GIFLIST 1.0
(c) 1990 Don Preston

GIFLIST was written in Microsoft's Professional Developement System
Version 7.1 and hence portions of the compiled code are
copyrighted to Microsoft. Add on libraries from Crescent
Software, MicroHelp, and Hammerly & Assoc. are also used
throughout. A usefull FREEWARE utility call GIFLIST.EXE
is included and must be in the current directory or somewhere
accessable via your path. GIFDIR was written by Paul Boulay
and Steve Cornell, many thanks to them.

A determined effort was made on my part to assure
that only one data file would be needed by the program and
thus all that is required to begin logging your GIF diskettes
is GIFLIST.EXE and GIFDIR.EXE. GIFLIST.DAT is created the
first time the program is run. GIFLIST.DAT is an ISAM file
and thus has a large overhead. 64k of data is generated the
first time you run the program and any additional data is
added in far smaller increments.

GIFLIST was designed with ease of use as my primary
concern. When you have a diskette with GIFS on it, it
requires only one keystroke to log the disk into the
database. The GIFS are referenced in the database by disk
label. You can have disks labeled 001, 002, 003, etc. or you
may wish to use CARTOONS 1, or X-RATED 1. I think this offers
the most variety available. There is no need to label the
disk prior to running GIFLIST. The program will allow you
to label the disk 'on the fly'.

I considered allowing an optional description field
in the database but when you have several thousand files
(as I do) I find it much easier to just categorize them by
disk. If demand is high however, I will add it in a future
version.

The reports should be self explanitory except perhaps
the "Similar Files Report". I chose to use a Soundex coding
method to determine if the filenames sound alike. When you
choose this report you will be prompted for a similarity
index. This number is used to determine how closely two
filenames must sound before a match is made. In addition to
sounding alike, the files must have the same resolution,
pallette, and number of colors. The similarity index is also
used as the maximum number of bytes the file sizes may
differ. An index of 0 will flag only exact duplicates, while
99999 will flag far too many to be useful. I prefer an index
of 100 and hence made it the default.

Since I get as many GIFS from friends as I do from
BBSs, I added a COMPARE option to the program. To see what
someone else has in their database you need only copy their
GIFLIST.DAT to another name in the current directory.

This program is the SHAREWARE version and has a limitation of
10 disks. The registered version has no such limitation.

The registration price is $15.00.

For your $15.00 you will recieve the information required
to update the shareware version to the registered one and you
will also be registered to recieve the next updated release of
GIFLIST. Send your $15.00 check or money order to

Don Preston
34970 Currier
Wayne, Mi. 48184

Comments and criticism are welcome, as well as bug reports.


Additional featured being considered:

Examination of hard disk subdirectories for duplicate files.
This will eliminate the need to copy all of your new GIFs to
floppy before finding duplicates.

Addition of an optional description field.

Elimination of the need for GIFDIR.EXE.

P.S. I realize these docs are a hodgepodge of information but
after reading them once you should not need them again.