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GEN Test Character Generating Utility Version 1.2 Released 11-12-89 Herron Software P.O. Box 1288 Battle Ground, Washington 98604 COPYRIGHT 1988, 1989 Phil Herron. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. DISCLAIMER OF WARRANTY __________________________________________ THIS PRODUCT IS PROVIDED FOR EVALUATION, AS IS AND WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND. THE AUTHOR MAKES NO EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHOR BE LIABLE FOR LOSS OF PROFIT OR ANY OTHER COMMERCIAL DAMAGE ARISING FROM EITHER THE USE OF OR THE INABILITY TO USE THIS PRODUCT. This product should be thoroughly evaluated using backed up or noncritical data and files. ______________________________________________________________ Evaluation Preface Section ______________________________________________________________ Shareware............................................... 0.1.0 What it is............................................ 0.1.1 License Terms......................................... 0.1.2 Registration.......................................... 0.1.3 Benefits, Forms, Registration fees, Quantity discounts, Combined orders Evaluation.............................................. 0.2.0 Evaluation Version.................................... 0.2.1 Evaluation Menu....................................... 0.2.2 Virus Prevention...................................... 0.2.3 _____________________________ 0.1.0 Shareware _____________________________ 0.1.1 The SHAREWARE Concept _____________________________ "Shareware" is a software distribution method which enables the potential user to obtain software at very low initial cost, for evaluation on a trial basis. You can evaluate the software in your own environment, on your own machine, with the programs and data that you normally use. You're not required to become a registered user unless the software meets your needs. Another benefit of Shareware is lower pricing. By minimizing the marketing and advertising expenses associated with more traditional software distribution methods, Shareware products can be priced lower. You don't pay for what you don't need or use. You are encouraged to share the evaluation version of this software with others, so long as you follow the limitations set forth in the LICENSE TERMS section below. 0.1.2 LICENSE TERMS _____________________ This product and its documentation are copyrighted and owned solely by the author, who reserves all rights to any benefits derived from it. It is distinctly separate from, and should not be confused with, those categories of software known as "public domain" or "freeware." You are granted the right to use the evaluation version of this software on a trial basis for a limited amount of time, to decide whether to continue using (and therefore whether to register) the product. You can transmit this evaluation version to associates by copying on diskette or uploading to electronic bulletin board services, so long as the following CONDITIONS are met: (a) The program and its documentation file must be distributed together. (b) The program and its documentation must not be altered in any way. If you wish to include notes for other evaluators, please add them in a separate file and include that file along with the program and documentation files. 0.1.3 REGISTRATION ____________________ When you send in the registration form and fee, you'll receive by return mail a diskette containing the latest REGISTERED version of the program and documentation. BENEFITS OF REGISTRATION The registered version WILL NOT include the Evaluation Menu front-end, startup time-delay or forms-printing sections of this version. Thus it will be more convenient to use, from either the DOS prompt or from batch files. It will also be 12k-15K bytes smaller, for more efficient disk storage and faster loading. The registered version WILL include any new functions or enhancements made to date. You will receive notification of future updates and new products. You will be able to upgrade to newer versions at a reduced cost. REGISTRATION FORM The registration form and a pre-addressed mailing cover can be printed from the "Forms Printing" selection of the Evaluation menu, discussed in section 0.2.2 below. FEES The single-quantity registration fee is displayed on the initial Evaluation Menu screen. Higher quantities are discussed below. QUANTITY DISCOUNTS Each registered copy of this software will be licensed for operation at a single location (on a single terminal or computer) at any one time. If you need to run the software on more than one terminal or computer at the same time, the appropriate number of registrations must be made. Multiple-quantity registration fees are displayed in the "QUANTITY DISCOUNT" section of the Evaluation menu. You can take advantage of quantity discounts by ordering multiple registrations of one program or single registrations of several different programs at the same time. You also save on shipping and handling charges by registering several products together. COMBINED ORDERS You can also take advantage of quantity discounts by combining orders with associates: (1) Complete a separate registration form for each person. Each person's name, address and programs to be registered are needed for support and update notification purposes. (2) Include only one standard shipping and handling charge. Cross out the "Shipping & handling" amounts on all but ONE registration form; the combined order will be sent to the name and address on that form. (3) Mail all the forms together, with a single check/money order for the total, in one envelope/mailing cover. _____________________________ 0.2.0 Evaluation _____________________________ 0.2.1 EVALUATION VERSION __________________________ This software contains the complete and fully functional version of the program, the latest available at the time of this release. The program itself is identical to the REGISTERED version. An Evaluation Menu and forms-printing section were added to ensure that: (a) Registration information and forms will not become separated from the program file. (b) Users who might be unfamiliar with the process of displaying a file's contents on the screen or printer will have no difficulty learning about, evaluating or registering this product. 