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Information about “PROINDEX - A DATABASE”
Writers, Students, Editors -- PROINDEX lets you negotiate the most
problem-filled part of writing a document or book: building the index.
PROINDEX saves you the trouble of having to handmark each and every word
you want in your index. You simply provide a file of words listing the
keywords you want to be in your index, and PROINDEX searches your
document and marks all occurrences of those keywords. Works with any
ASCII text file (as well as WordStar files).
File Descriptions:
PROTEST KEY Example keyword file.
PROTEST TXT Example document file.
PROINDEX DOC On disk documentation.
PROINDEX EXE Main program.
ADMINESE TXT Sample text file.
REVADMIN TXT Sample text file.
AUTOEXEC BAT Start-up batch file.
STUDNESE TXT Sample text file.
STPAUL TXT Sample text file.
REVTEACH TXT Sample text file.
REVSTUD TXT Sample text file.
UNWS EXE ASCII utility.
UNWS DOC Documentation for UNWS.EXE.
TEACHESE TXT Sample text file.
FILE0977.TXT
Disk No: 977
Program Title: PROINDEX
PC-SIG version: 2
PROINDEX makes an index for a document. It saves you the trouble of
having to hand mark each and every word you want in your index. You
simply provide a file of words you want in your index, and PROINDEX
searches your document and marks all occurrences of those keywords.
PROINDEX works with any ASCII text file (as well as WordStar files).
Usage: Database.
Special Requirements: Printer (optional).
How to Start: Type GO (press enter).
Suggested Registration: $65.00
File Descriptions:
PROINDEX DOC Program documentation.
PROINDEX EXE Main program.
PROTEST KEY Example keyword file.
PROTEST TXT Example document file.
PC-SIG
1030D E Duane Avenue
Sunnyvale Ca. 94086
(408) 730-9291
(c) Copyright 1987,88,89 PC-SIG, Inc.
GO.TXT
╔═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╗
║ <<<< Disk No 977 PROINDEX >>>> ║
╠═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╣
║ To print the documentation for ProIndex, Type: MANUAL (press enter) ║
║ ║
║ To view the documentation on your srceen, type: VIEW (press enter) ║
║ ║
║ To run the program ProIndex, Type: PROINDEX (press enter) ║
╚═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝
PROINDEX.DOC
P P O I N D E X
Version 2.23
Copyright 1985, 1986, 1987 by Gary Elfring
INTRODUCTION
Do you need to create an index for the back of your book, thesis,
report, or software manual? Do your legal briefs or court re-
ports need indexes? Now there is an easy way to index an word
processed document. PROINDEX will perform all the work necessary
to make an index.
PROINDEX takes your text file along with a list of keywords or
phrases and looks for matches between the two. It produces an
index in any one of numerous different styles, including those
suggested by "The Chicago Manual of Style". There is no limit on
the length of your text file or the number of keywords in your
list. The resulting index can be saved as a text file or sent to
the printer.
PROINDEX will run automatically or interactively. In the inter-
active mode it shows you each match to a keyword or phrase in
context. You control which entries are marked in your index.
PROINDEX will produce an index that references absolute line
numbers, page numbers, or page and line numbers. The program is
compatible with all major word processors. True secondary refer-
ences are also possible using PROINDEX in the interactive mode.
Other features include: indexing sessions can be halted at any
time and then restarted where you left off, full path support, a
configuration file controls your indexing style. User select-
able: starting page number of text, multiple or single references
per page, string to preceed each page number, page / line / or
page and line references, lines per page, case conversion, 7 or 8
bit ASCII, interactive or batch mode.
SHAREWARE
This program is provided on a "shareware" basis! Try the program
out. If you don't like it- erase it. If you do like it we hope
you will pay for it. The shareware contribution mentioned here
is 30% less than the retail price of this package. Thus shareware
users get the exact same program as commercial users only they
pay less.
NOTE that the utilities mentioned further in this document do NOT
come with the "shareware" version of the program. Only register-
ed users get the utilities programs mentioned here. (This is the
incentive to send in your registration fee.) To register send
$65.00 to:
Gary Elfring
4N899 West Mary Drive
St. Charles, Illinois, 60174
PLEASE mention the product name, (PROINDEX), and where you got it
from. You will then receive: the latest version of the program
(including all the missing utilities and any new ones we dream
up), improved typeset documentation, telephone support, and one
free update.
WARRANTY
NONE!! No warranty is provided to anyone who has not contributed
for this program. Gary Elfring specifically disclaims all other
warranties, expressed or implied, including but not limited to,
implied warranties of merchantability and fitness for a particu-
lar purpose with respect to defects in the disk or documentation,
and the program license granted herein. In no event shall Gary
Elfring be liable for any loss of profit or any other commercial
damage, including but not limited to special, incidental, conse-
quential, or other damages.
Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION................................................. 1
CREATING AN INDEX............................................ 3
Index Styles............................................... 4
PREPARING YOUR TEXT.......................................... 7
General.................................................... 7
Non-ASCII Indexes.......................................... 8
MAKING A KEYWORD FILE........................................ 10
General.................................................... 10
Creating the Keyword File.................................. 11
INDEXING TECHNIQUES.......................................... 12
Interactive Control........................................ 12
Page Breaks................................................ 13
Keyword Tips............................................... 13
Secondary References....................................... 14
CONFIGURATION................................................ 16
OPERATION.................................................... 19
Getting Started............................................ 19
Opening Screen............................................. 19
Data Entry................................................. 19
Program Operation.......................................... 20
Executing MS-DOS Commands.................................. 23
PROINDEX Control Parameters................................ 24
Indexing................................................... 29
OUTPUT....................................................... 31
PROGRAM SPEED................................................ 34
UTILITY PROGRAMS............................................. 36
COMMON.TXT................................................. 36
MAKEWORD................................................... 36
MERGE...................................................... 37
PAGE....................................................... 39
REMOVE..................................................... 41
SORT....................................................... 41
STRIP...................................................... 42
PROBLEMS..................................................... 43
Getting Started............................................ 43
PROINDEX Misses References................................. 43
Paging Problems............................................ 44
Error Messages............................................. 44
DEMONSTRATION FILES.......................................... 47
Table of Contents
MENU SCREENS................................................. 49
Opening Screen............................................. 49
Input File Names Entry..................................... 49
Main Menu.................................................. 50
Index Control Parameters................................... 50
Interactive Indexing Menu.................................. 51
MS-DOS Command Menu........................................ 51
The Configuration File..................................... 52
INTRODUCTION
The PROINDEX program is a software tool designed to produce an
index of your word processed documents. An index is an
alphabetical list of names, subject, references, etc. together
with the position each appears in the text. This index usually
appears at the end of a book or publication. The exact format or
style of this index can be selected by the user.
PROINDEX will create an index from almost any kind of text file.
All that is needed is your original text file and a list of
keywords or phrases. PROINDEX compares this reference list with
your original text file and marks each keyword it finds in an
index. Utilities are provided that will automatically prepare a
reference list for you if you don't want to create your own. The
resulting index can be paged by a utility supplied along with
PROINDEX or it can be customized by you with your word processor.
Please note that PROINDEX does require some work on your part
before you can create an index. Your original text file must be
paged and you must create a list of keywords or phrases. In
addition, text files created by certain word processors must be
converted to an ASCII format.
During the indexing process you can exercise control over which
references are included in your index by running the program in
interactive mode. In this mode, PROINDEX shows you each reference
word in context and lets you chose whether to mark it or not. If
you want all references included in your index automatically, you
can run PROINDEX in the automatic mode.
PROINDEX will handle almost any type of text file, including
those produced by WordStar and most other word processors. There
is no limit on the size of a text file to be indexed or on the
number of references to search for. PROINDEX is designed to
perform as much of the indexing task as possible automatically,
since that is what a computer is good at.
In operation, PROINDEX generates temporary working copies of your
input text and keyword files. PROINDEX requires an amount of free
disk space equal to your text file size plus keyword file size. A
little more space is required when the output of PROINDEX is
directed to the disk. The program checks the amount of free disk
space before it makes these temporary work files and lets you
know if there is not enough room. You can specify a separate work
drive if you need more disk space. Temporary files are always
erased before the end of a PROINDEX run.
PROINDEX has several limitations. No keyword or phrase may be
longer than 70 characters in length. Also, PROINDEX will not
locate phrases that wrap from one line to the next. An index
references absolute pages in your text, and thus the input to
PROINDEX must be paged in some way. With most word processors you
can simply print your text to a disk file. PROINDEX will then
count lines to determine what page it is on. An alternate paging
1
method is to mark the end of each page with any single 8 bit
character you chose. This gives you indexing compatibility with
documents that do not follow the paging format of your word
processor.
PROINDEX will not correctly display text in the interactive mode
if the text lines are longer than 80 characters. This problems
does not effect the operation of PROINDEX or the quality of your
index. It only concerns the display. If lines are longer than 80
characters the IBM BIOS will wrap the lines on the screen and
PROINDEX will lose track of where it is on the screen. The only
fix for this problem significantly slows down the operation of
PROINDEX. Since the problem does not effect the final index we
have left it in to avoid slowing PROINDEX down.
PROINDEX requires an IBM PC or compatible computer to run. It
needs a minimum of 192K of memory, one disk drive, and MS-DOS
version 2.1 or higher. PROINDEX performs BIOS calls to interrupt
10H, video control, and thus may not work on all IBM compatibles.
A special version of PROINDEX is available that uses the ANSI
screen driver to bypass this problem. The ANSI version is slower
in operation. The maximum file size that can be indexed is
limited only by the amount of available disk space. Hard disk or
large RAM disks are recommended when indexing files greater than
180K bytes long.
2
CREATING AN INDEX
Creating an index from scratch is not as easy a task as it seems.
The quality of an index is related to two different items. It
depends on how good the reference list is and how well this
reference list is compared to the text. PROINDEX will take care
of the later problem for you. This only leaves the problem of
creating a good reference list.
There are two basic approaches to creating a reference list. One
approach is to have the author of the document make up a list of
keywords or phrases. This list can be added to as the indexing
process continues. This approach has the disadvantage that it can
miss entire subjects that should be in the index. That is because
this approach relies on human memory.
A second approach is to use a set of software tools to turn the
original text file into a sorted list of unique words. We supply
two utilities, MAKEWORD and REMOVE, to do this work automatical-
ly. This list is then used as the basis for a reference list. It
can be added to and modified by the document author. PROINDEX
supports this approach by supplying a set of indexing tools that
will build and maintain this sorted list of unique words for you.
Once a reference list exists the style of the index must be
chosen. The simplest index style lists all references in alphabe-
tical order. All chapters in the document are numbered sequen-
tially. The completed index simply lists the page number each
reference can be found on. When a citation is found more than
once on a page only one reference to that page will be put into
the index. A typical example of this style index looks as
follows:
All command, 15
BIOS calls, 1
Bold display, 14, 34
Data entry, 13, 23
Delete key, 6, 9, 14
IBM PC, 1, 5, 7
Line numbers, 3, 5, 7
A slightly more advanced form of index would illustrate when a
citation covers more than one page. Assume that the reference Ape
is discussed in your text on pages 12 through 15. PROINDEX would
produce the following citation:
Ape, 12, 13, 14, 15
Why doesn't PROINDEX automatically turn this citation into the
more correct form, Ape, 12 - 15 ? The answer is, PROINDEX does
not know the context of the text. It is possible that there were
four separate references to Ape on those four pages. In that case
listing each page number separately would be the correct form.
Thus, you must decide which form is correct and edit in the
change, if any, with your word processor.
3
Other index styles are also supported by PROINDEX. Some indexes
assume each chapter of text starts with page number one. The page
references in this type of index must delineate which chapter
they represent. This is done by assigning the chapters individual
numbers, characters, or names. Assuming each chapter was assigned
a sequential number, chapter one gets number 1, this index style
would look as follows:
Remarks, 3-39
Root directory, 5-7, 7-6
Screen, 2-5
Segments, 4-6, 4-9
System devices, 2-5
Text files, 7-123, 8-5
A legal index style might be completely different. These indexes
typically must show both page and line numbers of a citation or
reference. PROINDEX lets you chose any character you want to
separate page numbers from line numbers. In addition, multiple
references per page must be allowed. Assuming you chose the ":"
character the index in this style would look as follows.
Atwell vs Drumond, 6:3, 6:14
Automobile, 9:23, 13:56, 19:7
Ford Pinto, 1:3, 3:5, 3:29, 3:46
Supreme Court, 19:7
Once an index style has been selected, you can run the PROINDEX
program. From the main menu of the program you can select the
index control parameter menu. Here you can configure PROINDEX to
produce an index in the style you want. Once the questions on
this menu have been answered you can begin the actual indexing
process.
PROINDEX typically sends its output to a disk file. Once PROINDEX
has completed indexing your text you will have to polish or
finish the resulting file. This can be done in one of two ways.
Either you can import the index into your word processed text and
edit it to what ever form you desire, or you can use one of the
utilities we provide to do this work for you.
