Read ASCII File Viewer by Robert May
READ Uses: Display, search and browse
binary & ASCII Files. Handy for viewing
Hard Drive Directories, copying, moving
and pasting. Combines with other soft-
ware to Edit files and manage Archives

READ 1.12g - by Robert E. May



Read Page 1

This product is ShareWare. If you find it useful, please consider
registering. The Read product may not be sold or packaged,
either individually, or as part of any other product without the
express written consent of the author.
Read may not be changed or altered and then distributed without
the express written consent of the author. READ.DOC and READ.REG
files must accompany READ.EXE whenever READ is distributed.

Use Read, give it to your friends and upload it to bulletin boards.
If you use Read for more than a 15 day "trial" period, please
register it. Remember that Registration will be appreciated and
will help the author fund future versions of Read.
If Read is used for business purposes site licenses are available
on request.
Read is not cripple ware. It is fully functional in all ways as
you have received it.



REGISTRATION:
Please send your $15.00 registration fee for Registering:
A seperate form with the file name READ.REG has been
provided for your Registration.
If you like Read and want to use it, send the $15 in with the
READ.REG form filled out.

By Registering Read, you will receive the latest version
of Read with your name or your company's name replacing the
"Don't Forget to Register Read" portion.

After registration you will be notified of new releases
of Read.
Please submit your name and address, so I may notify you of new
releases.
Give disk size you want, 5-1/4 360k or 3-1/2 720k.
By Registering you will be helping keep the ShareWare concept
growing. Also, when you register, I will send you my phone number
for technical support.

DISCLAIMER:
READ is offered to you on an as-is-basis without any guarantee
as to the correct functioning or fitness for specific purposes.
The author believes this program to work as described but you
use the program entirely at your own risk. The author will
not be responsible for any hardware or software damage, loss
of data, or incidental or consequential damage that may result
from its use, whether or not such use is in accordance with the
instructions.









Read Page 2

OTHER SOFTWARE
-NOTICE- -NOTICE-
Entries involving the following CopyRighted materials are
associated with the mark (***).
Any, or all are supported by Read, if present.
(***)FV.COM is supported and is copyrighted by Vernon D. Buerg
(***)PKUNZIP is supported and is copyrighted by PkWare.
(***)ARJ is supported and is copyrighted by Robert K. Jung
(***)LHA is supported and is copyrighted by Haruyasu Yoshizaki
(***)Q.EXE(Quick Edit) is supported and is copyrighted by SemWare.
(***)VPIC.EXE is supported and copyrighted by Bob Montgomery.

Read will use one or all of the foregoing programs if they
are in your DOS path. Otherwise, Read will ignore the
commands for using these programs.

The foregoing are excellent programs and are obtainable
from bulletin boards or ShareWare distributors such as
Public Brand SoftWare.


GETTING STARTED:

COPYING READ:
In the following examples, **DO NOT** include (Enter) in your commands.
(Enter) has been included to indicate that you should press
the Enter key at that time.

Copy the .EXE file to your working disk, or into a subdirectory on your
hard disk. Select a subdirectory that is in your DOS PATH and you will
be able to use READ from anywhere on your system.

You may rename READ.EXE any convenient name, such as
R.EXE, RD.EXE, or just leave it as READ.EXE.
For example, place the READ disk in drive A: and enter the commands:

A: (Enter)
COPY READ.EXE C:\ (Enter)

to copy READ to the root directory of your C: drive.

Start Read by typing
READ (Enter)

Another approach would be to make READ it's own subdirectory.
Place the READ disk in drive A:

From, hard drive C:
CD\ (Enter)
MD READ (Enter)
CD READ (Enter)
COPY A:READ.EXE (Enter)

Then modify your AUTOEXEC.BAT file as follows.
Add this line.

SET PATH = C:\READ;
With this approach you would, once again, be able to run READ
from anywhere in your system.








