Category : File Managers
Archive   : PALERT24.ZIP
Filename : PALERT.DOC

P A L E R T

by

Patri-Soft



Version 2.4
October 1991




Support BBS -- Patriquin's BBS
714-352-2825 (DATA)
714-352-2820 (Voice)
714-352-1527 (FAX)



Copyright 1991 by Patri-Soft



Table of Contents


What is PALERT. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Command Mode Parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Examples . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Registering PALERT. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Registration Form . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Problems and Maintenance. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Other Utilities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9




What is PALERT
--------------

PALERT is a utility program to help you avoid unexpectedly
running out of disk space and/or memory. Many times application
programs terminate abnormally or disallow you from completing a
function because of insufficient disk space or memory.
Sometimes, this may cause you to lose valuable work time and
sometimes causes data to be lost. PALERT watches your disk space
and warns you when space is getting low.

PALERT lets you specify your disk space needs and then watches
the disk until that limit is reached. It then warns you of
the situation and lets you take appropriate action. PALERT
is implemented as a standard DOS command that may be used
by itself or from a DOS batch command file.

Implement PALERT before starting any application or program
where sufficient disk space is critical. PALERT will save
you time and money.

Features:
ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ

** Checks disk space whenever you want to.

** Checks available memory

** Can let applications know what day is today.

** Can trigger other commands based on insufficient
disk space and/or memory

** Many features to customize messages and actions

** Easy to install and use

Page 2

Command Mode Parameters
-----------------------

PALERT allows several command parameter switches to be specified
to customize the process. All these parameters are optional. The
command format and switch parameters are described below. A quick
review of command parameters is always available by entering the
PALERT command with the /H parameter.

COMMAND FORMAT:

PALERT [drive:] [ (/ switches) ]


[drive:] If desired you may specify the drive where space is to
be checked. If the drive letter is not specified, the
current defualt drive is checked. PALERT will also check
multiple drives. For example: PALERT CDE will check
drives C, D, and E and give you a cumulative display.
(This also works with all parameters)


/Wppp Warn the user and set DOS ERRORLEVEL flag if the
percentage of free disk space is less than the ppp value
specified.

/W5 indicates to warn user if less than 5 percent of
disk space is free.


/Bbbbb Warn the user and set DOS ERRORLEVEL flag if the
number of kilobytes of free disk space is less than the
bbbb value specified. The maximum value of bbbb is
32767.

/B3000 indicates to warn the user if less than
3,000,000 characters of disk free space exist.

/D Return an errorlevel according to the Day. PALERT will
return an errorlevel for the day only when the /D
parameter is specified. The errorleves returned are:
0 - Sunday 3 - Wedensday 6 - Saturday
1 - Monday 4 - Thursday
2 - Tuesday 5 - Friday

A sample .BAT files is included to demonstrate how to
use this capability.

/Lxxx Warn when available memory is less than xxx. Sets the
DOS ERRORLEVEL flag to 2.

PALERT /L400 will warn you if memory is below
400,000 bytes.
Page 3


/E SupprEss the disk check and check only memory

/N A scale that shows used disk space is normally
shown to the user each time PALERT is run. To
prevent the scale from being displayed, enter the
/N parameter.


/M Messages are normally shown to indicate the Total,
Used, and Free disk space. If these messages are
not normally wanted, enter the /M parameter. Then they
will only be issued when the user is warned.



/P After the user is warned of insufficient disk/memory
space, PALERT will pause to make sure the user is aware
of the situation. To avoid this pause enter /P.


/S When PALERT detects insufficient disk/memory space it
sounds an alert to the user. To avoid this noise
specify the /S parameter.


/C Each time PALERT is run it reminds the user that HELP is
available by entering the /H parameter. To avoid this
message enter /C.


/H PALERT contains internal help that is available at
any time by using the /H parameter.

PALERT automatically checks the system date to determine if it is
current or not. If it is not, PALERT allows you to set it
correctly.

