCat considers it reached the end of the filename (regardless of the column it's in) when it locates the first occurrence of the character. If InteliCat doesn't find the character the end of the filename is the ending column. A CompuServe listing is an excellent example of a type of listing that requires this option to be set with a character. An example of a CIS listing requiring this is: TEST.ARC/binary 23-Sep-91 2269 8 Keywords: CIS FILE FORMAT EXAMPLE This is an example of a file that requires the use of the option telling InteliCat what character ends a file name. In this example (which is the current format used on CIS) InteliCat should be set to consider '/' as the end of the filename. InteliCat, Disk Cataloger 65 Note in the example above that you can control whether the 'Keywords' listed above are imported as part of the comment by setting the next option to the proper value. Comment line offset from file line: This option determines how many lines down from the line containing a file name InteliCat scans before it starts saving text as part of the comment. The proper setting of this field depends on the type of listing you are importing. In the CIS example shown above, a setting of 2 would cause InteliCat to pull in the 'Keywords' line as part of the comments, followed by the other comments. A setting of 4 in the CIS example would cause the 'Keywords' line to be ignored, and InteliCat would only pull in the file comments from the listing. Simply put, if the comment starts on the same line as the filename, this field should be set to zero. If the comment follows the filename line, this field tells InteliCat how many lines down it starts. Replace existing comments: This field can have one of three values (each selected by pressing the first letter of the desired value). The values allowed are: Yes - If you set this value, InteliCat will replace existing comments without asking first. This means that if the listing contains a comment for a file that already has a comment the existing comment for the file will be replaced with the new comment. No - If you set this value InteliCat will not replace any existing comments. This means that if a file in InteliCat already has a comment InteliCat will discard the comment from the listing. Ask - InteliCat will prompt when it finds a comment for a file that already contains a comment. This allows you to choose whether or not to replace the old comment on a case by case basis. Ignore extension: This option specifies whether or not InteliCat should ignore the extension when importing comments. When this option is 'Yes' InteliCat allows any comment found for a file with one of the configured archive extensions to be imported to a file in the database whether or not the same archive extension is used. It is important to note here that BOTH names must have a archive extension for the match to occur. Extensions that aren't configured as archive extensions require an exact match for a 66 InteliCat Users Guide comment to be imported. An example of how this option works can be shown by the following: << Text being imported >> TEST.ARC 59,999 This file contains the test material for the latest and greatest. TEST.EXE 124,999 This is just a simple test program << Files in InteliCat database >> TEST.LZH TEST.COM << Extensions configured as archive extensions >> LZH ZIP ARC PKA ZOO EXE Based on the data above InteliCat would import the comment for TEST.ARC from the listing to the file TEST.LZH if you have ignore extensions set to 'Yes'. Since COM is not configured as archive extension the comment for TEST.EXE would not be imported (even though EXE is configured as a archive extension!). If you set ignore extensions to 'No' comments would not be imported above. (When ignore extensions is 'No' an exact match on the names is required). When you're ready to import the comments press the F10 key, and InteliCat will start importing the comments. It is important to note that in InteliCat the comments found will be assigned to the FIRST file in the database that matches. For instance, if you have the same file listed multiple times in your database (i.e. on different disks) InteliCat will only assign a matching comment to the first occurrence of the filename. Merge Databases This menu option allows you to merge an existing database to the database that is in memory. When you select this option InteliCat first checks to insure there is enough memory to hold everything as one database. Providing the combined file isn't too large InteliCat will merge the databases for you. During the merge procedure InteliCat may have to ask for information on how a conflict between the two databases will be resolved. A conflict occurs when one of the databases has a disk name that exists in the other database. When this happens InteliCat, Disk Cataloger 67 InteliCat displays the following menu to allow you to pick what action you want to take: +-------------------------------+ | Disk: XXXXXXX already exists! | | | | Rename the merge disk | | Skip this disk | | skip All duplicates | | aBort merge (ESCape) | +-------------------------------+ The options