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P S E A R C H ------------------------- Users Guide and Reference ------------------------- Version 4.4E March 1991 ┌─────────┐ ┌─────┴───┐ │ (tm) │ │o │────────────────── │ ┌─────┴╨──┐ │ Association of │ │ │─┘ Shareware └───│ o │ Professionals ────│ ║ │──────────────────── └────╨────┘ * Member * Patri-Soft (714) 352-2820 (Voice) (714) 352-2825 (BBS) Copyright 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991 by Patri-Soft PSEARCH Users Guide/Reference Copyright 1991 Patri-Soft ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Table of Contents Introduction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Features. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Using PSEARCH . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Using PSEARCH Menu Mode. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Function Selection Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Text Search Entry Display . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 File Name Search Entry Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Special Editing Functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Advanced Options Entry Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 PSEARCH output data display . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 PSEARCH Command Line Mode. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 Command Parameters. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 Setting Default parameters in the DOS Environment. . . . . 22 Screen Colors and Monitor Support . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 Pausing the Search. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 Bonus Features for Registered Users . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 Maintenance History . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 Registering PSEARCH and other Patri-Soft Utilities. . . . . . 27 Site Licenses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28 VISA/MasterCard Telephone Registration Orders . . . . . . . . 28 PSEARCH Registration form . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 Reporting Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 i PSEARCH Users Guide/Reference Copyright 1991 Patri-Soft Page 1 -------------------------------------------------------------------- Introduction ------------ PSEARCH lets you easily locate lost or forgotten files on hard disks or diskettes. Since hard disk technology has made 70, 80, 150 megabyte, and larger hard disks commonplace, users keep more information than ever stored in their PC systems. It is not uncommon for users to have over 2000 files on their hard disks. This proliferation of files makes it very difficult to store files with names and directory structures that can be easily remembered and retrieved when files are later needed. When you need to find a file on your disk but do not know its filename or even directory, you most always know something unique about this file. If not, you would probably not be searching for it. This unique information might me a person's name, a product name, a type of process, or even a location. Whatever it is, PSEARCH can take this information and use it to search all files on the disk to identify one or more files that contain this unique data. Since PSEARCH can reduce your search from a list of 2000 files to just a few files, your job of locating a file becomes effortless. Quick examination of a few files easily lets you know if the desired file is on your disk. PSEARCH users have saved thousands of dollars in time searching for files, and time that would have been used to recreate lost files. PSEARCH becomes a invaluable tool for all hard disk users. PSEARCH goes farther than searching for data. Once files are found, you can automatically invoke other DOS programs and utilities to process them. PSEARCH becomes a powerful driver for other programs. In addition to being flexible, PSEARCH is fast! Our review of available text search utilities showed PSEARCH to be the best performer. Our advanced search algorithm combined with flexible selection and exclusion criteria insure PSEARCH can find your files in the fastest possible time. PSEARCH Users Guide/Reference Copyright 1991 Patri-Soft Page 2 -------------------------------------------------------------------- PSEARCH has functions and features that make it useful in many different situations. After reviewing this documentation and use PSEARCH, we are confident you will find a permanent place for it in your arsenal of tools. Here are a list of some of the many possible uses for PSEARCH. ** List all files on a hard disk that match a wildcard specification. ** Show the names of any files containing specified text ** Show text lines of any file containing a specified string. ** Look for word "Mrs" in any file and preserve case in search. ** Find 123 files containing the word "BUDGET" and print their name. ** Compile all C programs that refer to the "RECDESC.H" include file. ** Find a word processing document containing the name "Wiffle". ** Delete any *.DOC files containing "To: Mr. Johnson". ** Locate all readonly files existing on a disk. ** List all files updated today. ** Build a DOS command to archive manually selected files from one or more directories. ** Search multiple drives attached to the system for text or a file name ** Search for a file name even if it has been archived into .ZIP, .ARC or .LZH formats. ** Limit text search to WORDS, PREFIXES, or SUFFIXES. This greatly enhances the search by returning only the data you want. ** Ability to exclude files from the search process to greatly improve search performance. PSEARCH Users Guide/Reference Copyright 1991 Patri-Soft Page 3 -------------------------------------------------------------------- Using PSEARCH ------------- PSEARCH may be executed directly from the DOS prompt or using menus that guide you through the process of entering search specifications. Both techniques use the same 'PS' command. PSEARCH determines the difference in modes by the presence or absence of command line parameters. When no command parameters are used, menu operation is selected. Using PSEARCH Menu Mode ----------------------- To start PSEARCH using the menu mode, enter the PS command at the DOS prompt and press the <Enter> key. The following menu will be displayed... -------------------------------------------------------------------- PSEARCH - File Searcher Copyright 1991 by Patri-Soft F U N C T I O N S E L E C T I O N Select the PSEARCH activity you want to perform... Text Search. Find Files Containing Text Name Search. Find Files using name patterns Help Exit to DOS -------------------------------------------------------------------- PSEARCH Main Menu The PSEARCH menu provides entry to PSEARCH processing. Menu items may be selected by using an highlight bar positioned over the first