IDX-UTIL.DOC - Release 7 - Jun 1, 1995 - Gary Meeker

This document contains information on how to use:
   IDX-MAKE Version 1.10,
   IDX-DUPS Version 2.30,
   IDX-LIST Version 1.20,
   IDX-SORT Version 1.10,
   IDX-MERG Version 1.10,
   IDX-DRIV Version 2.10,
   IDX-RSET Version 1.40,
   IDX-TEST Version 1.20,
   IDX-EDIT Version 1.40 and
   IDX-DIRS Version 1.10.

   These programs are released as FREEWARE to all REGISTERED PCBoard
Version 14.5(a) or 15.x Sysops.  The Copyright is retained by Gary Meeker.

   What does this mean?  If you have purchased a license for PCBoard
V14.5(a) or 15.x from Clark Development, then you are entitled to copy
and use these utilities on as many computers as allowed by your license
from Clark Development.  If you have an illegal copy of PCBoard V14.5(a)
or 15.x these programs are not for YOU.

   License is also granted to any CD-ROM creator to use or include any
of these files with your CD-ROM.

=========================================================================
*DISCLAIMER*DISCLAIMER*DISCLAIMER*DISCLAIMER*DISCLAIMER*DISCLAIMER*

Every effort has been made to avoid error and moderately extensive testing
has been performed on these programs, however, I do not warrant them to be
fit for any purpose or to be free from error and disclaims any liability
for actual or any other damage arising from the use of these programs.

ENSURE YOU KEEP UP-TO-DATE BACKUPS OF ALL YOUR IMPORTANT FILES.

*DISCLAIMER*DISCLAIMER*DISCLAIMER*DISCLAIMER*DISCLAIMER*DISCLAIMER*
=========================================================================
IDX-Make Version 1.10   (06/01/95)
   Creates a PCBoard .IDX File Index

      IDX-MAKE pathlist[.PTH] [indexname[.IDX]] [/S] [/D]

Where pathlist[.PTH] is an ASCII file (CR/LF delimited) listing paths that are
   to be scanned for files (subdirectories of the paths are also scanned).

Where indexname[.IDX] is the name of the index file to be created based on the
   files found in the paths specified by the pathlist file.

[/S] do not include subdirectories of the paths specified.

[/D] do not include the default exclusions.

This is a replacement for MAKEIDX.EXE for PCBoard. This allows it to be
distributed to CD-ROM makers with no problem. It also offers features not
found in MAKEIDX.

First, you only need specify the name of the .PTH/.IDX file once if they are
the same. Next, IDX-MAKE will eliminate any duplicate path specifications
before processing. If you accidentally specify a sub-directory that will be
found within while traversing sub-directories, MAKEIDX will duplicate the files
in that directory (and any further levels below it) which IDX-MAKE will avoid.

IDX-MAKE also allows specifying paths to exclude by placing a '-' in front
of the path name.  You may also specify filenames to exclude in the same
manner. To be considered a filename and not a path, the filename MUST have
a '.' in it and a path MUST NOT have one within the last 4 characters.

By default IDX-MAKE will include files in any sub-directory encountered in
one of the specified paths. This allows a simple root directory to be
specified to include all files on a CD-ROM. You may override this feature
by including a /S on the command line.

Also by default IDX-MAKE will exclude files in the root directory itself
and the filespecs FILES.BBS, SFFILES.BBS & *. (any file with no extension).
You may override these defaults by including a /D on the command line. (or
by placing a IDX-MAKE.CFG file in the current directory or in the same
directory as IDX-MAKE.EXE and place your own defaults in this file.)

A typical .PTH might look like this:

OWL12.PTH
---------
S:\
-S:\TEXT\
-S:\PCBDIRS\
-*.GIF

This would then create OWL12.IDX by typing:

IDX-MAKE OWL12

Version 1.10 adds the ability to specify a filespec on the path. ie.

S:\*.ZIP

This would search for only .ZIP files. This allows limiting the type of files
without requiring alot of exclusion filespecs. It also allows specifying a
specific filename to be added to the IDX.

Also added IDX-MAKE.CFG external definition file for exclude files.  The first
line must specify the number of lines in the file and the remaining lines must
specify one filespec to exclude with out the '.' and  padded to 11 characters.
ie.

FILES.BBS

would be specified as

FILES???BBS

I have not included the ability to exclude a file spec within a directory,
ie.

-S:\FILES\*.ZIP

does nothing. However, you can over-ride a directory exclusion with an
specific directory\filespec inclusion, ie.

S:\
S:\FILES\*.ZIP
-S:\FILES\

This would exclude all files in the S:\FILES\ directory ACCEPT those with
the extension .ZIP (the order of the lines will make no difference).

