ÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍ ²²²±±±°°° (c) Copyright 1993 Brand-X-FreeWare °°°±±±²²² ÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍ Û° Û° ÛÛÛÛÛÛÛ° ÛÛÛÛÛÛÛ° ÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛ° Û° Û° Û° Û° Û° Û° Û°Û° Û° Û° Û° Û° Û° :::: Û° ÛÛÛÛÛÛÛ° Û° Û°Û° Û° Û° Û° Û° Û° Û° Û° Û° Û° Û° Û° Û° ÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛ° Û° Û° Û° ÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍ ÛÛÛÛÛÛÛ° ÛÛÛ° Û° Û° Û° Û° With Mouse ïï Û° Û° Û° ÛÛÛÛÛÛ° Support ðøøð Û°Û° Û° Û° Û° Û° Û° ÛÛ° ÛÛÛÛÛÛ° ÄÂÄÂÄ Ú¿ "XCAT" and "Brand-X FreeWare" are Trademarks of ÀÙ ÀÄÄÙ À Digital Imaging ÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍ @1 General description / requirements ÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍ Requirements: ------------- PC/XT/AT/386+; CGA (may run on MONO, CGA+ preferred ) display system. 512 (or more) kb RAM; FIXED, RAM, or floppy disk w/over 500kb free. (FAST hard or RAM disk preferred). MS compatable mice are also supported, but not required. Type XCAT LCD for liquid displays. What is XCAT? ------------- XCAT is an automatic file catalogging system designed specially for keeping track of .ZIP, .ARC, (whatever), files that are stored on floppy disks. Up to 999 disks and 4500 files can be handled (per library). XCAT uses pull down menus, and has online help. Supports all common disk formats. XCAT maintains a single FILE library which contains records in the following format: (one record per line). filename ext size vol description -------- --- ------- --- ----------------------------------------------------- TESTFILE ZIP 103964 1 This is only an XCAT test record for demonstration. ÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍ @2 Files included / required ÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍ * XCAT.EXE The XCAT program. * XCATSORT.EXE XCAT's external sorting program. (must be in the default directory with XCAT and CATLIBE/CATROOM) XCAT.DOC This file. XCATD.DOC Detailed instructions for XCAT. CATFIX.DOC Bugs repaired/features added for this version. QIKSTART.DOC Quick intructions for installing and running XCAT. XCAT will create if not present: -------------------------------- * CATLIBE The XCAT file library. * CATROOM The XCAT volume library. --- (*) = must be present in the XCAT directory. ÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍ @3 Contents ÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍ Section: Description: @1............ \ @2............ > General program description U R here-> @3............ / A ............ Setup / installation. B ............ Features C ............ Limitations D ............ How it works. E ............ Technical information. F ............ Brand-X FreeWare Stuff! ÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍ A Setup / Installation ÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍ Installing XCAT is simple: -------------------------- Copy (or de-compress) the following files to a directory or disk: XCAT.EXE / XCAT will create the Data files \ XCATSORT.EXE ( "CATLIBE and CATROOM" automatically ) \ if they do not already exist. / ---------------------------------------- CATLIBE.nnn \_ Be sure to include any existing CATLIBE & CATROOM.nnn / CATROOM files in the XCAT directory. Since XCAT now supports more than the default library, you should keep all your CATLIBE and CATROOM files in XCAT's directory. ÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍ B Features ÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍ PULL DOWN MENUS: Like many popular programs, XCAT features a pull down menu system, with shortcut keys. (keys are displayed in the menus). MS compatable mice are also supported in ver 7.5+. ON-LINE HELP: The F1 key will bring up a help display on the currently selected menu or function. (In most cases, each function is described in the help screen for the menu containing it, but some sub functions also have their own help screen.) BBS STYLE LISTING: Unlike most data bases for file lists, XCAT maintains a simpler "one line" entry for each record. This makes it simple to page through and locate your files. SELECTABLE scans of floppy disks (XCAT volumes) and directories for file comparisons or additions to the XCAT library. AUTOMATIC operation. In most cases, floppy disks can be scanned and logged with just a few presses of the ENTER key. Duplicates are not placed in the library, new files are automatically added. ÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍ C Limitations ÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍ FILES: XCAT supports up to 4500 files per library (more than most of us will ever have anyway). This limit is because the XCATSORT program only handles that many. XCAT it's self is capable of many more, you just won't be able to sort any more than 4500. Sorting the library speeds up XCAT operations, so it's important to perform the sort operation after logging over 100 new files. See the technical details for information on XCAT's storage methods. VOLUMES: The file CATROOM contains the "space available" in logged XCAT volumes. XCAT will handle up to 999 disks (or volumes). This will be improved in future releases of XCAT. LOGGING: This new release supports the scanning of any DOS path, BUT will only LOG files from A and B drive. In order for XCAT to properly log files, they need to be assigned a VOLUME number on which they reside. Disk sets and such CAN be logged manually though, so you can still keep your list complete. A manual entry might look like this: KQ3 ZIP 1100000 0 King's Quest 3 by Sierra. 