Shareware Grab Bag/Shareware Grab Bag.iso/001/look4.arc/LOOK4.TXT

Text File | 1985-12-01 | 22KB | 483 lines

======================================================================
                              Tony Lindsey
                           3752 Third Avenue
                        San Diego, CA 92103-4112
                 Voice communications ONLY: [phone]
======================================================================

                            INTRODUCTION

     This is a quick and VERY snappy way to search through and maintain
the XFERLIST file that can be downloaded from Gene's bulletin board in
Chicago, and we only need to use the Disk Operating System to do it!

     The XFERLIST file contains many lines of information, each describing
a file that can be downloaded onto our computers. This listing can EASILY
overwhelm us, because it contains so much information in so many lines.
There were almost 2,000 files listed as of December 1985.

     Here are some examples:

DSM206.LBR   -11-09-85 LATEST DOS-O-MATIC VERSION 2.06      (ID1590)  92288
BLAKBOOK.ARC -11-09-85 ADDRESS BOOK PGM IN TURBO, PRINTS    (ID1648)  80128
HDPREP.ARC   -11-07-85 HARD DISK PREPARATION UTILITIES      (ID0178)  63104
MPMPRN3.LBR  -11-07-85 IBM CHARACTER SET FOR EPSON PRINTERS (ID0178)  68864
DISKDRIVE    -11-03-85 360K DISK DRIVE UPGRADE FOR AT & 286 (ID0270)   1325
XFRDB2.ARC   -10-20-85 MAINTAIN GENE'S XFERLIST W/DBASEII   (ID1580)  14336
CAROLS.EXE   -10-20-85 MENU SELECTION OF 24 CHRISTMAS SONGS (ID0547)  41216
FIND-SAT.BAS -10-03-85 FIND SATELLITE COORDS FOR 17 CITIES  (ID0284)  18944
DIRS.ARC     -09-30-85 TOTAL FILE SPACE USED IN SUBDIR      (ID0012)  17664
ESIE.LBR     -09-29-85 AN EXPERT SYSTEM SHELL               (ID0090) 117888

     Every line must pack a lot of information:

CAROLS.EXE   -10-20-85 MENU SELECTION OF 24 CHRISTMAS SONGS (ID0547)  41216
                                                                   
    │            │     └──────┬───────────────────────────┘     │       │
    │            │            │  Who sent the file to Gene ─────┘       │
    │            │            │  The file's size ───────────────────────┘
    │            │            └─ The file's 36-character description
    │            └────────────── The date it was sent to the bulletin board
    └─────────────────────────── The file name and extension

                WHY THE LOOK4 PROCEDURE IS NECESSARY

     Looking for one or two files in the midst of all of this information
can be a drag. If you print out the WHOLE file, it can take a LOT of time,
trying to read it in any form can give you a headache, and you'll be lucky
if you retain ANY of it!  Some people have set up database manager programs
to search through and add to this list using dBASE II and III and other
database managers. I personally find this to be slow. Instead, I use
common DOS 3.10 commands (plus one minor freeware file and several text
files) to search through and maintain the XFERLIST file.

                    WHAT RESULTS YOU CAN EXPECT

     Once everything is all set up, all you'll have to do is to start up
your computer using a particular diskette, and then decide what you'd like
to look for. For example, if you've just bought the program called
"Managing Your Money", you might want to look for every occurrence of
"MYM" within the XFERLIST file, so you can download anything that appeals
to you. You could then issue the following command:

LOOK4 MYM

     Using a RAM-Disk, this has yielded me the following result on my screen
in slightly less than 9 seconds:

MYM_ALL.UNP  -09-19-85 UNPROTECT MYM - ALL REVS             (ID1516)5  3584
MYMFIX.ARC   -08-25-85 UNPRO. MAN. YR. MONEY W/O PRG. MODS  (ID0094)5  1792
MYM.HRD      -05-29-85 RUN MYM FROM A HARD DISK             (ID1659)5  2176

     You can see how "MYM" is contained within each line.