menu item when PSEARCH is started. Use the cursor arrow keys to move the the highlight bar to the function desired and press the <Enter> key to start the action. You may quickly select any item by pressing the key relating to the first character of the menu item. For example, press <N> to start a file name search. PSEARCH Users Guide/Reference Copyright 1991 Patri-Soft Page 4 -------------------------------------------------------------------- Following is a description of each menu item: Text Search. Activates PSEARCH's text search facility. You will be presented with a entry menu to allow you to enter specifications PSEARCH is to use to search for data. Text Search is PSEARCH's ability to search within files to find specific text. It allows you to automatically scan you systems disks to locate files containing specific data contents. For example, you can find all files on the system that contain the name 'Jones'. Name Search. Activates the Name search facility. Name search allows you to use PSEARCH to locate files on your system by the contents of their file names. The DIR command provied with DOS only allows you to locate files within any one single directory. When you have many directories and maybe even multiple hard disks, it becomes impracticle to use the DIR command to locate a file when you do not know what directory it exists in. PSEARCH name search can automatically search all directories and even all disk devices to find a specific or pattern file name. Help PSEARCH's command line help provides very complete help information on all of PSEARCH's facilities. The help is provided primarily for those that want to use PSEARCH's command line mode of operation but is useful for all to use as a quick reference of PSEARCH's abilities. PSEARCH help consists of several pages of scrollable data. When you exit the help, you will be returned to PSEARCH's main menu. Exit to DOS. You may exit PSEARCH menu mode by either selecting the Exit menu item or by simply pressing the <ESCAPE> key from menu mode. Upon exiting, PSEARCH will display how long it has been active and provide a summary of its results. PSEARCH Users Guide/Reference Copyright 1991 Patri-Soft Page 5 -------------------------------------------------------------------- The Text Search Entry Display ----------------------------- The following display is shown as a result of selecting the Text Search option from PSEARCH's main menu. It allows you to enter specifications indicating the data PSEARCH is to locate. -------------------------------------------------------------------- PSEARCH - File Searcher Copyright 1991 by Patri-Soft Text Search Specification Path to Search: _______________________________________________ Text(1): _____________________________________________ Text(2): _____________________________________________ Text(3): _____________________________________________ Text(4): _____________________________________________ Text(5): _____________________________________________ __ Match All? (Y=All Text must be found N=Find any matches) __ Search Directories (blank=Current S=System(all) P=Path only) __ Exclude files and directories entered in PSEARCHT.EXC? __ Case Sensitive Search? (Y=Match exact text N=Ignore case) __ Qualify (blank=none W=Find Word P=Prefix S=Suffix) __ Showing found text? (Y=ALL N=none F=First match R=Related Text) __ Show linenumbers for found text? (Y/N) __ Stop scrolling when display full (Y/N) __ Pause on each found match? _____ For multiple drive search drives to search _____ If multiple text, text must within n characters Keys: <F3> DOS <F9> Advanced Options <F10> Start Search -------------------------------------------------------------------- Text Search Entry Menu See the command parameter portion of this document for a complete description of all the parameters you are allowed to specify on this display. Once all data is entered, you may immediately start the search by pressing the <F10> key, or may specify advanced search options by pressing the <F9> key. The advanced options entry menu allows further specifications to be made. You may use the <F3> key to temporarily exit to a PSEARCH window to execute DOS commands. You may enter any DOS command in this window. PSEARCH Users Guide/Reference Copyright 1991 Patri-Soft Page 6 -------------------------------------------------------------------- The F10 key may be pressed from any location on this display. If you use the <Enter> key to proceed through each item on the display, pressing <Enter> on the last item will begin the search. All specifications on this display except for pathname and search text are maintained in a special PSEARCH control file. This file (PSEARCH.DAT) is created the first time you run PSEARCH and is placed in the same directory as the PSEARCH program file (PS.EXE). This control file allows PSEARCH to retain your search specifications for the next time you use it. The File Name Search Entry Display ---------------------------------- The File Name Search Display allows you to enter specifications PSEARCH is to use while searching for files by name on your system. -------------------------------------------------------------------- PSEARCH - File Searcher Copyright 1991 by Patri-Soft Find File Specification Path to Search: ____________________________________________ __ Search Directories (blank=Current S=System(all) P=Path only) __ Exclude files and directories entered in PSEARCHF.EXC? __ Search Archived Files (ZIP/ARC/LZH)? (N=none A=Yes B=Both) __ Stop scrolling when display full (Y/N) __ Pause on each found match? __ Flex Search: =none S=Sound like V=NoVowels C=CharsOnly _____ For multiple drive search, letter of drives Keys: <F3> DOS <F9> Advanced Options <F10> Start Search -------------------------------------------------------------------- This entry screen works like the Text Entry display discussed earlier. See the command parameter descriptions for more information about the parameters you may enter. PSEARCH Users Guide/Reference Copyright 1991 Patri-Soft Page 7 -------------------------------------------------------------------- Special Editing Functions ------------------------- Special edit functions are provided to enhance your capability to specify DOS pathname and text specifications. These following features are available on all specification entry screens. Field Edit -- You are presented with pathname and text specifications from prior executions on the parameter input displays. You may use the shown value by simply pressing <Enter>. You may change the value by first pressing a field edit key such as left or right cursor arrow, <INS>, or <DEL>. Then you may edit the field as desired. Entering any other value causes the current field to disappear and to be replaced by the keyed in value. Restore Field Press alt-X when you are editing a field to restore it to its original value. Lower Case Press alt-L to convert all characters in the