For instance, if the chapters were indexed separately you would
run the MERGE utility to combine the separate indexes into one
master index. Then use SORT to ensure your index is in
alphabetical order. Finally, the PAGE routine will put top and
bottom margins in your index. For details on the operation of
these utilities see the chapters that describe each utility.
Index Styles
To help you choose an indexing style a number of different sample
indexes are shown below. Each sample index also shows the
settings of the index control parameters. These control
4
parameters are fully explained in the OPERATION section of this
manual. Since there are 14 different control parameters only the
values needed to create each sample index are shown below. All
values are shown in the order they appear on the index control
parameters menu.
Primary References with Standard Page Numbers
All command, 15
Backslash character, 10
BIOS calls, 1
Bold display, 14, 34
Data entry, 13, 23
Delete key, 6, 9, 14
[1] [N] [N] [0C] [ ] [P] [P] [:] [66] [Y] [N] [D] [T] [Y]
Primary and Secondary References, Page Numbers Inclusive
Options, 1, 9 - 15
Page,
ending, 5, 12
length, 5, 11
numbers, 2, 4, 5, 11
Path names, 6, 8 - 11, 13
Quit,
command, 15
program, 14, 19
RAM disk, 1, 8
[1] [N] [N] [0C] [ ] [P] [P] [:] [66] [Y] [N] [D] [T] [Y]
Numeric Chapter with Page References
Remarks, 7-39
Root directory, 5-7, 7-6
Screen, 2-5
Segments, 9-6, 9-9
System devices, 2-5
Text files, 7-123, 8-15
[1] [N] [N] [0C] [9- ] [P] [P] [:] [66] [Y] [N] [D] [T] [Y]
5
Alphabetic Chapter with Page References
close, A.6, B.9
graph, B.9, D.17
pages, A.5, A.9, A.23
read, C.4, D.9
sort, D.5, F.172
wait, A.1
[1] [N] [N] [0C] [F. ] [P] [P] [:] [66] [Y] [N] [D] [T] [Y]
Absolute Line References
big, 23, 145, 876
cute, 1254, 3478
end, 12, 534, 95687
funny, 45, 897
little, 142, 23754
small, 9832
[1] [N] [N] [0C] [ ] [L] [P] [:] [66] [Y] [N] [D] [T] [Y]
Page and Line References with Multiple References per Page
at, 6:3, 6:14, 8:52
ape, 3:4, 5:15
dog, 7:1, 7:4, 7:23
egg, 5:5, 5:8
fire, 2:3, 4:14
gold, 8:9, 8:56
[1] [Y] [N] [0C] [ ] [B] [T] [:] [66] [Y] [N] [D] [T] [Y]
6
PREPARING YOUR TEXT
General
Some preparatory work must be done on your text file before
PROINDEX will be able to index it. The amount and type of work to
be done depends on the particular word processor that you are
using. This section gives a general view of what must be done for
most word processors. Specific instructions for some popular word
processors can be found at the end of this section.
In an ideal world there would be a single word processor and
PROINDEX would handle its files without any work on your part.
Unfortunately, there are many different word processors and each
seems to save its files in its own particular way. To index text
properly PROINDEX needs to see text in a specific format. How you
get your text into the right format depends on your particular
word processor.
Word processors can be classified into one of two different
groups. Each group saves its files in a different format. The
first group saves its text files as ASCII, or something close,
with no special or header information. The second group appends
special, usually binary, information to the beginning of a text
file.
How can you tell what group your word processor belongs to?
Generally, if you can use the MS-DOS TYPE command to display a
text file on your screen you have a Group 1 word processor. Note
that even though your text looks weird WordStar is a Group 1 word
processor. Examples include: PC-Write, WordStar.
If strange things happen when you try this test you have a Group
2 word processor. Examples include: MultiMate, WordStar 2000.
You need to know what type or group of word processor you have to
prepare your text for indexing.
PROINDEX requires that the text to be indexed must be paged in
some manner. PROINDEX does not understand any particular word
processor's paging commands. How do you page your text? With
almost all modern word processors this is an easy task. Simply
instruct your word processor to print the text file to disk. The
resulting disk file is properly paged and header information will
have been removed.
What if you can't print the text file to disk? PROINDEX supports
a second option for determining where page breaks occur. You can
select any single 8 bit character and use it to mark the end of
each page. Using this method you first go through your original
text file and insert a special character at the end of each page.
Next you must know what group your word processor belongs to. If
you have a Group 1 word processor skip the rest of this
paragraph. If you have a Group 2 word processor you will still
need to print your text file to disk before it can be used. Doing
7
this removes the header information appended to your text file.
It also adds extra lines and page breaks but these will be
ignored by PROINDEX.
You are now just about ready to index your text. Before you can
index it you will need a keyword file- see the section on these
files that follows. You must also tell PROINDEX how it will
determine where page breaks occur. If you want an index that
matches your word processed document you must tell PROINDEX how
many lines of text constitute one page. Typically this is 66
lines for a standard 8 A by 11 inch page. However, this number
can be varied for different sizes of documents.
If you are using special characters to mark the end of a page you
must indicate this for PROINDEX. You will have to tell PROINDEX
this is the way to determine page breaks and what the special
character will be. The number of lines per page will not matter
in this case. All this information will be entered on the index
parameters menu page.
PC-Write. Group 1, No special instructions are required for PC-
Write. This word processor saves its files in straight ASCII.
Simply print the text file to disk to page it or mark the end of
each page with a special character and use the file as it stands.
When printing a file to disk PC-Write typically appends a form
feed, control-L or i, to the end of each page. You can use this
as your special character to end each page.
WordStar. Group 1, WordStar uses the most significant bit, MSB,
of each character for its own purposes. While this makes your
text look strange, PROINDEX can handle this text without any
problems. Simply print the text file to disk to page it.
Optionally use the special character to mark the end of a page
and PROINDEX can handle the original text file directly.
Microsoft Word, MultiMate, Pfs: Write, WordStar 2000. Group 2,
These word processor save special header information at the
beginning of a file. All files must be printed to disk before
they can be used.
Display Writer. Group 2, This word processor saves special header
information at the beginning of a file. In addition, the files
are saved in a non-ASCII form. All files must be printed to disk
with the convert to ASCII option before they can be used.
Non-ASCII Indexes
A number of people have been using PROINDEX to index files that
are not in ASCII. This includes things like mathematical symbols,
Hebrew, and early bronze age hieroglyphics. In all these cases
they equate an ASCII character to one of their own special
characters.
PROINDEX will index non-ASCII files just as it does ASCII files.
8
However, there are certain restrictions and requirements that
must be observed for the special case of non-ASCII files. First,
you should not use PROINDEX in the interactive mode with a non-
ASCII file. PROINDEX sends characters straight to the screen in
this mode and non-ASCII characters will not look like much on
your screen.
Second, if you are using a Group 2 word processor you must
convert your disk file by printing it to disk. This removes
header information from the beginning of the file.
Finally, indexing non-ASCII files implies you are printing these
files in some special way. You might be typesetting them or using
a program like Fancy Font for instance. Remember that these
printing programs work like typesetters and thus there is no
correlation between lines of text in the file and the printed
output. You must use a special character to mark the end of each
page of text.
Important notes. When you are trying to index a file that is not
in ASCII it is important to remember to turn off the case
conversion feature. Otherwise all "a" characters will be
converted and compared to all "A" characters. This is probably
not what you wanted.
If you are using the full eight bits available for a character
you must also remember to disable the "strip 8th bit" feature.
Otherwise a character represented by the number 0FFH, 255
decimal, will seem the same as one represented by 7FH, 127
decimal to PROINDEX.
9
MAKING A KEYWORD FILE
General
PROINDEX needs a list of keywords or phrases to run. You must
create this list before you attempt to index your text. We feel
creating a keyword file is easier than marking all the references
in your text file. So, how do you create this keyword file?
The format of the keyword files is very important. The PROINDEX
program expects to see a single keyword or phrase on each line of
the keyword file. A line ends with a carriage return / line feed,
f, combination. PROINDEX searches for an exact match to the
keyword. Thus to find plurals or slight variations in spelling of
a keyword or phrase it is best to shorten the keyword down to the
lowest common set of characters possible. See the previous
section on Indexing Techniques for more details. A keyword file
would look something like this:
Accuracy
Assembly language
Basic
(space)C(space)
(space)debug
EPROM
ejump
High level language Input
Key phrase
Macro
Macro
Macro
PL/M
Some quick comments about this file will probably help you to
understand it a little better. First, case is usually ignored by
the program its only use is for your convenience. The program
will pay no attention to it, unless you instruct it to.
Locating certain words is quite difficult for a program. For
example, finding C, as in the C programming language, can cause a
problem. If just the single letter C is to be searched for the
majority of your matches will be incorrect. The easy way around
this is to add a space before and after the letter C in your
keywords list. This forces the program to search for eCe, a more
reliable indicator of the word C.
Finally, to catch all references to debugging a program a keyword
of edebug might be used. This will catch all words that start
with the letters DEBUG. This includes debug, debugs, debugging,
etc. The same rule applies to plurals. All extra letters should
be left off of keywords.
Note that no keyword or phrase may be longer than 70 characters.
Keywords or phrases longer than this will automatically be
truncated to 70 characters in length. The remaining characters
10
from that keyword will be used as the next keyword. No keywords
will be lost by this process. One keyword will be shortened, and
an additional junk keyword will be created.
Each time PROINDEX completes a search through your entire text
file for a keyword it will produce a pleasant warbling sound on
your computer speaker. This lets you know that you have finished
a given keyword search without having to shift your view to the
keyword list. This feature is especially important when using a
number of identical keywords to search for slightly different
references, secondary references.
Creating the Keyword File
The format of a keyword file is more critical than that of a text
file. PROINDEX expects to find a disk file containing a number of
lines of text. Each line of text has one keyword or phrase
followed by a carriage return / line feed pair, f. Keyword files
must be written in ASCII unless you run intend to run PROINDEX in
the non-interactive mode.
If you are using a Group 1 word processor your keyword file
should be acceptable to PROINDEX. If you are using a Group 2 word
processor you must convert the file to ASCII. Most Group 2 word
processors offer this option. For an explanation of Group 1 & 2
word processors see the previous section. Note that a keyword
file that has been printed to disk with page breaks will not work
correctly with PROINDEX.
If your word processor will not let you convert your file to
ASCII, or you can not use it to create a straight ACSII file, you
can use the EDLIN text editor that came with your version of the
MS-DOS operating system. This program will produce an ASCII
keyword file.
Some word processors end a text file with the control-Z character
while others do not. Note that PROINDEX does not care whether a
file ends with a control-Z. This character will simply be ignored
if it is present.
11
INDEXING TECHNIQUES
Using a computer to generate an index is much faster than
indexing by hand. Computer indexing is also a significantly
different process than hand indexing. The human brain does a
wonderful job of selecting references by context. A computer
selects citations based on an exact pattern match. These
differences in indexing technique are significant. The following
section details a number of techniques that are useful in
computer indexing.
Interactive Control
PROINDEX will work in either an automatic or interactive mode.
The automatic mode is only suitable for finding exact matches to
your references. In general, the automatic mode is used by
lawyers, court reporters, and researchers. These people are only
interested in precise matches to a reference. For everyone else
the interactive mode will probably produce a better index.
Why should a computer program, that is supposed to do your work
for you, require interactive input? The answer is quite simple.
The process of creating an index requires human input concerning
the context each reference is found in. There is an entire
profession of people that make indexes for authors. If it were
possible to replace these people with a computer program it would
have been done a long while ago.
So what does PROINDEX do for you? It performs all the mechanical
aspects of indexing. PROINDEX will find all references to a
keyword or phrase for you. In the interactive mode, however it is
up to you, the author, to decide whether or not to include each
reference in your index. You make this decision by viewing each
keyword or phrase in context.
How about a simple minded, but well-intentioned, example? Suppose
you have written a book on English usage. Now you want an index
entry for the section on prepositions where the word "the" is
discussed. If your keyword list simply says find all references
to "the" your index will be useless, and exceedingly long. You
want to find specific references to the word "the".
PROINDEX locates all references to a given keyword or phrase and
asks you whether or not to include each one. Of course you would
have to be out of your mind to put the word "the" in a keyword
list. You would spend the rest of your life answering PROINDEX's
"Mark this reference?" question.
The interactive control of PROINDEX gives you four different
options each time it locates a reference. You can mark or bypass
each specific citation. You can also skip all further references
to that keyword or mark all further references. These options
give you complete control over the indexing process.
12
Page Breaks
Another problem with indexing concerns the form of the text you
want to index. If your index page or line references are to have
any meaning they must refer to real page or line numbers. The
easiest way to do this is to instruct your word processor to
print your text file to disk. Use the printed text file as input
to PROINDEX and tell PROINDEX how many lines there are per page
of text. Normally 66 lines per page.
Other word processors mark the end of each page with a special
character. With this type of text simply tell PROINDEX what
character each page ends with. PROINDEX will then correctly find
the page breaks in your document.