Read Page 3

PRINTING READ.DOC:

To print the READ.DOC, set your printer for six lines per inch,
and 10 characters per inch.(the usual default setting)
Then, use redirection.
example,


TYPE READ.DOC > PRN (Enter)

You may also use redirection in another way.
example,
COPY READ.DOC PRN (Enter)

CONFIG.SYS:

You should have a config.sys file in the root directory of
drive C:
The config.sys file should have the following entries:
FILES=20
BUFFERS=10
You may create the config.sys file with EDLIN or DOS 5 EDIT.
Be sure the file is a pure ASCII file such as the foregoing editors
create.
For further instruction on AUTOEXEC.BAT and CONFIG.SYS files
see your DOS manual.


-----------------------------------------------------------------
Read
Some notes on printing.
-----------------------------------------------------------------

In the following documentation all non printable characters have
been changed. Hopefully, with not too much loss of instruction.
Most printers will not print hex 10 thru 20 so:

^ means up arrow, v means down arrow and >> is a pointer,
< left arrow and > right arrow.
Shading is used for selections in Read. I have used > , since
the shading will not print. Also, lines have been changed to --- (dash)






















Read Page 4
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Read
The following illustrates the root directory of drive C: in a computer
where Read was tested.
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Total Entries: 47 Volume Label DISK_C Mon Dec 21, 1992
Directory of C:\*.*
Entry Number: 15 Files have 428118 Bytes Time: 06:02:11 PM


[AP] [FD] [EDOS] [WALT]
[ARC] [FDNODE] [QEMM] AUTOEXEC.BAT
[DATA] >[FOX] [RA] COMMAND.COM
[BAT] [GAMES] [READ] CONFIG.SYS
[BOB] [GIF] [READS] IO.SYS
[C] [LAN] [SCAN] MIRORSAV.FIL
[CDROM] [LASER] [SCIENCE] MIRROR.BAK
[COM] [MISC] [SDOS] MIRROR.FIL
[COPY] [NA] [COMPRESS] MSDOS.SYS
[MENU] [PCM] [TC] QDOS.LOG
[DOS] [PCT] [TEL] WINA20.386
[ED] [QA] [TURBOC]

Total Disk Space 130279424 bytes *** 55613440 bytes Free
--------------------------------------------------------------------
| Keys: > < ^v PgDn PgUp Enter(Chg Dir or Read File) Q)uit-F1 Help |
| || Enter to Change Directory to C:\FOX |
--------------------------- Unregistered ----------------------------
||
|down arrow
up arrow
In the entries [ ] indicates a directory. Just highlight it
and press the Enter key to change to that directory.
In the example above we are in 5 column mode. Press 2 for a 2 column
mode which will reveal File size, Date and Time.





























Read Page 5

---------------------------------------------------------------------
Read
The following shows the files in the BAT(batch) directory of drive C:
in a machine Read was tested on.

---------------------------------------------------------------------
Total Entries: 78 Volume Label DISK_C Mon Dec 21, 1992
Directory of C:\BAT\*.*
Entry Number: 19 Files have 1668095 Bytes Time: 06:02:48 PM


[..] BNU.COM DR.COM GIF.BAT PARK.EXE
172B.BAT BNU.SYS DUPEA.BAT KEYCFG.SET PAY.BAT
2D.COM CLEAN.EXE DUPEB.BAT L.COM PCSHELL.BAT
4D.COM COLDBOOT.COM E.BAT L.DOC PRUNE.COM
720A.BAT CONFIG.SYS FDFORMAT.DOC LTMOUSE.BAT Q.BAT
720B.BAT D.EXE FDFORMAT.EXE MOUSE.COM CONFIG.DAT
800A.BAT >DELAY.EXE FDREAD.EXE MSD.EXE CONFIG.EXE
820A.BAT DELE.BAT FILL.EXE MSMOUSE.BAT DOS.BAT
AUTOEXEC.BAT DIRMATCH.COM FIND.EXE MTEST.COM EDIT.DOC
BBS.BAT DISK.EXE FLIP.COM MUV.EXE EDIT.TXT
BE.COM DOSINP.DOC FLIP.DOC NO.COM QM.BAT
BE.EXE DOSINP.EXE FRONT.BAT PAN.EXE R.EXE