=========================================================================
IDX-DUPS Version 2.30   (07/01/94)
   List duplicate entries in a PCBoard File Index.  To use type:

      IDX-DUPS indexname[.IDX]  [indexname2.IDX]]  [/Q]  [/I]  [/Kn]

Where indexfile[.IDX] is the name of the index file to display.
(The .IDX file extension is optional.  Do not include the '[' or ']'.)

Optionally you may include an indexname2[.IDX] which will be compared against
 the first. Duplicates in the first will still be reported, but any files
 found in the second which are also in the first will also be reported.
 Duplicates in the second index will only be reported if they are also
 in the first.

 [/Q] supresses the header info from the output.

 [/I] creates a file called COMMON.IDX containing the Index information
  from the second Index when a file matches from the first index.
  You can include a 3rd IndexfileName to override the default name.
  Make sure you don't use the name of a file already on the disk or it
  will be overwritten (unless that is what you want.) New with 2.00 is
  the ability to use /I with a single IndexFile and get a COMMON.IDX
  listing the Duplicates.

 [/Kn] Kill Duplicates. n:1=Prompt on all files (default)
                          2=Prompt on different size files
                          3=Don't prompt at all (Use with caution)

  This feature only works when two .IDX files are specified. The files from
  the second .IDX files are the ones that will be deleted. If you have a
  CD-ROM, you would want to specify it first and your Hard Disk(s) .IDX file
  second, followed by /K (and 1, 2 or 3... If only /K is specified 1 is
  assumed).

 [/C] Use Close Match instead of Exact Match. This helps find new versions
  of the same file.  A close match is defined as a file in which the first
  characters match follwed by Numeric characters ( '-'  and  '_'  are also
  considered  Numeric characters  provided they  match in  both filenames.
  There must be at least two Alpha character matches to be a close match.
  Only the filnames are compared and extensions are ignored.


  123TLK25.ZIP      These do not match because only 1 Alpha character matches.
  123TXFRM.ZIP

  1ST_101A.ZIP      These match but may be part of 1 release and not dupes.
  1ST_101B.ZIP

  AC214B.ZIP        These Match although they are probably unrelated.
  AC2VIV.ZIP

  BNP120.ARJ        These match because extensions are ignored.
  BNP120.ZIP

I setup a CD-Rom conference available to only those Users who contributed
to making the purchase of the CD-Rom Drives & Disks possible. All the
CD-Rom files are available from that conference but not the Main Board
or other Conference Files (accept the Masterfile list Directory.)
I used this to find all the files on my Hard Disks that were also on the
new CD-Roms. I feed DLPATH.LST to MAKEIDX to create an Index for my Hard
Drives. Then using this utility I created an Index of the Duplicates.  I
added both of these (one for each CD-Rom) to the DLPATH.LST and deleted
the files from the Hard Drives. This way I didn't loose any files from my
board available to everyone but was able to free up the storage space they
were taking up. My Users could not tell the difference and everyone was
happy. Once IDX-Edit is finished I can add some of the files on the CD-Rom
to these Indexes to help fill out some of the Conferences which are bare
of files right now. I could copy the files from the CD-Rom to the Hard Drives
and create another Index of the Dups to add them in, but it will be easier
after the routine gets finished.


V2.10 Fixed problem with display of <A: value on first .IDX file.
V2.20 Added Close Match option
V2.30 Fixed file count when no files of a particular letter
=========================================================================
IDX-List Version 1.20   (07/01/94)
   List entries in a PCBoard File Index.  To use type:

      IDX-LIST indexname[.IDX]  [filemask]  [/Q]

Where indexname[.IDX] is the name of the index file to list.
(The .IDX file extension is optional.)

 and [filemask] is the file or wildcard match to list.

[/Q] supresses the header info from the output.

V1.10 Fixed a problem with the filemask when it did not include a '.' in it
       and a problem with display of <A: value on.
V1.20 Fixed file count when no files of a particular letter
=========================================================================
IDX-Sort Version 1.10   (07/01/94)
   Sort entries in a PCBoard File Index.  To use type:

      IDX-SORT indexname[.IDX]  [/Q]

Where indexname[.IDX] is the name of the index file to sort.
(The .IDX file extension is optional.)

[/Q] supresses the header info from the output.

Provided there is enough memory to do the sort, this program will read the
index file into memory and sort the index.


V1.10 Fixed file count when no files of a particular letter
=========================================================================
IDX-MERG Version 1.10   (07/01/94)
   Combine two PCBoard File Indexes into one

      IDX-MERG indexname1[.IDX]  indexname2[.IDX]  [indexname3[.IDX]]  [/Q]

Where indexname1[.IDX] and indexname2[.IDX] are the names of the index
 files to merge.

Where [indexname3[.IDX]] is the name of the index file to be created.
 this is optional, if omitted COMMON.IDX will be used

Note: The .IDX extension is optional. Do not include the '[' or ']'.

[/Q] supresses the header info from the output.

