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L A S T A C C E S S File Access Monitor --------- AND --------- L A S T A C C E S S D I R E C T O R Y Directory Utility for Last Access By Patri-Soft (tm) ┌─────────┐ ┌─────┴───┐ │ MEMBER ───│ │ │──────────────── │ ┌──────┴──┐ │ Association of │ │ ├──┘ Shareware └──┤ ■ │ Professionals ──────│ ║ │─────────────────── └────╨────┘ 5225 Canyon Crest Dr. Suite 71-358 Riverside, CA 92507 (909) 352-2820 (Voice) (909) 352-2825 (Data) (909) 352-1527 (Fax) August, 1993 Copyright 1993 by Patri-Soft Table of Contents OVERVIEW......................................................... 1 HOW TO USE LAST ACCESS........................................... 3 COMPATIBILITY................................................. 3 LAST ACCESS OPTIONS........................................... 3 DISABLING LAST ACCESS......................................... 4 LAST ACCESS DIRECTORY............................................ 4 LDIR USAGE.................................................... 5 LDIR COMMANDS................................................. 5 EXAMPLE OF COMMAND USAGE................................... 6 LIST OF LDIR COMMANDS...................................... 6 /A ACCESSED FILES...................................... 6 /D: DATE SELECT......................................... 6 /LC DISPLAY BYTES NOT USED IN X NUMBER OF DAYS......... 7 /LD LAST ACCESS DATE................................... 7 /LP LAST PROGRAM NAME.................................. 7 /ND NO DIRECTORIES..................................... 7 /NH NO HEADER.......................................... 7 /NS NO STATISTICS..................................... 7 /O OMIT FILES......................................... 8 /ON ONLY NAMES........................................ 8 /OS ONLY STATISTICS.................................. 8 /P PAUSE DISPLAY..................................... 8 /PX PROGRAM EXCLUDE.................................. 8 /S SEARCH THE SYSTEM................................. 9 /SZ SELECT FILES BY SIZE.............................. 9 TECHNICAL SUPPORT................................................ 9 TO CONTACT US:................................................ 9 REGISTERING WITH PATRI-SOFT...................................... 10 i OVERVIEW Is your hard drive becomeing dangerously close to being full? Have you run DoubleSpace or Stacker only to realize that you are still going to run out of room? Wouldn't it be nice if you had a utility that would allow you to move or delete inactive files to floppies - files that you don't even use? You could truly manage your hard drive space efficiently. Well, such a program does exist! It is the new Last Access from Patri-Soft. Last Access is a TSR that checks for any and all accesses to a file. If the file has never been viewed, altered, or run, then you monitor and optionally remove that file. Use Last Access in conjunction with LDIR - Last Access Directory, you can find these files quickly and easily. What makes Last Access even better is that it works with Patri-Soft's PCOPY to copy move or delete the files that you have found with Last Access. Future plans include upgrading Stowaway, Patri-Soft's off-line storage utility, to work with Last Access. Last Access not only keeps track of the last time a file was accessed, but by what program as well. An ACCESS occurs anytime you edit, change, or even view a file. Last Access remains in memory, "watching" these accesses, and marks them in the DOS directory. To determine when files were last accessed, Patri-Soft has provided a special directory utility that you can use instead of DOS' DIR. This directory utility will provide you with all the information that DOS DIR provides you with, in addition to the last access date and program. FOR EXAMPLE: ------------ Imagine having a full hard drive. You want to get rid of some files that are unused, but have no way of knowing when the files were last used, and by what program. So, you type: C:\WP\FILES> DIR and you get: Volume in drive C is MS-DOS Volume Serial Number is 1A7F-7458 Directory of C:\WP\FILES Last Access File Access Monitor August 1993 Copyright 1993 by Patri-Soft ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- . <DIR> 10-02-92 3:54p .. <DIR> 10-02-92 3:54p AMEND FAX 11481 10-28-89 11:03p FOSTER LTR 3637 05-02-90 10:53p BIKE TRP 4356 11-16-89 10:28a ETC... You still have no idea as to what files you can get rid of, and what files you need to keep. Imagine being able to type: C:\WP\FILES> LDIR and you