Chopper Instructions

CHOPPER Vers. 0.4 Written by Andrew Black 1991 (c) Andrew Soft This program has been released into Pulic Domain. However I still retain copyright. I take no responsibilty for other peoples cock-ups when using this utility. Instructions for CHOPPER ------------------------ Welcome to CHOPPER. CHOPPER was written so that I could split large ASCII files into small sections which I could then load in and edit in my wordprocessor. As with a lot public domain software nowadays, they often have instruction manuals which can sometimes be as long as 100K. The program allows you to specify the size of each of the split files. CHOPPER is primarly designed to split text files into smaller segments but could also be used to split any other type of file (I don't recomend though!). VERY IMPORTANT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ---------------------------------- When using this utility PLEASE use it on a blank disc. Place the file you want to split on one side or on another disc. For some reason (I haven't worked out - and it is NOT bad programming!) SOMETIMES after splitting a very large file, files almost identical to the split files will appear on the source disc or side. These files should not be used! Unfortunalty the orginal source file will be destroyed. However on the destination disc or side everything should be all right. For this reason I advise you to make a backup of the orginal file that you are going to split. Starting out ------------ When you boot up the program you will be asked to enter the source drive of the file that is to be split and the desination drive for the smaller split files. The drive numbers can be any number between 0 & 3. eg. Enter source drive: 0 Enter destination drive: 2 You will then be asked to supply a filename. This is the file which is going to be split. You may preceed the filename with a directory letter otherwise the program will assume the directory to be the current one (normally $). eg. Enter file to split: !README or Enter file to split: T.Instr If the file exists you will be told how long the file is in bytes. eg. File !README is &2000 bytes long You will then be asked to enter the block size. This is the size of each of split files (in bytes). NB: You can enter this in hexadecimal or decimal. Enter block size: &400 or 1024 The program will divide the length (bytes) of the source file by the block size (bytes) and give you the number of files it will create. eg. 11 files will be produced. NB: Please check before hand that you have enough space on the disc and enough spare catalouge entries for the files. If the file does not divide exactly (as in most cases) one of the created files will be smaller than the rest. You are then asked if you wish to continue the operation. If you have made a mistake then you can go back to the start of the program. Continue (Y/N) Y You are now asked to supply a file standard. This is must be a max. of 5 letters to allow for numbers to be attached. ie. Enter file standard: !READ NB: Do NOT specify a directory with the file standard. See The Splitting notes for more info on this. You will now be told the approximate amount of time it will take to split the source file into seperate files. eg. This will take 5 mins and 45 secs. The program will now show each split file as it is created. eg. L.!READ1 L.!READ2 L.!READ3 etc. Until it has finished creating the all of the files. If all goes well you will get the message "Successful transfer" and then be asked whether or not you want to exit. Exit (Y/N) Y ---------------------------------------------------------------------- The Splitting ------------- The split files are automaticly given a directory of L (I don't know why I choose it, it just sounded right). This is what happens when the split files are created... L.!READ1 L.!READ2 L.!READ3 . . . L.!READ12 L.!READ13 Errors ------ When an error message is encounted the computer will first close down all open files. Then it will report the error and end the program. Probable errors --------------- Bad drive - You entered a drive number which you don't have. Disc full - There is not enough space for the split files. Disc read only - Take the write protect tab off. File not found - You entered a filename which doesn't exist on the source side of the disc. Catalouge full - You have tried to exceed the 31 file limit. Bad filename - You have entered a filename that exceeds current filing system filename length. General notes ------------- I am not sure whether it will work properly with ADFS systems. It should do! The program is compatible with the BBC3000, BBC5000 and Archimedes range in BBCBASIC and under !65Host. The file transfer speed can be speeded quite a lot up by typing *FX255,15 then pressing break and booting the program. As for the aforementioned destroying of the source file (sometimes) I do not know why this happens and would be most grateful if someone could enlighten me. Any further comments, praise, suggestions, problems or money will be gratefully recived and read (or spent as the case may be). And if you enclose a SAE I will reply. Andrew Black Pantyronnen, Aberarth, Dyfed, SA46 0LA. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- *8BS Editor Notes* I suppose JOINER will work in much the opposite way as CHOPPER but check on a few dummy files first.