     Once again, this procedure located and displayed 3 lines within a file
containing 147,456 characters in 8.89 seconds!  I get the same result in 14.68
seconds using a 10 megabyte hard disk. I doubt that a database manager would
be so quick!

     If I desire the same result, only printed out on my printer, I can
use this variation:

LOOK4 MYM P

                           THE LESSONS:

     I will be explaining the quicker, RAM-Disk method of finding data
first, then the plainer, slower hard-disk method, then I will explain how
to keep your XFERLIST data file current.

========================================================================

       IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO USE THE LOOK4 PROCEDURE ON A RAM-DISK.

Here's what you'll need:

REQUIREMENTS:
==================
- DOS 3.00 or 3.10
- 512k or 640k of RAM
- A formatted, bootable floppy diskette created with the FORMAT A:/S command.

We'll call this the LOOK4 diskette, and it should contain ALL of the
following files:

Standard DOS files
==================
VDISK.SYS
FIND.EXE
MORE.COM

Plus the following files which SHOULD be included with this file:
==================
FLIP.COM
AUTOEXEC.BAT
CONFIG.SYS
LOOK4.BAT

And, finally, the main file with all of the data.
==================
XFERLIST

Once you have all of the files on the diskette, it SHOULD work right away
by re-starting your computer with that diskette. But, with life the way it
is, maybe I should explain what everything does, so you can trouble-shoot.

VDISK.SYS

The standard DOS-approved way of creating a RAM-disk using most of your
computer's 512k or 640k of RAM. THIS WILL NOT BE A PROBLEM! You won't be
using your computer for ANYTHING ELSE but SEARCHING FOR DATA whenever you
use the LOOK4 diskette.

FIND.EXE

A seldom-used DOS "filter" that searches through files for whatever string
of characters you specify.

MORE.COM

Another DOS filter, which provides a way of preventing lots of data from
scrolling right off the screen before we get to see it.

FLIP.COM

An old freeware utility that works well in a small amount of space. I use
it with the LOOK4 routine to automatically "press" the CapsLock key for
me. Here are all of the proper ways you can use it in a batch file:

                 FLIP CAPS ON
                 FLIP CAPS OFF
                 FLIP NUM ON
                 FLIP NUM OFF
                 FLIP MONO
                 FLIP COLOR 80
                 FLIP COLOR 40


                       THE CONFIG.SYS FILE.

    This is a file we humans create, containing a collection of special
commands.  These commands are NOT commands that you normally can type in
at the DOS prompt.  The CONFIG.SYS file is an "obedience trainer" for your
computer, and it's shocking how few people know the value of it.  The file
called CONFIG.SYS is read by the computer just before AUTOEXEC.BAT, and
has a different reason for existence.

     When you start up your computer, the Disk Operating System is
loaded into memory.  It then looks for a file called CONFIG.SYS on the
start-up disk.  If the file exists, then DOS performs the commands that
we human beings have set up for it.  After that, the AUTOEXEC.BAT kicks
in.

    You can study the technical aspects of the CONFIG.SYS file in
greater detail in your DOS manual's Configuration Commands section.

    Here's what CONFIG.SYS on the LOOK4 diskette should look like:

BREAK=ON
BUFFERS=8
files=28
device=vdisk.sys 400

    Here are the explanations:

BREAK=ON             means that we want to reserve the right to panic
                     and break out of problems we might be experiencing.
Normally, we can tell the computer to "WHOA" by holding down the CTRL
KEY and briefly pressing the SCROLL LOCK or BREAK key on the upper right
corner of the keyboard.  (See the word "Break" on the front of the key?)
This procedure will still work, but now we've told the computer to pay
EXTRA-attention to our desire to break out of what's going on.