Page 4


Examples:

1. Warn user when less than 1,000,000 characters of disk
space is available.

===> PALERT C: /B1000 /C


2. Warn user when less than 5 percent of disk space is
available.

===> PALERT C: /W5 /C


3. Warn user when less than 300K of memory is available:

===> PALERT /L300


4. DOS batch file that will check disk space each time
the LOTUS command is entered. If the desired disk space is
not available stop the command.

PALERT /b2000/m
if errorlevel 1 goto error
LOTUS
goto end
:error

ECHO command terminated due to insufficient disk space
:end

This sample DOS batch file may be found in the .ARC file
that contains this program. Name=PA123.BAT.

5. Determine the day by using PALERT /D.

PALERT /D
if errorlevel = 2 goto tue
etc....

Sample batch file included, called DAY.BAT

Page 5


Registering PALERT
ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ

PALERT is distributed under the Shareware concept. This makes it
available for anyone to try without obligation. If you decide it
is useful and want to keep it, I ask that you register your use
of it. This will allow for continued support and maintenance of
the program and will help to encourage that more quality software
be made available through this channel. We require all
corporate and government users of this utility register their
copies.

To simply register the program, $10 is requested. If you would
like the newest program disk and a copy of the manual send
$20. If you would like to register all the Patriquin utilities,
and receive programs on disk and manuals, send $45.


Send registration requests to:

Patri-Soft
P.O. Box 8263
San Bernardino, CA 92412


The registration charge is a one time fee that entitles you to
all future versions of the product. These may either be obtained
from normal Shareware sources or directly from me. Any
organization ordering more than 100 copies is also entitled to
telephone support and will be given the technical support number.

Following is a form that may be used to register PALERT.

Page 6

PALERT Registration
Version 2.4


Please Register PALERT to the following person. We will use ____
copies of the program and have enclosed $____ for each copy to
be used.

ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ

_____ Registration only ............................. $10.00

_____ Registration, program disk and manual.......... $20.00

_____ Registration of all Patriquin Utilities with
program disks and manuals................... $45.00

_____ Update of newest Patriquin Utility disk with
manual. ................................... $15.00

ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ


Name: __________________________________________________

Company: _______________________________________________

Address: _______________________________________________

_______________________________________________

City: ______________________________ State: ___________

Zip: ______________________

I obtained my copy of PALERT from: ____________________________

If BBS indicate name and number please._________________________

________________________________________________________________

Please register the software under the following name:

____________________________________________________

Send to:
Patri-Soft
P.O. Box 8263
San Bernardino, CA 92412
Page 7
P A L E R T

Problems and Maintenance
------------------------

I welcome all comments or enhancement suggestions. Please
document each item clearly and provide printed examples if
possible. Please be sure to include this form with all requests,
it will help to make sure we can provide you with the best
possible service.


Name: __________________________________________________________

Company: _______________________________________________________

Address: _______________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________

City: __________________________________ State: _______________

Zip: ______________________________

Telephone: _______ / ________________________ (Home / Work)


Date: _________________________

Description of problem or enhancement:

________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________


Suggested solution:

________________________________________________________________


________________________________________________________________
Page 8

Program Maintenance:
--------------------

Version 1.0 August 22, 1986

Version 1.6 January 17, 1987
-- Problem with large capacity disks printing
incorrect space used percent.

Version 2.0 August 8, 1990
-- Added memory check
-- Support for cumulative report of mulitple
drives
Version 2.1 January 26, 1991
-- Fixed minor bugs experienced by 2 users
Version 2.3 June 12, 1991
-- Fixed problem encountered by users with
386 with large hard drives
Version 2.4 October 22, 1991
--added /D
--Added invalid date detection




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Other Patriquin Utilities:
--------------------------

PSEARCH -- Extensive file find and Text search capabilities in
a menu driven environment.

PCOPY/PMOVE -- Complete file copy.move utility that prevents
users from accidently losing files by using DOS COPY.
Fast file movers are intelligent and move files to
different hard disk directories without moving data.

PTOUCH -- Set date and time values on files specified
through command parameters.

PALERT -- Warn users of insufficient disk space before it
causes them problems.

PDAILY -- Perform any command or batch function only once
per day. Use in AUTOEXEC.BAT file.