0.2.2 EVALUATION MENU _______________________ The program is invoked from the DOS prompt by typing its name and pressing the RETURN or ENTER key. The initial screen displays the warranty section and some information about the program: Program name, Version number, Release date, Single-quantity registration fee. It next displays the Shareware Product EVALUATION MENU. A single key press will select the following functions from the menu: ESC - EXIT to DOS without evaluating this program R - READ the documentation (THIS file) x - EVALUATE this program Q - QUANTITY Discount information F - FORMS printing menu - registration & mailer When you press "R" to READ the documentation, this file will be shown one screen at a time. The display pauses whenever the screen becomes full, and prompts... <downArrow> or Esc The <downArrow> character is similar to the "MORE" prompt in other DOS utilities. It indicates that more is available. Press ESCape to exit back to the Evaluation Menu, or any normal typing key to continue (space bar is a convenient key to use). 0.2.3 VIRUS PREVENTION ________________________ If you'd like to evaluate this software but you're not sure where it's been, you can order a copy straight from the source. See the SHAREWARE PRODUCT CATALOG section at the end of this file. _________________________________________________________________ Table of Contents Section _________________________________________________________________ Gen........................................................ 1.0 Introduction............................................ 1.1 Explanation............................................. 1.2 System Requirements..................................... 1.3 Installing........................................... 1.3.1 Help.................................................... 1.4 Syntax.................................................. 1.5 Examples................................................ 1.6 Operating screen..................................... 1.6.1 Output Format........................................... 1.7 Applications............................................ 1.8 Error Messages.......................................... 1.9 DOS ErrorLevel.......................................... 2.0 Version History......................................... 3.0 Support.................................................... 9.0 Problem Resolution...................................... 9.1 Before Reporting........................................ 9.2 Reporting a problem..................................... 9.3 Custom Modifications.................................... 9.4 Correspondence.......................................... 9.5 Shareware Product Catalog................................. 10.0 ******************************************* NEW in this version: corrected Elapsed Time ******************************************* Following a run during which midnight occurs, prior versions of this program were displaying incorrect elapsed times. The oversight is corrected in this version. ______________________________________________________________ GEN 1.0 Test Character Generating Utility ______________________________________________________________ 1.1 INTRODUCTION __________________ There are a number of ways to produce disk files of some given size for testing or experimentation. The methods available vary in speed and ease of use. METHOD 1 - Text Editor This method is pure trial-and-error: run your word processor or text editor, type some random characters, save the result, then check on the size of the saved file. If it's not right, go back into the editor and add or subtract some characters. Repeat until you get the file size just right. METHOD 2 - DEBUG or SYMDEB utilities If one of these utilities is available, you can use a script like this to generate a 1000-byte file named OneK.Txt... C>debug -n OneK.Txt name the file -rcx set file size CX 0000 :3E8 hexadecimal size of file -f 0 L 3E8 2E fill space with a char (2E hex for dots) -w write the file to disk Writing 03E8 bytes -Q quit back to DOS This method works well for files up to FFFFh (65,535 decimal) bytes in length; for larger sizes, you must also set register BX, and go through some calculations to fill the space with known characters. The schemes above do work, and they might be acceptable for small files. However, they're so much bother that you'll probably end up saving the generated files on a disk just in case you ever need them again. But next time you'll probably need a file of a different size. GEN can remove all the bother. It generates files of any size from zero to twenty million bytes (20Mb), and generates them much faster than you can type random characters into a text editor. Besides generating files on disk, it can send a specific number of characters directly to the console screen, printer or other DOS device. When finished, it displays elapsed