Fujiology Archive/fujiology_archive_v1_0.iso/!MAGS/!BONUS/COVERDSK/STFORMAT/STF31.ZIP/STF31.MSA/WHATIS_WHATIS46.DOC

Text File | 1991-09-04 | 8KB | 171 lines

                      WHATIS File Identifier v4.6
                  Copyright (c)1989-91 by Bill Aycock


WHATIS is a simple program that will identify 84 different types of files. It
is mouse-driven and is easy to use; everything is done from a single dialog
box.  This version will work as either a standalone program or as a desk
accessory... just rename the program file to .PRG or .ACC for whichever you
prefer.  Whatis runs in any resolution on any ST or TT, and uses under 10K of
memory.

Either run Whatis as a program or choose Whatis from the Desk menu, and the
Whatis dialog box will appear.  Under the title bar you'll see three boxes for
a filename and file type, a file's header bytes, and the header byte display
mode. At the bottom of the dialog are three action buttons, marked "choose a
file", "next file", and "exit".

To use Whatis, either click on "choose a file" or just hit Return or the
down arrow. You'll be presented with the GEM file selector; use the file
selector to choose your mystery file.  Whatis will read the first few bytes of
the file in question and check if these bytes match a known "signature" of a
specific type of file.  (Note: Whatis needs at least eight bytes to make a
reasonable guess of the file type; if your file is too small, you'll see an
error message and you'll get a chance to choose another file.)

Then you'll return to the Whatis box.  The first box under the title bar
will show you the name of the file you chose and the type of file it is.  If
Whatis doesn't recognize the type, it will show up as "text or data".  The
center box, labeled "header bytes", displays the first 11 bytes of your file
in hex.  (If you prefer, you can see the first 34 bytes of the file in ASCII
form.  To switch between modes, click the "ASCII" or "HEX" buttons in the
small box under the header byte display, or press the left or right arrow
keys.  Any zeros in the file header will show up as periods in an ASCII
display.)

If you used any wildcards when you selected your mystery file, the "next
file" button at the bottom of the screen will be enabled (not grayed out), and
will be the default button (signified by a thicker border).  To check the next
file that matches your pattern, simply click this button or press Return or
the down arrow.  (Note: the matching files aren't displayed in alphabetical
order; they appear in the same order as they are on disk.)

From the main dialog you can identify another file, or return to whatever
you were doing by clicking the EXIT button or pressing UNDO or ESCape.
Simple!

So far, Whatis can recognize these file types:

      executable ST programs and ACCs
      ARCed files
      A-CHART (from Kuma/Antic) data files
      BBS Express ST .COM script files
      BLINK palette and library files
      CAD-3D files (versions 1 and 2)
      Calamus .CFN and .CDK files
      Cyber .SEQ animations
      DC Desktop .ICE icon files
      DC Squished files
      Degas pics (.PI? and .PC?)
      .GEM Metafiles
      GIF pictures
      HotWire .HOT and Ledger (.LGR) files
      IFF/Deluxe Paint files
      .IMG files
      LHARC (.LZH) files
      Magic Shadow Archive (.MSA) files
      MichTron BBS .MCL files
      MultiDesk .MLT files
      Music Studio songs (.SNG)
      Neochrome animations
      Neochrome pics (.NEO, 6 varieties)
      NeoDesk Icon files (.NIC)
      Notator song (.SON) and pattern (.PAT) files
      Opus .OPS spreadsheet files
      PageStream documents and fonts
      .PAK files (similar to ARC)
      PinHead data files
      PKZIP .ZIP files (like ARC)
      Prism-Paint brush, picture, mono fill,
         color fill,and palette files
      QuickST II .QFL fill pattern files
      Regent Word II files
      Spectrum pics (SPU, SPC, or SPS)
      Spectrum Sequence (.SPS) files
      ST-Writer files
      Seurat low-rez fill patterns
      TIFF tag image files
      TINY pics (.TNY, 6 varieties)
      Wordflair II documents, record files, and record key files
      WordPerfect documents and macro files
      WordUp files
      Word Writer ST files

