March 5, 1990
File Sleuth v1.1
Copyright (C) 1990
By Derrick Burgess
Purpose:
Search a list of files and then display a list of
all matches to user specified string. Including AND
and OR logic.
(This program compatible with allfiles lists from most
major BBS programs - While PCBoard is the intended
program supported, many others are supported such as
Wildcat!, QuickBBS, Pheonix, Gap, etc... It also is ideal
for searching BBS phone number lists that include information
about each board...You could then search for your type of
modem, bbs software and location all in one search)
I'm sure you're aware of how to find files of interest when you log
onto PCBoard Bulletin boards. One of the best and easiest ways to
find files is with the Zippy scan feature of PCBoard. What this does
is scan the file lists for a matching string and then display all the
files with the search string in them. The disadvantage to this type
of search is that it 1) Must be done online, and 2) Can be quite slow
if the bbs is not running on a '386 machine. There is a way to do a
scan for files offline, and this requires that you download and
Allfiles list from the bbs. Most bbs's have this list available as a
Zip file or Self-Extracting Zipfile. The disadvantage to these files
is that once you get this file, there is not a very good way to
search it. Oh, there are many workarounds such as Norton's Text
Search, but that only shows a few lines and could even miss the
filename or the entire description. Many use a text editor, a text
editor comes very close to being ideal for this type of scan except
for a couple of serious drawbacks, which are if the allfiles list is
larger than available memory, or if you would like to see all the
matches one screen. Which brings us to the point of FileSluth.
FileSluth was written to overcome all the drawbacks of the offline
Scan for files and include many features that enhance the use of such
a program. Some of the reasons that make FileSleuth the only way to
zippy scan offline are
1) Faster than the PCBoard implementation
2) Handles multi-line Prodoor descriptions
3) Allows multi search strings (ie. ARC and ZIP
in the same description)
4) Allows wildcards to search several files
(such as *.LST or C:\BBS\*.LST)
5) Can keep a log of the search to either a file
or the printer. If the log file exists, the
log is appended to
6) Can be run in automatic mode, just specify a
string on the command line and the default bbs
list and defaul log file are used with no
prompt for input from the user.
7) Can change the default bbs file permanently
to the directory and files that you want to
search.
8) Can change the default log file permanently
from no log to a file or back to no log.
9) Handles file description lines that are greater
than 80 characters. Some bbs programs/sysops do
not include a return at the end of each line and
wrap to the next line, this is supported.
10) You can Abort a scan at any time
11) You can Skip a file if you change your mind
during a search that includes wildcards (* or ?)
in the filename.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
When you run it, it comes up with these possibilities.
Z Zippy Scan B Choose BBS list(s) to search
T Tag BBS list(s) to search
X Exit L Choose Log File ''
Search File(s): 'ALLFILES.LST'
If you want to scan the search BBS list, just hit Z and you will be
asked the text to search for.
B Choose BBS list
If you do not want to use the Default BBS list, but want a
different one, hit B and you will be asked for a new filename.
The filename can be any valid DOS name, and can include
wildcards, or be a Response File.
--------
@ Response File:
Another way to specify which files to search.
The @ response list
This is a file that you create that contains a list of the files
that you would like to search, one file per line including drive,
directory and extension. This file can be created with a text editor or
in DOS by...
C>Copy con Srch.Lst
\bbs\Grinder.Lst
\bbs\Lunacy.Lst
b:Offline.Lst
^Z (Control-Z)
1 File(s) Copied is the reply you should get if it worked, now to use
this list instead of wildcards or a single file, you need to always
precede it with a @ so you will be searching @Srch.Lst.
---------
T Tag Files to search
Similar to B Choose file to search, but this allows you tag only
a few files to search. It will ask for a drive and subdirectory,
such as C:\BBS but you may also add a mask to the end to use just
your allfiles lists to tag if you want C:\BBS\*.LST
Does not work with a @ response file.
All instructions on how to tag files are shown onscreen when they can
be used.
Z Zippy Scan
You are asked what you want to search for, this can be any string
containing any characters except &, |, and ~ which are special
commands to filsluth.
The ~ character should be used anytime that you want to search for
a space....If you want to search for a word and do not want it to
be inside another, you can put leading and trailing ~ on it.
ie. ~ARC~ will find only descriptions with ARC but not those
such as arcade, arcmaster, narc, etc....
You can do multiple searches at one time by combining strings with
the & and | commands
The & (AND) command specifies that both strings must be
found.... ie... ARC & ZIP searches for both ARC and ZIP
in the same File description
The | (OR) command specifies that either of the strings
around it are okay, but both are not necessary.
ie.... CONVERT & ZIP | ARC | LZH
would find any strings with the combination of Convert and
Zip, Convert and Arc, Convert and Lzh or any combination of
Zip, Arc, and Lzh.
One note: the | cannot be the first command, & must! There
must be one definite string first, but after that
you can mix & and | as much as you wish.
CONVERT & ZIP | ARC | LZH & ~01- | ~02- & -88 | -89
Convert And (Zip or Arc or Lzh) dated January or
February of either 1988 or 1989
Note: It is always best to put the least found string FIRST as the
program searches for the first string, and then only displays
the program if the rest of the search string is also found.