Total Disk Space 130279424 bytes *** 55613440 bytes Free
----------------------------------------------------------------------
| Keys: > < ^v PgDn PgUp Enter(Chg Dir or Read File) Q)uit-F1 Help |
| READ >> (DELAY.EXE) 29776 Bytes Date 11/24/89 Time 16:35 |
--------------------------- Unregistered ---------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------------------
Note in the above example:
Number of entries and entry you are at is shown. Location on the
hard drive (path) is shown. Date and running time are also shown.
Disk space and space free are shown above the status bar.
In the status bar note the information. File name, File size, date and
time of last file change.
Just highlight the file you want to Read and press Enter.

A summary of keys for mainpulation follows.
_________________________________________________________________
Move with Home, End, PgUp, PgDn - Up, Down, Left and Right Arrow keys

Quit and save a screen by pressing Escape, X, or Q
Quit with a clear screen by pressing the F10 key

Highlight and press Enter to Change Directories or Read Files

Rename a File with the R key. B changes back from subdirectories
to the root

Delete a file with the D key. Press 2 for two columns, 5 for five

Copy a file with the C key. Alt-T Test a ZIP file's integrity
(***)
Move a file with the M key. SortDir with the S key. Alt R, Rename
a Directory. Ctl-M, Make a Directory. Ctl-R, Remove a Directory.
Highlight a zip file and press U to Pkunzip it.







Read Page 6




Change Drive and Path by pressing the N key

A Read the Directory of an ARJ file and Extract files from the arj
and Read them. (***)

L Read the Directory of an LZH file and Extract files from the lzh
and Read them. (***)

Z Read the Directory of a Zip file and Extract files from the zip
and Read them. (***)

Alt-D Go to DOS, E Execute(Run) a File, Alt-S ScanDir, Alt-F10 Color Help

Alt-A DOS commands, Alt-G view PICS, V view ZIP, ARC Etc Dir's
(***) (***)

----------------------------------------------------------------------
Read
Color configuration while in the directory portion
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

Use Alt-F1 to toggle Text Foreground

Use Alt-F2 to toggle Text Background

Use Alt-F3 to toggle Pointer High Light Colors

Use Alt-F4 to toggle Status window Foreground

Use Alt-F5 to toggle Status window Background

Use Alt-P to Save your color changes
to READ.CFG. Read will use them next time.



























Read Page 7



------------------------------------------------------------------------
Read
The following shows a few lines from the Fido Nodelist for illustrative
purposes.
------------------------------------------------------------------------


17,Fido_V12_Software_Help,Centreville_VA,Tim_Jasionowski,1-703-222-0180,240
18,Qtach2/QNX_Help,Jamison_PA,Thomas_Lynch,1-215-491-0919,9600,CM,HST,XA
19,Maximus_Help,Orleans_ON,Chris_Grainger,1-613-830-2802,9600,CM,XA,HST,V32
20,RemoteAccess_Help_USA,Tulsa_OK,Bruce_Bodger,1-918-254-6618,9600,CM,XA,HS
22,TIMS_Help,Littleton_CO,G_W_Funk,1-303-973-9454,9600,CM,XA,HST
24,GSBBS_Help,Holcomb_NY,Michelangelo_Jones,1-716-657-7443,9600,CM,XA,V32,V
25,ProFlex_Help,San_Diego_CA,Joe_Pasquarello,1-619-587-9825,9600,CM,XX,HST,
28,Star-Net/Paragon_Help,N_Grafton_MA,Eric_Drewry,1-508-839-4597,9600,CM,XW
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Keys: >< ^v PgDn PgUp End Home M)ark F)ind Q)uit-F1 Help [NODELIST.353] |
| T 450 H 0 File Date 12/21/92 @ 06:03:46 |
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Note that that the top line is 450.(T 450). Horizontal position
is H 0. You may scroll left or right by using the left and right arrow
keys. Ctrl Right arrow will go to H 0 again.
The following is a summary of key strokes.
-------------------------------------------------------------------


