Category : BBS Programs+Doors
Archive   : DETAG123.ZIP
Filename : DETAG.DOC

DETAG V1.23 Copyright (c) 1993 Copy Con Incorporated Page 1


DESCRIPTION
-----------
DETAG removes taglines and subject prefixes from QWK message archives.
DETAG determines compression type by signature, calls the appropriate
unarchiver to extract MESSAGES.DAT or a specified .REP file, reads or
removes taglines and subject prefixes (optionally routing taglines to
a separate device or file), optionally backs up the original QWK file,
then calls the appropriate archiver to replace the old MESSAGES.DAT or
.REP file with the updated one. DETAG can handle wildcards, with an
optional Yes/No prompt before processing each file.


REQUIREMENTS
------------
DETAG runs under DOS 2.0 or better, and calls various file archivers
and unarchivers; DETAG can process ZIP, ARJ, LZH, ARC/PAK, and ZOO
archive types. You won't necessarily need every (un)archive program
listed in DETAG.CFG; if your QWK reader uses external programs, then
you already have the ones that you need. If the programs are not in
your path, or if you use programs other than those listed in DETAG.CFG
(like NoGate's PAK or SEA's ARC), then you will also need an ASCII
text editor to edit DETAG.CFG.


DISCLAIMER
----------
DETAG is distributed on an "AS IS" basis without warranty, expressed
or implied. Considerable testing effort has been expended, but the
user is advised to check the program's suitability before relying on
it. The user assumes full risk as to the results of using this
program. In no event shall the author be liable for any incidental or
consequential damages arising from the use, or inability to use this
program.


REGISTRATION
------------
The unregistered version of DETAG is freely distributable and fully
functional, and may be used for a 30-day trial period. If you plan to
continue using DETAG, you are obligated to pay the modest registration
fee. Registered users will receive a serialized, nag-free version of
DETAG, a free upgrade when available, and $5 subsequent upgrades.

All registration information is contained in the DETAG.REG file. If
that file is missing, register by sending your name and address
(please print), along with $15 (cash, check, or money order in US
funds) to:

Copy Con Incorporated
PO Box 23255
Baltimore MD 21203-5255

Please specify 3.5" or 5.25" diskette. MD residents add 5% sales tax.
Thank you for supporting Shareware.



DETAG V1.23 Copyright (c) 1993 Copy Con Incorporated Page 2


INSTALLATION
------------
To install, copy both DETAG.EXE and DETAG.CFG into your path. If your
(un)archivers are not in your path, or if you use programs other than
those listed in DETAG.CFG (like NoGate's PAK or SEA's ARC), then you
will need to edit DETAG.CFG with any ASCII text editor.

DETAG.CFG contains the locations and command line options of your file
archivers/unarchivers. A typical line in DETAG.CFG would look like:

LZH = C:\ARCHIVES\LHARC.EXE a /mt !A !F

Each config line can be broken into parts; using the example above:

LZH = Operation being performed. Operations are UNZIP and
ZIP, UNARJ and ARJ, UNLZH and LZH, UNARC and ARC (for
ARC or PAK compression), UNZOO and ZOO. Not every
operation needs to be specified in DETAG.CFG.

C:\ARCHIVES\ Program location. If no location is specified, DETAG
will search your path for the program.

LHARC.EXE Archive/unarchive program name. If a program location
has been specified, the program name must directly
follow the program location, as in the example above.

a /mt Program options. Although the rest of the config line
is not case-sensitive, some archive/unarchive
programs use case-sensitive options, so this part of
the config line will be sent exactly as is.

!A Will be replaced with the QWK archive name.

!F Will be replaced with MESSAGES.DAT or the filename
specified with the /F option.

After making all desired changes, save DETAG.CFG in ASCII format, in
the same directory that DETAG.EXE is in.


OPERATION
---------
DETAG is activated from the command line, using the format

DETAG filespec [options]

The filespec can include a path, and can also contain wildcards. If no
extension is specified, an extension of ".Q*" will be appended before
searching for matching files.



DETAG V1.23 Copyright (c) 1993 Copy Con Incorporated Page 3


OPTIONS
-------
The options can be in any order (even before the filespec), and are
not case-sensitive. Option descriptions are as follows:

/C Config file path. This option is usually not needed unless
your DETAG.CFG file is not in the same directory as your
DETAG.EXE file, or if you are using DOS version 2.x (which
cannot determine the path of the program being run). The path
must directly follow the /C (no spaces). Trailing backslashes
will be added automatically, if needed.

