AV.TXT                               1                         Aug 25, 1999

WIN95 AND WINNT NOTICE:  As with most  DOS-based  utilities,  this  program
doesn't  understand  the  weird  subdirectories,  long  filenames,  invalid
characters that  are  possible  under  Windows  95  and  Windows/NT.   Both
operating systems alias long filenames into names like MYFILE~1.TXT and you
will need to specify the aliased versions of file names to process them. If
you're not sure what the pseudo-name is, use the "DIR /X" command in DOS to
check.  Under some file structure systems in NT, the program may  not  work
at all.

The AV.EXE program shows a directory of one or  more  archive  files  (ZIP,
ZOO, etc), including some self-extracting files.  Features of this program:

  * The directory information is presented in full-screen mode and you  can
    use PgUp and PgDn to scroll about the screens.
  * Allows you to sort the display of the members in a number of ways.
  * Allows you to reset the file date of the archive to match the  date  of
    the most recent member of the archive.
  * Provides the ability to filter out what members are displayed.
  * Scroll through up to 500 archives.
  * The date format shown is based on your country setting.
  * Supports 43/50-line mode under EGA and VGA.
  * Quick in-memory display for up to 50 archive members; bullet-proof ISAM
    support if it goes beyond that.


A typical display might look (in part) like  the  following  (margins  have
been shrunk a little for printing purposes):

AV602.ZIP         Date      Time  OrigSize Method    NowSize %reduce
------------  --------  -------- --------- -------- -------- ----[PgUp]
AV.TXT        96/02/04  18:32:36      8585 Deflated     3395  61 [PgDn]
AV.EXE        96/02/11  11:09:56    166744 Deflated   107879  36 [Home]
BRUCE602.TXT  96/02/05  20:31:56     32493 Deflated    12566  62 [End]
BRUCEINI.TXT  96/01/20  16:09:18      7649 Deflated     2891  63 [Up]
FILE_ID.DIZ   96/01/28  12:26:36       214 Deflated      191  11 [Down]
                                                                 [Sort]
                                                                   [Name]
                                                                   [Ext]
                                                                   [Date]
                                                                   [Size]
                                                                   [CurSize
                                                                   [Ratio]
                                                                   [Path]
                                                                   [Orig]
                                                                   [-Flip]
                                                                 [Filter]
                                                                 [C-PgDn]
                                                                 [C-PgUp]
                                                                 [Quit]

============  ========  ======== ========= ======== ======== ====[Help]
 *5           96/02/11  11:09:56    215685            126922  42%[Date]
AV602.ZIP     96/02/11  11:10:16    127418                              /ON


Note that AV will not do much good for multi-disc ZIP files.


AV.TXT                               2                         Aug 25, 1999

Since AV is based on a library of routines that  is  no  longer  supported,
newer ZIP versions (including those generated  by  some  Windows  managers)
will not be read properly by this command.

When viewing a screen's worth of  information,  you  can  typically  choose
among a number of options including the following:

        PgUp    view the previous screen's worth
        PgDn    view the next screen's worth
        Home    top line
        End     bottom line
        Up      move the screen up one line
        Down    move the screen down one line
        Sort    change the sort order for this and subsequent files;
                you're prompted for "BY?" and you should enter either
                "-x" or "x" or press Esc to get out of this: the archive
                is reread after you ask to re-sort it; x is one of:
                        N = file name
                        E = file extension
                        S = file size of the original (non-compressed) file
                        C = current (compressed) size of the file
                        D = file date and time
                        R = compression ratio
                        P = path and file name order
                        O = original order (no sorting)
                the "-" says to reverse the sort order (for example,
                biggest files first instead of last)
        Filter  prompts you for a string; only member names that match that
                string are allowed through (does not accept wildcards; just
                say something like "COM" if you want all COM files)
        Ctrl-PgDn go to the next archive file (if any)
        Ctrl-PgUp go to the previous archive file (if any)
        Quit    return to DOS (Ctrl-C also works) (with confirmation)
        Date    update the archive file date to be the creation date of the
                most recent member in the archive; not offered if it's
                already the case
        Del     delete the archive (with confirmation)
        F1      help information
        Alt-E   toggles between 25-line and 43-/50-line mode (if your
                system supports EGA and VGA respectively)

These options are presented on the right side of  the  screen  and  can  be
selected with the mouse cursor if one is available.


Specifying parameters:

Parameters for this program can be set in the  following  ways.   The  last
setting encountered always wins:
  - Read from an *.INI file (see BRUCEINI.TXT file),
  - Through the use of an environmental variable (SET AV=whatever), or
  - From the command line (see "Syntax" below)



AV.TXT                               3                         Aug 25, 1999

Syntax:

    AV [ filespec ] [ /P | /-P ] [ /Ox | /O-x ] [ /DATE ] [ /-MOUSE ]
      [ /T=temp_dir ] [ /Q ] [ /EGA | /VGA ]
      [ /MONO ] [ /Iinitfile | /-I ] [ /-ENV ] [ /? ] [ > filename ]

where:

"filespec" is the file specification to process.  Can include drive,  path,
and wildcards if desired.  If no input  filespec  is  provided,  you'll  be
prompted for one.