There are also times when you will want to mark page breaks in
text yourself. Suppose you are going to typeset a word processed
document. The page breaks for the typeset document will not match
the page breaks for the word processed document. Yet you want the
finished index to match the paging of the typeset document.
In this case you should typeset the document before indexing it.
Once the document is typeset you can use it to mark the page
breaks in your original word processed document. Chose any single
8 bit character to mark the end of each page. Once these page
break indicators are in place, run PROINDEX. The resulting index
will match the typeset document.
Keyword Tips
Constructing a good keyword or phrase list is not as easy as it
seems. The quality of your index depends on this list. Thus,
making sure your list is as complete as possible is important.
The computer is extremely picky about what you keywords look
like. PROINDEX always looks for an exact match for your keyword
or phrase. This presents some problems when building a keyword
list.
For instance, suppose you are writing a computer program manual
and you want to catch all references to "debugging" a program. If
your reference list contains the word "debugging" you are going
to miss a number of possible citations. All references to
"debug", "debugged", and "debugs" will be skipped!
The way to solve this problem is to always use the root of a
keyword in the reference list. In the previous example the
keyword should have been "debug". This will catch all references
to any usage of "debug". In some cases getting the root of a
keyword will require you to drop a few letters from the end of
your keyword. This is preferable to getting too specific with a
keyword and missing entries.
Also remember that the ASCII space character is useful in
delimiting a keyword. If you are looking for the keyword "out"
13
you will find a number of false references inside words like
"shout". To avoid this problem put a space in front of the
keyword "out". This forces PROINDEX to search for the sequence
eout. You can also add a space to the end of the word, but
remember this rules out finding plurals and other variations on
the keyword. See the chapter on keyword files for more
information.
Secondary References
It is possible to create an index with secondary references in it
using PROINDEX. This will require some work on your part. A
secondary reference can be thought of as an and function. You
want a reference to X and Y. Since secondary references require
interpretation of document context, PROINDEX must be run in the
interactive mode to generate them.
A typical index with secondary references might look something
like this:
Keyword,
date, 2, 7, 9
files, 2, 5, 6
size, 5, 7, 12
If your keyword list simply contains the three phrases: keyword
date, keyword file, and keyword size you will run into problems.
Your document might be talking about "keyword lengths" but not
refer to them in that exact way. For instance as: "the length of
a keyword". So how do you create secondary references? The
easiest way is to shorten the original phrase down to a single
word. If we do this for the previous example we get three
keywords that are exactly the same.
Original Keyword Revised Keyword
Keyword date Keyword
Keyword files Keyword
Keyword size Keyword
The draw back to this approach is that you now have three
keywords that are exactly the same. How do you know which is
which when PROINDEX shows them in context? To solve this problem
keep two different reference word lists. The first lists complete
keywords or phrases. We keep a printed version of this list next
to us while indexing. The second list is the abbreviated list
that will be used by PROINDEX. The first time PROINDEX shows you
the reference "keyword" in context, you look at your printed list
to see that you want "keyword dates". When PROINDEX finishes with
this reference it will beep and move to the next similar
reference. Move down your printed list to find that the next
reference is "keyword files". You repeat this process for all
three references. The resulting index will look as follows:
14
Keyword, 2, 7, 9
Keyword, 2, 5, 6
Keyword, 5, 7, 12
Note that although each keyword is the same the page references
are different. You have created true secondary references. You
must now edit the output index file produced by PROINDEX to a
form that reflects the true meaning of these references.
15
CONFIGURATION
Not everyone has the same type of disk files or uses the same
word processor. In addition, everyone seems to want a slightly
different index style or format. The individual user thus needs
some way to customize this program. That way you can make the
program work just the way you want it to, and we don't have to
supply numerous different versions of the program.
PROINDEX uses a configuration file to control its operation. It
creates this file the first time you use it. An example of this
file can be seen in figure 7. The configuration file is usually
called PROINDEX.CNF. This file initially contains all the default
values for control of PROINDEX operation. These default values
are the ones shown below.
While this file is in ASCII and can be modified with any text
editor, there is no reason to do so! The PROINDEX program
automatically changes the configuration file anytime you make a
change on the index control parameters menu screen, as seen in
figure 4. Changing any answer on this menu alters the
configuration file automatically, and changes the way PROINDEX
operates.
This file gives you control over most of the internal functions
of the index program. These functions control the following
features:
Starting page number of text
Multiple index references per page
Should a special character end a page
String to precede each index reference
Should the index reference pages, lines, or both
Number of lines per page
Conversion of lower to upper case
Should the 8th bit be stripped from text
Index sent to disk or printer
Path for indexes sent to disk
Run the program in interactive mode
NOTE: If at any time the configuration file can not found by
PROINDEX, then a new one will be created with the following
default values:
16
Temporary work: 0
Starting page number: 1
Allow multiple references/page: N
Special character ends page: N
End of page code: 0C
Page reference code: none
Reference page/lines/both: P
Lines start at: P
Character to separate pages from lines: :
Lines per page: 66
Convert to upper case: Y
Strip 8th bit: Y
Index sent to disk/printer: D
Disk index path: T
Run in interactive mode: Y
The configuration file that PROINDEX uses has to have a name and
reside somewhere on a disk. It is normally called PROINDEX.CNF,
however, you can change this name in one of two ways. This allows
you to maintain different configuration files for different types
of text. If you invoke PROINDEX by typing:
PROINDEX c:\path\filename.ext
The program will assume that the configuration file must have the
name you specified, "filename.ext" and be found on the path name,
"c:\path" you gave it. If it is not found there it will be
created there. This method of supplying a name for the
configuration file takes precedence over all others.
If no argument is passed to PROINDEX when the program is started
the program environment strings are examined. See your DOS manual
for an explanation of the "SET" command. If PROINDEX finds an
environment string of the form:
PROINDEX.CNF=d:\path\yourfile.nam
it will use that name and path for the configuration file. Once
again, if the file can not be found it will be created. The
environment string area will not be examined if you pass an
argument to the program when it is started.
MS-DOS environment strings are easy to set up. Just remember that
environment strings established by the SET command only remain in
effect until the next time you reboot your system. If you want to
permanently set an environment variable you must include the
proper SET command in your autoexec.bat file. A typical SET
command looks like:
SET PROINDEX.CNF=c:\path\yourfile.ext
If you do not pass an argument to PROINDEX and you have not used
the DOS SET command to redefine the configuration file name, then
PROINDEX will automatically use the name PROINDEX.CNF for the
configuration file. If you are running under MS-DOS 3.0 or higher
17
then this configuration file will be created, saved, and
retrieved from the same subdirectory that the program
PROINDEX.EXE is saved in.
If you are running MS-DOS 2.X then this configuration file will
end up on the default disk drive. Sorry, but path support under
this version of DOS is incomplete.
If you are now totally confused don't panic! The special options
mentioned above for renaming the configuration file are advanced
features of the program. You do not have to use these features.
Just invoke the program by typing:
PROINDEX
and let PROINDEX take care of the configuration file all by
itself.
18
OPERATION
Getting Started
Before you do anything at all copy the files from your PROINDEX
master disk to a work disk or a subdirectory on your hard disk.
Take the original PROINDEX disk and put it away. No installation
is needed for either program. Simply copy those two files to the
disk drive you want to work on. They will work on a floppy, RAM,
or hard disk.
If this is an update of PROINDEX that you are installing, please
delete the old version of PROINDEX and ALL copies of the old
configuration file, PROINDEX.CNF. If the new version of PROINDEX
finds an old configuration file it will return back to DOS. You
must delete the old configuration file before the new version
will run. No work you have done will be lost.
The first time you run PROINDEX it will create a configuration
file. Any changes you make to the configuration of PROINDEX will
automatically be saved in this file. See the previous section for
more information on this configuration file.
The PROINDEX program is easy to use. Your first step is to create
a text file to index. Next you need a list of keywords or
phrases. See the sections on text and keyword files for more
details on creating these files. To start the program type:
PROINDEX
or
PROINDEX b:\path\config.fil
NOTE: {cr} stands for the newline/enter/carriage return key. The
optional file name and path in the second example instruct
PROINDEX to use that name and path for its configuration file.
Opening Screen
PROINDEX starts by clearing the screen and printing an opening
message. This message includes the version number of the program
and a copyright notice, as seen in figure 1. The program then
attempts to read the configuration file. If the file can not be
found a default configuration file is created and read. See the
previous section on configuration for more details. This initial
screen will remain up for about three seconds. The program will
then automatically move to the next screen.
Data Entry
Before explaining the index control parameters screen some
information about entering and correcting data is necessary. All
keyboard entry in PROINDEX uses a special screen handler. This
screen handler lets you easily enter and correct data entries.
19
Most data entry in PROINDEX is done based on something called a
data field. The program only allows data to be entered in certain
places, fields, and verifies the entries as they are being made.
A field begins with a "[" character and ends with a "]"
character.
You may enter data into a field as long as the cursor is present
there. To enter information simply type on your IBM PC keyboard.
You can use either the backspace or the delete key to correct
typing errors. Note that you can not delete your way past the
left hand "[" character. If default data is present in a data
field you can leave it there by going to another data field or
type over that information. Once you start typing over data the
screen handler removes all data in that field. The screen will
still show the old data as a typing aid.
There are several different ways to move from one data field to
another. Hitting a return key after entering data moves you to
the next sequential, lower, field. You can also use the IBM PC's
cursor control keys to move between fields. The a key, or a
Control-A, will move the cursor to the previous field, (up). The
b key, or Control-F, will move the cursor down one field. Note
this is the same as hitting the return key. Finally, the g key,
or Control-W, performs a special data entry function. Hitting
this key enters all data in all fields as it stands. When you hit
the g key all data will be entered as it appears on the screen.
This feature lets you avoid answering all the questions on the
screen each time you use the program. You need only answer those
questions that you wish to change. Then use g to advance to the
next menu.
Most data fields will already have information in them when the
cursor appears there for the first time. This information is the
normal default value for that question. You may leave this
information as it is by hitting return, a, or b. This will enter
the default data and move to another data field. You may also
change the default data by typing over it and then moving to
another field.
Program Operation
Figure 2 shows what the second screen will look like. This screen
or menu is designed to collect the name of the text file to index
and the name of the keyword list. You can also tell PROINDEX what
disk drive and path to use for a work drive. Entries on this
screen work as follows:
The text file. First you must enter the path and name of the file
to index in response to the question, "Path & name of file to
index?". It can be any valid path and file name up to 43
characters long. Note that the file name itself can only be eight
characters with a three character extension. The path name may
include a drive specifier. Use of a drive and path is optional.
The following examples show correct responses to this question:
20
[filename.ext ]
[c:filename.ext ]
[\work\text\filename.ext ]
[d:\text\filename.txt ]
The keyword file. Next you must enter the path and name of the
keyword list. The same restrictions apply to this path and file
name as to the index file name. Examples include:
[keyword.dat ]
[c:keyword.dat ]
[\work\text\keyword.dat ]
[d:\text\keyword.dat ]
Note: If either the file to index or the keyword list is left
blank PROINDEX will not be able to index your text. You can still
access the control parameters menu or go back and edit the file
names. However, if you have no text or keyword file name the
program will not be able to index. PROINDEX will display an error
message if you try to run an index and return to the main menu.
You can then correct the file name or quit the program.
Temporary work path. This question is optional. If not answered
the displayed value will be used. The temporary work path
describes what disk drive and path should be used for work files.
If you leave this field blank the default drive, where ever you
are at the moment, will be used.
If you need to specify only a disk drive simply enter a single
letter followed by a colon specifying the drive name. Full path
names may also be specified. Note that PROINDEX does not care
whether your path name ends with a backslash character. If this
character is not found PROINDEX will add it when it needs to.
All work files are temporary and will be erased by PROINDEX when
the indexing job is done. Examples include:
[ ]
[d: ]
[\work\temp ]
[\work\temp\ ]
[c:\temporary\ ]
Once this information is entered the screen will display the main
control menu shown in figure 3. All program operation starts at
this menu and returns back to it when done. This menu gives you a
choice of six different control options. Simply type the letter
that corresponds with what you want to do next, followed by a
carriage return. The choices are as follows:
21
C=Continue a previous indexing session
E=Edit file names and paths above
I=Index the text
P=Edit the index control parameters
Q=Quit the program
X=eXecute an MS-DOS command
At this point you can go back and edit the file names and paths
previously described with the E option. You can start the
indexing of your text with the I option or you can continue a
previously halted indexing session with the C option. You can go
change the index control parameterswith the P option. You can
switch to a menu that will let you invoke MS-DOS commands from
within PROINDEX by using the X option. Or you can quit the
program and return to DOS, Q option.
The program will ask you to chose one of these six options. Enter
the letter corresponding to your choice and hit a return. When
you are ready to start indexing hit the I or C key. This will
take you to the index menu shown in figure 5.
Finally, to leave the program type the Q key. This will return
you back to the MS-DOS operating system.
