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WhatIs - The FileIdentifier Version 1.01 18 June 1992 M A N U A L Copyright (c) 1992, Computer Bakery, All rights reserved. Published by Computer Bakery, PO Box 5, Flaxley SA 5153 Australia. Phone (08) 388 8439, International +618 388 8439 Contents WhatIs Licence Agreement TradeMarks Introduction System Requirements History Uses Warning Installing WhatIs Installing WhatIs on a Floppy Disk Automatic Installation on a Hard Disk Installing by Hand Installed Files Using WhatIs Getting Help (-h) Misnamed files (-m) Using file Extensions to make identifications (-e) Using 4DOS/NDOS Descript.ion files (-d) Restricting Width of output (-w) Identifying Text files (-t) Registering Whatis (-r) Saving options (-s) Using WhatIs under Microsoft Windows Registration Free Upgrade for Reporting Unrecognised File Types Recognised Files Plain Text Files Other Files Common Problems WhatIs Licence Agreement ======================== This license agreement governs your use of WhatIs. If you have any questions about it please contact Computer Bakery. The WhatIs programme and its associated documentation are (c) Copyright 1992, Computer Bakery, and are protected by Australian and international copyright law. In the rest of this agreement the WhatIs programme and its associated documentation are referred to simply as "WhatIs". You are granted a license to use your copy of WhatIs only under the terms and conditions specified in this licence agreement. WhatIs is distributed in two forms. A "registered" copy of WhatIs includes a registration number and the words "Registered to" in the help message. A "shareware" copy of WhatIs includes the words "Unregistered Copy" in the help message. You may use a shareware copy of WhatIs for no charge for a trial period of up to one month. If you want to continue to use WhatIs after that period you must obtain a registered copy by paying a registration fee. If you choose not to pay the registration fee you must stop using WhatIs. However you may keep copies and pass them on to others. Registered copies of WhatIs are only available to those who have payed the registration fee. You may only use a registered copy of WhatIs on the number of computers specified in your registration certificate. You must treat each of your registered copies just like a book. That means, for example, that each copy may be used by any number of people and may be freely moved from one computer location to another so long as there is NO POSSIBILITY of that copy being used at one location while it's being used at another. You may copy any version of WhatIs for normal backup purposes, and you may give copies of the shareware version to other individuals, which they may also use and copy subject to the terms of this agreement. If you copy the shareware version of WhatIs you must include all of the files distributed with it, including this one. You may not give copies of the registered version to any other person for any purpose, and you may not make copies of the printed WhatIs manual without written permission from Computer Bakery. You may NOT distribute WhatIs other than through individual copies of the shareware version passed to friends and associates for their individual use. Specifically, you may not place WhatIs in any user group or commercial library, or distribute it with any other product, such as but not limited to on the Hard Drive of a new computer, without express written permission from Computer Bakery, and you may not distribute for a fee, or in any way sell copies of Whatis. If you violate this provision you will be liable for licence fees for each copy you so distribute. However if you are a shareware disk vendor approved by the Association of Shareware Professionals (ASP), or a non- profit, tax-exempt user group, you may place a shareware copy of WhatIs in your library without prior written permission, provided you notify Computer Bakery within 15 days of doing so; and for shareware disk vendors, provided your application has been fully approved in writing by the ASP, and is not simply submitted or awaiting review. Your license and right to use this product is automatically terminated by any breach by you of this agreement. While we have attempted to ensure that WhatIs makes reliable identifications you are hereby warned that it is not always accurate. The only true test of a the identity of a file is does it work with the software it is designed to work with. You assume full responsibility for the selection and use of WhatIs to achieve your intended results. The Computer Bakery warrants that this programme will perform the functionality described in the accompanying manual. Computer Bakery warrants any manual and/or disks on which the programme is supplied which you obtained directly from Computer Bakery to be free from defects in material or workmanship under normal use for 60 days from the date of purchase. Defective media or documentation will be replace free provided that the defective item is returned to Computer Bakery with the receipt. In no event with Computer Bakery be liable for direct, indirect, incidental or consequential damages that occur through the use or inability to use this product. TradeMarks ========== 4DOS is a trademark of J.P. Software. Adobe and PostScript are registered trademarks of Adobe Systems Inc. BGI, Turbo C, Turbo C++, and Borland C++ are trademarks