Use PgUp, PgDn, Home, End - Up, Down, Left and Right Arrow keys
Quit with a clear screen by pressing the Escape, X or Q key
Quit and save the screen by pressing the F10 key


F or / to Find text(non-case sensitive), S for case sensetive search
F3 to Find again

Go to DOS by using the Alt-D key combination

Press M to MARK a screen starting at the top of the screen
Press Down Arrow or PgDn to MARK the section you want
Press U to Unmark text at any time
Press M after MARKING and you will be prompted for
a F)ile, P)rinter or N)either. Choose File, Printer or Neither
Your MARKED screen will be sent to a File, the Printer or cleared
Ctl-T toggles Tab expansion off and one. The default is expand Tabs.
Alt-E invokes Editor. Alt-R toggles ruler. Alt-L goes to a line.
(***)
T means Top line #, H means Horizontal Pos, and L means last line #

--------------------------------------------------------------------














Read Page 8


EXTENDED DETAILS:

Read is primarily for viewing ASCII files.
It will read binary file...ie com, exe Etc. but will do no searches
or mark and copy segments.

CAPACITY:

Read will Read ASCII files that have 65,000 lines.
Read has been tested on a text file with 59,671 lines and had no problems.
The file was over 8 megabytes long.
The max number of entries in a given directory is 512.
Of course, Scandir should still work on a CD-Rom.

RENAME:

Hilite the desired file and press the R key. You will be prompted
for a new name for the file. Type in the new DOS name and press
Enter and the file will be renamed.

DELETE:

Hilite the desired file and press the D key. You will be prompted "Delete
(Y/n)". If you press N the prompt disappears. If Y, the file will
be deleted from disk.

MOVE:

Hilite the desired file and press the M key. You will be prompted
for a new path for the file. Type in the new DOS path and press
Enter and the file will be copied to that location.
You will then be prompted as to whether to delete the file
or not - (Y/n). Y and it is deleted. N and it is not.

NEW PATH:

Press the N key and a prompt will appear. Type in a new drive and
path and you will be changed to that path on the new drive.

DIRECTORY SORT:

Directory Sort is invoked with the S Key

F)ile, Sorts by Filename ( the default )

E)xtension, Sorts by Extension. All files with say an extension of DOC
will be Grouped together. So will BAT, COM, EXE..Etc.

D)ate, Sorts by date and time (Oldest first, Newest last ).

S)ize, Sorts by number of bytes in files (Smallest first, Largest last)

N)one, Sorts and leaves the directory very much the same as DOS
does.









Read Page 9


GO TO DOS:

Press the Alt-D combination and you will go into DOS shell mode.
Do what you want in DOS and type "EXIT" to return to Read.

DOS COMMANDS:

Alt-A makes it possible for the user to issue their own complete DOS
command.


COLORS:

Alt-F10 actuates the color help screen.
Read can be configured for colors on a more permanent basis.
Wherever, you put Read on your Hard Drive a small file named READ.CFG
will be created, if you choose to make colors permanent. (Come up same
every time. )
Read may be renamed R.EXE or what you like..the READ.CFG will be created
anyway. You may update colors any time you wish and READ.CFG will change.
Configure for the colors you want and then use Alt-P to write your
selections to READ.CFG

GO TO A LINE:

Read will go to the line in text you specify. (Doesn't work for Binary
files )
Use the Alt-L key combination and you will be prompted for the Line Number
you want to go to.