22
Executing MS-DOS Commands
It would often be nice to be able to run an MS-DOS command
without leaving the PROINDEX program. For example, suppose you
quit indexing in the middle of a session and want to see what you
have done so far. Select the X option on the main menu and you
will go to the MS-DOS command sub-menu. This menu is shown in
figure 6. It lets you run MS-DOS commands without leaving
PROINDEX. When this menu appears on the screen the cursor will be
positioned at the beginning of a large blank data field that
follows the word "Command". It looks as follows:
Command [ ]
Simply type in any valid MS-DOS command up to 64 characters in
length. For our previous example we wanted to see our index. So
type in: "type indxfile.ind", followed by a return. This will
display your index file just as if you had exited PROINDEX and
done the same command on your PC. You can use the Control-S key
to start and stop the printing of a long index.
Command [type indxfile.ind ]
You might also want to display a directory of disk files while
running PROINDEX. Use the same disk directory command you would
normally use to see what files are available. For example:
Command [dir b:*.txt ]
will display all disk files on drive B: that end with the
extension ".txt".
Once an MS-DOS command has run PROINDEX will prompt you with a
message:
Hit any key to return to PROINDEX
Striking any key will return you to the main menu of PROINDEX. If
you enter the MS-DOS command menu by mistake and do not wish to
execute any command simple leave the data field blank and hit
return. This will bring you back to the main menu.
23
PROINDEX Control Parameters
The style of index created by PROINDEX depends on how a number of
control parameters are set. You can change these parameters at
any time to change the look or style of your index. All changes
to these parameters are made on a separate menu page.
Figure 4 shows the index control parameters menu. This screen is
used to modify the index control parameters. All changes made to
this menu will be remembered by PROINDEX. They are saved in the
disk configuration file. You never have to return here unless you
want to change a value. This screen controls the following
options:
Starting page number. Indexing very large documents can result in
problems. You may not have room for the necessary temporary
files. Or, perhaps, it is just easier to break a long file up
into several shorter ones. How can you handle an index in this
case? PROINDEX allows you to specify the starting page number of
a document.
Suppose you had a document broken up into two pieces. The index
for the first section assumes that it starts at page one. When
you go to index the second file you can tell PROINDEX that this
file starts at page 41, for example. All you need to know is the
starting page number of each section of text you index.
The program asks you, "Starting page # of text (1-9999)?". You
may respond with any number from 1 to 9999. The default value is
one. Examples include:
[1 ] - start at page 1
[195 ] - this file begins at page 195
Multiple references/page. A normal index contains only a single
reference for each keyword per page. Thus if a keyword is found
five times on one page, only one reference to that page will be
found in the index. This feature can be defeated if required.
The, "Multiple references per page (Y/N)?", question turns the
feature on and off. Examples include:
[Y] - Let multiple references per page be flagged
[N] - Only 1 reference per page to a keyword
End of page. Sometimes it is inconvenient to create disk files
that resemble the printed output of your text. Yet the index
program needs to know what page each reference it finds is on.
PROINDEX lets you use any eight bit character to mark the end of
a page. If this feature is turned on the program will treat each
special character as an end of page indicator.
Why would you want to mark the end of a page by manually
inserting a special character? Suppose your word processed text
is to be typeset. The page breaks of your word processed document
will not match the page breaks of your typeset document. PROINDEX
24
will handle this problem if you mark the page endings in your
word processed document with a special character. You can use any
character you want. There are two questions on the Index
Parameters menu that control this feature as follows:
Should a special character end a page (Y/N): [N]
Page ending character code in hex: [0C]
If you reply with a "Y" to the first question, then PROINDEX will
use ONLY the special character defined in the second question to
define the end of a page. If you reply with an "N" to the first
question then PROINDEX will count lines to determine when a page
ends.
The special character that marks the end of a page can be
defined, IN HEX, in the second question. A table of hex verses
ASCII is provided below to help you select a character. Note that
PROINDEX defaults to the i character, Control-L or hex 0C.
Hex Char Hex Char Hex Char Hex Char
00 NUL 10 ^P 20 SP 30 0
01 ^A 11 ^Q 21 ! 31 1
02 ^B 12 ^R 22 " 32 2
03 ^C 13 ^S 23 # 33 3
04 ^D 14 ^T 24 $ 34 4
05 ^E 15 ^U 25 % 35 5
06 ^F 16 ^V 26 & 36 6
07 ^G 17 ^W 27 ` 37 7
08 ^H 18 ^X 28 ( 38 8
09 TAB 19 ^Y 29 ) 39 9
0A LF 1A ^Z 2A * 3A :
0B ^K 1B ESC 2B + 3B ;
0C FF 1C ^\ 2C , 3C <
0D CR 1D ^] 2D - 3D =
0E ^N 1E RS 2E . 3E >
0F ^O 1F US 2F / 3F ?
Hex Char Hex Char Hex Char Hex Char
40 @ 50 P 60 ' 70 p
41 A 51 Q 61 a 71 q
42 B 52 R 62 b 72 r
43 C 53 S 63 c 73 s
44 D 54 T 64 d 74 t
45 E 55 U 65 e 75 u
46 F 56 V 66 f 76 v
47 G 57 W 67 g 77 w
48 H 58 X 68 h 78 x
49 I 59 Y 69 i 79 y
4A J 5A Z 6A j 7A z
4B K 5B [ 6B k 7B {
4C L 5C \ 6C l 7C |
4D M 5D ] 6D m 7D }
4E N 5E ^ 6E n 7E ~
4F O 5F _ 6F o 7F DEL
25
Chapter / section references. Index style is often a matter of
individual choice. Some people prefer indexes that clearly
separate chapter entries from each other. To this end, each
individual chapter will start with page number one and the index
must specify which chapter each page reference is referring to. A
typical example might look as follows:
ASCII,1.1, 1.7, 2.5
bull,2.3, 3.7
This index example tells us that a reference to "ASCII" occurs in
chapter one on pages one and seven, and in chapter two on page
five. PROINDEX gives you the ability to build your indexes in
this fashion. A single question on the index parameters menu
controls this option:
String to precede each index reference: [ ]
Up to five separate characters may be specified here. As long as
this field is blank, no string will be added to each page
reference. Leave the field blank for a straight numerical index.
If you want to mark separate chapters put in an appropriate
string in place of the blank one. To generate the example index
above the string was set to:
String to precede each index reference: [1. ]
for all indexing work done in chapter one. The string was then
changed to "2. " while indexing chapter two. When all chapters
were done the MERGE utility was used to produce a single master
index.
WARNING: the string must only contain printable ASCII characters.
The first blank character found when going from left to right
terminates the string. To remove an old string type over it with
the space bar.
Page, line, or page & line numbers. PROINDEX can create indexes
that reference page numbers, line numbers, or a combination of
page and line numbers. A page number is simply the page that a
reference was found on. An index that shows only line numbers
shows the number of lines from the beginning of the text file for
each reference.
An index created with both page and line numbers will tell you
what page and what line the reference can be found. What is meant
by line number? After all, line numbers could be counted from the
beginning of a page and include all blank lines, or they could be
counted based on only those lines that have text on them.
PROINDEX allows you to select either case with a second question.
Finally, page numbers and line numbers have to be separated from
each other. The choice of a character to separate them is up to
you in the third question. The three questions relating to this
option look as follows:
26
Should index reference pages/lines/both (P/L/B): [P]
If both, line numbers begin with page or text (P/T): [P]
If both, character to separate pages from lines: [:]
The second and third questions only apply when you have selected
an index with both page and line numbers. See the first question.
If both page and line numbers are selected you must make a choice
concerning what the line numbers will reference. Entering a "P"
will tell PROINDEX to count lines from the beginning of the page.
If you are using the standard 66 lines per page, then the line
numbers will run from 1 - 66. Entering a "T" tells PROINDEX to
count only those lines that have text on them. Thus the first
line of text will be line number 1, even if it is located half
way down the page. Blank lines will not be counted.
The third question asks for an ASCII character to separate page
numbers from line numbers. The default is the colon ":". With
this default character page and line numbers in the index will
look as follows:
ASCII, 23:7
test, 1:24, 3:1, 15:47
zebra, 99:65
Note that you can use any character you want, except for a space
or a "~", to separate pages from lines. However, there are some
very bad choices. Do not, for instance, use the comma character
"," since this would make it difficult to see what was a page
number and what was a line number.
Lines per page. Most text contains 66 lines per page. This is not
always the case, however. This data field lets you change the
number of lines per page for your text. The program asks, "Lines
per page (1 - 999)?". You can respond with any number from 1 to
999.
[1 ] - each line is a new page
[132] - each new page begins after 132 lines
Text case. Text files usually contain both upper and lower case
letters. This can cause some interesting problems when indexing a
file. If the program pays attention to case then the words "Test"
and "test" do not match. Thus this question asks, "Convert lower
to upper case (Y/N)?" Normally the default value of "Y" is used.
Examples include:
[Y] - yes, do case conversion
[N] - no, leave case of letters as it is
8 to 7 bit ASCII. Some word processors, WordStar for one, use the
8th data bit to indicate special things. This makes matching text
difficult. This feature lets you strip the extra bit from every
character before comparisons are made. The program asks, "Strip
8th bit from text (Y/N)?". Legal answers are:
27
[Y] - yes, remove extra bit
[N] - no, leave text alone
Output. The actual index produced by PROINDEX has to go
somewhere. This question asks, "Index sent to Disk or Printer,
(D/P)?" Normally it is sent to the disk, as indicated by the
default answer "D" to this question. You can, however, redirect
this output to the printer, LPT1, if you so desire. Simply answer
the question with a "P" for printer.
[D] - output to the disk
[P] - output to the printer
Indexes that are sent to the disk use the same file name as the
keyword file, with an extension of ".IND". The related "disk
index path" question supplies the path for this index file. You
can use the path for the text, keyword, or work files for the
index file. Thus if the file to index was called "filename.txt"
its index would be the file "filename.ind". See the "disk index
path" section below for an example of what path would be used
with this file.
Disk index path. To keep the amount of information needed to run
this program to a minimum the path name for an index saved to
disk is taken from one of three places. Thus, you don't have to
specify another path name but you do have to identify the source
of the path. A disk index file will always be saved in one of
three possible paths. These are the paths specified for the: text
file, keyword file, or work files.
The normal default is the text file path. Thus your index will
end up in the same place as your text file. You can change this
path by responding to this question as follows:
[T] - use the text file path
[K] - use the keyword file path
[W] - use the work area path
Interactive mode. The program normally runs in an interactive
mode. That is, it requires responses from you before it will
include a reference in the index. Indexing normally requires
human thought. If you wish to circumvent this feature the program
can be made to run all by itself. When it asks, "Run in
interactive mode (Y/N)?", change the answer to an "N".
[Y] - yes, run in interactive mode
[N] - no, program runs by itself
28
Indexing
Once you have told PROINDEX to start indexing your text it
replies by printing the "Creating temporary work files" message.
After the program has created the work files, this could take up
to several seconds depending on the speed of your computer, it
will proceed to the actual text file indexing.
When PROINDEX is ready to begin the indexing process it will
change the screen from that shown in figure 3 to the one shown in
figure 5. This screen tells you what page of text you are on,
what the present keyword is, and what number keyword it is using.
The keyword number gives you an indication of how far through
your index you have progressed. When PROINDEX is finished looking
for a given keyword it will make a pleasant warbling sound.
In the automatic mode the bottom half of this screen will remain
blank. In the interactive mode PROINDEX will display from 8 to 10
lines of text surrounding each occurrence of the keyword it
finds. Double spaced text cuts this down to 4 - 5 lines. The
keyword itself is always shown in bold face type. The program
searches progressively through your text file looking for all
occurrences of the first keyword, then the second, etc.
If the keyword can not be found anywhere in your text file
PROINDEX displays the message on the screen, "No reference to
keyword: XXXXXXXX". The program then pauses, waiting for you to
hit a key before it will continue the indexing process.
When a keyword is located in your text file the program stops and
waits for you to tell it what to do. As shown in figure 5, it
asks you, "What would you like to do?". You respond by hitting
one of five possible keys. NOTE: No return key entry is needed
here. The program responds immediately to any key that is typed.
Error handling here has been sacrificed for speed of execution.
If you hit any key other than "A", "B", "M", "Q", or "S" that key
is ignored and your computer beeps.
The five single letter responses correspond to one of the
following options:
B - Bypass. Bypass this one occurrence of the keyword in text.
This option has no effect on further occurrences of this keyword
in text.
M - Mark. Mark this occurrence of the keyword in the index. This
option may or may not have an effect on other occurrences of this
keyword in text. Note that if the "more than one reference per
page" option has not been enabled then once a reference has been
marked no other occurrences of it on this page will be found.
A - All. All further references found for this keyword will
automatically by marked in the index without asking. The "more
than one reference per page" option still controls whether
multiple references per page are allowed. Once the program
29
finishes searching the entire text file for this keyword it will
return to the normal interactive mode.
Q - Quit. Stop the indexing process and return to the operating
system. When a "Q" is typed the program asks, "Are you sure?". If
you type a "Y" for yes the program will exit to MS-DOS. Otherwise
the program continues where you left off. You may continue an
indexing session you ended with this command at a later time.