field to lower case. Upper Case Press alt-U to convert all characters in the field to upper case. Captialize Press alt-C to cause all words in the field to be capitalized and other characters to be changed to lower case. Reverse Press alt-R to reverse the characters in the in the field (first=last and last=first). PSEARCH Users Guide/Reference Copyright 1991 Patri-Soft Page 8 -------------------------------------------------------------------- Advanced Options Entry Display ------------------------------ The Advanced Options Entry Display allow specification of advanced options to be used for both Text and File name searches. These options are not necessary for PSEARCH to function and may be ignored if desired. -------------------------------------------------------------------- PSEARCH - File Searcher Copyright 1991 by Patri-Soft Advanced Options Screen __ Print and Display all results? (Y/N) __ Log and Display all results? (Y/N) Log file PSLOG.TXT ____ Files Attributes U=Updated H=Hidden S=System R=Readonly For each matching file PSEARCH can generate and optionally execute any desired command. Specify the command below: __ Action? blank=none W=Write to PSCMDS.BAT file X=Execute P=Execute command with pause after each Execute Command: _____________________________________________ The following characters may be used in the command to generate commands with the matching directory and filename. &=path #=Filename !=File @=/ ~=Archive name For example, to copy all matching files to drive A: Command: COPY & A: Keys: <F3> DOS <F10> Start Search -------------------------------------------------------------------- Advanced Options Entry Screen See subsequent sections in this document for more information about the advanced specifications that may be entered on this display. Once all specifications are entered you begin the search by pressing the <F10> key on any field, or by pressing the <Enter> key from the last entry field on the display. PSEARCH Users Guide/Reference Copyright 1991 Patri-Soft Page 9 -------------------------------------------------------------------- The PSEARCH Output Data Display ------------------------------- The following display is a sample of PSEARCH output as a result of a TEXT Search request. -------------------------------------------------------------------- PSEARCH - File Searcher Copyright 1991 by Patri-Soft Searching *.* for (this) Opt ==> SHOW MULT ANYCASE MORE -------------------------------------------------------------------- Searching *.* files for string (this) ======> FINANC.LTX 3287 16FEB89 6:42p I am unable to determine what happened to this specific order. to me. I may be having trouble with this new address. I know In any case, I have corrected the problem and hope this package normally sent to users. If this is ======> ENHANREQ.LTR 2733 1MAR89 6:04a drives. This invokes the no⌐window mode. ======> HUFFMAR 1658 10MAR89 7:35a A copy of the agreement is supplied with this ======> PRINT.TXT 1104 4MAY89 7:47a receive no royalties from this product but I have agreed ======> LTR.LTR 2821 9JUN89 9:54a drives. This invokes the no-window mode. ** More? <Enter> for more, <C> for continuous, <ESC> terminate *** -------------------------------------------------------------------- Path(#1) C:\WP 27 FILE= WILLAM.BRO -------------------------------------------------------------------- PSEARCH Output Display The top and bottom portion of the output display are reserved for statistical information to keep you aware of what PSEARCH is searching during processing. The center portion of the display shows the data found that matches the search specifications. PSEARCH Users Guide/Reference Copyright 1991 Patri-Soft Page 10 -------------------------------------------------------------------- For each found text match, PSEARCH displays the file name and data matching the search criteria. The filename is shown on a line before the matching text. This line also shows the date and time the file was last updated or created and the size of the file in characters. If DOS attributes are present in the DOS directory entry for the file, they are also shown. PSEARCH Users Guide/Reference Copyright 1991 Patri-Soft Page 11 -------------------------------------------------------------------- PSEARCH Command Line Mode ------------------------- The following section describes the use PSEARCH using command line specifications. These specifications all you to enter all PSEARCH options directly on the PSEARCH command when it is entered to DOS. Although more difficult to master, the command line mode is the easiest and fastest to use once you learn how to use PSEARCH. Command Parameters ------------------ Command parameters control PSEARCH's may different features when it is use in command line mode at the DOS prompt. They are easy to understand and learn, and provide you need to quickly locate all files. Remember that each parameter is summarized in the online help display. Just type PS at the DOS promot. COMMAND FORMAT: PS [fspec] /T:text /F /S /C /P /PR /PF /MO /O:nn/N:nn /NW /TA /X[F][P]:cmd /AT:c /FW /FP /FS /DR:xxx /SO /AR /AO PS - PS is the name of the PSEARCH command. PS actually refers to Patriquin's PSEARCH. Enter the command without any parameters for menus and help. [fspec] Enter the DOS file specification for the directory and file names to be searched. If no directory name is specified the current directory will be searched. If the /S option is specified, the directory name portion of this parameter is not used. Like DOS, use the '*' to indicate the last part of a filename or filename extension may be any set of characters. Also like DOS, use the '?' to indicate that any single position of a filename may be any character. In addition to DOS, you may place an '*' anywhere in the filename to indicate any set of characters may exist in this point in the name. SPECIAL FLEX FILENAME SEARCHING CONTROL CHARACTERS The filename specification may contain a full DOS pathname including the standard DOS wildcard characters * and ?. In addition the special characters '~', '!', or ';' may be placed immediately before the filename to specify special filename find criteria. PSEARCH Users Guide/Reference Copyright 1991 Patri-Soft Page 12 -------------------------------------------------------------------- ~ SOUNDEX -- Select any filename that sounds like the specified name ~WORD would select: WORD WOOORD WRD WOOD WORLD ; NOVOWEL -- Select equal filenames but ignore vowels AEIOU in name !WOORD would select: WoRD WoooRD WieRD WRD ! CHARS -- Select any filenames that contain the characters entered !WD would select: WorD.dat WilDone.dat lstWorD.x Following are examples: 1. *.EXE 2. TEST*.* 3. *TEST*.* 4. DO?FIX.* 5. PC*XX.* 6. C:\DOS\*.* 7. \TEST\*.* 8. !WD*.* 9. ~WORD.