time. 1.2 EXPLANATION _________________ GEN sends a specified number of characters to a specified destination. The default destination is the monitor screen; others are accessed using the DOS redirection characters > and >> from the command line. For more information on using redirection, see your DOS manual and the sections below covering syntax and examples. The basic character that GEN generates in quantity is the period, ASCII 2E hex. It was selected for no particular reason other than possibly minimizing ribbon wear during printer testing. The final characters sent during each run depend upon the output size specified, and are either CR (carriage return) or CR LF (carriage return followed by linefeed). See section 1.7, OUTPUT FORMAT, for additional information. The character count is displayed on screen after every twenty thousand characters. This count display is sent only to the screen, and does not become part of the output to a file or device. The ESCape key can be used to exit at any time. GEN will terminate at the end of the 1000-character block it was processing when the Escape key was detected. 1.3 SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS _________________________ PC, XT, AT or compatible. DOS version 2.1 or later. 64K free memory. 1.3.1 INSTALLING ___________________ The program can be run from diskette or from hard disk. No installation is necessary, other than copying the files to a drive and directory of your choosing. 1.4 HELP __________ Can't remember the command line syntax? Issue the program's name without any parameters; it will display a help screen, then return to the DOS prompt. 1.5 SYNTAX ____________ GEN [length] [>[>filespec or device]] Parameter explanation: [length] Length must be a positive number, 0 through 20000000 (twenty million), with no embedded punctuation. [>] or [>>] DOS redirection characters. > Sends output to specified file; overwrites the file if it already exists. >> Appends output to the end of the specified file. [filespec] The string needed to reference a file; can also be shown as [d:][path][filename.ext]. The minimum filespec needed is filename.ext. If the file is to be generated in another directory and/or on another drive, the drive name and/or pathname must also be given. The complete filespec for a file named TestFile.Txt residing in drive A: in a subdirectory named TestSub is A:\TestSub\TestFile.Txt For further information on filespecs, see your DOS manual. [device] A particular DOS device: PRN, LPT1, LPT2 - sends output to specified printer CON sends output to console (default) NUL discards the output 1.6 EXAMPLES ______________ GEN 1000 Sends 1000 characters to screen. GEN 1000 >PRN Sends 1000 characters to printer. GEN 1000 >OneK.Txt Creates 1000-byte file on current drive, in current subdirectory. GEN 1000 >>OneK.Txt Appends another 1000 bytes to an existing file. GEN 1000 >A:OneK.Txt Creates 1000-byte file on drive A: GEN 0 >Zip.Txt Creates a file of zero length. 1.6.1 OPERATING SCREEN ________________________ The operating screen appears whenever "GEN" is issued from the DOS prompt (or from a batch file) with a size specification; in this example, the complete command line is: Gen 56789 >Dummy.Txt and the screen displays: __Gen_________________________ |______________________________| Generating 56789 characters Kbytes completed: nn \ Running count of current size, in 20K steps Upon completion (or when ESC is pressed to terminate early), elapsed time is normally displayed. An exception is when GEN's output is being redirected to a disk which has insufficient space for the specified file size: the file is generated until the disk has zero bytes free, then GEN terminates, but elapsed time is not displayed. 1.7 OUTPUT FORMAT ___________________ GEN generates the specified number of characters by blocks of one thousand (if any), followed by any remaining characters needed to make up the required size. Each 1K block consists of 998 dot characters (ASCII 2E hex) followed by CR (ASCII 0D hex) and LF (ASCII 0A hex). Sizes in excess of even multiples of the basic one-thousand- character block are generated as shown below: Size Characters sent ------------ ------------------- 1 CR 2 CR, LF 3 1 dot, CR, LF 4 2 dots, CR, LF . . . . 999 997 dots, CR, LF Example: Output length of Will Contain ---------------- ---------------------- 1 CR 1000 998 dots CR LF (the basic 1K block) 1001 One 1K block plus CR 1002 One 1K block plus CR LF 1003 One 1K block plus 1 dot CR LF 2001 Two 1K blocks plus CR 10001 Ten 1K blocks plus CR It should be noted that if GEN is issued without being redirected to a file or device, the number of dots appearing on the screen will be fewer than specified in the length parameter. A length of 1 or 2 will show no dots; 3 or higher will show two fewer dots than specified, since the CR and LF are not explicitly displayed on the screen. However, the correct file length will always be generated when the output is redirected to a file or device. 