ÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛ ÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛ ÛÛ ÛÛ ÛÛ ÛÛ ÛÛ ÛÛ ÛÛ ÛÛ ÛÛ ÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛ ÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛ ÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛ ÛÛ ÛÛ ÛÛ ÛÛÛÛÛÛÛ ÛÛ ÛÛ ÛÛ ÛÛ ÛÛ ÛÛ ÛÛÛÛÛ ÛÛ ÛÛ ÛÛ Ü ÛÛ ÛÛ ÛÛ ÛÛ ÛÛ ÛÛ ÛÛ ÛÛ ÛÛ Ü ß ÛÛ ÛÛ ÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛ ÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛ ÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛ ÛÛ ÛÛÛÛÛÛÛ ÛÛ ÛÛ ÛÛ ÛÛ Apply-Diz by Dataware Software Version 2.5 Copyright (C) 1992-93 by Tom Carroll All rights reserved The Data Shop BBS (509)582-9493 (HST) Kennewick, WA FIDO address (1:347/10) MAGIC FILE NAME: APPDIZ ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ INTRODUCTION ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ Apply-Diz is a utility designed to ease the burden of sysops trying to describe files, that either had their descriptions lost in the process of a file transfer, or they are old enough that you just can't remember. It places the burden of describing files back onto the users and authors that upload files without a description file such as FILE_ID.DIZ or DESC.SDI in which Apply-Diz will make a FILE_ID.DIZ from the user supplied description and compress it into the archive. Apply-Diz can automatically detect archives by signature, and extract or compress into the archive based on this signature, no more relying on file suffixes. Apply-Diz has two purposes, one is to enhance the service that some of the larger BBS's offer by insuring no matter what kind of file or archive received on their system, either uploaded by users, downloaded from another BBS, or copied to the system from monthly mailings, Apply-Diz will make sure that two descriptions exist for the archive, one in the PCBoard(tm) directory format, and the other in a FILE_ID.DIZ. (one of the two has to exist, but neither one is overwritten if they both exist.) This is a very appealing feature that other sysops will appreciate if they subscribe to your BBS and download your files for use on their systems. Two is the major reason Apply-Diz was invented. I run a BBS, and I really don't have all the time in the world to mess around with file descriptions, and since I'm a programmer I tend to hold on to old archives, and then forget what they are. So I decided to cut half my workload and just write a utility. (hmmm... what am I saying?) You're probably asking your self "What is this guy babbling about?" Well, it's time to cut to the chase and show you how to operate it... ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ DISCLAIMER ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ This software is provided as is without warranty or guarantee either expressed or implied. The author will not be held responsible for ANY damages that may result in the use of this program, including revenues lost. The Author will, however, be responsible for a full refund of the purchasers registration cost should the software not be capable of operating on the purchasers computer. Apply-Diz software and this document are Copyright (C) 1992 by Tom Carroll. All rights reserved. ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ LICENSE ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ This program is released as SHAREWARE. You are free to use this version of the program for a period of 30 days, upon which, you must either register the software, or delete it from your system with the exception of the original archive, which may be freely distributed as outlined below. Please refer to the ORDER.FRM included in the distribution archive for registration information. Apply-Diz v2.5 Page 2 No one may alter, modify, or reverse engineer Apply-Diz for any reason, including but not limited to decompiling-compiling, patching, or disassembling. You may freely distribute & copy this program for others subject to the above restrictions and the following: þ Apply-Diz is copied in unmodified form including this file. þ There is no charge for copying except for the cost of disks. þ Apply-Diz is not included in another software package without the express written permission of Tom Carroll You may operate Apply-Diz on one computer system at a time, one computer system is defined as a single XT/AT/PC which operates solely by itself, or multi-node BBS running the same BBS software and all nodes are connected to a central file server. Should Apply-Diz need to be operated on more that one computer system, then a site license will be negotiated. ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ SUPPORT ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ If you should find any problems with this program, or you have any requests or recommendations, you may reach me on my BBS, or at the FIDO address listed on the front cover. I may also be reached in the FIDO PCBNET, SaltAir, UN'I, ILink, Global-Net, or Source-Net sysop conferences. ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ FILES ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ Files included in this archive: APP-DIZ.DOC - This manual APP-DIZ.ERR - Sample error file APP-DIZ.EXE - The Apply-Diz executable APP-DIZ.HIS - Apply-Diz History information file APP-DIZ.LOG - Sample log file APP-DIZ.XLD - Sample exclude file FILE_ID.DIZ - Description file for Apply-Diz ORDER.FRM - Registration form & ordering info PROGRAMS.DWS - Other programs by Dataware Software I originally compressed this program as APDZnn.ARJ, but it may be compressed with any other archive program you wish to use. The latest version will always be available on my BBS using the magic filename of APPDIZ. Sometimes, there may be a need for debug code to be released. This code is used to track down specific problems which aren't normally encountered on my system. I have a 386/sx-25 w/4megs of RAM, and DOS 5.0, which should be pretty standard and generic, but sometimes this doesn't present an optimal testing environment, so please, if you're having problems, and debug code is available, feel free to FREQ APDEBUG from me, or if you're registered on my BBS call and download APPDIZ.ARJ from conference #1. Apply-Diz v2.5 Page 3 If APPDIZ.ARJ isn't available, then you're the first person that has found a problem, so please leave me your specifics so I may be able to trouble shoot the problem(s). ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ EXECUTION ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ Apply-Diz is fully command line driven. The syntax for calling it is as follows: APP-DIZ { /Cx /INFO /NL /Rx /WKd: } = Full path and filename(s) of the archive to be processed. = Full PCBoard file directory listing to be processed. { Optional switches } /CF* = only checks for a FILE_ID.DIZ within the archive. /CP* = only checks for a description in the PCB DIR file. /INFO = Will add an archive information line to the PCBoard(tm) DIR list. (i.e. Files: nn Newest: mm-dd-yy Oldest: mm-dd-yy) /NL = Turns of the logging feature. This is a good idea if you're going to process a directory with many files. It is on by default. /RF = Will overwrite the FILE_ID.DIZ file in the archive or create it if it doesn't already exist. /RP = Will overwrite the PCBoard(tm) description with the FILE_ID.DIZ, or DESC.SDI file within the archive. /WK = Allows Apply-Diz to use a work drive. The drive must be specified as DRIVE:. (i.e. /WKD: ) * - The /Cx switch is only used for speed. If a file is found to not have either description Apply-Diz will default to normal mode for that file. +Wild cards "*" may be specified on the command line for the archive file name. (i.e. C:\UPLOAD\*.ARJ or C:\UPLOAD\*.* is valid) You may at anytime during the processing of files press the key to abort the process. This really only has it's advantage in batch mode operation since it will continue to process the present file it is working on to ensure all open files are properly closed. ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ NOTES ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ At anytime, you may just type APP-DIZ without any command line arguments and a help screen similar to this one will appear. Apply-Diz v2.5 Page 4 You must specify the complete path for the archive name and the PCBoard file directory listing. +In the registered version of App-Diz you may specify wild cards on the command line for the processing of all files in one directory. If you are using an unregistered evaluation copy, insure you have command line arguments correct if you run this utility in your nightly event because there is a pause that requires input from the keyboard if they are incorrect. Also, the unregistered version will append the last line of the PCBoard file description with "Apply-Diz (UNREGISTERED EVALUATION COPY)". This is only appended to the PCBoard file listings, and not added to the FILE_ID.DIZ. Any description lines in the PCBoard directory that you do not wish to be included in the FILE_ID.DIZ may be excluded by adding the unique beginning string for that line in the exclude file. See the sample APP-DIZ.XLD for more details. This file must be named APP-DIZ.XLD and located within the same directory as the executable. Apply-Diz will make a log file, or append to an existing one while processing files. Please refer to the enclosed sample log file. Apply-Diz will report each action/non-action taken on a particular file, and why it didn't take any action if that is the case. This file is not controlled for size, so make sure you keep an eye on it, or it could grow very large in a short amount of time. If an error should occur while processing the files, Apply-Diz will make a report to an APP-DIZ.ERR file which will be located in the same directory as the executable. This too is appended for later viewing. Again this file isn't monitored for size either. ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ LIMITATIONS ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ Apply-Diz is incapable of scanning self extracting files at this time. It will skip all files that have the suffix's of .EXE, .COM, .TXT, .GIF, .PCX, .SDA, and .TIC. If you have problems with any other files making App-Diz abort the process, please let me know and I will add code to not allow those types of files to be scanned. Apply-Diz is NOT Desqview aware, or capable of working with locked files. You must have the following archiver's for the defined archive types in your path in order for App-Diz to operate correctly: ARC - ARC by System Enhancement Associates, Inc. ARJ - ARJ by Robert K. Jung LHA - LHARC by Haruyasu Yoshizaki PAK - PAK by NoGate Consulting ZIP - PKZip by PKWare, Inc. ZOO - ZOO by Rahul Dhesi Apply-Diz must be executed from the current directory, or located somewhere in your path statement. Apply-Diz v2.5 Page 5 If a work drive is not specified Apply-Diz will create a work directory off the root directory called APP-DIZ. All logs and scratch files will remain there until processing is completed or aborted. If there is an error during execution, all attempts are made to remove this directory and clean all associated files. The files created in the APP-DIZ directory are: TMP_ID.DIZ, DIZIT.TMP, FILE_ID.DIZ, APP-DIZ.LOG, and ARCINFO.LST. Apply-Diz v2.5 Page 6