* SPECIFY A LIST OF FILES TO BE SEARCHED As an alternative, a file containing a list of input files may be supplied. Create a file containing lines with a filename or complete pathname on each line. Provide this filename as the source filename to PSEARCH and add an @ character before the name. The list of files will be processed as if they were all specified on the input command line. For file list processing, PSEARCH understands the output of the DOS DIR command. You may use the DOS redirection feature to direct DIR output to a file, edit the file to add or remove entries, and then provide this to PSEARCH as input. For example: DIR \TURBOC\C\*.C > FILE.LST PSEARCH @FILE.LST /T:TEXT PSEARCH Users Guide/Reference Copyright 1991 Patri-Soft Page 13 -------------------------------------------------------------------- /AO Archive type files Only - If you have files on your system that are compressed into archive files with DOS extension names of .ZIP, .ARC, or .LZH, PSEARCH is to search only these files. This parameter is only useful for file name searching. PSEARCH does not decompress these file contents for text search requests. When specified, this parameter specifies that all archive files are to be internally searched for filenames compressed in them that meed the specified file specification. Note, you do not specify .ARC, .ZIP, or .LZH in the PSEARCH file specification. PSEARCH will automatically find and search these files. /AR ARchive type files as well as normal files - PSEARCH will search both archive files and non-archive files for matching filename specifications. Use only for file name searches. (See also the /AO command parameter). /AT:c ATtributes - Specifies that PSEARCH is to search for files having one or more of the attributes specified by the /AT: parameter. U - Updated,the ARCHIVE bit is on to indicate the file has been updated since the last backup. R - Readonly,Files marked with Readonly attribute. H - Hidden,Files marked with Hidden attribute. S - System, Files marked with System attribute. Use /AT:U to locate all files that have been updated since your last backup was done. Use /AT:H to determine what hidden files exist on your disks. /C Case - Indicates that text search requests are to be case sensitive. That is, exact upper/lower case searching will be done. Normally it is easier to let PSEARCH find text data regardless of its case. This allows you to be sure to find any possible matches. Exact case searching is useful for those cases where you know the text is specified in an exact way. It potentially reduces the number of false matches that may be encountered during the search. PSEARCH Users Guide/Reference Copyright 1991 Patri-Soft Page 14 -------------------------------------------------------------------- /DR: DRive list. If the drive is not specified in the main pathname, PSEARCH will search the current disk device. /DR: indicates one or more drives that the search is to be performed on. The following example indicates the search is to be done on drives C and D. /DR:cd The drive list is especially useful for searching all drives on a system containing multiple hard disks. Specify this parameter in the PSEARCH= environment variable to force it to be in effect for all command line executions. /DS Directory path search. Normally PSEARCH will search only the current directory or the entire disk of /S is also specified. The /DS parameter indicates PSEARCH is to search the specified or current directory and all of its subordinate directories for files. This parameter is useful for those system that have well structured hard disk directories. For example, PSEARCH can easily search all word processing directories if all these directories are subordinate to a single high level directory name. If you have a directory structure like the following... C:\ Root directory C:\WPSYS\ Word processing system files C:\WP\ Word processing data files C:\WP\PLANNING\ Planning documents C:\WP\MEMOS\ Memos C:\WP\STANDARD\ Polocies and Procedures Use the following PSEARCH command to search for all documents containing the text "emergency"... PS C:\WP\*.*/t:emergency/ds Only the word processing document files will be searched. All other directories on your hard disk will be ignored. PSEARCH Users Guide/Reference Copyright 1991 Patri-Soft Page 15 -------------------------------------------------------------------- /EX Exclude files. Primarily intended for text search requests, the exclude facility allows you to provide a list of pathname and filename specifications that are to be excluded from PSEARCH processing. Since searching through data on your hard disk requires extensive processing and disk read time, excluding files from the process will save you time, and will reduce the number of false matches displayed for your requests. The most common files to exclude from text search processing is product program and control files. These files constitute a large portion of your hard disk's used space and unnecessarily lengthen the time it takes searches to locate the desired data. The exclude facility is implemented with two actions. First, you will need to create an exclude specification file and place it in the same directory where PSEARCH is installed on your hard disk. This file will contain the names of all the files and paths to be excluded. You may specify DOS pattern names to exclude groups of files with a single specification. Like DOS, use the '*' to indicate the last part of a filename or filename extension may be any set of characters. Also like DOS, use the '?' to indicate that any single position of a filename may be any character. In addition to DOS, two additional pattern features are available. You may place an '*' anywhere in the filename to indicate any set of characters may exist in this point in the name. For pathnames, you may place an '**' at the end of a directory path specification to indicate the specification applies to the specified directory and all subordinate directories. Using '**', you can exclude an entire path with a single specification. You must tell PSEARCH what you want selected for search, and what you want excluded. PSEARCH supports both of these, making use of the SEL and EXC commands. Placing a SEL in front of the filename or pattern tells PSEARCH to select that file, while putting an EXC tells PSEARCH to exclude it. If nothing is specified, PSEARCH assumes EXC. PSEARCH Users Guide/Reference Copyright 1991 Patri-Soft Page 16 -------------------------------------------------------------------- Following are examples: 1. EXC *.EXE 2. *.COM 3. EXC TEST*.* 4. EXC *TEST*.* 5. EXC DO?FIX.* 6. ESC PC*XX.* 7. EXC C:\DOS\*.* 8. EXC \TEST\*.* 9. EXC D:\GAMES**\*.* 10 SEL TEST.XXX 11 SEL FIND.EXE Explanations for the above examples: 1. Excludes all filenames with the extension .EXE from processing. 2. Excludes all filenames ending with extension .COM. 3. Excludes all filenames beginning with the letters "TEST" from processing. 4. Excludes all filenames having the characters "TEST" anywhere in the first portion of the filename. 