NOTE: DO NOT name the output file as either of the two input files or you
      will destroy it!

IDX-MERG is designed to create a single IDX file from two IDX files. This
allows creating 1 large IDX file to scan for duplicates or just to use
with PCBoard rather than including several entries in your DLPATH.LST file.
I created it to combine the NightOwl series IDX files into a single file
to compare against other CD-ROMs and against my Hard Disk (using IDX-DUPS).
You could just create a .PTH file containing multiple drive\paths and let
MAKEIDX create the large IDX file if you have enough CD-ROM drives to hold
all the CD-ROMS you are trying to index, but I only had a single drive at
the time and wanted to combine several CD-ROMs into 1 file. IDX-DRIV (below)
has also been changed to allow changing the paths on a single CD-ROM when
they are combined in a single IDX file. Use IDX-EDIT to list the Range
of path entries for each CD-ROM after combining (or do the math by hand).

V1.10 Fixed file count when no files of a particular letter
=========================================================================
IDX-DRIV Version 2.10   (07/01/94)
   Set Drive Letter on all paths in a PCBoard File Index. To use type

      IDX-DRIV indexname[.IDX]  DriveLetter  [/Q] [/R:Start-End]

Where indexname[.IDX] is the name of the index file to set.

DriveLetter is the Drive Letter to assign to all paths

[/Q]            supresses the header info from the output.
[/R:Start-End]  specifies the Starting and Ending Path numbers to change.
                  Must include '-' and no spaces. Example /R:1-35

IDX-DRIV is designed to modify the Paths in an IDX file to whatever drive
letter you desire (This is quicker than using MAKEIDX again just because
you changed the drive letter).

Version 2.00 includes the abilty to specify the Starting and Ending Path
numbers to change, allowing the changing of Drive letters when using a
combined IDX file. (Created with MAKEIDX using a .PTH file containing
multiple CD-ROM drive/paths or using IDX-MERG to combine multiple .IDX files.)


V2.00 Added ability to specify Path range to change to allow using
       combined IDX files.
V2.10 Allowed for "." in Path
=========================================================================
IDX-RSET Version 1.40   (11/01/94)
   Set Active CD-Roms and Drives in a PCBoard File Indexes. To use type

      IDX-RSET ConfigFile  [/Q]

Where: ConfigFile = Drive:Path to our configuration file.

[/Q] supresses the header info from the output.


The ConfigFile contains 7 or more lines:
Line 1: Loc/Name of the CDROM database File
Line 2: Ignored by IDX-RSET
Line 3: Ignored by IDX-RSET
Line 4: Place CD-ROM Index Files at Beginning of DLPATH.LST files.
Line 5: Loc/Name of AllFiles DLPATH.LST file to be checked/altered
Line 6: Number of DLPATH.LST files to check
Line 7+ Loc/Name of each DLPATH.LST file to be checked/altered
Line N  Number of CD-ROM Drives (Conferences) to update
Line N+ Loc/Name of each DIR file, Loc/Name of each DIR.LST file

The CDROM database File contains 3 or more lines
Line 1: Number of CD-ROMS listed in database, List of Drives for CD-ROMS
Line 2+ CDRom Name Label, Loc/Name of IndexFile, TestFile, DirFile, DirLstFile


IDX-RSET is designed to assist in changing CD-ROMS if you have more CD-ROMS
than drives. First create an Index file for each CD-ROM using MAKEIDX. Next
create the CDROM DataBase file using a text editor. Line 1 defines how many
CD-ROMS will be listed in the data base and a list of CD-ROM Drive letters
with no spaces or seperators (ie. STU or STUVWX). The following lines include
a label for identifying the CD-ROM (used only as output name for your use)
(but NOTE: DO NOT include a comma in the label)), the Drive:\Path\Filename
of the indexfile for this CD-ROM, and a test file unique to this CD-ROM to
allow the program to identify the CD-ROM (DO NOT include a drive letter or
leading :\ for the path.)

Example (I have 35 CD-ROMS and 4 Drives)