1.8 APPLICATIONS __________________ GENerated files can be used for: Printer speed tests Printer buffer capacity tests Print Spooler tests Disk file copying speed tests Disk capacity tests RAMdisk tests Dummy files for any purpose. Below are some average output rates measured while generating 360Kb files on a 4.77 Mhz PC/XT compatible system: Bytes per Bytes per Destination Second Minute ----------- --------- ---------- Floppy disk 2.3Kb 137.8Kb Hard disk 12.6Kb 756.3Kb (45.4Mb/hour) NUL device 25.2Kb 1.5Mb (90.6Mb/hour) 1.9 ERROR MESSAGES ____________________ Command Line parameter error messages: - Length parameter error at digit nn An illegal character (non-decimal or punctuation) was found in the length parameter, at position nn. - Length cannot be negative Length parameter begins with a minus sign. - Length cannot exceed nn Length parameter is larger than the maximum permitted. Output error messages: - Write fault error writing device PRN - Abort, Retry, Ignore? Redirected to printer, but printer is not ready. Make ready, then Retry. - Note: if GEN is redirected to a file on a disk which has insufficient space for the specified size, no error message is displayed. The resulting file will (obviously) not be of the specified size, but will be whatever size will fit on the disk. At completion, the disk will have 0 bytes free. 2.0 DOS ERRORLEVEL ____________________ Upon termination, the program returns a DOS ErrorLevel value which indicates how the program ended, and which can be used for subsequent operations in a batch file. For further information, see the "IF ERRORLEVEL" batch command in your DOS manual. ErrorLevel list: 0 - Successful completion. 1 - No parameters specified on command line. 4 - Error in input parameter(s). 27 - Early termination; ESCape key pressed. 254 - Cannot set up for Dos Redirection 3.0 VERSION HISTORY _____________________ 1.00 Initial release. 1.01 Early termination via the ESCAPE key. 1.1 DOS ErrorLevels added. 1.2 Modified to correct elapsed time when midnight occurs during a run. _________________________________________________________________ 9.0 Support _________________________________________________________________ 9.1 PROBLEM RESOLUTION ________________________ Please document and report any anomaly in program operation, whether it's a genuine "bug" or just some feature of the program that particularly "bugs" you. If you're the first person to document and report a problem that we agree needs attention, you'll receive a free upgrade with the correction when it's been made. If you're a registered user, you'll get the upgraded registered version; if you haven't yet registered, you'll get the upgraded evaluation version. 9.2 BEFORE REPORTING ______________________ Things to try prior to reporting a problem: 1 - Reread the documentation to make sure you understand what we thought we understood when we wrote it. 2 - If the system reports "Bad command or file name" when you attempt to run the program, its executable file (or at least the file name you specified) was not found. First, make sure no typos or misspellings have crept into your command line; next, try changing your PATH setting, or make the drive & directory where the program resides the "current" drive & directory. 3 - If the program is being run from a batch file, try deleting lines previous to the line that actually invokes the program, to see if some prior activity is causing the problem. 4 - If you have any memory-resident or "TSR" utilities installed (pop-up calculators/note pads, keyboard enhancements, etc.), try removing them from memory and running the program again to see if the problem reoccurs. 9.3 REPORTING A PROBLEM _________________________ If the problem persists, please document it as completely and accurately as possible; we have to be able to duplicate it before we can begin to resolve it. Include at least the following: 1 - Version of DOS you are using. 2 - Machine type, drives, memory, etc. 3 - Programs executed prior to the problem. 4 - Problem program's name and version number. 5 - Where and how you obtained the problem program. 6 - Address and/or phone number where you can be contacted. 7 - Anything you can think of that might relate to the problem; for example, listings of your AUTOEXEC.BAT and CONFIG.SYS files, or any batch files used to run the program. 8 - Any relevant printouts. NOTE: If you're a registered user, you'll find the utility UserResp.Exe on the distribution diskette; it can be used to print a pre-addressed mailer and a problem report. If you have not yet registered, send problem reports to the address below (or print the pre-addressed mailer from the Evaluation Menu). 9.4 CUSTOM MODIFICATIONS __________________________ If you need custom modifications to this software for your particular application, please write to the below address with complete details of your requirements. 9.5 CORRESPONDENCE ____________________ We welcome any comments or suggestions you might have concerning improvements and future enhancements to this product. Send all correspondence and orders to: Phil Herron P.O. Box 1288 Battle Ground, Washington USA 98604 _________________________________________________________________ 10.0 Shareware Product Catalog _________________________________________________________________ This section contains a list of our other Shareware products; it may be updated whenever products are added or changed. ____________________________________________ If you'd like to try any of the programs in this catalog, but can't find them locally, you can order evaluation copies straight from the source... Five programs and their associated documentation will fit on each 5.25 inch 362Kb diskette; the basic single-disk fee of $4.00 covers the cost of the first disk, shipping and handling. Add an additional dollar for each additional disk of programs you want to evaluate ($4.00 for 1 to 5 programs, $5.00 for 6-10, $6.00 for 11-15, etc.; all payments in U.S. funds). If your address is outside the U.S. and Canada, add an additional $3.00. Include your mailing address and the names of the programs. By return mail you'll receive the latest versions of those programs for evaluation. ____________________________________________ "Shareware" is a