that can be taken from the menu above have the following results: o Rename the merge disk: This causes InteliCat to prompt for a new name to use for the disk that is being merged into the active database. The current disk name is listed on the first line of the menu. o Skip this disk: Causes InteliCat to skip merging the named disk. o Skip all duplicates: Causes InteliCat to skip all disks when there is a name conflict (i.e. duplicate name). o Abort merge: Causes InteliCat to abort the merge. InteliCat will restore the active database to it's original contents, discarding any disks that were already merged prior to aborting. One last thing to note about the merge utility is that InteliCat doesn't erase the merged database after the merge is complete. DOS Shell This menu item allows you to shell to DOS. Note that you can also use ALT-Z to shell to DOS from *anywhere* in the program InteliCat is waiting for an input key. Quit Menu This isn't really much of a menu, but is a second way to quit out of the program. After selecting the Quit menu you can press return (as prompted) to exit the program. Note that pressing ESCape enough times will get you out of the program as well. 68 InteliCat Users Guide Appendices Appendix A - Questions & Answers This appendix covers several of the most commonly asked questions that have come up regarding the use of InteliCat. Q: Why does InteliCat always create a file that has the same name as my database, with a '1' appended to it? Is it safe to delete this file? A: Each database used in InteliCat actually has two disk files associated with it. The file with the appended '1' is the file containing the file comments. Deletion of this file would cause all comments to be lost. Q: What is the maximum number of files/disks InteliCat can handle in a single database. A: The maximum number of files/disks InteliCat can handle per database depends on your computer setup. If you have EMS or XMS (XMS is Extended memory with the HIMEM.SYS driver), InteliCat can support up to 32,000 files per database. Approximately 1.2 megs of EMS/XMS is required for 32,000 files. If you only have conventional memory, the number of files InteliCat can handle goes down drastically. On a typical 640K machine, InteliCat can support approximately 6000 files per database. The exact amount will vary however, depending on the exact amount of free memory InteliCat has available to use. Q: Even though I have InteliCat configured to treat .EXE files as archives, it doesn't appear to expand the contents of my self extracting archives. A: Currently, InteliCat can only view the contents of standard archive file formats, and isn't able to look at the self extracting type. Q: Many times, when I start InteliCat, it gives me a warning message about not having the requested amount of EMS or XMS memory. How can I make this warning stop appearing? A: This warning is because the amount of EMS or XMS you specified (either on the command line or in the configuration file) can't be allocated. To avoid this message use the -999 option or a value of one. The discussion of EMS values on page 55 covers this topic in detail. 70 InteliCat User's Guide Q: InteliCat won't let me get rid of the left margin. When I tell InteliCat to use a left margin of zero, it still puts a space before each report line. How can this be fixed? A: The reason you see a space in addition to whatever margin you configure is InteliCat configured to flag duplicate records. When the option to flag duplicate records is set to 'Yes', InteliCat prints a single space field to identify possible duplicate records. Simply turn this option off if you don't want the extra column used. InteliCat, Disk Cataloger 71 72 InteliCat User's Guide Index 43/50 line mode setting 60 menu option 46 command line option 50 example 9, 17 4DOS descriptions optional parameters importing 48 8 adapter type parameters 15 specifying 8, 9 commands add comments global 21 menu option 35 comment editor add comments while logging commands 36 option 46 comment import add menu 34 scrolling sample text agreement 64 license 1 comment line offset from archive options 57 file line archives comment import 66 viewing contents 57 comment modify ask for dest at report hotkey 33 time comment search option 50 menu option 41 ask for select criteria comment setup file option 46 comment import 63 ask for sort criteria comments option 47 adding while logging automatic disk naming 46 option 58 archive 58 backup database importing 62 option 48 comments modify bbs menu option 35 support board 3 configuration bbs listing defaults 7 menu option 45 specifying 19 browse files configuration file hotkey 33 reading 61 menu option 40 specifying 8 case sensitive search configuration menu 46 option 46 contents case sensitivity 42 of archives 57 catalog disks conventions menu option 34 InteliCat 14 catalog options create menu option 46 database 60 cataloging disks 12 criteria character that ends selection 27 filename database comment import 65 backup 48 color mode clearing 40 specifying 8 create 60 colors file names 19 74 merging 67 drives read new 60 default logging 60 