35,STUV
CD-Rom1, O:\ROM\IDX\ROM1.IDX, ROM01\159KEYS.ZIP, O:\ROM\ROM1\DIR, O:\ROM\ROM1\DIR.LST
CD-Rom2, O:\ROM\IDX\ROM2.IDX, ROM201\1FINGER.ZIP, O:\ROM\ROM2\DIR, O:\ROM\ROM2\DIR.LST
Pier_3, O:\ROM\IDX\PIER3.IDX, 001\ACIDFEAR.ZIP, O:\ROM\PIER3\DIR, O:\ROM\PIER3\DIR.LST
Pier_4, O:\ROM\IDX\PIER4.IDX, 001\AASS204.ZIP, O:\ROM\PIER4\DIR, O:\ROM\PIER4\DIR.LST
NightOwl_5, O:\ROM\IDX\OWL5.IDX, 001A\315MOUSE.ZIP, O:\ROM\OWL5\DIR, O:\ROM\OWL5\DIR.LST
NightOwl_6, O:\ROM\IDX\OWL6.IDX, 001A\4QMODEM.ZIP, O:\ROM\OWL6\DIR, O:\ROM\OWL6\DIR.LST
NightOwl_7, O:\ROM\IDX\OWL7.IDX, 001A\42BOOT.ZIP, O:\ROM\OWL7\DIR, O:\ROM\OWL7\DIR.LST
NightOwl_8, O:\ROM\IDX\OWL8.IDX, 001A\APCAT193.ZIP, O:\ROM\OWL8\DIR, O:\ROM\OWL8\DIR.LST
NightOwl_9, O:\ROM\IDX\OWL9.IDX, 001A\20BACKGR.ZIP, O:\ROM\OWL9\DIR, O:\ROM\OWL9\DIR.LST
NightOwl_10, O:\ROM\IDX\OWL10.IDX, 001A\ADDPN32.ZIP, O:\ROM\OWL10\DIR, O:\ROM\OWL10\DIR.LST
NightOwl_11, O:\ROM\IDX\OWL11.IDX, 001A\APLANR.ZIP, O:\ROM\OWL11\DIR, O:\ROM\OWL11\DIR.LST
NightOwl_12, O:\ROM\IDX\OWL12.IDX, 001A\4D50D.ZIP, O:\ROM\OWL12\DIR, O:\ROM\OWL12\DIR.LST
NightOwl_BBS, O:\ROM\IDX\OWLBBS.IDX, 001A\1MADV096.ZIP, O:\ROM\OWLBBS\DIR, O:\ROM\OWLBBS\DIR.LST
NightOwl_WIN, O:\ROM\IDX\OWLWIN.IDX, 001A\4DOSNT10.ZIP, O:\ROM\OWLWIN\DIR, O:\ROM\OWLWIN\DIR.LST
NightOwl_GAMES, O:\ROM\IDX\OWLGAMES.IDX, 001A\1AGENT.ZIP, O:\ROM\OWLG\DIR, O:\ROM\OWLG\DIR.LST
ShareWare_Studio_I,O:\ROM\IDX\SS1.IDX, ANSI\A2A20.ZIP, O:\ROM\SS1\DIR, O:\ROM\SS1\DIR.LST
ShareWare_Studio_II,O:\ROM\IDX\SS2.IDX, 4DOS\4D401D.ZIP, O:\ROM\SS2\DIR, O:\ROM\SS2\DIR.LST
ShareWare_Studio_III,O:\ROM\IDX\SS3.IDX, 4DOS\4D24H20B.ZIP, O:\ROM\SS3\DIR, O:\ROM\SS3\DIR.LST
Phoenix_2, O:\ROM\IDX\P2.IDX, 01A\132101BT.ZIP, O:\ROM\P2\DIR, O:\ROM\P2\DIR.LST
Phoenix_3, O:\ROM\IDX\P3.IDX, TS\01A\ALPHA7.ZIP, O:\ROM\P3\DIR, O:\ROM\P3\DIR.LST
Phoenix_4, O:\ROM\IDX\P4.IDX, TS\01A\256PBX.ZIP, O:\ROM\P4\DIR, O:\ROM\P4\DIR.LST
So_Much_ShareWare_1, O:\ROM\IDX\SMS1.IDX, ASM\A86V322.ZIP, O:\ROM\SMS1\DIR, O:\ROM\SMS1\DIR.LST
So_Much_ShareWare_2, O:\ROM\IDX\SMS2.IDX, BUDGET\ACHK361.ZIP, O:\ROM\SMS2\DIR, O:\ROM\SMS2\DIR.LST
So_Much_ShareWare_3, O:\ROM\IDX\SMS3.IDX, BUDGET\ALI203.ZIP, O:\ROM\SMS3\DIR, O:\ROM\SMS3\DIR.LST
So_Much_ShareWare_4, O:\ROM\IDX\SMS4.IDX, BBSDOORS\4SQ22.ZIP, O:\ROM\SMS4\DIR, O:\ROM\SMS4\DIR.LST
Origional_ShareWare_92, O:\ROM\IDX\OS92.IDX, 1\0929REF.ZIP, O:\ROM\OS92\DIR, O:\ROM\ROM2\OS9.LST
VGA-Spectrum_1, O:\ROM\IDX\VGASP1.IDX, ANIMATE\FLI\1988EGA.FLI, O:\ROM\VGA1\DIR, O:\ROM\VGA1\DIR.LST
VGA_Spectrum_2, O:\ROM\IDX\VGASP2.IDX, ANIMATE\FLI1\1988EGA.FLI, O:\ROM\VGA2\DIR, O:\ROM\VGA2\DIR.LST
ShareWare_Overload, O:\ROM\IDX\SO.IDX, BUSI\90TAXEST.ZIP, O:\ROM\SO\DIR, O:\ROM\SO\DIR.LST
Super_CD_II, O:\ROM\IDX\SUPCD2.IDX, BBS_DOOR\2002HLP2.ZIP, O:\ROM\SUP_CD2\DIR, O:\ROM\SUP_CD2\DIR.LST
Cream_of_the_Crop, O:\ROM\IDX\COTC.IDX, BATCH\ANSIMATE.ARJ, O:\ROM\COC\DIR, O:\ROM\COC\DIR.LST
Calif_Collection, O:\ROM\IDX\CC.IDX, HIS001\BRAINX1.ZIP, O:\ROM\CC\DIR, O:\ROM\CC\DIR.LST
ShareWare_DataBase1, O:\ROM\IDX\SD1.IDX, 4DOS\4BATCH10.ZIP, O:\ROM\SD1\DIR, O:\ROM\SD1\DIR.LST
MonsterDisc_II, O:\ROM\IDX\MD2_1.IDX, 4DOS\42BOOT.ZIP, O:\ROM\MD2_1\DIR, O:\ROM\MD2_1\DIR.LST
MonsterDisc_II, O:\ROM\IDX\MD2_2.IDX, GENE\AHNDES17.ZIP, O:\ROM\MD2_2\DIR, O:\ROM\MD2_2\DIR.LST

