WIZ (05/13/91)


THE PROBLEM

WIZ is for those times when you want to change your default
directory to where you have stored files for a particular project
but you can't remember in which directory you saved them. This
can happen especially while working with large capacity hard
disks partitioned into multiple logical drives or with multiple
drives on a LAN.


THE SOLUTION

WIZ (a contraction of WhereIZ) enables you to define logical
"labels" for any valid directory that you use often. The label
can be up to 20 characters long. WIZ will change quickly to
drives and directories that you define for it and it can learn as
many labels as you would like to teach it.

WIZ is not meant to compete with other well known utilities such
as Norton's NCD or Keith Ledbetter's excellent SST program
(previously called WHEREIS). Both of these program serve their
purpose well. But NCD requires that you know at least part of
the directory name. Moreover, it only works on one drive at a
time and it does not support LAN directories unless you have
permission to write to the volume root. Another problem can
occur if you have more than one subdirectory with the same name
or that starts with the same letters as another subdirectory.
SST does everything it's supposed to do very well but if all you
want to do is change to a specific directory, it can take quite a
bit of time to scan a large disk or multiple drives. WIZ
eliminates this delay by learning your commonly accessed
directories and, on your request, going directly to that
directory.

I wrote WIZ for my own use and, after sharing it with some
colleagues at work, discovered that it might be of benefit to
other DOS command line junkies.


HOW TO USE IT

It is practical to place WIZ in a directory that is in your DOS
PATH so you can call it from anywhere in your system. The file
to which WIZ saves its information is called WIZ.CFG and will be
located in the same directory where WIZ.EXE resides.

From the DOS command line type

WIZ [switche(s)]

where is a label up to 20 characters in length. If
you want to use spaces in the label, put it in double quotes or
use underscores instead. Note: you may use either a forward
slash or a hyphen before the switch character.

WIZ learns about your commonly used directories by asking you to
define references it does not know. If WIZ knows where the label
is, it will change to the corresponding directory. This includes
directories on different drives. If WIZ has no prior knowledge
of the label, it will ask you if want it to learn about the
label. If you press "y" in response, WIZ will save the
information about the label for future use and change to the
specified directory.

The reference information is stored in the file WIZ.CFG in the same
directory where WIZ resides. You may modify the file using any ASCII
text editor. Make sure that you put at least one space character or
tab between the reference and the full path to that reference. Also
make sure that your editor does not put more than one end-of-file
marker (ASCII 26, 1A hex) at the end of the file. Only one or none
is acceptable.

WIZ supports the following switches

-l learn a new reference. If you specify this switch and WIZ
does not find the label you entered, it will prompt you directly for
the path for that label instead of asking you if you want to teach
it about the label.

-v version display: WIZ will display its current version/revision
number.

-s show references: WIZ will show the references for which it already
has information.

-r remain: similar to the "learn" switch but this one causes your
default drive/directory to remain the same, that is, you will be
left where you were in when you invoked WIZ.

-? or -h help: syntax and usage information will display. The same
help information will display if you enter WIZ by itself on the
command line

If you find this program helpful, please let me know by sending
me a note. If you wish to enclose a contribution of $10.00 or
more to underscore your satisfaction with WIZ, that would be
greatly appreciated.

Send notes, comments, checks, or suggestions to:

Jack Hirsch
WDI
800 Sonora Street
Glendale, CA 91221


DISCLAIMER

The author specifically disclaims all other warranties, expressed
or implied, including but not limited to implied warranties of
merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose and the
program license granted herein in particular, and without
limiting operation of the program license with respect to any
particular application, use, or purpose. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE
AUTHOR BE LIABLE FOR ANY LOSS OF PROFIT, LOST SAVINGS, COMMERCIAL
DAMAGE, OR OTHER INCIDENTAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES ARISING OUT
OF THE USE OR INABILITY TO USE THIS SOFTWARE EVEN IF THE AUTHOR
(Jack Hirsch) OR AN AUTHORIZED REPRESENTATIVE HAS BEEN ADVISED OF
THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES, OR FOR ANY CLAIM BY ANY OTHER
PARTY.