Category : BBS Programs+Doors
Archive   : EZDIZ20S.ZIP
Filename : EZ-DIZ.DOC

EZ-DIZ v2.0
Copyright (c) 1992, 1993 By Rick Kuban


INTRODUCTION:
-------------
EZ-DIZ is a utility program written to automate a PCBoard
4.5+ sysop's maintainance of directory file lists using the
FILE_ID.DIZ and DESC.SDI files found in many ZIP/ARC/ARJ/PAK/LZH
archives. It provides similar functions as the PCBDESC utility,
but also functions from the command line, unlike PCBDESC, and
*DOES NOT* require the sysop to perform "Local Uploads".

It may be used as a replacement for PCBDESC.EXE in PCBTEST.BAT,
manually to process one file at a time, or, by clever use of a
batch file (as intended), can be used to automatically process an
entire directory at one time.

It contains the intelligence required to not re-process a file
that has already been placed in the dir listing, but it can be
forced to write the description again, if desired. It is suitable
to run in an event.

EZ-DIZ automatically recognizes ZIP/PAK/ARC/LZH and ARJ
formats, and, if the appropriate decompressor is available,
will process the file. If a file in the directory is not an
archive, it will simply be skipped.


STANDARD "DEMO" LICENSE:
------------------------
EZ-DIZ is a Shareware program, and uploading of the code
to various bulletin boards and Shareware libraries is encouraged.
Several limitations must be implied, however:

1) Under no circumstances should the code be modified or dis-
tributed in any other form than what it was originally supplied
by the author. The exception is that EZ-DIZ may be compressed
using techniques other than ZIP, but the de-compressed form of
EZ-DIZ must remain intact. No files may be added to or removed
from the archive contents. This explicitly includes bbs ads of
any kind.

Files included in the original archive are:

EZ-DIZ.EXE - the executable program file
EZ-DIZ.DOC - this documentation file
README.1ST - a quick start for old & new users
EZDIZ.BAT - sample batch file (single)
B-DIZ.BAT - sample batch file (batch)
PCBTEST.BAT - sample batch file for upload mode
EZ-DIZ.REG - registration form
FILE_ID.DIZ - description file
WHATS.NEW - list of new features in version 2.0

2) EZ-DIZ may not be redistributed in any manner other than
electronic file transfer unless cleared with the author beforehand.
Registered versions of EZ-DIZ shall not be redistributed at all.
No money may be received for EZ-DIZ except to cover for telecom-
munications/service charges, and in such a case the cost may not
exceed $5.00 in US funds.

3) EZ-DIZ may be run for a period of time adequate to allow
for full testing of the software. If, after running the code for
one month, you decide not to purchase the registration license,
you must forfeit this license and remove EZ-DIZ from operation
on your system(s). You may keep a copy online for distribution
purposes only.

4) EZ-DIZ may not be hacked, disassembled, reverse engineered,
or modified in ANY manner.


REGISTRATION LICENSE:
---------------------
1) Once purchasing the registration license, the license is
extended for life. All future releases of EZ-DIZ will be made
available, upon request, for no additional charge (postage and
handling excepted, if requested on diskette). Registered users
in the continental US may call Technoid's Toybox BBS and use
the online EZ-DIZ Registration Upgrade Door to get their
serialized copy of the latest version of EZ-DIZ.

Upon each issuance of a later revision, registrations will not
be accepted for older versions (ie... in case of a registration
fee increase, the newer version must be registered).

2) The registration license is non-refundable and non-transfer-
able. The registration license permits the licensee to operate
EZ-DIZ on one (1) system only. The definition of "system" will be
construed to include a multiple node network at the same physical
location, operating under the same bbs name.

3) Product support and distribution for EZ-DIZ will be provided
to registered users thru Technoid's Toybox BBS, (214) 226-6017.
The user should call Technoid's Toybox, after giving the mail time
to arrive, and read the message directed to them for instructions
on how to download their registered copy, which will remove the
"UNREGISTERED COPY" notices from the program.

4) The registration fee for EZ-DIZ v2.0 is $10.00 in US funds.
Texas residents must add 8-1/4% sales tax ($10.83 total).