Next create the config file using a text editor.   The first line contains
the Drive:\Path\Filename of the above database.  The forth line determines
if the CD-ROM Index  files should be  listed at the beginning (YES) or the
end (NO) of the DLPATH.LST files (NOTE: a special mode is available by the
use of AUTO which causes the Index files to be listed after the end of the
first occurances of INDEX files in the DLPATH.LST file).    The fifth line
contains the Drive:\PATH\Filenames of the AllFiles DLPATH.LST file. The sixth
Line contains the number of DLPATH.LST files to be checked.  The following
lines contain the Drive:\PATH\Filenames of each of the DLPATH.LST files.
This list is followed by the number of drives (or conferences) that need
to be updated for DIR & DIR.LST files, and finally a list of DIR & DIR.LST
files to update.

When run, IDX-RSET will Check each CD-ROM listed and determine which drive
it is in. It will then modify the INDEX file so the PATHS will contain the
proper Drive letter. Once each CD-ROM is located it will read each of the
DLPATH.LST files listed and look for INDEX files. If the Index File is one
of the files listed, it will be skipped. Any other INDEX file as well as any
other line will be copied to the new DLPATH.LST file which will then be
renamed to the origional file. The result will be a DLPATH.LST file which will
contain the proper index files for the CD-ROMS that are found to be online
and the index files modified so the paths contain the proper Drive letter.

Version 1.10 changed the config file to be compatible with the IDX-TEST,
just insert a new line 2 and 3.

Version 1.20 added support for the AllFiles list in PCBoard 15. All the
Indexes will be added to this file. Indexes which are offline will have
the drive letter set to '@' allowing the use of the TSR program CD_CHECK.COM
to be used. If this TSR is loaded, it will report any file to exist when
DOS function 04Eh (Find First Matching File) is executed to locate a file
on drive '@'. This will 'fool' PCBoard into reporting the file to already
exist when a User attempts to upload a file found in an OffLine .IDX file.

Normally PCBoard would not detect the duplicate because it actually checks
the drive for the file even though it was found in a .IDX file which requires
the CD-ROM to be online. For those of us with more CD-ROM's than drives this
will be very helpful in blocking files we already have. CD_CHECK should be
loaded in your AUTOEXEC.BAT file.

Version 1.40 adds support for changing DIR & DIR.LST files automatically
for CD-ROM's found in the drives. The format of the Configuration file &
Database has changed to allow entering the filename (with Drive 7 path)
for each CD-ROM's DIR & DIR.LST file.  The config file has also been
changed to allow defining each CD-ROM conference DIR & DIR.LST file that
needs to be changed.  You must have a line for each CD-ROM Drive you have.

Now when IDX-RSET is run, it will change the first conference's DIR & DIR.LST
file to the first CD-ROM it finds, then the second conference to the next
CD-ROM it finds, etc. This is mostly intended for Sysops with a single drive
and several CD-ROM's wanting to change the CD-ROM's periodically.

V1.10 Changed configuration file to work with IDX-TEST.
V1.20 Added support for the ALLFILES DLPATH.LST
V1.30 Allowed for "." in Path
V1.40 Changed format of CDROM Database File to change DIR & DIR.LST
=========================================================================
IDX-TEST Version 1.20   (11/01/94)
   Test Active CD-Roms and Drives. To use type

      IDX-TEST ConfigFile OutputFile [CD-ROM] [/Q]

Where: ConfigFile = Drive:Path to our configuration file.
       OutputFile = Drive:Path:Filename of the output text file
       CD-ROM     = CD-ROM # to check for (0 = ALL Online CD-Rom's)

[/Q] supresses the header info from the output.