BUFFERS=8             is a great way to speed up your computer's disk
                      accessing.  According to the great Peter Norton,
the best number of BUFFERS to assign depend on the type of disk drive
you use the most.  If you only use floppy diskettes, you should set the
number of BUFFERS to 8.  If you use an IBM PC XT with a 10-megabyte hard
disk, set your BUFFERS to 16.  If you use an IBM AT or a Compaq Deskpro
with a 20-megabyte hard disk, set your BUFFERS to 32.  I'm only
guessing, but it seems like the progression is 16 BUFFERS to each 10
megabytes.  Since we're using the LOOK4 diskette as an entity unto
itself, let's leave this line alone.

FILES=28              means that we want to give DOS the ability to
                      "juggle" up to 28 files in memory at once if
necessary.  This can include memory-resident utilities like Sidekick,
Applications software like Symphony or Framework, Symphony's Tutorial
Application, the Lotus Access Menu, and any other such goodies we might
use during a typical day's work.  I've found that 28 is a good number,
though there's no real upper limit to the number you can specify.  Each
additional file you add takes up 39 more bytes of RAM memory.

    The FILES statement can be especially nice for all of the Symphony
or Framework or dBASE III users who have discovered problems when
combining their application software with various memory-resident
programs like the Pop-Up series and SideKick.  You might have noticed
that the computer would inexplicably lock up when you'd have many of
these programs in memory.  Being logical and intelligent, you'd stop
using these auxiliary programs.

    A PROPERLY set-up FILES statement in the CONFIG.SYS file may clear
up your woes!  This is advice that might just cause you to welcome
Sidekick and all of the others back into daily use.

DEVICE=VDISK.SYS 400  is THE most important line in the CONFIG.SYS file.
                      It says that DOS should create a new device using
the information stored in the file called VDISK.SYS. This information
fools DOS into thinking that it has a new disk drive, which in MY case on
MY machine will automatically be called drive D:, since I'm already using
drives A: through C:. This "Electronic Disk", "RAM-Disk", "E-Drive", or
whatever you want to call it, is actually the main part of your computer's
RAM memory, set up to act just like a disk drive. The normal, default size
of this RAM-Disk is only 360k, which is NOT enough for the XFERLIST file
and the temporary files created by the FIND and MORE filters. So, we give
the RAM-Disk a size of 400k.


                         THE AUTOEXEC.BAT FILE.

    Each time you start up the computer, the Disk Operating System (DOS)
looks for a "batch" file called AUTOEXEC.BAT, containing as many or as
few commands as we desire.  DOS then follows these commands, one by
one.

    Here's what AUTOEXEC.BAT on the LOOK4 diskette should look like:

echo off
cls
d:
A:flip caps on
copy A:LOOK4.BAT
copy a:XFERLIST
copy a:FIND.EXE
copy a:MORE.COM
cls
echo To use the LOOK4 batch file properly, first decide what string you
echo want to search for. For example: you might want to find every occurrence of
echo the characters "DB3", because you have a sudden interest in dBASE III.
echo So, you issue the following command and press enter:
echo LOOK4 DB3
echo If you want the same output, only you want it to be printed out, try
echo LOOK4 DB3 P

    Again, I'll explain the new concepts:


ECHO OFF             is used as first line of EVERY batch file, and
                     normally nowhere else.  It means we don't want the
following commands flashed on the screen in a confusing way, so "zip
your lip, computer!"

CLS                  means "clear the screen".  The second command for
                     EVERY batch file.

D:                   means that DOS should pay attention to drive D:
                     from now on.  (Remember, D: refers to the RAM-Disk.)
This tells DOS that you want to  "change the default drive", meaning that
all of your previous commands might conceivably have been taking it for
granted that drive A: was the important one, and now drive D: is going to
be the important one.  It is CRUCIAL that this line have an accurate drive
specifier that will work properly on YOUR machine. Like I said earlier,
the CONFIG.SYS file automatically loads the RAM-Disk as drive D:, but it
might be drive C: or E: or F: or WHATEVER on your machine. This line is
the one to modify if you have any problems.