or registered trademarks of Borland International, Inc. Compaq is a registered trademark of Compaq Computer Corporation. CompuServe is a registered trademark of CompuServe, Inc. dBASE is a trademark of Ashton-Tate. Digital Research, DR DOS, GEM, GEM Draw, GEM Graph, GEM Desktop, GEM Paint are trademarks or registered trademarks of Digital Research, Inc. Epson is a registered trademark of Epson Corporation. Freelance, Lotus, and 1-2-3 are trademarks and Lotus 1-2-3 is a registered trademark of Lotus Development Corporation. Hercules is a trademark of Hercules Computer Technology Inc. HP is a registered trademark of Hewlett-Packard Company. IBM, IBM PC, IBM PC/XT, PC AT, IBM DOS, Personal System/2 and Displaywrite are registered trademarks and PS/2 and AT are trademarks of International Business Machines Corporation. Microsoft, Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Word, Microsoft Word for Windows, Microsoft Windows, and MS-DOS are registered trademarks and MS, MS Paint, and MS Works are trademarks of Microsoft Corporation. MultiMate Advantage is a trademark of MultiMate International Corporation, an Ashton-Tate Company. NEC is a registered trademark of NEC Corporation. Olivetti is a registered trademark of Ing. C. Olivetti PC Paintbrush is a trademark of Z-Soft Corporation. PC Tools is a trademark of Central Point Software Inc. PKZip is a registered trademark of PKWare Inc. Q&A and JustWrite are registered trademarks of Symantec Corporation. TI is a registered trademark of Texas Instruments, Inc. WordPerfect, PlanPerfect, and DataPerfect are registered trademarks and WordPerfect Library and WordPerfect Office are trademarks of WordPerfect Corporation. WordStar is a trademark of MicroPro International Corporation. Ventura Publisher is a registered trademark of Ventura Software, Inc. All other trademarks are the property of their respective holders and are hereby acknowledged. Introduction ============ WhatIs - The FileIdentifier - is a simple utility which will help you to identify what a file (or group of files) is (or are). It will usually be able to say what the file is and it will give any details that it can extract from the file such as its name or version number. WhatIs is not infallible (see Warning below). However WhatIs can identify many different types of file. The simplest way to use WhatIs is to type "whatis" followed by the name of the file you want to identify. The name can contain wild card characters. For example: C:\> whatis unknown.fil will identify (if possible) what unknown.fil is. Or: C:\> whatis *.* will identify all files in the default directory. System Requirements =================== WhatIs will run on any IBM PC or compatible. Other requirements (minimum) are: - 256 KB of memory. - PC-DOS 3.0 or greater or MS-DOS 3.0 or greater. - One diskette drive, but Hard Drive recommended. - 300 KB of disk space. - WhatIs.Exe, the FileIdentifier program itself. History ======= My inspiration for writing WhatIs was a brief description of a shareware programme of the same name that is available on the Atari ST. It was on the cover disk of a UK publication called "Public Domain". (They distribute a remarkable cover disk that can be read by Amiga, PC and ST). I have read the documentation for the Atari version of WhatIs but have not seen it in operation. "Public Domain" (Issue 4, March 1992) had this to say about the Atari version: "This is one of those programs that you would never have thought existed, but after looking at it you wonder why the idea hasn't been done before. "After this elaborate introduction you must be wondering just what this program actually does. Well, WhatIs is a tool that is capable of identifying 86 different types of files. "This is handy in a number of situations. For example, if you have downloaded an archived file from a BBS and it won't de-archive - let's say its filename has been given a different suffix than is should have - then WhatIs can be used to analyse the file. It will read the header of the file and tell you the method used to archive the file, or whether it has been archived at all. Over the last few weeks I have been analysing files on as many hard disks as I can get my hands on. The results are encapsulated in WhatIs - The FileIdentifier. I have already used an early version of WhatIs to identify a file which was apparently created by JustWrite but which JustWrite would not load. Uses ==== Two of the uses of WhatIs are mentioned above. Some of the other uses of WhatIs are: To identify which .Exe's are Windows programmes To examine what's on a hard disk To quickly examine files obtained from a bulletin board To identify files which have been recovered by ChkDsk To find out what a file is or does (particularly when you don't recognise the extension that it has) To identify files which are readable (i.e. text) To check which files (if any) have the wrong extension To identify the type of a file which has been changed to some- thing like .