get: Last Access Directory v1.0 Volume in drive C is MS-DOS Directory of C:\WP\FILES . <DIR> 10-02-92 3:54p .. <DIR> 10-02-92 3:54p AMEND FAX 11481 07-28-93 11:03p 12-31-92 BITFAX 18 days FOSTER LTR 3637 05-02-90 10:53p 05-02-90 WP 109 days BIKE TRP 4356 11-16-89 10:28a 06-25-93 EXPRESS 456 days ETC... ^ ^ last date last program Now you know exactly when you last used any file on your entire system. Imagine the megabytes of disk space that can be freed with this knowledge! If you don't use any given file/program for a period of 30 days, chances are you are not going to use it at all. Run the Last Access TSR for 30 days and you can then start getting rid of all those unused files. Here are some of the uses of Last Access: * Eliminate old files, such as letters, that are no longer necessary. * Some software packages include files that you do not use. Last Access can help you get rid of those unused portions of the software. * Manage your office machines by knowing what was being used, and when it was used. * Use in conjuction with Patri-Softs Stowaway to move unused files offline until needed. The Last Access package includes both the Last Access File Monitor as well as the Last Access Directory Scanner. Currently, only Patri-Soft's Last Access File Access Monitor August 1993 Copyright 1993 by Patri-Soft ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- PCOPY supports Last Access Dates, but soon, the entire line of Patri-Soft's programs will have Last Access Support. Patri-Soft is offering this technology to other developers as well. Contact the Patri-Soft office for details! How to Use Last Access ---------------------- Last Access is loaded in the AUTOEXEC.BAT file when the computer is first turned on. The Last Access TSR then occupies 4K of memory "watching" all file accesses. To insert Last Access into the computer's AUTOEXEC.BAT, edit AUTOEXEC.BAT and insert the Last Access command. Example: PROMPT $P$G <----- Existing already in AUTOEXEC.BAT DOSKEY <----------------------------------------- LACCESS <----- The Last Access command After editing and saving the changes, reboot the machine. Last Access will now be installed. Compatibility ------------- Last Access will work on IBM XT/AT clones and compatibles running DOS version 3.3 and above. Last Access also functions under MicroSoft Windows. Last Access Options ------------------- Last Access normally tracks all files accessed by all programs. However, some applications may access a file that you don't want to be marked as accessed. For example, in managing a machine, you don't want to know if a file has been accessed by a backup program, DOS COPY, a virus scanning program, etc. These accesses are legitimate, but don't indicate true file usage. Last Access can exclude certain programs by entering the program names on the same line as LACCESS when installing in the AUTOEXEC.BAT file. For example: LACCESS COMMAND SCAN BACKUP PCOPY This command will cause the Last Access Monitor to exclude monitoring the files that COMMAND.COM, SCAN.EXE, BACKUP.EXE, and PCOPY.EXE access. Therefore, only "legimate" file accesses will be tracked. This list of excluded files can be changed at any time during a computing session. Simply enter the command: Last Access File Access Monitor August 1993 Copyright 1993 by Patri-Soft ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- LACCESS SCAN and Last Access will exclude only SCAN.EXE. Then, to reinstall the other excludes, enter the command: LACCESS COMMAND SCAN BACKUP PCOPY. You may enter the Last Access command in .BAT (Batch) files to automatically perform these tasks for you. The exclude list of Last Access can be changed as many times during a computing session as needed. DISABLING LAST ACCESS --------------------- To temporarily disable Last Access, enter the command: LACCESS * Last Access will ignore all accesses made by all applications until reactivated by typing: LACCESS (with optional exclude specifications) LAST ACCESS DIRECTORY --------------------- As mentioned before, a Last Access directory utility is necessary to view the last time files were accessed. This directory utility, Last Access Directory (LDIR), displays the standard DOS directory information, as well as the last time each file was accessed. To use LDIR, simply type at the prompt: C:> LDIR Last Access Directory v1.0 Copyright 1993 by Patri-Soft Volume of drive C is MS-DOS Directory of C:\TC\ . <DIR> 10-07-92 3:24p . <DIR> 10-07-92 3:24p COMMON LST 135 07-08-93 11:38a 07-20-93 PCOPY (37 days) MEGA