MCP.DOC -- documentation for MCP.EXE


WHAT IS THIS?

MCP (Master Copy) is kind of like XCOPY, but it normally only overwrites older
files and it can move files. It was written primarily for use in keeping
directory structures shared by different people (or by the same person on
different computers) in synchronization with each other. It is also a quick
way to implement disk mirroring style backups.


HOW DO I RUN MCP?

Syntax:
MCP.EXE source [destination] [switches]
/A = copy only files with Archive bit set (leave source archive bit set)
/D = copy files with date the same or later than Date given /D:mm-dd-yyyy
/D:dd.mm.yyyy /Dmm/dd/yy or /Ddd.mm.yy
/F = Force overwrite of system, hidden, and read only files
/H = Copy system and hidden files as well.
/L = Verbose output
/M = copy only files with archive bit set (Modify source archive bit)
/N = No overwrite
/O = Overwrite destination files
/P = Prompt before copy
/Q = Quiet (report only errors)
/R = Rename or move files
/S = /E = recurse through Subdirectories (& create empty ones)
/W = Wait for keystroke before starting copy
/? = Show help screen.

On the command line, source is a file name or directory name, which may
optionally include drive and path. It may also include DOS wild cards ? and
*. If the source is a directory, the file name *.* is assumed.

The destination is a file name or directory. If no destination is specified,
the current directory is assumed. If there are wild card characters in the
destination file name, they will be filled in with the corresponding
characters in the source file name. If it is not obvious if the destination
is a file or directory, you may be asked which you meant. To ensure that the
destination is interpreted as a directory instead of a file, end the directory
name in "\" or ensure that the destination directory already exists. If the
destination directory does not exist, it will be created.

Switches all start with "/" (not "-", since - is a valid file name character
in DOS), and may be before, between, and/or after the source and destination.
Switches may be combined. In case of a conflict between switches, the one
that is farthest to the right on the command line takes precedence. For
brevity, command line switches may be run together after a single "/".
Switches are not case sensitive.

/A (Archive) and /M (Modify archive) both specify that only files that have
the DOS directory archive bit set (indicating that they have been changed
since they were last backed up) should be copied. /A does not alter the
archive bit on the source file. /M clears the archive bit of the source file
to indicate that it has been backed up. The archive bit of the destination
file is always set when using MCP. These options can be used for backing up
data when the largest file you want to back up will fit on your destination
media. If the largest file you want to back up is bigger, a regular backup
program is more appropriate than MCP. However, for some small but important
files, backing up with a copy command like MCP makes more sense, because the
file itself is not altered, making restoration possible even without the
original backup program.

For example,
MCP /A C:\WORK\DOC\*.* A:
copies all files in C:\WORK\DOC to the floppy disk in A: that have not been
marked as backed up.

/D (Date) is always followed by a date, with no space in between the /D and
the date. The colon following the D is optional. The order of the date is
month day year if you use "/" or "-" to separate the numbers in the date. If
you use "." to separate the numbers in the date, the order is day month year.
The year can be specified with either the last two digits or all four digits.
If you specify the last two digits, the year is assumed to be in the range
1980 through 2079. The month must be expressed as a number between 1 and 12.
Leading zeros on month and day are optional.

For example, the following commands all copy everything with a file date on or
after December 25, 1991 from the current directory to D:\SAVE\.

MCP /D12/25/91 *.* D:\SAVE\
MCP /D:12/25/91 *.* D:\SAVE\
MCP *.* D:\SAVE\ /D12/25/1991
MCP /D12-25-91 *.* D:\SAVE\
MCP *.* /D12-25-1991 D:\SAVE\
MCP /D25.12.91 *.* D:\SAVE\
MCP /D:25.12.1991 *.* D:\SAVE\

/F (Force) forces overwriting of Hidden, System, and Read Only files.
WARNING: use this option with caution. It is very useful for some
situations, but could have some undesired side effects if you overwrite some
files of this type.

/H (Hidden & system) allows files with the system and hidden attribute to be
copied. Note that the XCOPY that comes with DOS 5 will not copy hidden files,
but earlier versions will. The system and hidden attributes will be applied
to the destination files when they are present in the source files. Note:
copying the two hidden system files from a boot drive to another drive will
not necessarily make the destination bootable. Use the DOS SYS command for
that purpose.

/L (Loud) causes extra screen output to be generated, including the names of
all files that are skipped.

/N (No overwrite) prevents any destination files from being overwritten,
regardless of the file dates and attributes involved. The default is to allow
overwrites of destination files with an earlier file date. This is the
opposite of /O (Overwrite always).