$$$ either by accident, design or computer error To generate the basis for a 4DOS/NDOS descript.ion file To find out why a particular file won't load To identify if a .res file is a Windows Resource or a Graphic Workshop Resource To identify if a .hlp file is Windows Help, Turbo Vision Help or something else Details on what WhatIs will tell you about each type of file that it can identify are given in the section on Recognised Files below. Warning ======= While every effort has been made to ensure that the identifications that WhatIs makes are accurate it will never be perfect. Sometimes WhatIs will not recognise a file that it knows about. For example this is quite possible with Windows programmes. Less frequently WhatIs will identify a file as something that it is not. For example an early version of WhatIs identified a Windows Help Bookmark file (.bmk) as a Windows Help file (.hlp). The only true test of what a file is is: "Can the programme it is designed to work with actually work with it?" Until you have checked this don't put your faith in what WhatIs tells you. It will be right most of the time but NOT all of the time. Installing WhatIs ================= Details are given below on how to install WhatIs on a floppy disk, on a hard disk and how to do everything by hand. Installing WhatIs on a Floppy Disk ---------------------------------- Place the disk with Whtis101.exe in drive A:. Place a formatted disk in drive B:. Then type (at the Dos prompt): B: and press the ENTER key. Then type: A:WHTIS101 and press the ENTER key. Automatic Installation to a Hard Disk ------------------------------------- The simplest way to install WhatIs on a Hard Disk from a floppy disk is to use the Install program provided. If you obtained WhatIs from a bulletin board or you want to install it by hand then follow the Installing by Hand instructions below. To use the install programme place the disk in drive A (or B). Make drive A the drive you are connected to by typing (at the Dos prompt): A: and pressing the ENTER key. Then type: INSTALL and press the ENTER key. The install programme will do four things. It will ask you for the name of a directory to place WhatIs in. If necessary it will create the directory. It will copy files from the disk to the directory. And it will (if necessary) offer to modify your Autoexec.Bat file so that the directory that WhatIs is in will be included in your Path. Before modifying your Autoexec.Bat it will ask you if you want this done automatically or if you want to do it yourself. If you want Install to make the modifications it will save a copy of Autoexec.Bat as Autoexec.Old. Installing by Hand ------------------ WhatIs and its documentation are stored in a self extracting archive. To install WhatIs manually, run whtis101.exe in an appropriate directory. For example if you have a "Util" directory on your hard drive that might be a suitable place for it. If you don't already have a directory for utility programmes you might want to create one with the following command. C:\>md c:\util Then connect to your chosen directory with: C:\>cd \util To extract WhatIs.Exe and its documentation use the following command: C:\util>a:whtis101 Next ensure that the directory you extracted WhatIs.Exe to is on your path. In your AutoExec.Bat file (see your Dos manual for details) you will probably have a line something like: path c:\;c:\dos;c:\windows If this line mentions the directory you have put WhatIs.Exe in you need do no more. Otherwise add it to the path command. For example if you put WhatIs.Exe in c:\util and the above path statement were in your AutoExec.Bat file then you would modify it so that it read: path c:\;c:\dos;c:\windows;c:\util (Notice that each directory is separated by ";".) Installed Files --------------- Once installed you will find that you have these files: ReadMe.Doc Brief intro & how to install WhatIs. ReadMe.Com Self Displaying version of ReadMe.Doc. WhatIs.Doc Complete WhatIs manual. WhatIs.Exe WhatIs Programme. WhatIs.Pif Program Info File for running WhatIs under Windows. WhatIs.Ufr Unidentified File Report Form. Order.Frm WhatIs order form. SysOp.Doc Information on WhatIs for BBS Sysops. Vendor.Doc Information on WhatIs for shareware disk vendors. Using WhatIs ============ The simplest way to use WhatIs is just to give the name of the file (or files) you want to identify. For example to identify Garden.Pcx: C:\> whatis garden.pcx Or to identify all .hlp files in the windows directory: C:\> whatis c:\windows\*.hlp Some of the features of whatis are only available by using command line options. For example to get help type: C:\> whatis -h Options can come before or after the name of the file you want to identify. They are indicated by either "-" or "/". Options can appear separately or can be immediately adjacent to each other (no intervening spaces, "-" or "/"). As shipped the default is that all of these options are off. If you want to turn one of them on permanently use the -s (Save) option. Then if you want to turn it off again give the same option again but followed by "-". See below for examples of saving options and disabling them again. Getting Help (-h) ----------------- To get help type: C:\> whatis -h Misnamed files (-m) ------------------- To list only files which WhatIs can identify as having the wrong extension: C:\> whatis -m *.* Using file Extensions (-e) -------------------------- Some times WhatIs is not able to identify a file by its contents but might be able to do so by its extension. For example: C:\> whatis -e *.