Another note on the Zippy scan used by FileSleuth. The search is
generally faster than that used by PCBoard. The reason for this is that
the program assumes that the string will not be found, and once it
is, it takes longer to find the description, thus it is very fast
if only 4 or 5 matches are found per file, but can be quite slow
if you search for something that will show up in almost every file
description (Like ZIP or -89 or -90).
Tips:
To scan for all files that were uploaded in January 1990
01- & -90
To scan for all CAD programs but NOT arCADe programs
put a tilde before and after the CAD like '~CAD~'
To scan for CAD programs from 1990 use
'~CAD~ & -90'
Special Note:
A NOT command has also been added. To specify a NOT string,
add a ^ to the beginning of the word.
ie.
VGA & ^GIF
Would search for all occurances of VGA that did not include
GIF in the description also.
X Exit
Quit the Program
L Choose Log File
If you have any other than '', then all the scans are also
appended to this file. If you want to send output to the printer
use the name LPT1 with no : at the end. (of course that could be
LPT2 or LPT3 also).
-----------
During the Search
During the Search several more commands are available, these are
displayed at the top of the screen, and later at the bottom.
Each of these commands are self explanitory such as Abort, Skip
file, Pause, and End.
-----------
How to view the permanent defaults of FilSluth, and get information
on how to change them.
FILSLUTH /?
-----------
How to change the file Default BBS file from when it starts from
ALLFILES.LST to another name run the program this way
FILSLUTH /DEFAULT
and it will ask you for the new default bbs list name for when it
starts.
-----------
How to change the log file from no log to any other file as default
run the program this way
FILSLUTH /LOG
and it will ask you for the new default log file.
-----------
How to change the default AND character ( originally & )
FILSLUTH /&
-----------
How to change the default NOT character ( originally | )
FILSLUTH /^
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Command Line Parameters:
You can now specify the file(s) to search (Or a @File) on the command
line by one of several ways. (@File is discussed later)
The New command line is:
FilSluth [SearchString] [/F=FILE] [/L=LOGFILE] [/NL] [/XF] [/AF]
FilSluth <SearchString> Searches the default filename
for SearchString NonStop
FilSluth <SearchString> <File> Searches <File> or @File for
SearchString NonStop
FilSluth <SearchString> /F=<File> Same as above
/F=FILE Searches File or @File for searchstring
/L=LOGFILE Makes a log in LogFile
/NL No Leading Information in Log that says
the Filename and the SearchString
over 3 lines.
/NC Non-Continuous - Pause at full pages in
Batch file mode. (Default is Continuous
when running in Batch mode)
/XF Exit After Find. Exit the program after
the first match. Useful if searching
for certain file.
-> Can only be used in AUTO mode where a
searchstring is entered on the command
line.
/AF Absolute filename for use when searching
filenames only - will not find MAINT.ZIP
when the search string is AINT.ZIP
For use with /XF to make exact matches
for the filename.
/43 Screen is in 43 line mode
/50 Screen is in 50 line mode
<SearchString> has some additional rules/Features.
The SearchString can be the same as you would use inside the program
with the exceptions of spaces either leading, imbedded, or trailing.
When you would like to search for a space and use the command line, all
spaces MUST be converted to the Tilde ~ character so they stand out.
Example: To Search for ' ARC ' you would do ~ARC~ If you want to search
for ' ARC & ZIP ' it would be ~ARC~ & ~ZIP~ on the command line
To do multiple boolean searches in Batch files - the entire search string
must be connected with no spaces in it. Use a ~ wherever a space would
occur normally.
ARC~&~ZIP or GREAT~WORK~&~DERRICK~BURGESS
--------
@ Response File:
Another way to specify which files to search.
The @ response list
This is a file that you create that contains a list of the files
that you would like to search, one file per line including drive,
directory and extension. This file can be created with a text editor or
in DOS by...
C>Copy con Srch.Lst
\bbs\Grinder.Lst
\bbs\Lunacy.Lst
b:Offline.Lst
^Z (Control-Z)
1 File(s) Copied is the reply you should get if it worked, now to use
this list instead of wildcards or a single file, you need to always
precede it with a @ so you will be searching @Srch.Lst.
-----
Auto Mode/Batch File Mode
If you supply a name on the command line, then the program
will automatically scan the Default BBS file and output to the
default log (if other than NONE) without any request for input from
the keyboard (Continuous scrolling, but you can still A Abort or
Skip files if you are watching, Or it'll pause at full pages IF you
include /NC in the command line)
-----
Please send any comments, suggestions to
Derrick Burgess
23311 Schoolcraft St.
West Hills, CA 91307
Derrick Burgess
Member ASP since 1988
CIS 71750,2560
Other major Shareware programs include
Thesaur Plus - TSR Thesaurus (BBS filename THESP20.ZIP as of 1/01/90)
Thesaur - Non-TSR Thesaurus (Included with Thesaur Plus as of 1/1/90
Includes close to 50,000 words with support for EMS, Diskswapping,
Color, Editing of data, and it's fast.
PCBoard Sysop Utils.
CallBlt - Caller's log bulletin Maker (CLLBLT12.ZIP)
WritrNfo - Top message writers bulletin maker (WRTNFO12.ZIP)
PCBoard Doors
Survey - Conduct Surveys without the hassle. (Beta Testing)
Wildcat! Sysop Utils.
WrtrNfo! - Top message writers bulletin maker (Not publicly released
but available if a SASDM with Disk is sent.)