The ConfigFile contains 3 or more lines:
Line 1: Loc/Name of the CDROM database File
Line 2: Loc/Name of the OnLine Report File
Line 3: Loc/Name of the OffLine Report File
Line 4: Ignored by IDX-TEST
Line 5: Ignored by IDX-TEST
Line 6: Ignored by IDX-TEST
Line 7+ Ignored by IDX-TEST
Line N  Ignored by IDX-TEST
Line N+ Ignored by IDX-TEST

The CDROM database File contains 3 or more lines
Line 1: Number of CD-ROMS listed in database, List of Drives for CD-ROMS
Line 2+ CDRom Name Label, Loc/Name of IndexFile, TestFile, DirFile, DirLstFile


IDX-TEST is designed to assist in informing the User which of your CD-ROMS
is ONLINE/OFFLINE.  Create the CDROM DataBase file using a text editor.
Line 1 defines how many CD-ROMS will be listed in the data base and a list
of CD-ROM Drive letters with no spaces or seperators (ie. STU or STUVWX).
The following lines include a label for identifying the CD-ROM (used only
as output name for your use) (but NOTE: DO NOT include a comma in the label)),
the Drive:\Path\Filename of the indexfile for this CD-ROM, and a test file
unique to this CD-ROM to allow the program to identify the CD-ROM (DO NOT
include a drive letter or leading :\ for the path.)

Example (I have 9 CD-ROMS and 3 Drives)

9,STU
Pier_4, O:\ROM\IDX\PIER4.IDX, 001\AASS204.ZIP, O:\ROM\PIER4\DIR, O:\ROM\PIER4\DIR.LST
NightOwl_5, O:\ROM\IDX\OWL5.IDX, 001A\315MOUSE.ZIP, O:\ROM\OWL5\DIR, O:\ROM\OWL5\DIR.LST
NightOwl_6, O:\ROM\IDX\OWL6.IDX, 001A\4QMODEM.ZIP, O:\ROM\OWL6\DIR, O:\ROM\OWL6\DIR.LST
NightOwl_7, O:\ROM\IDX\OWL7.IDX, 001A\42BOOT.ZIP, O:\ROM\OWL7\DIR, O:\ROM\OWL7\DIR.LST
NightOwl_8, O:\ROM\IDX\OWL8.IDX, 001A\APCAT193.ZIP, O:\ROM\OWL8\DIR, O:\ROM\OWL8\DIR.LST
NightOwl_9, O:\ROM\IDX\OWL9.IDX, 001A\20BACKGR.ZIP, O:\ROM\OWL9\DIR, O:\ROM\OWL9\DIR.LST
NightOwl_10, O:\ROM\IDX\OWL10.IDX, 001A\ADDPN32.ZIP, O:\ROM\OWL10\DIR, O:\ROM\OWL10\DIR.LST
NightOwl_11, O:\ROM\IDX\OWL11.IDX, 001A\APLANR.ZIP, O:\ROM\OWL11\DIR, O:\ROM\OWL11\DIR.LST
NightOwl_12, O:\ROM\IDX\OWL12.IDX, 001A\4D50D.ZIP, O:\ROM\OWL12\DIR, O:\ROM\OWL12\DIR.LST

Next create the config file using a text editor. The first line contains
the Drive:\Path\Filename of the above database.     Additional lines are
ignored by IDX-TEST allowing the same files to be used by IDX-RSET.

When run, IDX-TEST will check each CD-ROM listed and determine which drive
it is in if no CD-ROM is specified on the command line.  If a command line
is given containing the CD-ROM number to check, then only that CD-ROM will
be tested for and the output file will report whether that CD-ROM is online
or offline. If it is Online the Online Report File will be copied to the
OutputFile, if Offline then the Offline Report File will be copied. During
the copy @CDROM@ wil be translated to the name of the CD-ROM as listed in
the CDROM database file. If 0 is specified then IDX-TEST will check each
CD-ROM listed and list only those that are found ONLINE.

Example:
IDX-TEST C:\PCB\IDX-RSET.CFG CDSTATUS /Q

This can be run from a PPE file and I have included SHELL.PPE with which
you can run this program from the Conference INTRO file as follows:

!C:\PCB\PPE\SHELL.PPE C:\UTIL\IDX-TEST.EXE C:\PCB\IDX-RSET.CFG CDSTATUS /Q
%CDSTATUS

If you have a conference for each CD-ROM and only some are online, then you
could include the number of the CD-ROM on the command line in each INTRO
file as follows:

!C:\PCB\PPE\SHELL.PPE C:\UTIL\IDX-TEST.EXE C:\PCB\IDX-RSET.CFG CDSTATUS 1 /Q
%CDSTATUS

V1.10 Allowed for "." in Path
V1.20 Changed format of CDROM Database File.
=========================================================================
IDX-Edit Version 1.40   (06/01/95)
   Edit entries in a PCBoard File Index.  To use type:

      IDX-EDIT [indexname[.IDX]  [/F]  [/C]

Where indexname[.IDX] is the name of the index file to edit.
(The .IDX file extension is optional.)