S - Skip. Skip all further references to this keyword in your
text file without asking. Once the program finishes searching the
entire text file for this keyword it will return to the
interactive mode.
30
OUTPUT
The exact form of the index created by PROINDEX depends on the
options you have chosen on the Index Control Parameters menu. In
general, this index will always have a basic form. Each line of
the index will start with a matching line from your keyword or
phrase list. This information will be followed by a comma, one
space, and page or line references. Each page or line reference
will be separated from the previous one by a comma and one space.
The last page or line reference will not have a trailing comma. A
typical line would look as follows:
keyword or phrase, XXXX, YYYYYY, ZZZ
The end result of an indexing session should be an index. Where
does that index go? With PROINDEX you have one of two different
options. The index can be saved as a disk file, or it can be sent
to the printer- as it is created.
It is highly recommended that you save your index as a disk file.
Sending an index to the printer is a one way trip. There is no
way to do anything with that printed index except read it. An
index saved as a disk file can be manipulated with a text editor
and included into your document. Indexes that are saved to disk
must have a file name. PROINDEX always takes the name of your
text file, removes its extension, and saves the resulting index
with a ".ind" extension. Thus, if your text file was called
"bigbook.doc" the resulting disk file index will be named
"bigbook.ind".
This disk file index will be a pure ASCII file. The path and disk
drive that the file is created on are determined by you. One of
the Index Control Parameters determines where this disk file will
be created. See that section of the manual for more information
on where the file will be saved.
Saving an index as a disk file does have an inherent problem.
What happens if a previous index exists on your disk with the
same name? Don't worry- PROINDEX checks for this condition and
presents you with the following message and options if it finds a
duplicate index file name.
PROINDEX is unsure whether you want to erase this old index and
start fresh or save the old index. You could also want to
continue an old indexing session. Please decide what you want to
do and select the appropriate response below.
R = Rename old index, last.ind to last.ibk, and start fresh
C = Continue a previous indexing session (destroy old index)
Q = Quit indexing now (saves old index)
Note that PROINDEX gives you several options here. You can stop
what you are doing without changing anything by using the Q
command. You could tell PROINDEX to rename the old index to a
backup file name and then create a new index by using the R
31
option, the most common choice. Or you can instruct PROINDEX to
erase the old index and create a new one with the C option. These
options are designed to keep your indexes as safe as possible.
If you chose to send the index to a printer your printer must be
connected to LPT1. If you attempt to send an index to a printer
that is not selected or turned off the program will pause and
wait for you to enable the printer. When the printer is ready you
may hit any key except the "Q" to proceed. Hitting a "Q" will
cause the program to return to the main menu.
NOTE: If you tell the program to proceed at this point even
though the printer is not ready the program will simply repeat
the error message. The only way out of this state is to ready
your printer or to type a "Q" to return back to the main menu.
Indexes produced by PROINDEX can conform to several of the styles
suggested by the Chicago Manual of Style. A sample index follows.
Note the spaces used to deliniate keywords are still present in
the PROINDEX output.
Accuracy, 5, 15, 23
Assembly language,
Basic, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 14, 16, 18, 19, 22
(space)C(space), 4, 5
(space)debug, 1, 2, 5, 6
EPROM, 10
(space)jump, 14, 56
High level language, 12, 13, 15
Input, 1, 3, 7
Key phrase, 12, 13
Macro, 12, 13, 14, 15
Macro, 13, 15
Macro, 15
PL/M, 10
Note that PROINDEX does not attempt to produce a truly finished
index. It is assumed that some of your keywords will have to be
modified and extra spaces must be removed from the index. This
task is left up to you. Simply import the index disk file into
your word processor. There you can edit the index to any form
your desire. We typically edit the index file shown above to the
following form:
32
INDEX
Accuracy, 5, 15, 23
Basic, 1-7, 14, 16, 18, 19, 22
C programming language, 4, 5
Debugging, 1-2, 5, 6
EPROMs, 10
Jump instructions, 14, 56
High level languages, 12, 13, 15
Input devices, 1, 3, 7
Key phrases, 12, 13
Macros, 12-15
assembler, 13, 15
commands, 15
PL/M, 10
33
PROGRAM SPEED
The amount of time it takes for PROINDEX to index your text
depends on the type of computer you have, and the type of disk
drives you are using. An IBM AT is much faster than an IBM PC.
Hard disks are much faster than floppy disks. Finally, RAM disks
are much faster than either floppy or hard disks.
PROINDEX is a disk intensive program. It makes extensive use of
your disk drives. In addition, PROINDEX must work with four
separate disk files at all times. These are: your original text
and keyword files, and working copies of the text and keyword
files that may have case conversion or bit stripping done on
them. Thus, the type of disk you use for a work drive is critical
to the speed of operation of PROINDEX.
If you have a hard disk drive it is better to use it as the work
drive instead of a floppy disk. This will speed the operation of
PROINDEX by a factor of 5 to 10 times!
Better yet, use a RAM disk drive. This approach is 2 to 4 times
faster than a hard disk. A RAM disk driver comes with all MS-DOS
operating systems of version 3.0 or higher. If you have a lower
version of MS-DOS there are a number of public domain RAM disks
available. If you can't find one we will be happy to send you one
if you mail us a self addressed stamped disk mailer and a
formatted floppy disk.
We strongly recommend the use of a RAM disk for most medium to
large indexes. An index that takes several hours to run on a
floppy disk system can be done in a very few minutes, on that
same computer, using a RAM disk. All you need is the enough
memory to create the RAM disk. The RAM disk must be big enough to
hold work copies of your text and keyword files. PROINDEX will
check to make sure there is enough room on its work drive before
it starts indexing text.
Practically speaking, a RAM disk using 150,000 bytes of memory is
adaquate for most small to medium size indexes. It is well worth
the effort of creating a RAM disk even if you only use it with
PROINDEX on a temporary basis.
So, how do you create a RAM disk? Assuming you have version 3.0
or higher of MS-DOS you have all the tools you need to do this.
These versions of MS-DOS come with a device driver called
VDISK.SYS. To use it you must have or create a disk file called
CONFIG.SYS on the disk drive that your system boots up with. This
disk must also have a copy of the file VDISK.SYS on it.
First copy VDISK.SYS to you system boot disk. For floppy disk
drive systems this is the disk that normally resides in drive A:.
For hard disk systems this is the hard disk, usually drive C:. If
this disk drive already has a CONFIG.SYS file on it you must edit
that file, with an ASCII text editor, to include a new line. If
your disk does not already have this file you must create it,
34
with an ASCII text editor. You can use the EDLIN program that
comes with MS-DOS to do this. You want to include the following
line in this CONFIG.SYS file:
device=vdisk.sys 150
This tells MS-DOS to build a RAM disk using 150 K bytes of
memory. You can change this number to any amount of memory you
have free. Note that the RAM disk will not be created until you
reboot your system and everything on it will be erased each time
you reboot the computer. See pages 4-14 through 4-18 of your MS-
DOS manual for more information on the VDISK program.
The RAM disk that is created this way will always be the next
disk dive letter past your previous last drive. Thus on a two
drive floppy disk PC the RAM disk will appear as drive C:. On a
PC, XT, or AT with a hard disk the RAM disk will appear as drive
D:. When PROINDEX asks for a work drive just enter this disk
drive letter followed by a colon. See figure 2. Thats all there
is to speeding up PROINDEX!
35
UTILITY PROGRAMS
COMMON.TXT
The COMMON.TXT file is a list of common words in the English
language that you probably don't want to include in your index.
It contains about 400 words. Please check these words before
using them in conjunction with the REMOVE program. You may want
to alter this list before using it.
New words can be added to this file, or old ones can be removed.
All changes to the file must be done in ASCII. See the STRIP
utility if you use WordStar. All file entries must be in lower
case and sorted alphabetically. Each entry consists of a single
word followed by a carriage return / line feed pair. To add a new
entry, type the new word(s) at the beginning of the file,
following each word with a carriage return. Once all entries have
been made run SORT on the resulting file. This will guarantee the
file is in alphabetical order. Make sure there are no duplicate
words in this file! You can do this by running MAKEWORD on the
file.
MAKEWORD
This utility will take your text file and turn it into a sorted
list of unique words. It will also count the frequency of each
word as an option. This is the easy way to make a reference list
for PROINDEX. Only words starting with a letter of the alphabet
will be put into the list. Single punctuation characters
following a word will be removed. The program is run as follows:
makeword infile outfile [-ic]
The "infile" is your original text file. This file must be in
ASCII. WordStar users must first run STRIP on their text to turn
it into ASCII. The "outfile" is the name of the disk file where
the resulting list of words will be stored. Two options are
possible with MAKEWORD. The -i option tells MAKEWORD to ignore
case in its output. The output file will be entirely in lower
case if this option is used. The -i option should probably always
be used. The second option -c tells makeword to count the
frequency of each word in the list.
makeword data.txt data.lst -i
instructs MAKEWORD to find all unique words in data.txt, convert
them to lower case, and store them in the file data.lst.
makeword data.txt data.lst -ic
instructs MAKEWORD to find all unique words in data.txt, count
how many times they occur, convert them to lower case, and store
them in the file data.lst. The resulting file will look as
follows:
36
a 234
at 23
if 12
wonderful l5
zebra 1
MAKEWORD needs disk storage space in order to work. The sorted
word file will initially be slightly longer in size than your
original text. This will shrink as duplicate words are removed.
The SORT utility is invoked by MAKEWORD and it needs additional
storage space. On average, you must have 2.1 times the text file
size worth of free disk space to invoke MAKEWORD. Thus if your
text file is 14,128 bytes long you need 14,128 * 2.1 = 29,669
bytes of free disk space.
MAKEWORD invokes an external sort routine called SORT. This
routine MUST be on the same disk as the MAKEWORD utility. In
addition, the input and output file names must be different!
MAKEWORD checks them to make sure they are not the same and
prints an error message if they are.
MAKEWORD takes time to run! Using a RAM disk and a 6 Mhz AT it
takes 51.5 seconds to turn a 30,700 byte document into a sorted
unique word list or 113.3 seconds to do this on a 65,200 byte
file. This comes to 14 / 28.4 seconds to convert into words, 32.5
/ 75.6 seconds for the sort, and 5 / 9.3 seconds for removing
duplicate words. As you can see, the larger your file the slower
the operation of this program.
The program makes three passes at the data. First, it turns your
file into a list of words, removing non-valid words and
extraneous punctuation. This process is relatively quick. Next,
it sorts the list of words. The time this takes is exponentially
related to file size! Finally, duplicate words are removed from
the list. This is fairly quick. MAKEWORD prints a message on the
screen for each pass through your file. This lets you know what
the program is doing at any given time.
MERGE
Most people, and most word processors, do not really like to deal
with very long text files. Say, for example, that you have just
finished a new book. The double spaced manuscript might run 800
to several thousand pages in length. This size of text file is
hard to work with. It is just too cumbersome.
The easiest way to deal with this problem is to break the large
text file up into numerous separate pieces, probably one file for
each chapter. PROINDEX can easily deal with indexing text from
several files. You use the starting page number option to tell
PROINDEX what page each chapter starts on. All your references
will then be correct.
37
So now what do you do with all the separate indexes? They are no
fun to merge by hand. If you have 10 chapters you will have 10
separate indexes that all have to be combined together. The MERGE
utility, included with PROINDEX, is designed to do this for you
automatically.
To use MERGE you will need a complete list of all keywords or
phrases in your indexes and the actual indexes themselves. MERGE
takes each successive keyword or phrase from the keyword file and
looks for matches in the index files, in the order you type them.
To run MERGE type:
merge key.ext newind.ext ind1.ext ind2.ext ...
The MERGE program will work with the list of keywords supplied in
"key.ext", or any other file name you care to use. It will hunt
through each index file, ind1.ext ... indN.ext, for matches to
the keywords found in the keywords file and combine these
separate indexes into one new index titled "newind.ext", or what
ever name you supply.
The output of the MERGE program will have the same form that as
that generated by PROINDEX. A simple example follows:
keywords ind1 ind2
ape ape, 1, 3, 4 camel, 7
camel cow cow, 10
cow dog, 4, 5, 6 dog, 8, 9
dog goose, 7 goat
goat gorilla, 4, 5, 6 hen, 9
goose horse, 3, 4 horse, 7, 9
gorilla zebra, 1 zebra, 8
hen
horse
zebra
The MERGE Command
merge keywords test ind1 ind2f
The New Index (test)
ape, 1, 3, 4
camel, 7
cow, 10
dog, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9
goat
goose, 7
gorilla, 4, 5, 6
hen, 9
horse, 3, 4, 7, 9
zebra, 1, 8
Some notes about the merging process will probably be of interest
now. The merged index will always follow a fixed order. This
38
order is based on the order of index files you supply to MERGE.
Thus if index file "ind1" has page references 1 - 100 and index
file "ind2" has page references 101 - 200, then file "ind1"
should be specified ahead, to the left, of file "ind2".