"/P" (or "/PAUSE") says to view  the  directory  in  page  mode.   This  is
typically the default.  The default is automatically /-P  (which  can't  be
overridden) if redirection ("AV ...  > filename") is used.

"/-P" (or "/-PAUSE") says to view the directory not  in  page  mode.   This
prevents you from being offered the fix-date option as well.  This mode  is
automatic if redirection ("AV ...  > filename") is used.

"/Ox" and "/O-x" allow you to specify the display order for the files.  "x"
can be one of the following:

        N = file name
        E = file extension
        D = file date and time
        S = file size of the original (non-compressed) file
        C = current (compressed) size of the file
        R = compression ratio
        P = path and file name order
        O = original order (no sorting)

If you precede the "x" with a dash ("-"), the sort will be done in  reverse
order.  Initially defaults to /OO.

"/DATE" resets the archive file date to be the  date  of  the  most  recent
member.  Automatically invokes /-P.  The command "AV *.*  /DATE  /Q"  is  a
quick way to reset the file date stamps for all archives  in  your  current
subdirectory.

"/MOUSE" says to activate the mouse if  present.   This  is  initially  the
default.

"/-MOUSE" says to skip activating the mouse even if present.

"/T=temp_dir" specifies where to write the temporary ISAM  files  that  the
routine needs.  ISAM data bases are used to store and sort the file  names.
ISAM files cannot be created reliably on certain types of drives.  Examples
are "/T=C:" and "/T=C:\TEMP".  If not specified, the routine writes to  the
following in sequence:

  - the value of any TEMP, then TMP, environmental variable
  - C:\TEMP
  - C:\


AV.TXT                               4                         Aug 25, 1999

"/Q" skips the display of the member names.   Automatically  invokes  /DATE
and /-P and is typically used in cases where you want  to  reset  all  file
dates (for example, "AV *.* /Q").

"/EGA" or "/VGA" will put you in 43/50-line mode if your  monitor  supports
this.  The two options are actually synonymous (you'll get  the  best  your
monitor supports).  You can also switch to and from 25-line and  43/50-line
mode within the program by using Alt-E.

"/MONO" (or "/-COLOR") does not try to override screen  colors.   Initially
defaults to "/COLOR".

"/COLOR" (or "/-MONO") allows screen colors  to  be  overridden.   This  is
initially the default.

"/Iinitfile" says to  read  an  initialization  file  with  the  file  name
"initfile".  The file specification *must* contain a period.  Initfiles are
described in the BRUCEINI.TXT file.  Initially defaults to "/IAV.INI".

"/-I" (or "/INULL") says to skip loading the initialization file.

"/ENV" says to look for %var% occurrences in the command line  and  try  to
resolve any apparent environmental variable references.   See  BRUCEINI.TXT
for more information.  This is initially the default.

"/-ENV" says to skip resolving apparent %var% occurrences  in  the  command
line.  Initially defaults to "/ENV".

"/?" or "/HELP" or "HELP" shows you the syntax for the command.

">filename" redirects the  output  to  a  text  file.   This  automatically
invokes the /-P option.  This is useful for getting a complete  listing  of
the contents of your compressed files.  For example:

        AV *.* > TEMP.TXT


Return codes:

AV returns the following ERRORLEVEL codes:

        0 = no problems
      252 = other problems
      253 = no valid archives were found
      254 = could not find a decent temporary output subdirectory
      255 = syntax problems, file not found, or /? requested



AV.TXT                               5                         Aug 25, 1999

Author:

This program was written by Bruce Guthrie of Wayne Software.   It  is  free
for use and redistribution provided relevant documentation is kept with the
program, no changes are made to the program or documentation, and it is not
bundled with commercial programs or charged  for  separately.   People  who
need to bundle it in for-sale packages must pay a $50 registration  fee  to
"Bruce Guthrie" at the following address.

Additional information about this and other Wayne Software programs can  be
found in the file BRUCE.TXT which should be included in  the  original  ZIP
file.  The recent change  history  for  this  and  the  other  programs  is
provided in the HISTORY.ymm file which should be in the same ZIP file where
"y" is replaced by the last digit of the year and "mm"  is  the  two  digit
month of the release; HISTORY.611 came out in  November  1996.   This  same
naming convention is used in naming the  ZIP  file  (AVymm.ZIP)  that  this
program was included in.

Comments and suggestions can also be sent to:

                Bruce Guthrie
                Wayne Software
                113 Sheffield St.
                Silver Spring, MD 20910

                e-mail: WayneSof@erols.com   fax: (301) 588-8986
                http://www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/Lakes/2414
             or find through http://www.erols.com/waynesof

Please provide an Internet e-mail address on all correspondence.