5. Exclude files having 'DO' as the first 2 characters of the filename, and 'FIX' as the 4th, 5th, and 6th filename characters. The 3rd character of the filename may be any character. 6. Exclude files having a name beginning with the 2 characters PC and where the first portion of the filename ends with the characters 'XX'. Any 0 to 4 characters may exist between the 'PC' and 'XX' in the first portion of the filename. 7. Exclude all files from the DOS directory on drive C:. 8. Exclude all files from the TEST directory existing on any drive searched. 9. Exclude all files from the D:\GAMES\ directory and also exclude all files and directories subordinate to the GAMES directory. 10. Even though all files containing the word TEST are excluded, using a SEL statment tells PSEARCH to search just that filename or pattern. 11. Same concept as above. Even though all the *.EXE files are excluded, the SEL statement forces PSEARCH to look in that file. PSEARCH Users Guide/Reference Copyright 1991 Patri-Soft Page 17 -------------------------------------------------------------------- Exclude file names -- Since you may want to exclude different files from file find and text search requests, a different exclude file name exists for each. PSEARCHF.EXC -- File Find exclude specifications PSEARCHT.EXC -- Text Search exclude specifications These files may be created using most any word processor or text editor. If you have no word processor or editor you may use the EDLIN text editor provided with your DOS system. The exclude files must exist in the same directory the PS.EXE file is located on. PS.EXE is the name of the PSEARCH program file. Activating exclude -- Exclude will only be functional when the /EX command parameter is specified. When /EX is specified, you must have a valid exclude file. PSEARCH will not continue without one. If you wish exclude to be active during all executions, specify /EX as part of the PSEARCH= DOS environment variable. See later in the documentation for a description of this feature. /F Find File in the current directory. Normally PSEARCH will search all directories to find a file. Use the /F parameter to limit PSEARCH to search only the specified or current directory. /FP Find Prefix - (use with /T:) Indicates that matching text must be at the end of an existing word. Designed primarily for word searches, find prefix qualifies the search to help you find exactly the match you want. /FS Find Suffix - (use with /T:) Works like find prefix, except finds the matching text only if it preceeds an existing word. PSEARCH Users Guide/Reference Copyright 1991 Patri-Soft Page 18 -------------------------------------------------------------------- /FW Find Word - (use with /T:) The text to be searched for is a word. Only select text that is a complete word. A word is defined as any string of characters and numbers that is not preceded or succeeded with other characters or numbers. In "This", "This" is a word. "is" is not a word. A search like PS *.*/t:is/fw would show matches for is but will not match on the "is" characters in "this". /L Line numbers. When you are searching DOS text files for specific text (/T: parm used), use the /L parameter when you want PSEARCH to determine and display the number of the line associated with the text displayed. DOS text files are those files that have a carriage return and line feed at the end of each line of text. A good example of these is DOS batch command files (*.BAT). Word processing files often do not use this format and so line number specifications are not often useful for them. /N:nnn Newdays - Indicates that only files created or updated within the last nnn days are to be selected for processing. /N:1 causes any files updated within the last day to be selected. To search for files updated on the current date, specify /N:0. /ND No Data. For text searches, PSEARCH normally displays the text data lines for matching data found in files searched. If you only need the filenames shown, use the /ND parameter to deactivate the text display. /NM No Multiples. For text search specifications, causes PSEARCH to only search for a single matching text in any file and displays only one match. Other matches may exist in the file. /NO No mOre - Normally PSEARCH will stop at the end of each full display of lines. You may press <ESCAPE> to terminate processing, <C> to disable more and display without stopping again, or press any other key to display another page of the display and stop again. /NO disables this feature. PSEARCH Users Guide/Reference Copyright 1991 Patri-Soft Page 19 -------------------------------------------------------------------- /NM Use of the /NM parameter will shorten your display of output and may improve search performance by stopping the search of a file after a single match is shown. /NW No Windows. PSEARCH normally operates in full screen window mode. To deactivate this feature and DISplay all output in normal DOS line mode specify this parameter. The /NW parameter causes PSEARCH to use BIOS type screen writes to display output to the display. The /NW parameter may be useful when you have special devices or TSR's active that screen or capture output going through these interfaces. /NP Suppress ALL PSEARCH output. /O:nnn Olddays - Indicates that only files older than nnn days are to be selected for processing. /O:365 will cause files over one year old to be selected. /P Pause - Pause PSEARCH will pause whenever a match of filename or text in a file is found. You may terminate the search or continue by pressing any key. /PF Print to File - If you want to direct print to an output file, enter /PR. The file PSPRINT.DAT will be created in the current directory. The resulting file may be edited or viewed using your current word processor, text editor, or the DOS TYPE command. /PR PRint - Causes all screen output to also be directed to the output printer device. This allows you to have a printed record of PSEARCH results. /R:nnn Near specification for multiple text searches. You may use the /R parameter when you have also specified multiple /T: parameters to cause PSEARCH to search for multiple sets of text. /R specifies a number of characters that may exist between the first characters of the text to be searched. In other words, the text will only be considered a match if it is within n characters of all other text specified. PSEARCH Users Guide/Reference Copyright 1991 Patri-Soft Page 20 -------------------------------------------------------------------- Use the /R when you want to find values related to one another and know the values will exist within close proximity of each other in the file. The following example will search files for the name 'Jones' and will identify a letter to this person by indicating the search is only to search for the name 'jones' when it also exists near the letter salutation 'Dear'. The /R:50 value indicates the two values must be within 50 characters of each other in the file. PS *.