If desired, the user can include an additional $5.00 US with the
registration fee to cover postage and handling and their copy of
the registered version of the latest EZ-DIZ will be returned via
U.S. Mail on 5.25" 360k IBM Format disk.

DISCLAIMER:
-----------
Although the program has been tested, and is currently in
use on the authors bbs, the author assumes no responsibility nor
liability for any data loss, incurred costs, equipment or other
damage as a result of the use of EZ-DIZ. The user assumes all
risk for damages incurred from the use of this product. In any
case, the limit for damages will not exceed the amount paid for
registration of EZ-DIZ.

EZ-DIZ has been tested on PCBoard v14.5a & 15.0, multi-node,
running on a LANtastic v4.0 network under MS DOS v5.0. The
versions of various decompression programs used in testing are:

PKUNZIP v2.04g / PKUNPAK v3.61 / LHA v2.12 / PAK v2.10 / ARJ v2.10


OPERATING EZ-DIZ:
-----------------
EZ-DIZ is very simple to operate. No setup or configurations
are required. It is suggested that a batch file be used to
call EZ-DIZ in order to eliminate keystrokes. Study the
enclosed examples for reference.

EZ-DIZ should be placed in any convenient directory, and must
have available to it either directly, or in the path, of the
appropriate versions of PKUNZIP/PKUNPAK/PAK/LHA/ARJ in order to
be able to retrieve the FILE_ID.DIZ or DESC.SDI file from the
archives. EZ-DIZ may be called from any directory, as long as
it is on the path. * Note that this is different from previous
versions, which required a registration keyfile. *

EZ-DIZ relies on three command line arguments passed to it upon
invocation. The first argument is the fully qualified path and
filename of the PCBoard directory file to be updated (Example:
C:\PCB\GEN\UPDIR). The second argument is the name of the
archived file to be processed (Example: D:\UPLOADS\EZ-DIZ.ZIP).
An example of such a command line might be:

C:\PCB> EZ-DIZ C:\pcb\gen\updir d:\uploads\ez-diz.zip

Use of a batch file with replaceable parameters would look
like this:

EZDIZ.BAT
REM - Process one zip file
echo off
ez-diz c:\pcb\gen\updir d:\uploads\%1

The above would be called as:

C:\UPLOADS> DIZ ez-diz.zip

The third parameter is a single letter (F/f/U/u) to enable the
Forced Write or UPLOAD options described later.


B-DIZ BATCH FILE:
-----------------
When calling up EZ-DIZ, you may want to automatically process
the entire directory without intervention. Consider the following
batch file example:

B-DIZ.BAT
REM - Process all files in d:\uploads
for %%x in (d:\uploads\*.*) do ez-diz c:\pcb\gen\updir %%x

The above command line will process every archive file in the
specified uploads directory, placing any FILE_ID.DIZ or DESC.SDI
descriptions found into the directory file UPDIR in the C:\PCB\GEN
subdirectory. This process runs very quickly. By calling one
or more batch files with different archive format specifications
(ie... d:\uploads\*.arj would process all ARJ), one can exercise
great power over which files are supported or processed.

OPTIONS:
--------
EZ-DIZ now has 2 optional modes of operation:

1. Forced Write Mode - If the command line switch F is given,
EZ-DIZ will write any found FILE_ID.DIZ or DESC.SDI
description to the target directory file regardless of
whether or not the description already exists. This mode is
useful to replace any old user entered descriptions that
are inadequate with a better description that exists in the
file itself.

2. UPLOAD Mode - If the command line switch U is given, EZ-DIZ
will work as a replacement for PCBDESC.EXE in the PCBTEST.BAT
file, giving more flexability in retrieving imbedded file
descriptions from all uploaded archive formats, instead of
being limited to just ZIP formats as is with PCBDESC.EXE.


ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS:
-----------------
PAK; NoGate Consulting

LHA; Haruyasu Yoshizaki
ARJ; Robert K. Jung
PKUNZIP, PKUNPAK; PKWare, Inc.
PCBoard, PCBDesc, PCBFiler; Clark Development Co., Inc

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