software distribution method which enables the potential user to obtain software at very low initial cost, for evaluation on a trial basis. You can evaluate the software in your own environment, on your own machine, with the programs and data that you normally use. You're not required to become a registered user unless the software meets your needs. ____________________________________________ PROGRAM SPECIFICATIONS AND REGISTRATION FEES MAY CHANGE WITHOUT NOTICE. ____________________________________________ ChkD v1.1 Check_Disk_space reports disk drive space usage. It reports drive cluster size, then drive space TOTAL, FREE and USED by actual value and by percentage. It is faster and more convenient than the DOS "dir" or "chkdsk" utilities for displaying drive information. ChkM v1.1 Check_Memory_space reports standard system memory (RAM) space usage. It reports memory space TOTAL, FREE and USED by actual value and by percentage. It is faster and more convenient than the DOS "chkdsk" utility for displaying system memory information. CleanOut v1.3 CLEANOUT searches all directories of the default drive for file(s) specified on command line (wildcards * and ? are legal). Each time a matching file is found, the user is prompted for disposition: Delete or Save. File contents, either text or binary, can be VIEWED before deciding. A single press of the "S" key saves a file; a double press of the "D" key deletes it. An optional mode allows deletions without confirmation. Useful for cleaning out .BAK file leftovers, among others. CleanTxt v1.1 CleanTxt converts WordStar text files to straight ASCII. It strips out certain control characters, and will optionally expand tab characters to the appropriate number of spaces. CleanZ v1.2 Most text editors won't read files beyond the first control-Z end- of-file character. Control-Z's can become embedded in a text file when several files are combined using the DOS "type" command. CleanZ will strip out each control-Z, or it will optionally replace each with a seldom-used character, to ease the task of locating the former boundaries in combined files. FindF v1.1 FindFile searches the default drive for specified files, and writes the file information to screen or disk. Useful for locating misplaced files or for generating a listing of all files and subdirectories on the default drive. Gen v1.2 Gen replaces several trial-and-error methods of building specific- sized files for printer, storage or timing tests. It generates files of any size from zero to twenty million bytes, much faster than typing random characters into a text editor. Besides generating files on disk, it can send a specific number of characters directly to the console screen, printer or other DOS device. KeyCode v1.1 KeyCode responds to each press of a key or combination of keys by displaying the key or combination pressed, its associated Ascii character (if any), key type (normal or extended), Ascii code and Scan code. KeySet v1.1 KeySet's interactive mode displays the current settings of the CapsLock, NumLock, ScrollLock and PrtSc (Print Screen) keys, and allows them to be changed. The command line mode directly sets the keys to specified states, allowing use of a batch file for presetting at system bootup or between applications. PrinTest v1.2 PrinTest repetitively displays the status of ports assigned to parallel printer interfaces. It can be used to isolate problems to the printer interface card, the cable or the printer itself. It reports printer and port number, status byte and status condition. Qscr v1.2 QuickScreen converts a single text screen to an executable file for more rapid display. The resulting .COM file will write a screen of text much faster than batch file ECHO statements. Useful for setting up compact menu systems, demos and tutorials. ScanF v1.1 Scan_File speeds up the search for ASCII text strings within executable files. It filters out the unintelligible control and extended characters, allows user definition of minimum string length for display, and pauses after each screen of information. ScanM v1.1 Scan_Memory speeds up the search for ASCII text such as ROM copyright statements and machine identification, anywhere within standard system memory space. It filters out the unintelligible control and extended characters, displays each string longer than three characters, and pauses after each screen of information. Split v1.1 Split breaks huge text files down into smaller ones that will fit into your text editor or onto a diskette. Useful for working on large files with a limited-filesize memory-resident notepad utility. StoRm v1.1 STOrage_RooM reports the amount of disk space required for storage of a specified file or group of files on any disk, using any version of DOS. It takes into account all of the factors involved in determining file storage size. It locates files specified on the command line and determines their actual total size and the amount of room needed to store them. Useful for determining the number of files that will fit on a disk. PhLBL v0.75 (not yet released) Label printer using text stored in ASCII files. Each label/card/ tag can contain embedded commands for date, time, series (nn OF nn), consecutive serial numbering, left margin, and selectable printer attribute for each line; 5, 10, 12, 17 or 20 characters per inch pitch, normal/bold/underlined on Epson compatible dot-matrix printers. _______________________________________________________________ | | | COPYRIGHT 1989 Phil Herron. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. | |_______________________________________________________________|