[/F] Tag first file also on duplicates.

[/C] Use Close Match instead of Exact Match.
     See IDX-DUPS for details on a Close Match. When Close Match is ON,
     Tag First is ignored and all files are tagged except the last match
     as this is assumed to be the lastest version of a file.

If not given, the file name will be prompted for.

This will be the most powerful Utility of the batch once it is finished.

Currently it allows for complete editing of the data in the index file.
You can TAG files based on Duplicates in the index file, Files found in
another index file, a FileMask, by Path Number, Path/FileMask in a text
file, Path/File in a text report from IDX-DUPS or manually.

Tagging files by reading a file for Paths\FileNames, this will be either a
straight file of filenames  (with/without paths) or a text file  generated
by redirecting the output of IDX-DUPS to a file is possible.  The straight
file format is 1 filespec per line.  This may include wildcards and paths.
The paths must match the path  text in the IDX file exactly  or it will be
skipped. An entry such as S:\001A\C*.* or Z*.* is considered legal.    The
report format  skips all lines that do  not have a  colon in column 13 and
the name at the start of the line does not match the current IDX file. The
full name and path are checked and tagged if found.

The Tagged files may then be deleted, written to another index file or can
be untagged manually or all at once.

Editing of Paths is also be possible to allow easy changing of drive letters,
etc.   Paths will be able to be added or deleted in a future version and the
path of any file will be able to be changed. Version 1.20 now only writes
the Paths out that are used when creating a New File from tagged entries.
the paths are renumbered and the new number written out with each filename.

Other features will be available if I come up with any or requests are
made, and I can work them in.

I also plan to add the ability to change the order of the files on duplicates.
This will allow you to control which file PCBoard finds first (especially if
you use IDX-MERG and combine several IDX files into one and want to place the
more recent file first).

Currently only Displaying, Editing and Tagging are finished.

The program is pretty straight forward, so I will only mention some of the
functions and keyboard commands available. From the Main Menu, either the
Numeric key or Function key may be used to select a menu choice. Selections
4 & 5 will only function if there are files tagged. Selection 4 will prompt
you for a file name and if the file exists, you will be prompted to confirm
an overwrite. Selection 5 will prompt for confirmation of the deletion also.

When Displaying/Edit Filenames, The following functions are available:

Dn, Up       Move to Next/Prev FileName
PgDn, PgUp   Move to Next/Prev Page
Tab          Move to the Next Tagged Filename
Shift-Tab    Move to the Prev Tagged Filename
Alt-Key      Jump to first Filename starting with letter of Alt-Key pressed
               (Alt-# jumps to Beginning,  Alt-= jumps to End)
F2           Tag/UnTag current FileName (Cursor moves Down one line)
F3           Jump to a Line (FileName) Number
F4           Find/Replace Text (for Path Editing only)
F5           Decrements Path Number
F6           Increments Path Number
F7           Flip All Tags
F8           Clear All Tags
F10          Special Tagging Menu
Ctrl-D       Undo Edit of Current FileName (Restore Default Input)
Ctrl-X       Clear Current FileName (Erase Field)
Home, End    Go to Beginning/End of Field
Left, Right  Move Cursor Left/Right
Ctrl-Left,
 Ctrl-Right  Move Cursor Left/Right one word
Ins          Toggle Insert Mode (Starts in OFF on EACH new line)
Del          Del Character at Cursor
BS           Del Character Left of Cursor
ESC          Exit (Current line edited will be aborted)

Once the Cursor has been moved to another line, the edited data has been
written to the disk. MAKE BACKUPS of the files (although they are easily
regenerated.)

Version 1.40 adds the ability to  do a find/replace on the  paths but keep
in mind  it will only  make a single  substitution at a time in each path.
I felt this was all that should be needed for path editing.   (To see what
I mean try changing \ to / and you will see only the first occurrence will
get changed, but you can repeat the replacement until all occurrences have
been changed).

When editing the actual Filename data,  keep in mind that PCBoard does a
binary search on the file,  so if you change the name,  it may cause the
search to fail. I recommend changing the last character to - or _ so the
sorted order of the list is not affected.  If there are no duplicates of
the file or you are changing the last filename of a duplicate,  use _ as
the character.  If it is the first filename of a duplicate, use - as the
character.  Changing the name shouldn't really be necessary now that you
can delete a file from the index file by tagging it and using the delete
function. A sort feature is planned for a future version to allow you to
actually change a  name completely  (especially if you rename a  file on
the hard disk itself and want to change the Index file instead of running
MAKEIDX again.) Currently an external sort utility is provided (IDX-SORT)
and if you change any filenames, I would recommend sorting the index just
to be safe.