As you can see in the previous example, the separate index files,
ind1 & ind2, can use abbreviated keyword lists. Put another way,
when you index a separate chapter you can remove those keywords
from the keyword list for that chapter that you know will not be
referenced. As long as the keyword list for MERGE contains all
keywords the final index will be complete.
Another point is that you can edit an index by leaving out some
keywords from the list supplied to MERGE. If the keyword is not
present in MERGE's keyword list it will be ignored in all index
files.
Finally, MS-DOS limits the number of characters you may type on a
command line. Thus if you want to merge 12 separate indexes you
can't type a single command to do this. You can, however, run
MERGE repeatedly to accomplish the same effect.
merge keywords new1 ind1 ind2 ind3 ind4 ind5
merge keywords new2 new1 ind6 ind7 ind8 ind9
merge keywords new3 new2 ind10 ind11 ind12
WARNING: You can not use the same file name for the new index and
for a previously made separate index! The MERGE program checks
for this possibility and displays an error message if this
happens.
merge keys index index index2 index3
Results in: "Sorry can not merge the indexes. The new index name
'index' and one of the index files to merge have the same name."
PAGE
The PAGE utility will take an index list from PROINDEX, break it
up into separate pages, and append top and bottom margins. This
utility will produce a finished index in the least amount of
time. You must supply a disk file that contains the top and
bottom margin text. Up to 12 lines of 80 characters each can be
used for each margin. Page numbers can automatically be included
in the margins if desired. To use PAGE type:
page index output margins lines/page page_number
where "index" is the input index file. This is typically the file
output by PROINDEX. The "output" file is the name of the file you
want your finished index to be put in. "Margins" is the name of a
disk file that contains the top and bottom margin text, see below
for a complete description of this file. The "lines/page"
variable is a number telling PAGE how many lines long each page
39
should be including your top and bottom margins. Typically this
is 66 lines per page. Note that this number can never be less
than the number of lines in your top and bottom margins plus 1.
Finally, "page_number" tells PAGE what page number to start the
index with, assuming you want a page number in your index.
page data.ind newdata.ind margin.txt 66 54
This command tells PAGE to use the index found in "data.ind" and
page it based on the margins found in the file "margin.txt".
Paging will be based on 66 lines of text per page and the first
page of the index will start with page number 54.
The margin file describes what the top and bottom margins will
look like, along with the position of the page number if any.
Each margin may display a page number. The top margin is defined
as any text found between the two lines of text that follow:
#HEADING
#FOOTING
The bottom margin is defined as all text after the "#FOOTING"
line. If either, or both, of the start margin lines are followed
by a space and a single character that character will be replaced
in the margin, with the current page number. Thus:
#HEADING @
Page -@-
Index
#FOOTING
tells PAGE that the first top margin of the index will start with
two blank lines, followed by a line that ends with "Page -54-",
followed by a blank line, the word "Index" centered on a line,
and two more blank lines. PAGE will only insert one page number
in each margin. If no page number is desired, simply use a
character in the #HEADING and #FOOTING commands that does not
appear in the margins. See the disk file HEADFOOT.MAR for an
example margin file.
PAGE requires enough free disk space to contain the finished
index. Page numbers, and the number of lines per page, can only
range up to 32,767. No more than 12 lines of 80 characters can
appear in either top or bottom margin. This routine runs very
quickly.
WARNING: The input and output file names must be different! PAGE
checks them to make sure they are not the same and prints an
error message if they are.
40
REMOVE
This utility removes words from a reference list. It compares the
sorted word file produced by MAKEWORD to a list of common words.
We supply you with a 400 word list as a starting point. REMOVE
simply deletes all words in your reference list that are also
found in the common word list. Both files must contain only a
single word per line and be sorted in alphabetical order. REMOVE
requires free disk space equal in size to the original reference
list. To run REMOVE type:
remove infile outfile commonwords
where "infile" is the sorted list of reference words, "outfile"
is the name of the file you want the result stored in, and
"commonwords" is the name of a file containing a list of common
words you do not want in your reference list. This routine runs
very quickly.
WARNING: The input and output file names must be different!
REMOVE checks them to make sure they are not the same and prints
an error message if they are.
SORT
The SORT utility is an improved version of the MS-DOS SORT
command. The MS-DOS SORT command could be used but is much
slower! The SORT.EXE file must be located on the same disk as the
MAKEWORD utility, since MAKEWORD invokes SORT. SORT can also be
used to sort your list of common words or your index into
alphabetical order. To use it type:
sort filename
This will sort the file "filename" into alphabetical order. It
requires additional free disk space approximately equal to the
size of the original file. This disk space will be released upon
completion of the sort. The SORT routine takes an amount of time
that grows exponentially based on the size of the file. On an AT
running at 6 mhz and using a RAM disk, SORT takes about 32
seconds to sort a 30,000 byte file and 76 seconds to sort a
65,000 byte file.
There is no limit on the size of the file to be sorted with the
exception of disk space. The SORT utility prints messages to the
screen concerning how far it has progressed through the sort.
These messages give you an indication of what your current sort
status is.
Do not attempt to sort indexes that have sub-entries in them. If
the sub-entries are indented, SORT will treat them as a new line
and they will become intermixed with other entries. The same rule
applies to indexes that have multiple lines of page references.
41
STRIP
The STRIP utility converts a file, typically from WordStar, into
true ASCII. Strip removes: the eighth bit from all data, all
extraneous control characters, and soft hyphens in the middle of
a line. Soft hyphens at the end of a line are converted to fixed
hyphens. STRIP can optionally remove WordStar dot commands and
all carriage returns in the middle of a paragraph. To use STRIP
type:
strip infile outfile [-sd]
The "infile" is the name of the file to work on. The "outfile" is
the name of the file to save the result in. The "s" option tells
STRIP to remove all carriage returns except those at the end of a
paragraph or on blank lines. The "d" options tells STRIP to
remove all dot commands. STRIP is provided solely as a
convenience for WordStar users.
WARNING: The input and output file names must be different! STRIP
checks them to make sure they are not the same and prints an
error message if they are.
42
PROBLEMS
Getting Started
Most first time problems with PROINDEX come from one of two
possible areas. Either your text or keyword file was not properly
prepared or you have not set up the index control parameters
correctly. If PROINDEX doesn't seem to work at all- it displays
junk in the interactive mode and your keywords are also not
correctly displayed, then the files from your word processor have
not been correctly prepared. Go back and read the section of the
manual on preparing text and keyword files. You most likely are
using what we call a Group 2 word processor. These word
processors do not save text in an ASCII format. The text must be
converted to ASCII before it can be used.
Demonstration text and keyword files are on your master disk. The
next chapter describes how to use and run these demonstration
files. Take a look at these files to see how they are
constructed. Pay close attention to the organization of the
keyword file. Yours should be very similar.
PROINDEX Misses References
This is a common complaint and is usually an easy problem to fix.
The program does what you tell it to. If your keyword file is not
exact, or the index control parameters are not set correctly it
will appear as if PROINDEX misses some references.
Lets start with the keyword file. PROINDEX searches for an exact
match to your keyword or phrase. This includes all spaces and
punctuation in your keyword file. PROINDEX looks for a match
between whatever is on a line in the keyword file and your text.
This search includes all characters on a line in the keyword file
up to the f character, carriage return / line feed pair. If your
keywords have extra spaces, too few spaces, or extra punctuation
added to them you will never find a match. See the chapter on
preparing your keyword file for more information.
If your keyword file is correct there are several other
possibilities that can make it appear like PROINDEX is missing
references. If you expect to see multiple index references on a
single page you must set the index control option telling
PROINDEX to function this way. PROINDEX is normally configured to
allow only a single reference per page of text. This means that
once a match for a keyword is found, PROINDEX will skip the rest
of that page! This is the standard way of indexing. If you need
to see multiple references per page of text just change the index
control parameter.
Another reason references may be missed has to do with text case.
A keyword with the first letter capitolized will not match non-
capitolized text! To get around this problem change the index
control parameter that controls text case. This tells PROINDEX to
43
create temporary working copies of your text and keyword files
that are all in upper case. This will ensure you don't miss
references due to capitolized text.
Finally, take note WordStar users, the strip 8th bit for text
control parameter can effect your indexing results. If your word
processor sets this bit it will effect references in your index.
Changing the index control parameter to strip this bit out of
your text and keyword files usually corrects the problem.
Paging Problems
Why don't the page numbers in your index match those in your text
file? They really should. If they don't it is because your text
file has not been prepared correctly or because an index control
parameter has not been set correctly. All text file must be paged
by your word processor before being fed to PROINDEX. Print your
text file to disk to do this. See the chapter on preparing your
text files.
Alternately, you must mark the end of each page of text with a
special character, and tell PROINDEX what this character is.
PROINDEX either looks for this special character or counts the
number of lines per page. Both options are selected and
controlled on the index control parameters menu. Standard 8 A by
11 inch paper typically has 66 lines per page. PROINDEX defaults
to this number. You can change this if you vary the line spacing
on your printer or are using a different page size.
Error Messages
There are a number of different error messages that can be
generated while running PROINDEX. These error messages are
supposed to be self explanatory. Since screen space is limited
these error messages may need a bit of explaining. They are
listed here in alphabetical order with a more detailed
explanation for those who are still confused.
Can't get free disk space on drive X. Does this disk drive exist?
PROINDEX always attempts to determine the amount of free disk
space on the work disk drive before creating files there. In this
case the MS-DOS operating system returned an error code back to
PROINDEX which indicates that the specified disk drive, X, does
not exist. Are you sure this is a valid disk drive? If it is a
valid drive, is a floppy disk in it and is the disk drive door
closed? Is the floppy disk formatted? The same questions apply to
hard disks. Correct the hardware problem and attempt to index the
file again. Or, if you entered an erroneous disk drive name use
the E option to edit the disk drive name to a correct on. Then
start the indexing process again.
Can't make the temporary work file [filename].
44
Is this disk write protected?
PROINDEX attempted to create a temporary work file and was not
allowed to do so by the operating system. This usually indicates
that the disk to create the file on was write protected. Remove
the write protection and start over. Alternately, a disk drive
door was opened during the operation of the program. Don't do
that!
Fatal Error: can not open disk output file for index, name.
PROINDEX attempted to create the disk index file and was not
allowed to do so by the operating system. This usually indicates
a hardware failure in your computer! By this time PROINDEX has
sucessfully worked with all disk drives you have specified. It
can not create the last disk file needed!
Not enough room on default drive, path \pathname for the
temporary files.
Chose another disk drive or free more space on it.
PROINDEX creates temporary working copies of your text files.
These files may have the most significant bit stripped from them
and/or their case changed to upper. These work files need disk
space equal in length to the size of your original text and
keyword files. There is not enough room on the work drive you
specified to hold these files. Chose another work drive or free
up more disk space for PROINDEX to work with.
Sorry, the old index file doesn't have a correct continue marker.
You can not continue the index filename. (You probably finished
this index. Rather than write over it we will return back to the
main menu so you can check this out.) Hit any key return to the
main menu.
You have attempted to continue an old indexing session with a
completed index or with an altered one. Go to the eXecute an MS-
DOS command menu and examine the old index. You will have to
determine what to do next based on the contents of this index
file.
System command error
When using the eXecute an MS-DOS command menu you attempted to
run a non-existant command. Use the DIR command or you MS-DOS
manual to find the correct command. (Or correct your spelling.)
System command failed
When using the eXecute an MS-DOS command menu the command you
selected and ran failed. This command returned an error code to
PROINDEX instead of returning normally. PROINDEX is simply
reporting this fact back to you. You must determine what to do
next.
The keyword file [filename] can't be found.
45
Is this the right file name and disk drive?
PROINDEX can not locate the keyword file you specified at the top
of this menu page. Make sure the file name, path, and disk drive
are correct. You can edit the keyword file name with the E option
on the main menu. If the file name, path, and drive appear
correct do a DIR command on that disk, using the eXecute an MS-
DOS command menu, to see if the file is really there.
The text file [filename] can't be found.
Is this the right file name and disk drive?
PROINDEX can not locate the text file you specified at the top of
this menu page. Make sure the file name, path, and disk drive are
correct. You can edit the text file name with the E option on the
main menu. If the file name, path, and drive appear correct do a
DIR command on that disk, using the eXecute an MS-DOS command
menu, to see if the file is really there.
There is not enough room on path \pathname for the temporary
files.
Chose another disk drive or free more disk space.
PROINDEX has determined that there is not enough room on the work
disk drive and path for all the files it must create. You must
have at least as much free disk space here as your text and
keyword files occupy. Either change the work drive to a disk that
has more room, or make more room on this disk by removing
unnecessary files. See below.
There is not enough room on the default drive for the temp-
orary files.
PROINDEX has determined that there is not enough room on the work
disk drive for all the files it must create. You must have at
least as much free disk space here as your text and keyword files
occupy. Either change the work drive to a disk that has more
room, or make more room on this disk by removing unnecessary
files. See above.
This is quite confusing. The program version number and con-
figuration file version number don't match. Please erase this
configuration file and copy the correct configuration file from
your PROINDEX master disk to your work disk!