/F File to extract. By default, DETAG will attempt to extract and
process MESSAGES.DAT. SysOps may wish to remove taglines or
subject prefixes from .REP files uploaded by users, which have
virtually the same format as MESSAGES.DAT; the /F option,
followed directly by the filename to be extracted, can be used
for this purpose.

/N Do not create backup files. By default, the original QWK file
will be copied before being updated; use this option to skip
that step. When backups are made, the first letter of the
backup file's extension will be changed to a B. Example:
PROG0101.QWK will be copied to PROG0101.BWK before being
updated. If the original QWK file's extension started with a
B, the backup file will start with a C. if the original QWK
had no extension, the backup file's extension will be BWK.

/O Tagline output device/filename. As the taglines are being
read or removed, they will be written to the device/filename
specified with this option. If an existing file is given, the
taglines will be appended to the file. If no device or file is
given with the /O option, a file with the name of TAGLINES.TXT
will be created or appended to in the current directory.

/P Prompt before processing each file. This option is useful when
you want to strip taglines from all but a few QWacK packs.
Type 'Y' for Yes, 'N' for No, 'A' for All, 'C' for Cancel.

/Q Quiet mode. By default, DETAG will display progress messages,
and will also show you what each (un)archive program is doing;
use this option to attempt to surpress these messages. DETAG's
progress messages, and (un)archive program messages as well,
will be redirected to NUL, although output from some programs
cannot be redirected. DETAG will still display warnings and
error messages, which are routed to STDERR.

/R Read only. By default, any taglines and subject prefixes
encountered are removed; use this option if you only want to
route the taglines with the /O option without removing them,
or if you want a count of messages, taglines, and subject
prefixes in a QWK file.



DETAG V1.23 Copyright (c) 1993 Copy Con Incorporated Page 4


OPTIONS (continued)
-------------------

/S Do not remove subject prefixes. Some mail readers add an 'in
response to' prefix to the subject field of messages replied
to, which makes them appear out of order when sorting by
subject or thread. By default, DETAG removes these prefixes;
use this option to leave the subject field intact, while still
removing the taglines.

/T Do not remove taglines. Use this option if you only wish to
remove subject prefixes, while leaving taglines intact.

/W Work directory. By default, MESSAGES.DAT (or the /F option
file) is extracted to the current directory for processing;
use this option to specify an alternate location, like a RAM
drive for faster operation.


MESSAGES
--------
DETAG messages come in three flavors: progress, warnings and errors.

Progress messages tell you what step DETAG is in.

"Calling (program)" is shown before DETAG attempts to run a file
(un)archiver.

"Processing..." is shown when the process of reading or removing
taglines and subject prefixes has begun.

"X messages processed." is shown upon completion of processing. X
is the total number of messages found.

"X tagline(s) read." is shown if the /R or /T option is used to
read taglines without removing them. X is the total number of
taglines read.

"X tagline(s) removed." is shown upon completion of tagline
removal.

"X subject prefix(es) read" is shown if the /R option is used to
read subject prefixes without removing them. X is the total number
of subject prefixes read.

"X subject prefix(es) removed." is shown upon completion of subject
prefix removal.

"Copying (file1) to (file2)" is shown when backing up the QWK file.



DETAG V1.23 Copyright (c) 1993 Copy Con Incorporated Page 5


MESSAGES (continued)
--------------------
Warnings are displayed when DETAG has problems with a particular QWK
file. Warnings will not halt the program; when processing multiple QWK
files, DETAG will skip the current file and go on to the next one if a
warning is encountered. If any warnings occur during processing, DETAG
will return an errorlevel of 2 to DOS, unless overridden by an error.

"Unknown archive method used for (QWK file)" is shown when the QWK
file does not appear to have been archived by any of the supported
archive types. (Let me know the archive type, and if I can track
down the specifications, I'll most likely add support for it.)

"(config option) not defined in config file" is shown when the
archive type has been determined, but there is no config option in
DETAG.CFG corresponding to the archive type.

"Not enough memory to call (program)" is shown when there is too
little RAM to run an archive/unarchive program.

"Unable to extract (extract file) from (QWK file)" is shown when a
file unarchiver returns an error code when trying to extract
MESSAGES.DAT (or the /F option file) from a QWK archive. The actual
error will have been displayed by the unarchive program prior to
this message.