This has been a slow project as I have been writing them as I needed them
and haven't spent much time on this one as my need for it has been low. If
you have a need for it, let me know and I will spend more time on it.


V1.10 Added Close Match option
V1.20 Added range of paths to tagging by path
       Only Paths used are written out to New File.
V1.30 Fixed file count when no files of a particular letter
V1.40 Fixed file tagging by external file to be case insensative
       Added find/replace for path editing
=========================================================================
IDX-DIRS Version 1.10   (07/01/94)
   Strip files not found in an .IDX from a DIR listing. To use type:

      IDX-DIRS [@]indexname[.IDX]  [@]dirfile.ext [/Q] [/M] [/B]

Where indexname[.IDX] is the name of the index file to check.
 and [dirfile.ext] is the text file to strip.
 Either may be a file containing a list of files if preceeded by '@'

[/Q] supresses the header info from the output.

[/M] write missing files to seperate file (with extension .DEL).

[/B] rename origional file as .BAK istead of deleting it.

This utility will strip out and files not found in an .IDX file (or a list
of .IDX files) from a DIR listing file (or a list of DIR files).  The DIR
file will be opened along with a TEMP file and each file will be checked to
see if it is in the specified .IDX file(s). If not it will be skipped (or
optionally written to a seperate file). This allows stripping the files
from a DIR after removing Duplicates with IDX-EDIT. If you have combined
several CD-ROM DIR files you can use a text file to list both .IDX files
so both .IDX file will be checked before deleting the file listing. It will
be faster, however, if you can first create a combined .IDX listing using
IDX-MERG. When only a single .IDX file is used, IDX-DIRS will open it and
read the header immediately, and then leave it open while scanning the DIR
files. Otherwise, each .IDX file is opened and checked, then closed for
every file in the DIR list. Leaving it open all the time runs 33% faster.
Creating a text file listing all the DIR files to be processed allows you
to walk away while IDX-DIRS does the whole job for you.

After stripping files from the listing, the origional file is either deleted
(or renamed to .BAK if /B is used) and the TEMP file is renamed to the
origional. Using /M will also create a file with a .DEL extension to write
files that were striiped into allowing you to review the missing files.

V1.10 Fixed file count when no files of a particular letter
=========================================================================
BBS CD-ROM Authors: Please feel free to include these Utilities with your
   CD-ROM.   You may also include any  number of the files extracted from
   the .ZIP file without my DOCS.  This will allow you to include an .IDX
   file for your CD-ROM and include  IDX-DRIV.EXE  on the disk along with
   a batch file (ROM.BAT for example) that allows the  User to change the
   drive of the Index to fit their  needs without having to  regenerate a
   new index file. An example of the batch file would be:

   IDX-DRIV YourFile %1 %2 /Q

   and the User would simply type ROM X to set the drive letter to X: after
   copying the Index File and batch file to their hard drive.
=========================================================================
Note:  I haven't received much feedback on this project so I don't know if
anyone is finding any use for the utilities or not.   If you are using the
programs let me know and I will keep updating them and developing additonal
programs.
=========================================================================

CONTACTING THE AUTHOR

There are a number of ways to contact the author:

   1.  Call the support BBS, SHARP Technical Support Line BBS (404) 962-1788.

   2.  Fax: (404) 995-0613

   3.  Send net mail message through one of the mail networks addressed to
'Gary Meeker'. I carry ProgNet Network on my BBS so will see any mail in
any conference. I also call SaltAir at least once a week so this is a
perfect place to contact me also through the Utilities Conference.

   4.  Send letter through regular post to the following address:

         ATTN: Gary Meeker
         SHARP Technical Support Line BBS
         725-C Old Norcross Road
         Lawrenceville, GA 30245

=========================================================================
Source Code:

All programs are written in QuickBasic 4.5 and compiled using P.D.Q.
from Crescent Software. This results in very small code. Also several
routines from Crescent's QuickPack Professional Library and some of myown
Library routines were used.

For those who would like source code, it can be obtained by sending $10
to the address above, made payable to Gary Meeker. Specify 3.5" or 5.25" &
DD or HD format disks. You will receive the QB4.5 source code and the
assembly code and Library for myown routines. To compile the code you will
need P.D.Q. & QuickPack Professional from Crescent Software or replace the
Library calls by uncommenting the internal routines which accomplish the
same functions but result in larger code. Compiling then can be done under
QB4.5 just fine. (although the files will be 2 to 4 times as large.)
=========================================================================