DTA.DOC
-------
Instructions for DTA.COM
Version 1.2 (10/88)

(c)1988 E. Meyer


DTA.COM is a super directory utility that will run on any PC/MSDOS system
(version 2 or higher). "DTA" stands for Directory-Tree-Attributes; it is a
replacement for the DOS DIR, ATTRIB, and TREE commands. DTA is written
entirely in 8086 assembler, and has many advantages including:

* alphabetized directory with file sizes and free space
* default compact display; optionally include attributes and time/date
* select items by file attributes or today's time stamp
* change any file attributes
* treat directories separately or together with files
* alphabetized compact subdirectory tree; optionally include sizes


USING DTA
---------

SYNTAX: A>dta {filespec} {/options} ("{}"=optional)

where "filespec" may include a drive, path, or wildcards;
"/" is the delimiter for option letters.

If the drive or path is omitted, the defaults are the active ones. If
the filespec is omitted it defaults to "*.*". If it is a directory name, the
contents of the directory are displayed. If it is an unambiguous filename (no
wildcards), and no option was specified, /F mode is automatically invoked.
Options are discussed in detail below. If none are specified, you will
get a compact, informative directory display.

You can pause or abort during operation of DTA by typing ^S or ^C.
Output can be directed to a file or other device in the standard fashion:
A>DTA FILESPEC /OPTIONS >DEVICE.


DTA OPTIONS
-----------

By default, DTA will display a list of all files specified, along with
their sizes, and some disk space information. You can modify this consid-
erably with a variety of options. One "/" must precede any options; further
slashes may be used or not as desired.

/? = help. Gives a brief summary of DTA usage and options.

There is an option to show part of a tree, instead of displaying files:
/T = subdirectory tree, starting at specified or current directory.

Then there are several options affecting the appearance of the display:
/F = full: for files, show attributes and time stamps.
for directory tree, show total size of contents.
/V = version: include the DTA version message.
/W = wide: just like DIR /W, five columns with no file sizes.
/N = narrow: use only half the usual number of columns.
/P = paginate: pause every 24 lines for a keystroke.

Then there are options to select what items are chosen for display:
/D = directories: look at directories instead of files.
/U = universal: look at both directories and files.
/M = modified: select only items created or modified today.
/A,H,R,S = select only items with the specified attributes:
Archive; Hidden; Read/only; System.
/a,h,r,s = select only items WITHOUT these attributes.

Finally, you can specify:
/C = change items to have the following specified attributes.

Note that the attributes are case sensitive. Those listed alone, or
before the "C" option, are used for selection; those after it, represent
changes to be made. The /C option with NO following attributes will still
cause attributes to display instead of file sizes, though no attributes will
be changed.

The best way to make DTA usage clear will be by a series of examples.


EXAMPLES: FILES and DIRECTORIES
C>dta a:\*.sys
Show all files *.SYS in the root directory on A:. (System, etc included.)
C>dta a:\*.sys /f
Same thing, but with "full" display including attributes and timestamps.
C>dta \work /m
Show only those files in directory C:\WORK created or modified today.
C>dta /d
Show all subdirectories in the current directory.
C>dta \work /u
Show all files AND subdirectories in C:\WORK.

EXAMPLES: ATTRIBUTES
C>dta /c
Show all files in current directory with their attributes.
C>dta /A
Show all files in current directory marked with the Archive attribute.
C>dta a: /SH
Show all files in current directory on A: which are System and Hidden.
C>dta a:*.sys /Hca
Select all Hidden files *.SYS on A: and clear their Archive attribute.

EXAMPLE: TREES
C>dta \ /t
Show the entire directory tree, from the root, on drive C:.

QUIZ

All right: can you decide what the following commands would accomplish:
A>dta /vfn >prn B>dta a: /u /c /p
A>dta *.syz /smAca C\SUE\TEMP>dta \ /f/d/H
C\SUE\TEMP>dta .. /tf
(Sorry if this seems cryptic at first; you'll catch on. Nobody will force you
to use all these fool options; many exist only to allow you to get hard copy
exactly the way you want it. Again, you can always type "DTA /?" for help.)


INTERPRETING THE DISPLAY
------------------------

File SIZES are displayed to the nearest kilobyte (or "k"; 1k is 1024
bytes). The "used/free" space shown by DTA is for the entire drive. The
"item total" is only for the files listed; it does not include any other files
in the directory. Because allocation clusters on a disk can vary from 128
bytes (on a RAMdisk) to 4k or more (on a hard disk), the space actually "used"
can be several K more or a fraction of a K less than a file's reported size.

File ATTRIBUTES, when displayed, show as a letter ("A,H,R,S") if set, or
as "." if clear. The Archive attribute indicates to a backup utility that a
file has been changed recently, and needs to be backed up; the bit is cleared
by the utility when it does so. (Simple backup utilities that work well with
DA include the DOS XCOPY command, and my own ARCOPY.COM.)
The Read/only attribute prevents a file from being changed or deleted,
though it can be read and copied. The Hidden and System attributes both
exclude a file from normal searches: such files cannot be accessed at all by
ordinary MSDOS file commands. Ordinarily only the DOS boot files MSDOS.SYS
and IO.SYS have these attributes. (If you do NOT want to see hidden or system
files, use "/sh".)

DTA can display up to 1000 files, 64 MB total size. If any file exceeds
999k, its size won't display properly, but other statistics will be correct.


ERROR MESSAGES

"0 item(s)" - No such file (or directory) was found. (If you expected
there to be some, check your arguments again...)

"" - You guessed it. Invalid option, bad path, illegal
character in filename, that sort of thing. Think and try again. (Note some
arguments conflict: you can't specify /ud, or /Aa.)

"" - Very unlikely. Either you're almost out of memory,
or there were a ridiculous number of items to be displayed.


HISTORY

DA version 1.0 (9/87) was loosely based on my earlier program DA.COM for
CP/M systems. Everybody has their own taste in a DIR utility... I use the
Archive and Read/only attributes frequently, and find a directory utility that
can also display and change them useful.
DA 1.1 (7/88) - better argument parsing; attributes can now be both
selected on and changed, eg: "/Aca"; several new options.
DTA 1.2 (10/88) - added "/T" option: a TREE that fits on the screen!


DTA and its documentation are (c)1988 E.Meyer, all rights reserved. They
may be freely distributed, but not modified or sold for profit without my
written consent. The user takes full responsibility for any damages resulting
from the use (or misuse) of this program. Please report any problems
encountered.

Eric Meyer
401 12th Ave SE, #139 CompuServe [74415,1305]
Norman, OK 73071