/O (Overwrite always) causes destination files to be overwritten regardless of
its file date. The default is to allow overwrites only of destination files
with an earlier file date. This is the opposite of /N (No overwrite).

/P (Prompt) asks you if you want to copy each file with a Y/n prompt. "N" or
"n" will cause the file to be skipped. Most other keys, including "Y" and "y"
will cause the file to be copied. The "Enter" key need not be pressed after
the "y" or "n".

For example,
MCP /P *.* A:
lets you pick exactly which files you want to copy to drive A:, one by one.

/Q (Quiet) suppresses all screen output except for error messages and the help
screen in response to a command line error or /?.

For example,
MCP /Q /M C:\WORK\*.* F:\MASTER\FRED\
in a network login script would be a subtle way to back up some critical
directory on a users's hard disk to a network directory, where it could be
moved to tape or something.

/R (Rename or move) causes files to be renamed if the source and destination
are on the same disk, or copied then the original deleted (after a successful
copy) if the source and destination are on different disks. If the copy
fails, the original is left intact. When used with the /S option, emptied
subdirectories are not removed.

For example,
MCP C:\STUFF\*.DOC D:\OLDJUNK\ /R
moves every .DOC file in C:\STUFF\ to D:\OLDJUNK\.

/S or /E (Subdirectory copy) copies files and subdirectories from the
destination to the source, making subdirectories as needed. Empty
subdirectories are created as well. Using /S and/or /E on the command line of
MCP is the same as using both /S and /E on the command line of XCOPY.

/V does nothing.

/W (Wait) causes the prompt "Press a key when ready to start copy . . ." to be
displayed, and the program to pause until you hit a key before starting the
copy process. This is for use with floppy only systems, where the MCP command
may reside on a disk other than the one you want do do the copy on.

/? (Help) shows the help screen.


ZERO LENGTH FILES

Unlike XCOPY, MCP copies zero length files and, if copying subdirectories,
always copies empty subdirectories. It also duplicates the file attributes
(system, hidden, read only) of the source file in the destination file, except
for the archive bit, which is always set in the destination file.


PROMPTS

There are several prompts possible in MCP. At each of the prompts, the
default answer (if applicable) is indicated with a capital letter. Answers to
the prompts are not case sensitive, and are all only one keystroke. Pressing
"Enter" after a letter is not required. The "Enter" key is ignored at all
prompts except for the "Press a key when ready to start copy . . ." prompt
caused by the /W option. In addition to the listed responses at any prompt,
"Esc", "Ctrl-C", and "Ctrl-Break" will terminate MCP. "Ctrl-Break" will also
terminate a copy in progress, even if the program is not looking for an answer
to a question.


filename Y/n?

This is the format used in asking if you want to copy a particular file when
you put /P on the command line. "N" means that you do not want to copy the
file, and most other keys (including "Y") mean that you do want to copy the
file.


Only 512 bytes available on A:. filename requires 1234 bytes.
Retry with new disk, Try new disk later, Skip, or Cancel (r/T/s/c)?

If your destination is on a fixed disk, press "S" to skip just this file or
"C" to cancel and exit MCP. If your destination is a removable disk, you may
skip the current file or cancel as with a fixed disk destination. You may
also wish to change disks and then press "R" to retry copying the current
file, or press "T" to try copying the next file (which may fit) and add the
current file to a list to be tried again later (on a different floppy disk).
Most other keys act the same as "T".


No more room on drive A:
Retry with new disk, Skip or Cancel (R/s/c)?

Your destination disk has no more room on it. Change the disk and press "R"
to retry, or "C" to exit the MCP program.


Error writing to filename.
Retry, Skip, or Cancel (r/S/c)?

MCP encountered one of many possible errors (insufficient network rights, bad
disk sectors, hardware failures, disk full even though it had enough room to
start the copy, etc.). "R" restarts the copy from the beginning of the file.
"S" skips this file and tries the next. "C" cancels the copy and exits MCP.


Does destination specify a File name
or Directory on the target (f=File, D=Directory)?

The destination directory is not an existing directory and the name does not
end with "\", and there may be more than one source file (indicated by wild
cards in the name or a /S or /E switch). Press "F" if you intended that the
destination is a file name, or "D" if you intended that the destination is a
directory. If you decide that the command line was in error, press "Esc".


Press a key when ready to start copy . . .

You used the /W option. Press "Esc", "Ctrl-C", or "Ctrl-Break" if you decide
you really didn't want to copy anything after all, or press any other key to
start the copy process.


ERROR MESSAGES

Break!