*/t:jones/t:near/r:50/ta /RT Related text. During text searches /RT will cause PSEARCH to attempt to display up to 10 lines of text related to the matching text being shown. In many cases, less than 10 lines of text may be shown when PSEARCH detects unprintable data or changes in paragraph structure. When /RT is specified, each display of matched text will be separated by horizontal bar lines to help you better see the groups of text being displayed. /S System - Indicates that all directories on all hard disk drives are to be searched. If a directory or drive is specified as part of the pathname, only it will be searched. /SO Turns the PSEARCH signal sounds off. /T:text to be searched Text - Specifies the text to be found for text search requests. The text string may contain any characters. A terminating command line or the following slash character will signal the end of the text to be searched. If this is the last parameter on the command any trailing spaces will not be included in the search. To include trailing spaces, terminate the string with an ending slash character. Text may be specified in upper or lower case. Unless the /C parameter is specified to force exact text matches, the search will be made for any match regardless of case. Strings may also be single or double quoted. This allows for special characters to be included in the search string such as / characters. PSEARCH Users Guide/Reference Copyright 1991 Patri-Soft Page 21 -------------------------------------------------------------------- Examples: /T:BUDGET /T:Budget /T:Mr. Jones/ /T:"01/01/88" Note, to include a trailing space as part of search text, you must follow search text by another / command parameter. For example: PS *.C/T: SMITH /TA Up to five (5) /T: parameter specifications may be included for text search requests. This allows PSEARCH to search for five different texts on a single search of a disk or directory. When multiple text is specified, consider the use of the /TA parameter to force PSEARCH to find all text in a single file before considering the file a match. The /T: parameter serves the purpose of indicating to PSEARCH of the search is to be for text in a file or for file names. Any command line execution of PSEARCH without the /T: parameter will cause PSEARCH to assume the request is to locate files by name only. /TA Text 'AND'. Used for mutiple text searches. Indicates that all text must be found in the file for a PSEARCH to display a match. Without /TA specified, any matching text will be displayed. /X:xxx eXecute - Build and execute a DOS command whenever a filename match or a text match is found. xxx is the DOS command to be executed. The command may either be a standard DOS command or the name of a DOS batch command file. The command will be executed with a second copy of COMMAND.COM. The command data may contain the following special characters to allow for substitution values. # - Always replaced with the selected filename & - Always replaced with the selected path/filename ! - Always replaced with the filename without extension @ - Replaced with a slash to allow for command parameters to be specified in executed commands. PSEARCH Users Guide/Reference Copyright 1991 Patri-Soft Page 22 -------------------------------------------------------------------- Examples: /X:ERASE &To delete selected files /X:ARC A OLD123.ARC # To use ARC utility to archive file /X:TYPE & To type the file /X:LOTUS Start 123 for the file /XF:xxx eXecute File - Works like /X except that the command is not executed, it is generated and placed in a DOS batch command file named PSCMDS.BAT in the current directory. This file may be edited before it is executed. /XP:xxx eXecute with Pause - Functions in the same way as the /X parameter except that you are asked to indicate if the command is to be executed for each selected file. Specification of default parameters ----------------------------------- Default parameters are parameters that do not need to be specified each time PSEARCH is started. Any PSEARCH parameter may be specified as a default parameter. Use the DOS SET command to specify the parameter name and contents to be used by PSEARCH each time it is started. The following example indicates the /EX exclude parameter specification is to be automatically provided to PSEARCH each time it is used in the command mode. SET PSEARCH=/D/M Once this DOS command is issued, each subsequent use of PSEARCH will operate as if these parameters have been specified on the command line. The SET command is most commonly placed in the AUTOEXEC.BAT file so it may be in effect every time your machine is started. PSEARCH Users Guide/Reference Copyright 1991 Patri-Soft Page 23 -------------------------------------------------------------------- Screen colors and monitor support --------------------------------- PSEARCH checks the DOS equipment flags to determine what type of monitor you have on your system. This is usually always correct except for one specific information. For those users running a composite monitor with a color graphics card, the screens may not be displayed correctly. If this occurs, use the DOS MODE command to set your environment to black and white. This can be done at system startup or just before starting PSEARCH. Beware that some applications incorrectly reset these indicators and they may need to be reset before again running PSEARCH. Following is an example, see the DOS reference for more information about setting the monitor with the MODE command. DOS MODE command example ===> MODE BW80 Pausing the Search ------------------ Even if the Pause parameter is not specified, you may pause the search at any time by pressing any keyboard key. At the end of the next process PSEARCH will pause. You will then have the opportunity to continue processing, use a function key, or exit from PSEARCH. Bonus features for registered users | ----------------------------------- | | To encourage users to register, the following "bonus" features are made available only to registered users. When you register your use of this utility by completing the registration form and sending it in with the requested fee, you will soon receive special codes to unlock these bonus features for your use. These unlocking codes will work for the current and all future versions of the utility. I apologize for having to implement locked out features, but after 5 years of experience of developing Shareware it is clear that most users will not register utility software without having something to encourage them. The bonus features provide a small reward for those who do take the time to register. | /RT - Ability to show related text for search matches /PR - Direct display output to the line printer /PF - Direct display output to a print file /SO - Turn off the sound /DR: - Multiple drive support is limited to 2 drives Use of the