DO 109 08-06-93 1:20p 08-06-93 Q (20 days) PCOPY DSK 2846 08-26-93 11:33a 08-26-93 BC (Today) TDCONFIG TD 672 01-07-93 4:56p PDIR DSK 2071 08-26-93 2:07p 08-26-93 BC (Today) PDEL LST 117 07-21-93 4:20p STOW LST 4344 07-27-93 11:22a MEGA LST 392 08-04-93 11:57a 08-04-93 Q (22 days) DAN 2637 08-26-93 2:05p 08-26-93 PDEL (Today) Last Access File Access Monitor August 1993 Copyright 1993 by Patri-Soft ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 10 file(s) 8,755 bytes 1 file(s) 135 bytes (3 percent) NOT used in last 30 days 53,002,240 bytes free EXPLAINING THE DISPLAY: ---------------------- The first five columns are the same as the DOS DIR command, detailing the file's name, size, date, and time. The remaining columns display the Last Access information. These last three columns contain the Last Access date, program, and number of days since the last access. The statistics at the bottom of the display contain the total number of files in the directory, and the number of files and bytes that have been UNUSED in the last 30 days. Remember, if the program to last access a file is undesirable (for example, DOS COMMAND), simply include the program name on the command line when loading the Last Access TSR (See the Last Access Options section of this manual). LDIR USAGE ---------- The proper syntax for using LDIR is: LDIR <path/filespec> <optional switches> If a path or filename is left out of the command, LDIR will use the current directory. However, you may specify an alternate path and/or file pattern. Using wildcards (*, ?) in the filename is allowed, as long as they conform to the DOS standard of using wildcards. This is identical to the DOS DIR command. Examples of usage: LDIR C:\BAT <===== See the files in the BAT directory LDIR C:\BAT\AU*.BAT <===== See all files staring with AU in C:\BAT LDIR <===== See the files in the current directory At any time during LDIR's display, you may press a key to pause the scrolling. It's that simple! LDIR COMMANDS ------------- As stated before, a number of parameters can be used to alter LDIR's operation. To use a switch, just add the switch to the end of the LDIR command. Multiple switches can be used together. NOTE: Commands may also be placed in the enviroment using the SET Last Access File Access Monitor August 1993 Copyright 1993 by Patri-Soft ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- command. LDIR will get those commands and use them each time it is executed. To set a parameter in the enviroment, simply type: SET LDIR = <switches> Example of Command Usage ------------------------ LDIR C:\BAT /P <=== See the files in C:\BAT and pause after every screen LDIR *.BAK /S <=== See all files ending with .BAK across the entire drive. LIST OF LDIR COMMANDS --------------------- /A Accessed Files Show only files marked with last access dates. Normally LDIR includes accessed files together with unaccessed files. This switch excludes files that have not been accessed. /D: Date Select Select files based on date or days. Usage: LDIR /D: [(] [)] [=] [DATE] The "(", ")", and the "=" are condition modifiers, which specify if the date requested is LESS THAN, GREATER THAN, or EQUAL TO the date specified. When DATE contains a valid date, the date specified is compared to the date of the file. The file is selected if the condition specified by the condition modifier is met. The condition modifier meanings are: ( File date is older than that specified. LESS THAN ) File date is newer than that specified. GREATER THAN = File date is equal to that specified. EQUAL TO If the condition modifier is not specified, ")" is assumed. Date values may be specified in any of the following formats: FORMAT: MM/DD/YY MM-DD-YY DDMMMYY EXAMPLE: 12/31/80 12-31-80 31DEC80 If [DATE] contains a numeric value instead of a valid Last Access File Access Monitor August 1993 Copyright 1993 by Patri-Soft ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- date, that number is the number of days old a file should be in order to be displayed. EXAMPLE RESULT ------- ------ PDIR /D:(10-24-92 Display files older than 10-24-92 PDIR /D:)4 Display files newer than 4 days old PDIR /D:=09AUG93 Display all files dated August 9, 1993 /LC Display bytes not used in X number of days Normally, LDIR gives the number of bytes that have not been used in the last 30 days. If you would like to increase or decrease the number of days that LDIR examines, use this parameter as follows: LDIR /LC:45 <=== Calculates number of files not used in the last 45 days. Can be any