A:FLIP CAPS ON      automatically hits the CapsLock key for us, turning it
                    on. This is the ONLY time we use the FLIP command.

COPY A:LOOK4.BAT
COPY A:etc.         copies the 4 important files onto the RAM-Disk.

ECHO To use etc.    means that it's okay to temporarily step out of the
                    "zip your lip" mode, just to put a message on the screen.


                        THE LOOK4.BAT BATCH FILE.

     Here's what it should look like:

echo off
CLS
IF '%2' == 'P' GOTO PRINT
type xferlist | find "%1" >output.fil
type output.fil | more
GOTO END
:PRINT
type xferlist | find "%1" >PRN
:END

     Here's the explanation of the new concepts in this file:

IF '%2' == 'P' GOTO PRINT   is a standard but poorly documented way of
                            testing to see if you typed in a 'P' after the
normal two words of your command. The fact that there is a "%2" in the
command means that we are exploiting the concept of REPLACEABLE
PARAMETERS, which needs a bit more explanation.  If I type in the "LOOK4
MYM" command, then the "LOOK4" is a parameter (called "%0"), and the "MYM"
is another parameter (called "%1"). If we had phrased our command with one
more parameter by typing in  "LOOK4 MYM P", then the "P" is the parameter
called "%2". It can go all the way up to parameter 9 if you want. I never
go beyond parameter 3, personally. So, if I were to translate this whole
command into babytalk English, it would say this: "Check to see if the
human being put a "P" as the third word in the command. If they did, skip
the next few lines until you find a line consisting of the word 'PRINT'
with a ':' at the beginning of it. At that point, continue doing the next
few lines after it. If there is NOT a 'P' at all, or the parameter is
anything BUT a 'P', just continue with the next line."

TYPE XFERLIST | FIND "%1" >OUTPUT.FIL  is a VERY good line to learn from.
                                       Here's the English translation:
"Literally display or dump the file called XFERLIST, only instead of
dumping it to the usual place, send it through a pipe, right into the
waiting arms of the FIND command. The FIND command will then look through
the whole file, checking to see if each line might contain the second word
of our command (which is MYM in our example). Once the lines containing
that word have been found, set them aside. After you're done, don't dump
them to the USUAL place, (which is the display monitor), dump them into a
file called OUTPUT.FIL". Believe it or not, all of these concepts are
hidden in the DOS manual, and have been there since DOS version 2.00!
This is all a good way to learn about the FIND filter, which needs to be
used with a LARGE RAM-Disk, because it needs LOTS of room to work with. It
creates several temporary files that it uses as "scratch pads", and then
erases them without your ever seeing them. If you ever run into a "File
Creation Error" error message, you'll need to enlarge the size of your
RAM-Disk by modifying your CONFIG.SYS file.

TYPE OUTPUT.FIL | MORE    is the way we make sure our freshly found
                          information doesn't go scrolling right off the
screen. For example: there are HUNDREDS of filenames that end with .BAS in
the XFERLIST database, and if you issue the "LOOK4 .BAS" command, you
would normally get these hundreds of lines scrolling past on the screen,
too fast to read. So, here is the English translation of this line:
"Normally, we would dump the contents of the file called OUTPUT.FIL
directly to the screen, but instead, lets feed it through a pipe into the
input of the MORE filter, which will make sure that we get each pageful of
information in an orderly manner".

GOTO END       means "skip the next few lines until you find the label
               called END. We'll know it's a GOTO label because it starts
               with a colon".

:PRINT         is a GOTO label that begins our printing option.

TYPE XFERLIST | FIND "%1" >PRN     works just like the previous line four
                                   lines above, only the output is
different. Instead of storing the output in a temporary file called
OUTPUT.FIL, we redirect the output to the printer, which has a reserved
device name of PRN.

:END           is only a GOTO label that we can skip to when we're done,
               if we need it.


         IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO USE THE LOOK4 PROCEDURE ON A HARD DISK.

