BRUCE.DOC 1 Revised: 01-30-97 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Introduction This documentation provides some overview information on a number of utilities. All programs described herein were written by Bruce Guthrie. Most are distributed with a Wayne Software copyright. Others were written for the U.S. Department of Commerce. All programs are free for use provided relevant documentation is kept with the programs, no changes are made to the programs or documentation, and they are not bundled with commercial programs or charged for separately. CHANGE, CONVERT, FILUPDAT, READ, and READY are excluded from the commercial-packaging restriction. These programs are owned by the U.S. Department of Commerce and may be re-distributed without restriction. People who need to bundle AV, BFIND, COPSINCE, DATES, DIRCOMP, DIRTOTAL, EUMAIL, FILL, FIXTEXT, FORTUNE, HTMSTRIP, MOZ, PAGINATE, READINIT, or TXTABLE in commercial packages other than shareware/freeware collections must pay a $50 registration fee to "Wayne Software" at the following address. READMAKE-created files are also subject to this limitation. I don't expect to make any money from these utilities but I don't want others to sell them instead. Shareware-distribution groups that charge more than $7 for a diskette or $20 for a CD-ROM are, as far as I'm concerned, making excessive profits from these programs--their actual costs are way below this--and probably keeping people from registering the other shareware on the disk; I do not want these types of places distributing my programs. This collection of utilities were compiled using Microsoft's Visual BASIC for DOS 1.0 compiler in addition to Thomas G. Hanlin III's excellent PBClone routines. Since DOS compilers and libraries are not being maintained much anymore, adding new data formats and such may not be possible. Since they are DOS-based, forget long Win95 and WinNT file names and such. Documentation provided in appropriate ZIP files: * routine.DOC: Each utility is separately described in a like-named *.DOC file. * FILE_ID.DIZ: Standard "Description In Zip" file. * BRUCE.DOC: This file serves to summarize all of the various utilities. * BRUCEINI.DOC: Most of the routines have defaults that can altered by using initialization files (inifiles). These are referenced in the regular documentation and further described here. * BRUCEHEX.DOC: Many of the routines allow you to enter parameters as either hexadecimal or decimal strings. This is referenced in the regular documentation and further described here. * HISTORY.ymm: List of recent modifications to all programs. The "ymm" indicates the release date in year/month format. "601" means 1996, first month (Jan 1996). All program documentation was created using a text editor (PE2). The PAGINATE command (see below) was used to justify the text and create titles, page breaks, and (where provided) indexes. BRUCE.DOC 2 Revised: 01-30-97 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Contact information For the following routines: AV, BFIND, COPSINCE, DATES, DIRCOMP, DIRTOTAL, EUMAIL, FILL, FIXTEXT, FORTUNE, HTMSTRIP, MOZ, PAGINATE, READINIT, READMAKE-created files, and TXTABLE: Bruce Guthrie Wayne Software 113 Sheffield St. Silver Spring, MD 20910 fax: (301) 588-8986 e-mail: bguthrie@nmaa.org http://www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/Lakes/2414 For the following routines: CHANGE, CONVERT, FILUPDAT, READ, and READY: Bruce Guthrie Room H-4885 U.S. Dept of Commerce/ESA/STAT-USA Washington, DC 20230 fax: (202) 482-2164 voice: (202) 482-3234 e-mail: bguthrie@doc.gov Please provide an Internet e-mail address on all correspondence. Since these programs are typically "freeware" (with the exception of people trying to make money from them instead of me), they generate maybe $100/year in revenue for me. As such, my ability to afford wonderful customer support is somewhat restricted. Please do not leave messages saying "Call me long distance". Also, please be specific about what problems you encounter and include command-line inputs as well as any control or INI files that you're using. Beta testers and suggestions are always appreciated. Contact me at bguthrie@nmaa.org Note that all beta releases are done via e-mail so if your gateway can't handle some pretty big mail attachments, you definitely do NOT want to be a beta tester for me! Modifications that are not of mainstream use can be contracted for. WIN/NT AND WIN95 USERS: All of these programs are DOS applications. This means that they expect 8.3 filenames, short paths, etc. If you use long paths or illegal characters in your file names or whatever, these programs may not work for you. This is not a "bug" in the software. That's just the way DOS apps are. STANDARD LEGAL DISCLAIMER: Wayne Software disclaims all warranties as to this software, whether express or implied, including without limitation any implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, functionality, data integrity or protection. BRUCE.DOC 3 Revised: 01-30-97 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Finding the programs--Current version is 701 (1997 January) The utilities are uploaded with a ZIP name that includes the year and month of the release in a "ymm" format (mm-number month where 01=January, and 199y for year). The files are posted directly by the author to three places. The following Web site has the current versions of *all* programs: http://www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/Lakes/2414 Major revisions are directly posted by the author to the following: * Simtel (Coast-To-Coast): ftp.coast.net (http://www.coast.net/Simtel) * Simtel (Keith Petersen): ftp.simtel.net (http://www.simtel.net/simtel.net) * ZDI Software Library: Ziff-Davis is provided notice of updates although I'm not sure how long it takes them to update them on their Web site. Simtel locations and versions http://www.coast.net/SimTel/msdos/ ftp://ftp.simtel.net/simtelnet/msdos/ ..arcutil/ ..arcutils/ av701.zip Archive View: Free ZIP etc directory viewer ..batutil/ ..batchutl/ dates701.zip Warns you in advance of birthdays etc fortn608.zip Fine-tunes DOS FOR command w/options ..dirutil/ ..dirutl/ cops611.zip Copies files modified since given date dirco701.zip Updates files based on source directory dirto701.zip Directory lister and totaller filup610.zip Copy updated files based on a control list ..diskutil/ ..diskutil/ fill701.zip Stuffs as many files as possible on disk ..internet/ ..html/ htmst701.zip Reprocesses HTML pages for humans to read ..offline/ ..mailnews/ eumal701.zip Eudora utility for nicknames, boxes ..spredsht/ ..spredsht/ convr701.zip Convert dBase, ASCII-delim, fixed, 1-2-3 ..textutil/ ..txtutl/ bfind701.zip Boolean FIND command (BFIND BEGIN & END) chang701.zip Change strings in text/binary files fixtx611.zip Translate text file characters en masse pagin701.zip Paginates text (indexes, sorts, tables) read701.zip Free viewer, also make any text self-viewing txtab701.zip Generates text tables If you're using a version of the programs that's more than six month's old, it's almost always the case that there's a newer version. Please check for an update. If you can receive binary attachments, contact me at bguthrie@nmaa.org for free updates. Alternatively, send $10 made out to "Wayne Software" to the Wayne Software address above and I'll send you everything on diskette. (If you need anything other than 3.5" high density, specify that too please.) The versions of each program posted on SimTel are documented below along with the directory information for this site. The *current* versions of *all* programs are posted on the GeoCities site. BRUCE.DOC 4 Revised: 01-30-97 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Short program descriptions AV.EXE: Archive directory viewer. Presents list of files in archive (ZIP, ARC, etc) and lets you sort as desired. Also allows resetting of the file date based on the archive's contents. BFIND.EXE: Allows Boolean-type FIND requests. For example, find any line with one string AND another one, or any line with one string OR another. Also allows wildcarded input file names. CHANGE.EXE: Processes change commands in files. Files can be of any size and type (binary or text) and are processed quickly. Up to thirty change commands can be processed in a single pass. Also provides ability to remove trailing spaces from text files. CONVERT.EXE: Converts between data formats: FROM dBase, ASCII-delimited (typically commas between fields and quotes around strings), and fixed field TO Lotus WKS, ASCII-delimited, dBase, and fixed field. Also provides ability to add and drop fields, giving you the ability to crunch tables. COPSINCE.EXE: Copies all files modified since a given date. Primarily used for making sure you have a back-up of files and also to copy updated programs to another place. Lets you define your own groupings of files if desired. DATES.EXE: Program that warns you in advance when an event like a birthday, anniversary, or holiday is coming up. The idea is to give you advance warning so you can send a card or get out of town in time. DIRCOMP.EXE: Similar in some ways to DOS's REPLACE command but adds ability to delete extra files in the destination subdirectory, copy hidden and system files, and prepare a report showing inconsistencies. Is frequently used by network administrators to update workstation files. DIRTOTAL.EXE: Prepares report showing files in subdirectory or drive. Allows restricting search based on date, size, attributes, etc. Works on networked and CD-ROM drives. Produces more formalized report than some utilities do. Also allows you to look for duplicate file names. EUMAIL.EXE: Eudora mail summarizer. Dumps your Qualcomm Eudora mailbook as well as summarizing the contents of all of your Eudora boxes and folders. FILL.EXE: Program designed to move files off to floppy diskettes, taking the biggest files first and skipping those that won't fit. Also provides option of splitting large files, creating a status report, and other features. FILUPDAT.EXE: Program which compares a selected list of files in a source path against those in another path and copies those that have been updated. Similar to DOS' REPLACE command but works from a stored list of files (controlled updates) and can handle any number of directories. BRUCE.DOC 5 Revised: 01-30-97 FIXTEXT.EXE: Program which applies a user-definable character-translation table to a text file. Can allow you to convert graphics characters to their text equivalents, lowercase letters to uppercase letter, etc. Can also be used to translate DOS text files to Mac or Unix text files and vice versa. Can also expand tabs, remove leading and trailing spaces, remove backspaces, and remove blank lines. FORTUNE.EXE: A tuner-upper for the DOS FOR command. Generates a batch file which does all those wildcard things you wished FOR could do (like "FORTUNE IN (*.BAS) DO RENAME %A %2*.*" to remove parts of file names). Lets you do all sorts of things including distinguishing file name roots from their extensions as well as incrementing file names by specified values. HTMSTRIP.EXE: Goes through downloaded pages from the Web and removes embedded HTML commands. Reflows paragraphs and tries to make it basically readable. Can function on individually-saved pages or else process your entire disk cache. Awarded a "Best" rating by "PC Computing" in their July 1996 issue. Includes MOZ.EXE which renames the files in your Web cache subdirectory so you can identify them more easily. PAGINATE.EXE: Reformats text files with embedded formatting codes. Handles things like titles, footers, indexes, alignment, justification, multicolumn listings, etc. Also provides support for embedding tabular data in ASCII-delimited or dBase formats which can be embedded and/or sorted in your reports. READ.EXE, READY.EXE, READINIT.EXE, and READMAKE.EXE: Text file browsing utilities. READ--Supports marking, copying text, reading Unix and Mac text files, etc. Handles files of 16,000 lines or less (approx 800,000 bytes). READY--truncates or wraps lines over 255 characters in length but handles files of an unlimited number of lines. READMAKE--Takes an ASCII-text file and makes it self-viewable (using a READ clone). TXTABLE.EXE: Program to generate text tables. Allows inputs to be HTML-based as well as one-record per cell.