SORTALL DOCUMENTATION

***** Note: SORTALL version 3.0 corrects a bug related to hidden files
in the root directory and adds two sorting options, file
date/time and file size.

SORTALL was written as a "universal" sorting utility for putting the
files in root directories and subdirectories in specific order. (Please
note that this is NOT a directory listing program; SORTALL actually
changes the order of files in your directories). Other sorting
utilities I have come across were limited in that they either worked
only on floppies, worked only on hard disks, or worked only with a
specific version of DOS. SORTALL was written to handle any disk(ette)
format known to DOS 2.x or 3.x including the following:

Double- or single-sided 5 1/4" 8 and 9 track diskettes

15 track AT 1.2 meg diskettes

9 track 3 1/2" microfloppies as used in the PC Convertible and
other portable computers.

Hard disks up to the regular DOS limit of 32 megabytes, formatted under
DOS 2.x or 3.x.

To use SORTALL, move to the directory or subdirectory you wish to
have sorted. Execute SORTALL by either having it in the (sub)directory
being sorted or by "pathing" to it if it resides somewhere else. For
example, to sort a floppy in drive A:, with SORTALL in your "Utility"
subdirectory on your hard disk, do the following:

For DOS 3.x: C>A:
A>C:\UTILITY\SORTALL

For DOS 2.x: C>CD\UTILITY
C>A:
A>C:SORTALL

As of version 3.0 of SORTALL, there are four ways available to sort
the files in your subdirectories: by file name + extension (the full 11
bytes), by file extension + name (i.e., by name WITHIN extension), by
file date + time (from newest to oldest) and by file size (from largest
to smallest). Directory entries are always sorted by directory name.

To sort by FILE NAME, (the default) execute "SORTALL" or "SORTALL /n"

To sort by FILE EXTENSION, execute "SORTALL /x"

To sort by FILE DATE/TIME, execute "SORTALL /d"

To sort by FILE SIZE, execute "SORTALL /s"

********************************

SOME CAVEATS:

1. Although I have taken precautions to ensure I don't trash your
disk, you use this program at your own risk! If in doubt, backup
your diskette or hard disk before you try SORTALL. Don't say you
weren't warned!

2. SORTALL will not work with RAM disks. (Why would you ever want
to sort a RAM disk anyway?)

3. SORTALL was written so as not to be device-specific. It uses
only DOS functions to read and write the disk(ette). In theory,
it should handle any "normal" DOS medium. But it has not been
tested, nor can I predict success with any of the following:

a. Bernoulli Boxes

b. Hard disks which use special, patched DOS's or
other utilities to exceed the usual 32 megabyte
disk size limit.

c. Anything weird not mentioned above

If anyone wants to volunteer to try SORTALL with any of the
untried media listed above, please report back the results to the
author, below, so this documentation can be kept up-to-date. If
necessary, I will then try to make any modifications required to
accommodate these media.

4. A maximum of 512 (sub)directory entries will be processed by
SORTALL. If your (sub)directory has more than this number of
files, then only the first 512 will be sorted.

5. DOS requires IBMBIO.COM and IBMDOS.COM (and their MS-DOS
equivalents) to be the first files on a bootable disk(ette).
SORTALL recognizes these special programs by their unique file
attributes of READ-ONLY, HIDDEN and SYSTEM and a file extension
of "COM" or "SYS". So if, for some reason, you have un-hidden
these special DOS files, be sure to restore their normal
attributes before you run SORTALL on the root directory of your
hard drive. Otherwise, the DOS files will not be first and your
disk could become unbootable!

6. Even though it was written in assembler, SORTALL can take a while
to sort larger directories, especially on a "stock" 8088 machine.
Oddly, SORTALL runs MUCH faster (by up to a factor of 6) when a
NEC V-20 is substituted for the 8088 CPU.

7. To satisfy the lawyers out there, some extra special precautions:

* SORTALL is not recommended for use by children under 3 years of
age. If swallowed, do not induce vomiting.

* Do not immerse SORTALL in liquids.

* SORTALL contains susbstances which the Surgeon General has
found to be hazardous to your health.

* SORTALL may cause drowsiness; do not operate automobiles or
other heavy equipment within 8 hours of use.

* SORTALL contains less than 1 mg. of sodium per serving (one
sort) and can be considered "sodium-free" for those on salt-
restricted diets.


Herb Sorock

Gene Plantz NW Chicago BBS id: ID0094
Henry Kisor Word Processing BBS id: ID0015