     This will work perfectly well, just a little slower. My LOOK4 MYM example
slowed down from 8.89 seconds to 14.68 seconds, which is STILL plenty
fast.

REQUIREMENTS:
==================
- DOS 2.00 or higher
- A suitable hard disk, with the PATH command set up (if necessary) to use
  FIND.EXE, MORE.COM, FLIP.COM and LOOK4.BAT files on the XFERLIST file,
  whatever directory it's in.

You'll need the following files:

Standard DOS files
==================
FIND.EXE
MORE.COM

Plus the following files which SHOULD be included with this file:
==================
FLIP.COM
LOOK4.BAT

And, finally, the main file with all of the data.
==================
XFERLIST

     Just make sure that all of the files can get to each other using the
PATH command, and it should work like a little charmer.

     For example: if you have the FIND.EXE, MORE.COM, FLIP.COM and
LOOK4.BAT files in a subdirectory on drive C: called C:\DOS, and you have
the XFERLIST file in a subdirectory called C:\DOWNLOAD, you may issue the
following commands:

PATH=C:\DOS          means that we want to give commands, and we want
                     DOS to follow our commands EVERY time.  By giving
the PATH command each time we start up the computer, we're telling DOS
where it can find further information if it doesn't understand us.  The
THEME of my C:\DOS subdirectory is that it contains all of my TOOLS
AND GOODIES.  DOS will use the news it got from the PATH command to find
any tools and goodies it needs.

CD\DOWNLOAD          to change the default directory to the one containing
                     the XFERLIST file. We can then use the LOOK4 command
any way we want, and it will work beautifully!


             HOW DO YOU KEEP YOUR XFERLIST FILE CURRENT?

     I don't know which communications software YOU use, but I personally
use Symphony.  Just about ANY telecommunications software will allow you
to capture data into a file.

     If I'm telecommunicating with the Chicago BBS, I tell it to List all
files. (There is an option to list only the files that are New since
the bulletin board was called last, but I personally have never found it to
be reliable). I watch these new filenames scroll by until I see one that I
recognize. (I'm capturing all of this information in memory, and can go
back later and edit it). I then delete any information that I already have
in my old XFERLIST file, and then print out the parts I want into a plain
ASCII file. Then, I use DOS to add the new file onto the old XFERLIST,
making it current! Here's how I do it:

     If my new ASCII file contains about 20 new rows of information, and
it's called 21NOV85.TXT to show that it's that particular day's new
listing, and the old file called XFERLIST is in the same directory, here
are the commands I would use to add 21NOV85.TXT to the end of XFERLIST:

COPY XFERLIST + 21NOV85.TXT TEMP.FIL     This would create a new, bigger
                                         file (called TEMP.FIL) that would
have the entire contents of XFERLIST first and then the 21NOV85.TXT
contents right after it. Then,

DIR                       To make SURE that I had created a bigger file called
                          TEMP.FIL, so I could safely go on with the next step.

ERASE XFERLIST
ERASE 21NOV85.TXT         To get rid of the old duplicate information files.

RENAME TEMP.FIL XFERLIST  Which would make sure that my LOOK4 batch file
                          would not need to be re-written.

    This procedure is technically referred to as CONCATENATION OF FILES.

==========================================================================
                            HOW TO FIND ME
Have fun, and if you want to reach me for questions or suggestions, here's
how you do it...

    If you DON'T subscribe to the CHICAGO Bulletin Board run by GENE
PLANTZ, you REALLY should! To me, it's like living in Paris! I can find
just about ANYTHING my little heart desires in a VERY short time. Hook up
your modem and communications software and become a paid-up member of the
bulletin board.

    Here are the necessary parameters:

                      PHONE NUMBER: [phone]
                         BAUD RATE: 1200
                            PARITY: NONE
                            LENGTH: 8
                         STOP BITS: 1

    If you would like to leave an electronic message for me, my ID
number is ID1018.