number from 0 to 32,000. /LD Last Access Date This parameter is identical in use to the /D parameter. The difference is the /LD processes according to the Last Access Date, and not the file date. Example: LDIR /LD:=09AUG93 <=== View files accessed August 9 /LP Last Program Name List files according to the program that last accessed a given file. Displays only those files matching the specified program name. Example: LDIR /LP:WP <== Lists only files accessed by WP.EXE. /ND No Directories Suppress the display of directories in the file listing. /NH No Header Suppress display of the header, containing version number and copyright notification. /NS No Statistics. Last Access File Access Monitor August 1993 Copyright 1993 by Patri-Soft ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Suppress the display of the ending statistics, containing number of files, bytes, etc. /O Omit Files LDIR may omit certain files from the directory listing. These may be files that you do not want to view, such as .EXE, .COM etc. To use, type: PDIR /O:[filespec]. Multiple file patterns may be used by seperating them by a comma. Example: LDIR /O:*.EXE <=== Does not display files ending with .EXE LDIR /O:*.EXE,*.COM <=== Does not display files ending with .EXE or .COM You may specify up to 200 characters of exclude specifications. /ON Only Names To produce a listing which contains ONLY the filenames, use the parameter. All other information, including Last Access date, with be eliminated. However, all selection criteria is still valid. This is designed to allow for the generation of a list of filenames. Programs like PCOPY can take advantage of a list of filenames and perform action on them. /OS Only Statistics Instead of listing files and the directory statistics, display only the directory statistics (number of files, bytes, usage). /P Pause Display LDIR may display more information than can fit on one screen. To pause the output every screen, append /P onto the LDIR command. LDIR will pause for input every 25 lines. /PX Program eXclude LDIR can exclude listing files that have been accessed by the specified program. Therefore, if you wish to exclude all files that have been accessed by DOS, you would enter on the command line: Last Access File Access Monitor August 1993 Copyright 1993 by Patri-Soft ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- LDIR /PX:COMMAND Up to 50 program names may be excluded from any give command. To exclude multiple program names, enter: LDIR /PX:COMMAND,WP,Q,etc... /S Search the System To scan the entire system for files, enter the command: LDIR /S LDIR will scan the entire hard disk for files matching the desired file pattern. If no file pattern is supplied, all files will be listed. /SZ Select files by siZe Usage: LDIR /SZ:[(] [)] nnn Select a file based on its size. The ( indicates that files less than the indicated size are to be selected. The ) indicates to select files greater than the size. If neither is specified, ( is assumed. As stated before, any combination of parameters can be used as long as they do not directly conflict with each other. Technical Support ----------------- Technical support is available by phone, FAX, mail, or CompuServe. Limited technical support is offered to all users - extended technical support is available only to registered users. UNREGISTERED USERS: We want to help you in the case of technical problems. Our object is to help you to get Last Access and LDIR functioning properly and quickly. We regret that due to the number of users that contact us for technical support, we may have to limit the amount of time spent on your particular problem. To Contact Us: -------------- Send letters to: Patri-Soft 5225 Canyon Crest Dr. Suite 71-358 Riverside CA, 92507 Last Access File Access Monitor August 1993 Copyright 1993 by Patri-Soft ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- FAX us at: 909-352-1527 Phone us at: 909-352-2820 Send us mail via CompuServe at: 76347,2477 All requests for assistance will be answered. Registering with Patri-Soft --------------------------- Please register your use of Last Access with Patri-Soft. Registering includes: -- Printed Manual -- Exetended Technical Support -- Free upgrades (via BBS) for one year -- Registered version of Last Access (without 3 second random delay and message) on diskette Registration enables the continuing development of the Patri-Soft software collection. Registration is $23 plus S/H. Please see the ORDER.FRM file in this package for more information.