FV.COM(***)

Read incorporates viewing ARCHIVE Directories such as ZIP, LZH and Etc.

Requirement:
You MUST have Vernon Buerg's FV.COM in your DOS path.
Viewing is brought on with the Alt-V key combination.
Obtaining FV.COM is the Read user's responsibility.

VPIC.EXE(***)

Read incorporates viewing PICs such as GIF, PCX
Etc.
Requirement:
You MUST have Bob Montgomery's VPIC.EXE in your DOS path and
VPIC must be configured for your monitor and card. Montgomery's
vpic viewer must also be named VPIC.EXE
Viewing is brought on with the Alt-G key combination.
You may view every PIC in a directory. You'll be returned to Read
when you exit VPIC.
VPIC is available on most BBS's as VPICxxx.ZIP. Obtaining that
program is the Read user's responsibility.

















Read Page 10



Q.EXE(***)
Read incorporates Editing the file you
are Reading.
Quick Edit must be in your DOS path as Q.EXE
The Editing will begin at the Bottom line appearing on the
Read screen. After Editing your ASCII file you may see changes
by using the down arrow key.
Editing is brought on by the Alt-E key combination.
( Doesn't work with Binary files such as COM and EXE. )

Requirement:
You must have Q.EXE.
This file is contained in QEDITxxx.ZIP, which is available on
bulletin boards.
Quick Edit is a fast, award winning ShareWare Editor and is
in very wide use. I reccommend it to anyone wanting a good
fast editor.
Note:
Read should be swell for revising text items.
Items may be found quickly with Read and then use Quick
Edit from within Read to edit. Should make editing fast since
Read delivers one to the right place in the text for Q.EXE
to edit. Make changes with Quick Edit and use Alt-Y to save
them. Then use Alt-X to exit Quick Edit back to Read.


SCANDIR:

Read Scans Directories and gives a report containing total
directories, total files, clusters occupied by files, disk space
occupied by files and Etc.(Hidden, system, read-only files not included)
Read should work for CD-Rom drives now. CD-Rom apparently
has 0 bytes free, so no total disk space and free space is included.

ScanDir should be handy for CD-Roms, but also for other Hard Drive
programs.
Example:
I have FoxPro installed on drive C: in a directory I named FOX just
off the root of C:. FoxPro has a multitude of Sub-directories.
With ScanDir in Read, all I have to do is change directory with Read
to C:\FOX and use the Alt-S Key. ScanDir, scans the C:\FOX
dir and all it's Sub-directories, and I can find out how much disc
space FoxPro is actually using.














Read Page 11


PKUNZIP(***)

Read will test the integrity of a ZIP file or Pkunzip a ZIP file.
PkWare's PKUNZIP.EXE is required in the DOS path and must be
named PKUNZIP.EXE
The Test is brought on by the Alt-T key combination.
Pkunzip a file by using the U key. A prompt for path will appear.
leave the path blank for present directory or enter path.

DIRECTORY COLUMNS:

The directory has a two column or five column display (default)
Press 2 for a two column directory display or 5 for 5 columns.
Two columns is handy for comparing file dates, sizes and time.

SCREEN BLANKER:

Read has a screen blanker. The Directory screen blanks after
one minute with no keys pressed.
The blanking is done with "Press any Key" showing. From all I can
find out myself, this sort of blank is the easiest on monitors.

MONO MODE:

The use of /M is supported on the command line.
READ /M brings Read up in Mono mode. Try mono mode if you
have color difficulty.

RULER:

The ruler is toggled on and off by using Alt-R
The ruler position is at the top of the
screen enabling one to measure the number of spaces in a
given line you are viewing.


TEXT SEARCH:

Read will do a case sensitive search of ASCII files.
The case sensitive search is brought on by pressing the S key
while reading an ASCII file.