PSEARCH= environment variable. PSEARCH Users Guide/Reference Copyright 1991 Patri-Soft Page 24 -------------------------------------------------------------------- Program Maintenance History --------------------------- There is an ongoing commitment to improve PSEARCH as long as there is expressed need by PSEARCH users. I do respond to your requests. The enhancements below reflect both user requests and my own ideas. Please let me know of your needs, maybe they can appear on this list in the future. ------------------------------------------------------------------ Version 1.0 March 1, 1986 -- PSEARCH Version 1.0 was released in March 1st, 1986 Version 2.0 April 8, 1986 PSEARCH Version 2.0 was released April 8th, 1986. It upgraded version 1 with the following new features. -- Ability to search in .ARC files for filenames /AR /AO -- Find text by WORD, PREFIX, or SUFFIX /FW /FP /FS -- Returns back to menus after search is complete -- Extract data to file implemented -- Fix to show found text un upper/lower case -- /SO to turn sound off -- Ability to exclude .COM and .EXE files from search -- Ability to search all drives attached to system /DR:abc Version 3.0 September 7, 1986 PSEARCH Version 3.0 was released Sept. 7th, 1986. It upgraded version 2 with the following new features. -- Sound alike and other new filespec wildcards (! ; ~). -- More menu options on the Peak menu. -- Correction to retrieve proper environment string to be used when executing DOS commands. Version 3.3 July 5, 1987 -- Change registration so there is no longer a need to have the PSEARCH.REG file exist in the root directory. -- Text searches will not attempt to search .ARC files. Since these files are compressed it makes no sense to search them for text. -- Use environment field PS= to specify default command parameters. PSEARCH Users Guide/Reference Copyright 1991 Patri-Soft Page 25 -------------------------------------------------------------------- Version 3.4 September 16, 1987 -- Ignore ~ ! and ; filename search characters unless they are in the first position of the filename. Previous versions file searches would fail if these characters were found in any position but the first. -- Correct filename matching. If file XXX would not be found if pattern name of XXX.* was specified. -- When print option was used with menus, when processing completed, menu text was printed to the printer. Corrected. Version 3.8 March 1, 1988 -- Add ability to accept " or ' quoted strings in text search input command data. This is for the /T: parameter only. Version 4.0 February 22,1990 This version is essentially a rewrite of the original PSEARCH facility. All the changes are too numerous to mention. Following is a list of the most significant changes. Enhancements... -- Add ability to search up to 5 text strings -- AND/OR capability on text strings -- New exclude file allows user to specify file names -- New menu structure -- Near parameter to force multiple text matches to be within n characters of each other. -- /NW implements no window mode for those that need or prefer DOS style displays. -- /DS parameter allows a single directory path including all subordinate directories to be searched. -- The limit of the number of directories that can be searched greatly enhanced. The maximum number of directories is related to the amount of free memory available to PSEARCH. Items removed... -- The Peak feature has been removed. -- The 5 text strings replaces the ability to specify a ? in the text search string. -- The exclude file replaces the /SK command to skip .COM and .EXE files. PSEARCH Users Guide/Reference Copyright 1991 Patri-Soft Page 26 -------------------------------------------------------------------- Version 4.1 February 26, 1990 -- System lockup during speaker beeps. Also improper beeps. -- Set sounds off as default -- Set pause at full screen (more) as default in command mode Version 4.2 March 9, 1990 -- Added /RT parm to show related text -- Added field edit capabilities. -- Removed more line from display after user pressed a key -- Replaced /MO with /NO. More was made default. Version 4.3 May 4, 1990 -- Corrected errors encountered when processing .ZIP files containing directory names as well as filenames. -- Corrected problem where PSEARCH ignored the drive specification for the path to be searched. -- Added directory name to filename display on search display -- Added a screen of condensed help. -- Improved screen I/O performance -- Removed requirement to place quotes around text to be searched for in command line. You may now search for data containing spaces. PS *.TXT/T:Joe Doe -- File find now searches all hard disk drives unless a specific drive is specified. -- /S parameter causes all hard disk drives to be scanned unless a specific drive is specified in the supplied pathname. Version 4.4a July 11, 1990 -- When PS *.exe/DS used. The same directory was searched 3 times. This only happened when directory had no subdirectories. PS was fixed to scan the directory once. -- For network operation -- added auto skipping of any files DOS denied access to. A message is printed for each file that is bypassed. -- Detect bad exclude file specifications and stop processing. Processing used to continue but not select any files. -- PSEARCH was searching all directories for a file even when a specific pathname was specified. The search is now limited to just the specified pathname. -- Support multiple drive parameter (/DR:) when directory name specified. Allows multiple drives to be searched for a single directory name. -- PS *.* /AT:u stopped displaying output when readonly, hidden, system, updated file displayed. -- Added [=blank and ]=\ to /X: command substitution Version 4.4c December 17, 1990 -- Added capability to specify a list of files to be searched on the command line using the "@" symbol. -- Added the /NP (No Print) parameter -- Enhanced the .EXC file to be able to process SELect and EXClude statements. Version 4.4D -- Fixed problem with registration info not displayed. Version 4.4E -- When PSEARCH.DAT found during file search IN ARCHIVES, program locked up. -- /X: parm did not work in /NW mode. DOS returned Bad command or filename. -- A couple little comsmetics. -- If a corrupted .ZIP file was encounterd, PS crashed. Now skips the file. PSEARCH Users Guide/Reference Copyright 1991 Patri-Soft Page 27 -------------------------------------------------------------------- Registering The Utilities ------------------------- PSEARCH is distributed under the Shareware concept. This allows users to evaluate software for a short time to determine if it is useful to them. If you decide the software is of value to you and decide to keep and use, you are required to register it. This concept allows for quality software to be distributed at a reasonable cost. Hundreds of hours of my time has been invested in PSEARCH. Continued registration will justify the continued