The configuration file that PROINDEX uses to remember the way you
want to index your files has a version number saved in it. This
ensures that PROINDEX will never use an old configuration file.
The configuration file may vary from version to version of
PROINDEX. PROINDEX has discovered that its version number does
not match that of the configuration file. Simply delete the
configuration file. PROINDEX will create a new, correctly
identified, configuration file when you run it. Remember to
change this configuration file to reflect your indexing style.
46
DEMONSTRATION FILES
A demonstration text and keyword file can be found on the
PROINDEX master disk. These two files are called PROTEST.TXT and
PROTEST.KEY. The text file or document is in the disk file with
the '.TXT' extension, while the file with the '.KEY' extension is
the keyword or phrase list. This demonstration assumes that the
configuration file has not been changed form its default values.
These files were created with the WordStar text editor. The text
file was made using WordStar in the document mode while the
keyword file was created using the non-document mode. The 8th
bit, MSB, has been stripped from these files to make them less
confusing to people who are unfamiliar with WordStar.
To run PROINDEX using these test files first copy both files from
this master disk to your PROINDEX work disk or hard disk path.
Log on to that disk or path and type:
PROINDEX
You will see the screen shown in figure 1 followed by the screen
from figure 2. You will then be asked for the name of the text
file to index. Type: PROTEST.TXT. When asked for the name of the
keyword list type: PROTEST.KEY. When asked for the path for
temporary work files either give a vaild work drive or hit return
to use the current disk for work space. You have now told
PROINDEX the name of the keyword and text files and where to put
the work files and you will advance to the menu shown by figure
3.
Now select the I option, Index the text, from the main menu and
hit a return. The program will indicate that it is creating work
files and then change to the indexing menu screen, as shown in
figure 5. You are now running PROINDEX in the interactive mode.
You will be prompted each time PROINDEX finds a match and asked
whether to Mark, Skip, Bypass, All, or Quit. This is how PROINDEX
runs in the interactive mode. Each keyword or phrase is
highlighted in context on your screen. This helps you decide
whether to include the reference in your index. You may quit at
any time and restart at the point you left off later on. Your
index will be saved on the disk under the name PROTEST.IND.
To see what your index is like you can quit indexing at any time
and return to the main menu, figure 3. From that point select the
"X" menu option to eXecute an MS-DOS command. You will move to
the MS-DOS execution menu, as shown in figure 6. Enter the MS-DOS
command "type protest.ind". This will type out the demonstration
index as it presently stands. You can then return back to the
main menu, select the "C" option to continue your index, and
resume indexing where you left off.
If you feel like experimenting you can change some of the
variables on the index control parameters menu, figure 4, and see
how this effects the resulting index. Or try sending the index to
47
the printer instead of a disk file.
48
Index
All command, 2, 12, 29
ASCII, 1, 7 - 9, 11, 13, 16, 25 - 27, 31, 34 - 36, 42, 43
Backslash key, 5, 21
Backspace key, 20
BIOS calls, 2, 3, 5
Bold display, 3, 5, 29
Bypass command, 2, 12, 29
Chapter, 3 - 6, 14, 26, 37 - 39, 43, 44
COMMON.TXT, 36
Configuration, 16 - 19, 24, 46, 47
Control-A, 20
Control-W, 20
Data
fields, 20
entry, 3, 5, 12, 19, 20, 29, 36
Default disk, 18
Delete key, 3, 5, 19, 20, 41, 46
End of page, 17, 24
Fancy Font, 9
Floppy disk, 19, 34, 35, 44
Hard disk, 2, 19, 34, 35, 37, 44, 47
HEADFOOT.MAR, 40
IBM PC, 2, 3, 20, 34
Interactive mode, 1, 2, 9, 11, 12, 14, 16, 17, 28 - 30, 43, 47
Interrupt 10H, 2
Line numbers, 3, 4, 13, 26, 27
MAKEWORD, 3, 36, 37, 41
Margins, 4, 39, 40
Mark command, 2, 12, 29
MERGE, 4, 26, 37 - 39
MS-DOS, 2, 7, 11, 17, 18, 22, 23, 30, 34, 35, 39, 41, 44 - 47
Multiple references per page, 6, 24, 29, 43
Opening screen, 19
Options, 5, 12, 18, 21, 22, 24, 29, 31, 32, 36, 42, 44
Output, 1, 4, 9, 15, 24, 28, 31, 32, 36 - 42, 45
Printer2, 16, 17, 28, 31, 32, 44, 48
PROINDEX.CNF, 16, 17, 19
PROINDEX.EXE, 18
Quit, 21 - 23, 31, 47
REMOVE, 3, 7 - 9, 20, 26, 28, 31, 32, 36, 37, 39, 41, 42, 45
Requirements, 9
Screens, 2, 4, 5, 7, 9, 16, 19 - 21, 23, 24, 29, 37, 41, 44, 47
Secondary references, 5, 11, 14, 15
Set Command, 10, 17, 26, 43, 44
Skip command, 12, 13, 30
SORT, 4, 36, 37, 41
Speed, 29, 34, 35
Starting page number, 16, 17, 24, 37
STRIP, 17, 27, 36, 42, 44
Stripping bits, 34
Subdirectories, 18, 19
Temporary file, 1, 45
49
Index
Text case, 3, 8 - 10, 13, 16, 17, 24, 26, 27, 34, 36, 43, 44, 45
Utility programs, 1, 4, 26, 36 - 39, 41, 42
WordStar, 1, 7, 8, 27, 36, 42, 44, 47
Work
drive, 20, 34, 35, 45 - 47
files, 1, 21, 28, 29, 45, 47
50
DISTRIBUTION NOTICE
This program is protected by United States Copyright law and
by International Treaty provisions. You may distribute, or share
this version of this program with anyone provided the following
conditions are met:
This version of PROINDEX is being distributed at no charge to all
who are interested in it. This version does not include the
utility programs mentioned in the documentation. To those of you
unfamiliar with this approach, it works like this. PROINDEX is
distributed to various BBS systems and user groups. You may copy
the program and use it for no charge. Gary Elfring does not
handle the actual freeware distribution of this program.
Try the BBS version out. If the product does not meet your
needs, you pay nothing. If the product does meet your needs, and
you can use it, then send us the price of $65.00 U.S.
We will then supply you with an updated version of PROINDEX, all
the utility programs, improved typeset documentation for that
version, telephone support, and one free update. We accept
check, and money orders.
This offer may be withdrawn at an time without notice.
Send check or money order to: Gary Elfring
4N899 West Mary Drive
St. Charles, Illinois
60174
312-377-3520
Even if you do not contribute, you are encouraged to copy and
distribute the BBS version of the product freely subject to the
following restrictions:
1. Do not distribute altered copies. If you have suggestions or
fixes you would like to see, send us a written note. We
welcome all responses.
2. This product must be distributed complete including the files:
PROINDEX.EXE, PROINDEX.DOC, PROTEST.TXT, and PROTEST.KEY.
3. No fee is to be charged for copying or distributing the pro-
gram without an express WRITTEN agreement with Gary Elfring
The ONLY exception to this rule is: a small charge, ($5 to
$10), may be leveled if this program is included on a set of
public domain disks. This charge must be reasonable and repre-
sent only copying and disk fees.
4. Commercial sale of this product in any manner is prohibited
without Gary Elfring's written permission.
User Groups/Clubs: Gary Elfring's freeware products may be dis-
tributed by Clubs and User Groups subject to the same restric-
51
tions. We would ask only that contributions to our continuing
efforts be encouraged by those performing such distribution.
Computer Bulletin Boards: Gary Elfring's freeware products may
be distributed by BBS's subject to the same restrictions and
contribution encouragement.
52
PROTEST.TXT
The Date Utilities
DCOPY
Command
________________________________________________________________
Purpose: Copy one or more files to the specified disk drive and
path based on a comparison of the file date with a
passed date.
Format: DCOPY filename destination [date] [time] [-options]
Where: everything between the two braces "[" and "]"
is optional and,
filename - is any valid file name with optional
drive and path. The wildcards "*" and
"?" may be used in the filename.
destination - is any valid drive and path
date - is a valid date of the form MM/DD/YY
time - is a valid time of the form HH:MM:SS
options - always start with the "-" character and
include: a = archive, b = before, l =
later, o = on, p = prompt.
Remarks: This command functions in basically the same manner as
the MS-DOS COPY command. However, DCOPY lets you copy
files based on the file's creation date / update time
stamp. There are three major differences between DCOPY
and the MS-DOS command COPY. First, files are copied
to the specified drive and path ONLY if each file date
and time matches the optional condition(s) specified.
Second, files can NOT be renamed as they are copied.
Third, DCOPY will pause when your destination floppy,
(A: or B:), becomes full. You can then change
floppies, format a new floppy, or quit.
DCOPY copies a file or group of files based on the file
dates. Full wild card support is included for the file
name. The global characters "?" and "*" can be used in
in the file name and extension parameters. These
global characters work in exactly the same way as they
do with a COPY command.
If you don't remember how to use DCOPY you can always
type DCOPY{cr}, where {cr} signifies the return key.
DCOPY will then print a help screen that tells you how
to run the program.
DCOPY offers five different options. Options may be
grouped together in any combination. An option or
group of options must always be preceded by the "-"
character. Three of these options, (b, l, o), modify
the way the specified date effects a copy. The "-b"
option tells DCOPY to copy files created BEFORE the
specified date. The "-o" option copies files created
1
The Date Utilities
ON the specified date. The "-l" option copies files
created LATER than, (after), the specified date. The
remaining two options control special features. The
"-a" option tells DCOPY to copy only those files that
have not previously been archived. If you use this
option DCOPY will only copy files that have not
previously been backed up. The last option is "-p".
This option causes DCOPY to pause and prompt you with
the name of the file being copied. YOU decide whether
or not to copy the file by responding with "Y" or "N".
To use DCOPY you MUST specify a file name or pattern,
and a destination drive at a minimum. If no date and
time is included in the command, DCOPY assumes you want
to copy files created or updated on the current day.
Thus:
dcopy *.* a:
copies all files created or updated after 12:00 AM on
the current day. This assumes the time and date set in
your IBM PC, XT, or AT is correct.
Making a copy of files based on a different time and
date is just as easy. To do this DCOPY needs to know
the date, (and optionally a time), and whether to copy
files created: before, on, or after this date. Copy
control is based on options. Note that if no TIME is
specified the time is assumed to be 0:00, the previous
day's midnight.
dcopy *.obj b: 12/12/84 -ol
copies all files from the default drive with the
extension ".obj" that were created or last updated ON
or LATER than 12 AM on 12/12/84 to the B: drive. The
files copied to drive B: will have the same name and
time stamp as they had on the default drive.
dcopy b:work.* a: 1/2/85 15:00:00 -b
copies all files from the B: drive that have the file
name "work" and any extension, to the A: drive PROVIDED
that the file was last created or updated before 3:00
PM on 1/2/85.
dcopy c:\work\*.c d:\help 2/20/86 -o
copies all files with the extension ".c" from the path
c:\work to the path d:\help provided each file was last
updated only on the day of 2/20/86.
dcopy *.* b: 1/1/86 -olp
2
The Date Utilities
copies all files to drive B: provided they were created
on or later than 1/1/86. The user will be prompted
before each file is copied with:
Copy filename to b:filename (Y/N)?
You must enter either a "Y" or "N" followed by a
carriage return. Entering a "Y" tells DCOPY to proceed
with the transfer of the file. Entering anything else
will cause DCOPY to skip that one file.
DCOPY also provides full archive file control with the
"-a" option. Each file has a status bit that can be
used to indicate whether it has been backed up. If you
use the "-a" option DCOPY will only copy those files
not marked as having been previously backed up. DCOPY
will also mark the original file to indicate it has
been backed up.
Copying DCOPY has one other major feature that has not been
Files mentioned yet. When you use DCOPY to copy to a
to removable media, a floppy disk for example, DCOPY will
Floppy pause when that disk becomes full. At this point you
Disk can quit the copying process, insert a new formatted
disk and continue, or format a new disk and then
continue. DCOPY will prompt you with a message
explaining what is going on when the disk becomes full.
For example:
We've run out of disk space on drive B:
Put a new formatted disk in that drive and hit "C" to
continue, OR hit "F" to format a new disk, OR hit "Q"
to quit DCOPY now.
Notes: DCOPY can handle directories of any length. However,
the larger your disk directory the longer it will take
DCOPY to process it. If you have a directory with 600
files in it it should take DCOPY about 6 seconds to
read through the entire directory on an IBM AT, or 12
seconds on a PC. If it takes longer than this you
should change your config.sys file to increase then
number of buffers to BUFFERS=8.
DCOPY first looks for a file match to your pattern and
date. If one is found it is copied as soon as it is
seen. The program then goes on to find the next match.
If you use a wildcard like *.* and have very few dates
that match it may seem like DCOPY is doing an excessive
amount of disk access. This is not the case. DCOPY is
simply finding each matching pattern and then checking
the file date. This does take a little time.