Example:
/ or F would prompt for input. Type in JOHN DOE and if John Doe
exists, Read will find it.(non-case sensitive)
S would prompt for input, but JOHN DOE would be found only if
the text has JOHN DOE in it.(case sensitive)

















Read Page 12




MARKING TEXT:

Press M to MARK a screen starting at the top of the screen
Use the Down Arrow or PgDn to MARK the section you want.
The marked area will appear in inverse video. (Light Gray)

You may press U to Unmark text at any time.

Use M after MARKING the text you want and you will be prompted for
a F)ile, P)rinter or N)either.

Press F and you will be prompted for a DOS file name. Type in
the file name and press enter. The marked text will be copied to
the file you chose. This sort of marking may be done repeatedly
as the text will be appended to the end of the file if it already
exists.
Use P and your marked text will be sent to the printer. (LPT1
is the printer port used)

Press N and the screen will be unmarked. N is just a feature in
the event you change your mind.

EXECUTE (Run) A FILE:

Hilite the desired file and press the E key. You will be prompted "Run
(Y/n)". If you press N the prompt disappears. If Y, a prompt
appears and you may enter command line parameters, if any.
The file will be Run(invoked). Of course the file must be a BAT,
COM or EXE file.

RENAME A DIRECTORY

Hilite the desired directory and use Alt-R. You will be prompted
for a new name for the given directory. Type in up to 8 characters
and press Enter and the directory will be renamed.

CREATE A DIRECTORY

Use the Ctl-M and you will be prompted for a new directory
name. Type in up to 8 character and press Enter.
The directory name you entered will be created. Of course,
the directory name you chose must not duplicate a directory
that already exists.

REMOVE A DIRECTORY

Hilite the directory you wish to remove and use the Ctl-R key
combination. The directory will be removed.
In this instance, the direcory you are removing must not have
any files in it and must have no subdirectories.
If files or a subdirecory exist, you will be notified of that
fact and then returned to the Read directory.








Read Page 13



GO BACK TO ROOT DIRECTORY.

If you are in a directory or subdirectory, just press the B
key and you will be moved to the root diectory immediately.

TOGGLE TAB EXPANSION

Ctl-T Toggles Tab Expansion. The default for Tab Expansion
is Expand Tabs.

ARJVIEW (***)
Highlight the Arj file you wish to view and Press the A key.
A directory of the Arj file will be presented on the screen.
Align the arrow with the file you wish to Extract and Read
and press Enter to Read the file.
ARJ.EXE must be in your DOS path for ArjView
to Work. Otherwise, the commands will be ignored.

LZHVIEW (***)
Highlight the Lzh file (or Exe) you wish to view and Press the L key.
A directory of the Lzh (or Exe) file will be presented on the screen.
Align the arrow with the file you wish to Extract and Read
and press Enter to Read the file.
LHA.EXE must be in your DOS path for LzhView
to Work. Otherwise, the commands will be ignored.

ZIPVIEW (***)
Highlight the Zip file you wish to view and Press the Z key.
A directory of the Zip file will be presented on the screen.
Align the arrow with the file you wish to Extract and Read
and press Enter to Read the file.
PKUNZIP.EXE must be in your DOS path for ZipView
to Work. Otherwise, the commands will be ignored.

WARNING:
Read creates temporary files in the directory you are in.
If you are unsure of space available, copy the Archive to be
acted on to a directory on your Hard Drive.
Needless to say, this feature was not meant for floppies
and NO write protects as Read will crash.

READ.EXE was written and compiled with Turbo C++ version 3.0

READ.EXE was compressed with LZEXE v0.91, compliments of
Fabrice BELLARD from GRABELS(FRANCE).

The program has been tested with machines using the 8088, 80286
80386 and 80486 processors.

Read will run under DOS versions 3.3, 4.01 and 5.0
Older versions have not been tested.

The program has been tested with Mono, CGA, EGA and VGA monitors.

The program uses conventional DOS memory and has been tested
on machines with 512 and 640k DOS memory.