upgrading of this utility to insure it remains up to date with current technology. In any case, I do greatly appreciate all users that care enough to register. I try to provide the best possible software for all you faithful supporting users. You may use the order form on the next page when registering. Send registration requests to: Patri-Soft P.O. Box 8263 San Bernardino, CA 92412 The registration charge is a one time fee that entitles you to all future versions of the product. These may either be obtained from normal Shareware sources or from me. I do not automatically send product updates to registered users. It is impossible to provide automatic upgrades at the low costs of these utilities. If you would like to receive the next version of the software, add an additional $15 to your order and indicate on the order form you wish to receive the next update version. You will be sent the next version along with an optional order form to request subsequent releases. PSEARCH Users Guide/Reference Copyright 1991 Patri-Soft Page 28 -------------------------------------------------------------------- Site licensing plans for one or more Patriquin utilities: --------------------------------------------------------- 1. Site licensing fees are as follows: The first five copies of any or all utilities are purchased at full price. If all utilities are purchased, printed documentation is included for these first 5 copies. All additional copies of any utility or complete package are 1/3 off the normal price. You pay a maximum of $2000.00 to register any individual utility or $4500.00 for all utilities, for an entire site. This gives your installation rights to copy and distribute the utilities to anyone at your site. This also allows "at-home" use of any utility for any person at the site. A site is a company location in one city. A location in another city is considered a second site. If a utility is placed on a LAN, each regular user of a utility placed on the LAN should be registered. Use your own good judgement here. PSEARCH Users Guide/Reference Copyright 1991 Patri-Soft Page 28 -------------------------------------------------------------------- VISA / Mastercard / Telephone Registration ------------------------------------------ You may place a telephone order for the utilities using your credit card by calling Nelson Ford's Public (Software) Library. Telephone orders: 800-242-4775 or 713-665-7017 The PSL supplies Shareware software at a nominal cost to its customers. Consider them for all your Shareware needs. ---- OR ------ You may call the Patri-Soft BBS and register online. The number is (714) 352-2825 1200/14000 8-N-1. Fill out script 2 to place your order. Credit card orders are also accepted through U.S. Mail. REGISTRATION ------------ Patri-Soft provides full support to users, both registered and non-registered. We provide support through several different way: U.S. Mail - You may send us problem reports through the mail. Any extended information that you can provide is greatly appreciated. (i.e. screen shots, the actual problem file, etc). Telephone - You may contact us at (714) 352-2820 to discuss problems. However, extended telephone support may be limited as the circumstances require. CIS - You may contact us on CompuServe (76347,2477). This is usually the fastest way. A BBS is in operation 24 hours a day to take your enhancement requests and problem reports. The number for this is (714) 352-2825. (1200/14000 8-N-1). Extended access is provided to registered users of the utilities. Patri-Soft offers a money back guarrentee if you are not satisfied with the software. Simply contact us with the reasons of your dissatisfaction, and we will gladly refund your money. We at Patri-Soft pride ourself on our user support. If for some reason you feel that you have not gotten the service you deserve, PLEASE let us know. We try to respond to ALL users quickly and politely. PSEARCH 4.4E Registration Request VISA/Mastercard orders are also accepted through telephone orders. Call the Public (Software) Library at 800-242-4775 to order NOW! _____ Registration of all Patriquin Utilities with disk and bound User's Guide ........................$45.00 When you register the below versions, you will receive registration codes along with the latest version of the utility. _____ PSEARCH -- Advanced find files with text............$20.00 _____ PCOPY -- Advanced windowed DOS COPY alternative...$20.00 _____ PALERT -- Warns you of low disk space..............$15.00 _____ PATTR -- Manage attributes of DOS files...........$10.00 _____ PDAILY -- Automatically execute commands once/day..$10.00 _____ PDELETE -- Save space with automatic disk cleanup...$15.00 _____ PPRINT -- Advanced file print w/special formats....$15.00 _____ Next Update Please send me the next version automatically when it is available.......$15.00 _____ Update a registered set with new disk and manual. Registered users only Ser: __________ ...........$15.00 Disk Size? 5 1/4 3 1/2 ******************************************************************* Name: __________________________________________________ Company: _______________________________________________ Address: _______________________________________________ _______________________________________________ City: ________________________ State: ________ Zip: __________ Method of Payment: ______ Check enclosed ______ Credit card, (Visa, Mastercard only) Account number: __________________________________ Exp. Date: _____________ Please register the software under the following name: ____________________________________________________________ I learned about the utilities from: ____________________________ If BBS (name/number)____________________________________________ Send to Patri-Soft, P.O. Box 8263, San Bernardino, CA 92412 PSEARCH Users Guide/Reference Copyright 1991 Patri-Soft Page 30 -------------------------------------------------------------------- Reporting Problems (PSEARCH 4.4E) I welcome all comments or enhancement suggestions. Please document each item clearly and provide printed examples, if possible. Please be sure to include this form with all requests. It will help to make sure we can provide you with the best possible service. Name: __________________________________________________________ Company: _______________________________________________________ Address: _______________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________ City: __________________________________ State: _______________ Zip: ______________________________ Telephone: _______ / ________________________ (Home / Work) Date: _________________________ Machine Type:_______________ Name of Utility: _______________________ DOS Level: ____________ Description of problem or enhancement: ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ Suggested solution: ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________