"Cannot open (filename)" is shown when DETAG cannot open a file in
the desired mode, such as if trying to remove taglines from a
read-only file, or if an (un)archiver is not found. If the latter,
check the config options in DETAG.CFG to make sure they are
pointing to the proper programs.

"Error creating backup file" is shown when DETAG is unable to copy
the original QWK file prior to update. (out of disk space?)

"Unable to update (QWK file)" is shown when a file archiver returns
an error code when trying to add the updated MESSAGES.DAT (or the
/F option file) to a QWK archive. The actual error will have been
displayed by the archive program prior to this message.

Errors are displayed when there exists a condition severe enough to
stop DETAG from continuing. Processing will stop immediately and an
errorlevel will be returned to DOS.

Lvl Description

1 Help screen. Not actually an error; the help screen is shown
when no command-line arguments are given.

2 A warning has occurred. Warnings will not halt the program, but
the errorlevel will be set to 2, unless overridden by an error.



DETAG V1.23 Copyright (c) 1993 Copy Con Incorporated Page 6


MESSAGES (continued)
--------------------

3 "Ctrl-break pressed" is shown when DETAG receives a ctrl-break
or ctrl-c from the keyboard. If DETAG is running a program, the
program will receive the break signal instead of DETAG.

4 "No filespec found" is shown when options have been specified
without a filespec.

5 "Invalid option: (option)" is shown when DETAG runs across an
unsupported option.

6 "Cannot open (config file)" is shown when DETAG.CFG is not in
the same directory as DETAG.EXE, or if DETAG.CFG is not in the
directory specified with the /C option.

7 "Cannot open (tagline file)" is shown when the device or file
specified with the /O option cannot be opened for writing.

8 "No files match (filespec)" is shown when no files match the
given filespec. (recursive enough? ;^)

9 "Not enough memory" is shown when DETAG is not able to allocate
enough RAM prior to processing.

10 "Invalid work directory" is shown when the drive or directory
specified with the /W option cannot be accessed.

11 "Invalid extract file" is shown when the file specified with
the /F option is invalid.


EXAMPLES
--------
DETAG
displays a help screen.

DETAG * /p /wd:
removes taglines from all files matching a "*.Q*" filespec, making
backup copies along the way, confirming (/P) before processing each
file, and specifying the D: drive as the work directory.

DETAG progcrnr.qwk /oprn /q
removes taglines from file PROGCRNR.QWK, sending all taglines found
to the printer (/O), and surpressing progress messages (/Q).

DETAG exec* /r /oc:\slmr\taglines.mr
reads without removing (/R) taglines found in "EXEC*.Q*" files, and
appends the taglines to an existing tagline file (/O).

DETAG cci /n /cc:\utils
removes taglines from "CCI.Q*" files without making backups (/N),
and specifying that DETAG.CFG is in the C:\UTILS directory (/C).



DETAG V1.23 Copyright (c) 1993 Copy Con Incorporated Page 7


EXAMPLES (continued)
--------------------
DETAG rusty /o /s
will remove taglines found in RUSTY.QWK and place them in the
default file TAGLINES.TXT (/O). Subject prefixes will not be
altered (/S).

DETAG rusty /o /t
will read taglines (/T) taglines found in RUSTY.QWK and place them
in the default file TAGLINES.TXT (/O). Subject prefixes will be
removed.


NOTES
-----
DETAG is most successful in stripping taglines with the format

* QWK Reader 1.00 * This is a standard tagline.

where * can also be the "square" symbol (ASCII 254). DETAG can also
strip most non-standard taglines, but due to the proliferation of QWK
file readers, there will always be new non-standard tagline formats
popping up; DETAG will be updated continuously to handle new formats.

The QWK format is Copyright 1987 by Sparkware.

All program names mentioned in this document are either Copyright or
Trademark of respective owners.


SUPPORT
-------
If you have questions, comments, suggestions, bug reports, et cetera,
feel free to contact me by one of the following methods:

1: By modem at The Programmer's Corner (301-596-7692 or 410-995-6873).
Send a message to RD Thomas in the Shareware or General conference,
and check back in a couple of days for a reply.

2: On a BBS that carries the RIME Shareware conference (RD Thomas,
node ->1520). Allow at least one week for a reply.

3: By US Mail at the address given on the first page. If you would
like a reply, please include a self-addressed, stamped envelope.

* DETAG 1.23 * Looking forward to hearing from you.


To print this document, type "COPY DETAG.DOC PRN" at the DOS prompt.