You pressed Ctrl-Break, Ctrl-C, or Esc to halt the program.


Unable to create filename

The destination file name may have been on an invalid drive, have contained
invalid characters, been in the root directory with all directory entries
filled, been on a network directory with insufficient rights, been too long
for DOS or the network operating system to create, or some other similar
problem.


Files may not be copied onto themselves.

The first step in copying a file is to create a new file of zero length with
name of the destination file. If the source and destination files are the
same, this action would destroy the source file.


Destination path is too long.

The most likely cause of this error message is starting a recursive copy
command (like MCP /S C:\*.* C:\SUBDIR\). This causes everything in the root
directory of drive C: to be copied to C:\SUBDIR\ and C:\SUBDIR\SUBDIR\ and
C:\SUBDIR\SUBDIR\SUBDIR\ and so on. Older versions of XCOPY allow this, the
latest one does not. MCP allows the recursion to go on until the resulting
path name exceeds DOS limits. This is a great way to fill up a hard disk in a
hurry.


Not enough memory to run MCP.EXE

Try reducing the number of TSR programs, or if you are shelled out to DOS from
another program, exit that other program.


Access denied.

DOS (or some network software) returned an error code indicating that the
operation was not allowed. Some things that can do this is trying to create a
directory when a file with the same name already exists or trying to write to
a network directory where you have insufficient rights.


Bad file number.

Something strange is going on that confused DOS and/or MCP -- probably some
error associated with a multitasking environment.


Attempt to copy more than one file to file.

MCP does not concatenate files (use DOS COPY to do that), so copying more than
one file to a single file means that all that ends up in the destination file
is the last file copied. If this were done with the /R option, all but the
last file would be destroyed. Therefore, only one file is allowed to be
copied to a file. The trap that catches this is not foolproof (although it is
reasonably difficult to fool), so you should still take care on the command
line to avoid specifying such an action.


Unable to open filename

The specified file name may not be valid, or may be on a network directory
where you have insufficient rights.


Ran out of memory keeping track of files to retry.

Each file name source and destination that is "remembered" to try later when
you run out of room copying to a diskette takes up some conventional RAM.
After several thousand of these (more or less, depending on how much RAM you
have available), you may run out.


ERRORLEVEL

When running MCP in a batch file, you can test for the following values of
ERRORLEVEL after MCP runs:

0 = Normal completion.
2 = "Ctrl-Break", "Ctrl-C", or "Esc" pressed, or copy canceled with "C".
3 = Unable to write to destination file.
4 = Attempted to copy file onto itself.
5 = Destination path is too long.
6 = Not enough memory to run.
7 = Access denied.
8 = Bad file number error returned by DOS.
9 = Attempt to copy more than one file to one destination file.
11 = Command line error or help requested.
12 = Unable to open input file.
13 = Ran out of memory keeping track of files to retry.


A COPY PROGRAM BY ANY OTHER NAME

MCP comes from M as in Master or Mike's and CP as in the name for the Unix
copy command. Call it whatever you like, by renaming it, creating an alias
with DOSKEY or a similar utility, or by creating a batch file. You might want
to create a batch bile called MOVE.BAT (or MV.BAT) that contains the line:

MCP /R %1 %2 %3 %4 %5 %6 %7 %8 %9


LIMITATIONS

MCP does not do concatenation. It does not get the date format from the DOS
country table. It does not do Japanese dates in year-month-day format. All
of its error messages are in English. It does not do a full screen interface.
It doesn't skip zero length files just because they are zero length. It
doesn't skip creation of empty subdirectories when /S is used. /V does
absolutely nothing. It doesn't remove any subdirectories. It doesn't predict
winning lottery numbers. On the other hand, it does do some things that I
always thought that XCOPY should have done.


COPYRIGHT NOTICE & DISCLAIMER

Master Copy version 1.00 of 5 September 1992

Copyright (C) 1992 Michael Paul Johnson. All rights reserved. No warranty.
Shareware: to register, please send $15.00 (or $25.00 if you also want
original disks) to:

Mike Johnson
PO BOX 1151
LONGMONT CO 80502-1151
USA

Registration entitles you to support on the Rainbow Missions BBS
(303-938-9654) and by mail, and to notification of major upgrades at discount
rates.

Although I try to write perfect software, there is a chance that I goofed up
in some way. If you find this to be the case, please let me know so that I
can repair it. Because I can't test every possible use of this software on
every system that it might be run on, and because I have no control over the
way shareware gets passed around, you use this software entirely at your own
risk. Prices are subject to change without notice.