UDEL.COM -- A FREEWARE Cascading Universal File Deletion Utility.

Copyright 1990, Russel Havens ALL RIGHTS RESERVED



-- Rights --

I retain all rights to UDEL.COM, but please use it as if it were
public domain. This goes for commercial as well as private users.
If it's useful, don't send any money (unless you REALLY want to....)
because it's FREEware. (Besides, I wouldn't feel like such a
philanthropist if everybody paid me for such a simple little utility
as this.)

-- Disclaimer (or "Don't shoot! I'm on your side!")--

Because this program deals FILE and/or DATA DELETION, (in that file
deletion is its purpose), I can take no responsibility for the misuse
of this program. There are no warrantees, guarantees, promises,
oaths, or other bonds attached to this program, and by using it you
agree to take all responsibility for what it does (or what it does
not do), upon your own shoulders.
Wow! You'd think I had a law degree....Well, I don't but since this
is a file deletion program, it's better to be safe than sorry.
(Knowutimean?)


-- What does it do? (or "A Primer on Cascading") --

On a Novell file server, files and directories are usually organized
into "FILE_SERVER/VOLUME:FIRST_DIRECTORY_FROM_ROOT\SUBDIRECTORIES".
In this situation, the VOLUME: is (as far as DOS & Netware are
concerned) the root direcory (referred to in DOS as "\"). The next
level up, the "FIRST_DIRECTORY_FROM_ROOT" level, is where users have
their rights granted. A typical directory tree might look like this:


FILE_SERVER VOLUME DIRECTORIES---------------------------------------

MY_SERVER/ SYS:PROGRAMSWORD_PERFECT
LOTUS
WP_OFFICE
DBASE
PAYROLLOFFICE_WORKERS_DATA
WAREHOUSE_WORKERS_DATA
MISC_PROGRAMSCOMMON
USERSBOBTWP
LOTUS
MISC_DATA
SALLYWWP_FILES
PERSONAL_FILESGAMES
GENEOLOGY
ALLENA
FREDMGAMES
PUBLIC


Within these levels, rights granted are "cascading." For example,
Obviously, your boss, Bob Thurmond (BOBT) needs rights to modify
files in his directory. His rights will "cascade" down to all of his
subdirectories (WP, LOTUS, and MISC_DATA). Not everybody needs to
have rights to \PROGRAMS\PAYROLL, but those who do, will need to work
on both subdirectories, so their rights will "cascade" down.

Anyway, you can see that on a big network, there may be a need to find
files, delete files, etc. only in your subdirectories. For example,
suppose that Sally Williams (SALLYW) wants to delete all the .BAK
files in her directories. She would not want a global file delete
utility, but a cascading utility would be very handy. Such a utility
is UDEL.

Now that you uderstand "cascading", you can understand the usefulness
of UDEL. Since I work on a network, I have my hard drive organized
much like the network, so I find it useful here as well. For network
managers who have to deal with software upgrades (or pirated software
for that matter) relatively often, this is an ideal utility for
finding and optionally deleting files such as QED*.*, PSERVER.EXE,
etc. (or DIGDUG.EXE for that matter).


-- How to use it (or "Just aim and pull the trigger...") --

When you run UDEL.COM without any parameters, it will give you a
quick explanation of how it works:

D:\>udel

Usage: UDEL [/NQ or -NQ or /SR or -SR]

is any valid filename and wildcards are allowed.
The /NQ (or -NQ) switch is used if you do not want a query for each
each file to be deleted. It is optional. USE WITH CARE!
The /SR (or -SR) switch is used if you want to delete all matching
files in ALL directories on the disk -- not just the cascading ones.



Just type "UDEL" followed by a space and a filename (wildcards are
supported). If you don't want to be queried for every file name
(for example, if you are deleting a LOT of files, and you are quite
certain where you are and what you'll be deleting), use the OPTIONAL
-NQ or /NQ (standing for NoQuery) switch. USE THIS WITH EXTREME CARE!

The /SR (or -SR) switch is used if you want to delete all matching
files in ALL directories on the disk -- not just the cascading ones.
(In actuality, it does the same thing but sets the current directory
to be the root before it starts.)

If you don't use the /NQ or -NQ switch, you will be prompted at each
file:

Delete D:\LANG\TC\UDEL\UDEL.DOC? (Y/N/Q)

Just answer Y for yes, N for No, or Q to quit deleting.


Here's a complete example:


D:\>udel *.bak

WORKING....

Delete D:\MIRROR.BAK? (Y/N/Q) N
Delete D:\LANG\TC\CLRS.BAK? (Y/N/Q) Y
Delete D:\LANG\TC\TEST.BAK? (Y/N/Q) Y

Done!

D:\>

Pretty simple, eh?




-- How to contact the author (or "Who the heck is this guy, anyway?") --


If you have any questions, please let me know by E-Mail or letter at:


Russel Havens
1999 N. University Ave., #76
Provo, UT 84604


BYU CCC-INFO BBS
(801)378-5035
(then type "C CCCINFO" when connected)


Spectra Files BBS
(801)377-5655