* Beware: If you use this option WhatIs can not distinguish different file types which have the same extension on the basis of their extension. For example Gem PIF's and Windows PIF's both have the same extension. On the basis of their extension (.pif) WhatIs can not tell them apart. Using 4DOS/NDOS Descript.ion files (-d) --------------------------------------- 4DOS and NDOS (command.com replacements) use a hidden file called "descript.ion" to store user supplied descriptions of files. To use any available description stored in a "descript.ion" file as the primary source for identifying what a file is use the "-d1" option. For example: C:\> whatis -d1 *.* To use any available description stored in a "descript.ion" file as the secondary source for identifying what a file is use the "-d2" option. In this case WhatIs will only use information from the descript.ion file if WhatIs is unable to identify the file. For example: C:\> whatis -d2 *.* Restricting Width of output (-w40) ---------------------------------- To restrict the width of the description given of files use the "-w40" option. This will restrict the length (width) of the description to 40 characters. For example: C:\> whatis -w40 *.* This option is canceled with "-w80". This option is primarily for 4DOS and NDOS users who want to create a descript.ion file. For example: C:\> whatis -w40 *.* >descript.ion will create a descript.ion file which subsequent 4DOS/NDOS "dir" commands will use. However BEWARE that this will overwrite any existing desctipt.ion file. Note that the use of either of the "-d" options and immediate redirection to descript.ion are not compatible. To use a "-d" option and redirect the output to descript.ion do it in two stages: C:\> whatis -d1w40 *.* >temp C:\> copy temp descript.ion C:\> del temp Having created a descript.ion file you might want to make it hidden using the 4DOS/NDOS attrib command: C:\> attrib +h descript.ion Identifying Text files (-t) --------------------------- When WhatIs is identifying a file it first determines if the file is a text file or not. By default it make no further tests on text files. To have WhatIs try to identify what a text file is use the "-t" option. For example: C:\> whatis -t *.* Registering Whatis (-r) ----------------------- To record registration details with WhatIs use the "-r" option. You can only use this when you have received your registration certificate from Computer Bakery. Saving options (-s) ------------------- You can permanently set options by saving them. They will be stored in a file called WhatIs.Ini in the same directory that WhatIs.Exe is stored. To set an option give a WhatIs command including the option(s) you want to store and use the "-s" option. C:\> whatis -ms will make "display only Misnamed files" the default. To temporarily unset an option follow the option with a "-". For example if you have permanently set the misnamed files option as above then: C:\> whatis -m- *.* will display all files, not just misnamed files. To permanently unset an option which has been previously saved follow the options with a "-" and use the "-s" option. For example if you have permanently set the misnamed files option as above and want to permanently unset it: C:\> whatis -m-s Using WhatIs under Microsoft Windows ==================================== Although not designed to work with Windows, we have found that we can run WhatIs from within Windows. To aid this process we supply WhatIs.Pif (a Windows Program Information File) which needs to be in the same directory as WhatIs.Exe. To run WhatIs under Windows first ensure that WhatIs.Exe and WhatIs.Pif are in a directory on your path. (For details on your path see your DOS manual). Then select Run on the File menu in Program Manager, and type WhatIs followed by any switches or filename you want to give. Finally press the enter key. Registration ============ "WhatIs" is Shareware. That means that if, after you have evaluated it for a reasonable length of time (about 30 days), you decide to continue to use it, then you must register it. By registering WhatIs you will do several things. One: you will encourage me to continue developing WhatIs. Two: you will feel good at having done the right thing. Three: if you pay the full registration fee you will receive the latest version of WhatIs and a printed manual. Four: you will receive a registration number which when entered into WhatIs will stop the introductory screen being displayed. Five: you will receive notification of the next available major upgrade and will be eligible for a substantially reduced upgrade fee. Six: you will have an opportunity to get a free upgrade by reporting new or modified file types (see below). To register WhatIs print the file called Order.Frm, fill it out and post it together with a cheque for the registration fee to: Computer Bakery PO Box 5 Flaxley SA 5153 Australia Please note that all cheques must be drawn on an Australian Bank. Any cheque drawn on a non Australian Bank will be returned, causing you delay and extra expense. Free Upgrade for Reporting Unrecognised File Types ================================================== The nature of computer software is that things are always changing. That includes file formats. Consequently over time WhatIs will be able to identify less and less files. To overcome this we are constantly updating WhatIs. You can help us to keep WhatIs up to date with new and changed file formats. In return we will provide a free upgrade to the first user who provides us with sufficient details of new or modified file types which we subsequently add to the next release of WhatIs. For this upgrade if you have registered WhatIs we will send