3
The Date Utilities
DERASE
Command
________________________________________________________________
Purpose: Erase one or more files from the specified disk and
path based on a comparison of the file date with a
passed date.
Format: DERASE filename [date] [time] [-options]
Where: everything between the two braces "[" and "]"
is optional and,
filename - is any valid file name with optional
drive and path. The wildcards "*" and
"?" may be used in the filename.
date - is a valid date of the form MM/DD/YY
time - is a valid time of the form HH:MM:SS
options - always start with the "-" character and
include: b = before, l = later, o = on,
p = prompt.
Remarks: This command functions in basically the same manner as
the MS-DOS ERASE command. DERASE, however, offers two
major differences or improvements over the standard
ERASE command. First, file erasure is based on a
specified date. Files can be erased that were created
before, on, or after a specified date. (Any combina-
tion of these options is legal.) Second, a prompt
first option lets you select individual files for
erasure.
DERASE deletes a file or group of files based on the
file dates. Full wild card support is included for the
file name. The global characters "?" and "*" can be
used in in the file name and extension parameters.
These global characters work in exactly the same way as
they do with the ERASE command.
If you don't remember how to use DERASE you can always
type DERASE{cr}, where {cr} signifies the return key.
DERASE will then print a help screen that tells you how
to run the program.
DERASE has four different options. Options may be
grouped together in any combination. An option or
group of options must always be preceded by the "-"
character. Three of these options, (b, l, o), modify
the way the specified date effects file deletion. The
"-b" option tells DERASE to delete files created BEFORE
the specified date. The "-o" option deletes files
created ON the specified date. The "-l" option deletes
files created LATER than, (after), the specified date.
The last option is "-p". This option causes DERASE to
4
The Date Utilities
pause and prompt you with the name of the file to be
deleted. YOU decide whether or not to delete the file
by typing a "Y" or "N".
To use DERASE you MUST specify a file name or pattern
at a minimum. If no date and time is included in the
command, DERASE assumes you want to delete files
created or updated on the current day. Thus:
derase *.bak
deletes all files with the extension .bak created or
updated after 12:00 AM on the current day. This
assumes the time and date set in your IBM PC, XT, or AT
is correct.
Deleting files based on a different time and date is
just as easy. To do this DERASE needs to know the
date, (and optionally a time), and whether to erase the
files created: before, on, or later than this date.
Deletion control is based on options. Note that if no
TIME is specified the time is assumed to be 0:00, the
previous days midnight.
derase *.obj 12/12/84 -ol
deletes all files from the default drive with the
extension ".obj" that were created or last updated ON
or LATER than 12 AM on 12/12/84.
derase b:work.* 1/2/85 15:00:00 -b
deletes all files from the B: drive that have the file
name "work" and any extension, PROVIDED that the file
was last created or updated before 3:00 PM on 1/2/85.
derase c:\work\*.c 2/20/86 -o
deletes all files with the extension ".c" from the path
c:\work provided each file was last updated only on the
day of 2/20/86.
derase *.* 1/1/86 -olp
deletes all files provided they were created on or
later than 1/1/86. The user will be prompted before
each file is erased with:
Erase filename (Y/N)?
You must enter either a "Y" or "N" followed by a car-
riage return. Entering a "Y" tells DERASE to erase
that file. Entering anything else will cause DERASE to
leave that file alone.
5
The Date Utilities
CDATE
Command
________________________________________________________________
Purpose: Change the date of one or more files that fit the
filename pattern passed.
Format: CDATE filename [date] [time] [-options]
Where: everything between the two braces "[" and "]"
is optional and,
filename - is any valid file name with optional
drive and path. The wildcards "*" and
"?" may be used in the filename.
date - is a valid date of the form MM/DD/YY
time - is a valid time of the form HH:MM:SS
options - starts with the "-" character and
includes: p = prompt before changing.
Remarks: This command has no MS-DOS counterpart. CDATE changes
the date of a file or group of files to a date passed
in the command. Full wild card support is provided for
the file name. The global characters "?" and "*" can
be used in in the file name and extension parameters.
These global characters work in exactly the same way as
they do with all other MS-DOS commands.
If you don't remember how to use CDATE you can always
type CDATE{cr}, where {cr} signifies the return key.
CDATE will then print a help screen that tells you how
to run the program.
CDATE has only a single option. Adding the "-p" option
to the command causes CDATE to pause and prompt you
with the name of the file whose date is to be changed.
YOU decide whether or not to change the file date by
typing a "Y" or "N".
To use CDATE you MUST specify a file name or pattern at
a minimum. If no date and time is included in the
command, CDATE assumes you want to change the file date
and time to the current system date and time. Thus:
cdate *.bak
changes the date of all files with the extension .bak
to the current system time and date. Hopefully the
time and date set in your IBM PC, XT, or AT is correct.
Changing a file's date and time stamp to a specified
date and time is just as easy. To do this CDATE needs
a date, (and optionally a time).
6
The Date Utilities
cdate *.obj 12/12/84
changes the date of all files on the default drive with
the extension ".obj" to 12/12/84 00:00:00.
cdate c:\work\*.c 2/20/86 15:00:00
changes the date of all files from the path C:\work
that have the extension ".c" to 1/2/85, 3:00 PM.
cdate *.* 1/1/86 -p
changes the date of all files on the default drive to
1/1/86. The user will be prompted before each file
date is changed with:
Change the date of filename (Y/N)?
You must enter either a "Y" or "N" followed by a car-
riage return. Entering a "Y" tells CDATE to change the
date of that file. Entering anything else will direct
CDATE to leave that file alone.
7
The Date Utilities
DDIR
Command
________________________________________________________________
Purpose: List the directory of the specified disk and path.
Directory is limited by date and may be sorted in one
of several different ways.
Format: DDIR filename [date] [time] [-options]
Where: everything between the two braces "[" and "]"
is optional and,
filename - is any valid file name with optional
drive and path. The wildcards "*" and
"?" may be used in the filename.
date - is a valid date of the form MM/DD/YY
time - is a valid time of the form HH:MM:SS
options - always start with the "-" character and
include: b = before, l = later, o = on,
p = prompt. Directory is normally sorted
alphabetically by name but may be sorted
by: d = date, e = extension, n = no sort,
s = file size.
Remarks: This command functions in basically the same manner as
the MS-DOS DIR command. However, DDIR differs in
several important ways. First, DDIR will automatically
sort your directory alphabetically. You can optional
change the sorting preference to sort by: extension,
date, or file size. (You can also disable all
sorting.) Second, DDIR displays directory entries
limited by a passed file date.
DDIR displays directory entries based on the file dates
plus other constraints. Full wild card support is
included for the file name. The global characters "?"
and "*" can be used in in the file name and extension
parameters. These global characters work in exactly
the same way as they do with a DIR command.
If you don't remember how to use DDIR you can always
type DDIR{cr}, where {cr} signifies the return key.
DDIR will then print a help screen that tells you how
to run the program.
DDIR offers seven different options. All options,
except sorting order control, may be grouped together
in any combination. An option or group of options must
always be preceded by the "-" character. Three of
these options, (b, l, o), modify the way the specified
date effects a directory. The "-b" option tells DDIR
to display only files created BEFORE the specified
date. The "-o" option displays files created ON the
8
The Date Utilities
specified date. The "-l" option displays files created
later than, (after), the specified date. The remaining
four options control the order that the directories are
sorted. Directories are normally sorted alphabetically
by file name. The d, e, n, & s options change the
order that a directory will be sorted in. The "-d"
option sorts a directory based on the file dates. The
"-e" option sorts the directory alphabetically based on
file extension. The "-n" option disables sorting of
the directory. Finally, the "-s" option sorts a
directory based on file size.
To use DDIR you MUST specify a file name or pattern at
a minimum. If no date and time is included in the
command, DDIR assumes you want the directory of all
files created or updated on the current day. Thus:
ddir *.*
displays the directory of all files created or updated
after 12:00 AM on the current day. This assumes the
time and date set in your IBM PC, XT, or AT is correct.
Displaying directories of files created on a different
time and date is just as easy. To do this DDIR needs
to know the date, (and optionally a time), and whether
to display files created: before, on, or later than this
date. Note that if no TIME is specified the time is
assumed to be 0:00, the previous days midnight.
ddir *.obj 12/12/84 -ol
displays the directory of all files on the default
drive with the extension ".obj" that were created or
last updated ON or LATER than 12 AM on 12/12/84. The
files will be displayed in alphabetical order.
ddir b:work.* 1/2/85 15:00:00 -bd
displays the directory of all files from the B: drive
that have the file name "work" and any extension,
PROVIDED that the file was last created or updated
before 3:00 PM on 1/2/85. The files will be sorted
in ascending order based on file date, (oldest first).
ddir c:\work\*.c 2/20/86 -oe
displays the directory of all files with the extension
".c" from the path c:\work provided each file was last
updated on the day of 2/20/86. The directory will be
sorted alphabetically based on file extension.
ddir *.* 1/1/86 -ln
9
The Date Utilities
displays the directory of all files provided they were
created later than 1/1/86. No sorting of the directory
will take place.
ddir *.* 1/1/86 -ls
displays the directory of all files provided they were
created later than 1/1/86. Files will be sorted based
on file size.
Notes: DDIR can only handle directories that have 2048 or less
entries. The larger your disk directory the longer it
will take DDIR to process it. Finding and sorting
files takes time. If it takes to long to sort your
large directories try changing your config.sys file to
increase then number of buffers to BUFFERS=8.
10
The Date Utilities
DISTRIBUTION NOTICE
This package of utilities is protected by United States Copyright
law and by International Treaty provisions. You may distribute,
or share the "demo" version of these utilities with anyone
provided the following conditions are met:
A "demo" version of the DATE UTILITIES is being distributed at no
charge to all who are interested in it. To those of you
unfamiliar with this approach, it works like this. These
utilities are distributed to various BBS systems and user groups.
You may copy the program and use it for no charge. Gary Elfring
does not handle the actual distribution of this program.
The BBS version of this program has been INTENTIONALLY limited.
It will only work until 9/1/86 and will not format disks for you.
This limitation is imposed because very few people pay for these
programs otherwise. If you regularly pay for programs like this,
sorry for the inconvenience. NOTE: that even though this version
is time limited it is fully functional. Try the BBS version out.
If the product does not meet your needs, you pay nothing. If the
product does meet your needs, and you can use it, then send us
the introductory price of $30.00 U.S. This price is only good
through 9/1/86 and may be withdrawn at any time.
I will then supply you with the real version of the DATE
UTILITIES, (none are time limited or copy protected), along with
quality documentation for that version. I accept check, money
order, Master Card, VISA, or good old fashioned cash. These
utilities include:
DCOPY - Copy files based on wildcard and date
DERASE - Erase files based on wildcard and date
DDIR - Display files based on wildcard and date
CDATE - Change a files time and date stamp
Send check or money order to: Gary Elfring
4N899 West Mary Drive
St. Charles, Illinois
60174
312-377-3520
Even if you do not contribute, you are encouraged to copy and
distribute the BBS version of the product freely subject to the
following restrictions:
1. Do not distribute altered copies. If you have suggestions or
fixes you would like to see, send us a written note. We
welcome all responses.
2. This product must be distributed complete including the files:
DCOPY.EXE, DERASE.EXE, CDATE.EXE, DDIR.EXE, & DATEUTIL.DOC.
11
The Date Utilities
3. No fee is to be charged for copying or distributing the pro-
gram without an express WRITTEN agreement from Gary
Elfring. The ONLY exception to this rule is: a small charge,
($5 to $10), may be leveled if this program is included on a
set of public domain disks. This charge must be reasonable and
represent only copying and disk fees.
4. Commercial sale of this product in any manner is prohibited
without Gary Elfring's written permission.
User Groups/Clubs: Gary Elfring's products may be distributed by
Clubs and User Groups subject to the same restrictions. We would
ask only that contributions to our continuing efforts be encour-
aged by those performing such distribution.
Computer Bulletin Boards: Gary Elfring's products may be dis-
tributed by BBS's subject to the same restrictions and contribu-
tion encouragement.
WARRANTY
Gary Elfring specifically disclaims all warranties, expressed or
implied, including but not limited to, implied warranties of
merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose with respect
to defects in the disk or documentation, and the program license
granted herein. In no event shall Elfring be liable for any loss
of profit or any other commercial damage, including but not
limited to special, incidental, consequential, or other damages.
12
Directory of PC-SIG Library Disk #0977
Volume in drive A has no label
Directory of A:\
FILE0977 TXT 831 7-12-89 9:01a
GO BAT 38 10-19-87 3:56p
GO TXT 694 7-06-89 2:59p
MANUAL BAT 147 7-06-89 2:54p
PAGE COM 325 1-06-87 4:21p
PROINDEX DOC 124416 1-15-87 12:56p
PROINDEX EXE 36492 1-01-87
PROTEST KEY 249 1-01-87
PROTEST TXT 29804 1-01-87
VIEW BAT 37 7-06-89 2:53p
10 file(s) 193033 bytes
122880 bytes free