3 disk set. (name / ext) (size)(disk #) (description) ÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍ D How it works ÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍ XCAT maintains two "Binary/sequencial" data files called CATLIBE and CATROOM. Disks and/or paths are scanned and their content is compared to the contents of the CATLIBE file (XCAT library). New, duplicate, and already logged files are displayed, and (if the scan/log option for A or B drive was selected from the menu) the new files are added to the XCAT library, otherwise, the results only are displayed. The file CATROOM contains the free space left on each logged XCAT volume, and is updated every time you re-scan the disk. Left over space on disks can be filled - in with new files by reading the tables, and then copying a suitably sized file onto the disk with the extra space. (then re-scan the disk) XCAT does not delete, copy, or modify any file on XCAT volumes, EXCEPT when assigning a volume label to the disk. The volume label does not occupy any disk space, but the disk cannot be write protected or the assign volume label function will return an error. All file transfer and deletion of actual files must be performed by the user. (Thus your files are perfectly safe when using XCAT) XCAT is not a disk manager, but rather a method of keeping track of what files you have, and where they are located. Large floppy libraries of compressed .ZIP, .ARC, etc. are what XCAT is REALLY for. ÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍ E-1 Technical information ÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍ XCAT uses a "Binary/Sequencial" library format, developed by Brand-X, FreeWare to store file information. The file is split into 2 sections, sorted and unsorted. The entire file is read and alpha-numerically sorted by the SORT operation from the FILE menu. Files added after the sort operation are appended onto the file in the sequence they were read. See the header format below. File searches are conducted using a BINARY search for the sorted portion of the file, and a sequencial search for the rest (unsorted). The binary search is much faster. Also, printouts will be sent in the order they appear in the library, so keep it sorted! The header is formatted as follows: A B C D E Header description. °°° ####### %%%%%%% ##########%%%%%<----XCAT control header. Reference only. | | | | | | | | | + Number of XCAT volumes | | | +------- Total actual bytes stored on all volumes. | | +----------------- Number of unsorted files. | +------------------------- Number of sorted files. +------------------------------- CATLIBE identification mark. ÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍ E-2 Technical information ÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍ After sorting, the unsorted value (field C) should be 0. CATLIBE is a random access-type file, with a fixed record length of 80 bytes. CATROOM is also random access, with a fixed record length of 9 bytes. The file header is record number 1. file is structured as follows: CATLIBE _ °°°°°°°°° _>---Record number 1 (XCAT control header). Cannot be edited. ±±±±±±±±± \ ±±±±±±±±± \ ±±±±±±±±± >-Sorted records, from record 2 to B (value of field "B") ±±±±±±±±± / (Searched with Binary method - very fast) ±±±±±±±±± _/ ²²²²²²²²² \ ²²²²²²²²² \ ²²²²²²²²² >-Unsorted records, from B+1 to B+1+C (should be 0 after sort) ²²²²²²²²² / (Searched with Sequencial method - rather slow) ²²²²²²²²² _/ -= EOF =- ÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍ F Brand-X Freeare Info / Stuff ÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍ Brand-X FreeWare is just that: No-Guilt software that's free for the taking. No registration or other compensation is required. If you like this program and want more of our stuff, but can't seem to find it on the BBS's, you can get a floppy (any size) with other Brand-X FreeWare releases by sending 5 bux to: JC @ P.O.Box 1953 Santa Clarita, CA. 91386 Comments / Suggestions are also welcome. Here's more Brand-X warez: PSET - An EZ to use graphics screen draw/CAD (ahem) for CGA. XLIB - Library director for Quick Basic 4.x series. PCIS - Purple Chickens in Space! A funny CGA demo. XS20 - X-Section - cuts up large Binary or text files for transportation on small floppies, then re-assembles them. XJOY - Read and test joystick/game ports 1 and 2. XSCAN - Keyboard code scanner, great for programming references. SCRIBBL3 - CGA screen grafix demo. Sit and trip out. XASCII - ASCII/Hex/Character chart/X-reference for programmers. XSCAM - Screen text capture to file. Resident/and non resident. XLIST - Searches BBS and other text lists for matching data. XBANNER - Create colorful alternating block ANSI messages. XMESSAGE - Extract text messages from large message base files. ÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍ That's all Folks! ÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