specifying 8, 19 dummy entry write 60 menu option 35 zap 40 duplicate files database to use menu option 45 comment import 64 editor defaults comment 36 reset options 61 string 20 delete string fields 15 all files 40 EGA/VGA delete disk expanded screen 46 hotkey 33 ems usage menu option 39 specifying 8, 55 delete existing label environment option 49 variables 19 delete file equipment menu option 39 optional 3 delete menu 38 required 3 dirs ESCape key setting maximum 54 usage 14, 21 disk entry example creating 35 command line 17 disk name exit list of 14 hotkey 33 write as volume label exiting 13 49 expressions disk names regular 22 upper case 58 extended memory disk naming specifying 9 automatic 58 extended memory usage options 58 specifying 56 disk report extension - ignoring menu option 43 comment import 66 disk volume only extract library comments menu option 35 option 58 disks extract library members cataloging 12 option 57 setting maximum 54 features display InteliCat 4 main 10 field gap distribution reports 54 requirements 1 field order dos shell 15, 21 reports 53 menu option 68 file names setting memory for database 19 47 file record double spacing deleting 39 report 53 file report 75 hotkey 33 multi-drive option file search 34 menu option 41 log disk file with comments to hotkey 33 import log disks comment import 64 menu option 34 file/ext report logging drives menu option 44 setting 60 files main display 10 created 19 margins maximum allowed 17 report 51 setting maximum 54 maximum files 17 hotkeys 33 setting 54 ignore extension memory comment import 66 specifying maximum import comments files 54 hotkey 33 using ems 55 scrolling sample text using extended 56 64 memory for dos shell importing option 47 4DOS descriptions 48 memory usage 17 archive comments 58 menu importing comments 62 add 34 input configuration 46 skipping keywords 48 delete/replace 38 installing list of options 32 InteliCat 6 replace/delete 38 keep subdir names reports 42 option 47 search 40 keys utilities 61 global commands 21 menu options keyword search dos shell 68 menu option 41 merge databases 67 keywords menus setting maximum 54 overview 11 skipping input of 48 quit 68 last selecting 14, 31 setting option 59 merge databases License 1 menu option 67 lines per page multi-drive log report 52 hotkey 33 listing menu option 34 disknames 14 multi-drive replace regular expressions menu option 39 22 options locating a file 24 43/50 line mode 50 locating files 27 4DOS descriptions 48 log add comments while logging 46 76 archive 57 write volume label ask for dest at 49 report time 50 options set ask for select hotkey 33 criteria 46 order ask for sort criteria set with sort 25 47 parameters automatic disk naming command line 8, 15 58 example 9 backup database 48 printer name case sensitive search option 50 46 quick file report color 60 hotkey 33 delete existing label quick file/ext report 49 menu option 45 disk naming 58 quick volume report display license 61 menu option 44 ems usage 55 quit extended memory 56 menu 68 extract archive read members 57 database 60 extract library registered user comments 58 displaying 61 extract library regular expressions 22 members 57 rename disk keep subdir names 47 menu option 39 last 59 replace list by menu 32 multi-drive option logging drives 60 39 memory for dos shell replace disk 47 hotkey 33 memory usage 54 menu option 39 printer name 50 replace existing comments r e a d n e w comment import 66 configuration replace menu 38 61 report report dest 50 bbs type 45 report format 51 disk only 43 report output 50 double spacing 53 reset defaults 61 duplicate files 45 setting 46 end of page pause 52 skip keyword input field gap 54 48 field order 53 template 58 file/ext 44 upper case disk names lines per page 52 58 margins 51 use existing label as newline action 51 name 49 quick file/ext 45 volume label 49 quick volume 44 77 volume 43 sorting 25 wrap/truncate flag specifying 53 configuration 19 report dest database 19 option 50 start and end columns report format options 51 comment import 64 report output starting InteliCat 7 option 50 status line 12 reports string editor 15, 20 sending to screen 50 string search reports menu 42 menu option 41 requirements Support BBS 3 distribution 1 Switch! screen memory setting 47 send reports to 50 template sending reports to for auto naming 58 50 tutorial 7 search upper case hotkey 33 disk names 58 search comments usage menu option 41 memory 17 search files use existing label as name menu option 41 option 49 search keywords utilities menu 61 menu option 41 variables search menu 40 environment 19 search strings video adapter menu option 41 specifying 8, 9 searching 24, 27 video mode case sensitivity 46 specifying 8 regular expressions volume label 22 options 49 selecting volume labels menus 14, 31 writing 49 special records 27 volume report selection criteria 27 hotkey 33 sensitivity menu option 43 case 42 Warranty 2 setting wildcards 22 options 46 write setup database 60 defaults 7 XMS shell specifying 9 dos 21 usage 56 shell to dos 15 zap database single sheet menu option 40 report option 52 snow control specifying 9 78