Whatis can also recognize these types of files for the 8-bit Ataris:

      ALFCRUNCHed files
      CRUSHed disks
      DISKCOMmed disks (Disk Communicator)
      Super Bootdisk disks
      MASHed disks
      SCRUNCHed disks
      SHRINKed disks
      SAVEd BASIC programs
      EXTENDed BXE (BASIC-XE) programs
      SAVEd MAC/65 code
      8-bit programs (object code)
      DaisyDot fonts
      compressed KOALA pictures
      SpartaDOS X (SDX) external commands

It _is_ possible to fool Whatis.  If a data file happens to start with the
same bytes as one of these file types, it will be identified incorrectly.  It
is also difficult to distinguish between certain types of files - for example,
the signatures of low-rez TINY pics, resource files, Neochrome pictures, and
8-bit Scrunch files look the same, so the identification box simply lists all
of those types.  Some low-rez TINY pics produced with Vidi-ST look identical to
SAVEd BASIC files, so both types are listed in that box.

Whatis was based on Roy Goldman's Compactor Detector, an 8-bit BASIC program
which identifies files and allows renaming them to have a "standard" extender.
Versions 3.2 and up of Whatis were written in 100% assembler code using HiSoft
DevpacST, and the resource was created using WERCS; both of these are
distibuted by MichTron.  The 8-bit version of Whatis was written in Action!,
from the folks at ICD.

I'm always looking for more file types to support in Whatis.  If you know of
a particular type of file that always start with the same few bytes, leave me a
message.  And, of course, if you have any problems, questions, comments, or
suggestions, PLEASE let me know!

I hope you find this program useful!  If you use it, please send a card (or
donation! :-) to me at:

      Bill Aycock
      2310 North Elm Street
      Greensboro, NC 27408

      July 25, 1991
      CompuServe UserID: 76703,4061
      Internet: [e-mail]

================================
version history:
v4.6: adds Opus spreadsheet files, 3 kinds of Wordflair II files;
      adds command keys; makes Next button default if valid
v4.5: adds DC Squish files (thanks to Mike Vederman!), Neodesk icon files;
      allows wildcards to check a number of files at once
v4.4: adds two Notator file types (thanks to Brian Campbell!)
v4.3: adds DCDesktop icon files (thanks to Jim Ness!); some logic changes
v4.2: adds A-CHART, Seurat, WP macro, HotWire ledgers (thanks Gordon Meyer!)
v4.1: adds PKZIP files, new NEO types, 7 Prism-Paint file types
v4.0: first revision without separate resource file
v3.7: adds IFF files (thanks to Ron Hunt!), QFL files, PageStream fonts
v3.6: adds CAD-3D (thanks to David Ramsden!) and Blink data files
v3.5: adds WordUp & WWST files (thanks to Terry May again!), fsel title,
      Calamus .CFN and .CDK files
v3.4: adds IMG, GEM, MCL, and BBS Express ST files (thanks to Terry May!)
      and more TNY pic varieties (thanks to Jim Ness!), fixes .SPS
v3.3: single version for PRG or ACC, adds hex/ascii display + 3 file types
v3.2: PRG and ACC versions converted into assembler
v3.1: adds Spectrum Sequence files
v3.0: first dialog box version, adds Magic Shadow Archives
v2.2: adds Super Bootdisk disks (thanks to Harold Brewer!)
v2.1: adds TIFF, .PC?, TINY, and Neo animations (thanks to David Ramsden!)
v2.0: first desk accessory version
v1.5: adds WordPerfect document files
v1.4: adds PageStream documents (thanks to James Parry!)
v1.3: corrects Regent Word files, adds *.* for the standard file selector
v1.2: adds one new file type and some error handling
v1.0: first ST version