you a registered version, and if you have not we will send you a shareware evaluation copy. Please use the Unidentified File Report Form (WhatIs.Frm) when sending in reports of unidentified files types. Recognised Files ================ You should bear in mind that WhatIs is NOT foolproof. There may well be files which we have not come across which look like files we have seen. In that case WhatIs will probably identify the file as the one that we have seen rather than say that the file is not identifiable. It is also probable that some files produced by newer versions of software will be slightly different from those which WhatIs can identify. In this case WhatIs will say it can not identify the file. Finally WhatIs could be fooled by a truncated file. The header to the file might be correct, but if half of the file is missing, then it will not be fully functional (if at all). The lists of files which WhatIs knows about in both of the following sections give the following information. The files are grouped into sections with a descriptive heading. For each file type the following information is given: standard file extension (if any) description (in brackets) extra info (after ":") Plain Text Files ---------------- When WhatIs identifies a file as text it reports "text". If the identify text option "-t" has been set and it can further identify what type of text file it is then details are given in brackets. If WhatIs is unable to identify a file which is not all text characters but has a high proportion of text characters (within the first 1000 characters in the file) it reports "may be text". With the identify text option set WhatIs will often be able to identify the following types of file. (However, because WhatIs would have to be very large and slow if it were able to identify every occurrence of these file types, it will not always identify them.) Word Processing (WordStar) rtf (Rich Text Format) (PC-Write) (Galaxy) (Encapsulated PostScript) txt (Windows Notepad Time Log) sam (Ami Professional) : version Programme Source pas (Pascal) c or cpp (C / C++) h or hpp (C / C++ Header) bas (Basic) for (Fortran) bat or btm (DOS Batch) Other Text ini (Initialization) ion (4Dos/NDos File Descriptions) Other Files ----------- Other than text files WhatIs identifies files of the following types (but note that some examples of these types will not be recognised by WhatIs): Archive zip (PK Zip) arc lzh zoo pak Word Processing wp (WordPerfect) wri (Windows Write) doc (MS Word) jw (JustWrite) jwl (JustWrite Library) wps (MS Works) rft (DCA/RFT) (XyWrite) (WordStar) : version (Q&A Write) (Professional Write) (MultiMate Advantage) : version Binary sys (Device Driver) : block or character & name of char device obj (Object Module) : name of source file (if available) exe (Executable) exe (Windows Executable) : description exe (OS2 Executable) : description dll (Dynamic Link Library) : description lib (Library of Object Modules) bio (OS2 Bios) dev (Paintbrush Display Driver) : description pdv (Paintbrush Printer Driver) : description Data Base dbf (dBASE II, III) : no of & size of record, no of field, 1st name dbf (SR-Info type 1) : no of & size of record, no of field, 1st name db (Paradox) : name, no of & size of record, no of field wdb (MS Works) Spreadsheet wk1 (123) wks (123) cal (Supercalc) : version wks (MS Works) Graphics pcx (PC Paintbrush) : version, size (& no colours/shades of grey) mac (MacPaint) : name gif (CompuServe) : version, size bmp (Windows Bit Mapped Graphics) pic (PC Paint/Pictor) : size or version tif (Tagged Image File Format) msp (Microsoft Paint) img (Ventura Image) iff/lbm (Amiga Image) : size, no of colours tga (Truevision Targa) : size wpg (WordPerfect) Windows cur (Windows Cursor) ico (Windows Icon) pif (Windows Program Information) : name & name of exe, com or bat res (Windows Resource) : name tsg (Save Towers Game) grp (Program Manager Group) : name cal (Calendar) crd (Cardfile) clp (Clipboard) : type of data bmk (Help Bookmarks) ann (Help Annotations) fon (Font) pal (Paintbrush palette) rec (Recorder) : number of macros lgo (Windows Startup Logo Code) fon (Windows Font) : description Gem pif (Program Information File) : n Turbo/Borland C/C++ prj (Turbo C Project) tc (Turbo C Configuration) dsk (Turbo C Desktop) chr (BGI Stroked Font) : version, name bgi (BGI Device Driver) : version, name Help Files hlp (Windows) : first item in the index tch (Borland Turbo C Help) PC Tools vwr (PC Tools File Viewer) Other res (Graphics Workshop Resource) bf2 (Bradford 2 Font) ini (Galaxy Initialisation File) : version prd (Galaxy Printer Driver) res (Graphic Workshop Resource) fnt (PC Paint Font) set (PC Paint Set) : name pal (PC Paintbrush Palette) clp (PC Paint Clipboard) : size fnt (123 font) xlt (123 translation) : what of dem (123 demonstration) WhatIs will also identify files which have zero length. It identifies them as "empty". Common Problems =============== "I recorded my registered name and number but WhatIs says it's not registered. What happened?" The registration details are stored in a file called WhatIs.Ini. WhatIs looks for this file in the same directory that it is stored in. If it can not find WhatIs.Ini it writes a new initialisation file without your registration details. If you move WhatIs.Exe, then you must also move WhatIs.Ini to the same directory, but pleas do not give your WhatIs.Ini file to anyone else.