How To Use The Search Screen

First, set the search method in the "Search By..." box.  To search by keywords, click the "Keyword" button.  To search by the DOS file name, click the "File Name" button.  Note: If the "Search By..." box does not appear on the screen, only DOS file name searches are possible.

Next, type the search key in the input field.  The list immediately below the input field will scroll as you type.  When the desired key comes into view, click with the mouse to select it, or press the tab key and use the arrow keys to navigate through the list.

As soon as a key is selected, a list of the related files appears in the other list box. Each file shows the DOS file name, the volume identifier of the disk, and the directory path name where the file can be found. If you cannot see the entire path name, single click on the file and the path name will be displayed in the message bar at the bottom of the screen.

Applications can be launched by double clicking on a file in the larger list box.  Only files with an extension associated in the Windows File Manager can launch an application.  When launching a file with a ".CDR" extension, you may either open or import the drawing.  See the section Double-Click Default Action for more details.

See Also:

Search Screen Layout

Options Menu - Global Search


Contents

Overview and Acknowledgments

How To Use The Search Screen

Search Screen Layout

File Menu

Open Catalog

Build New Catalog

Unload To Text File

Options Menu

Global Search

Copy Selected Path Name to Clipboard

Open Selected Drawing

Import Selected Drawing

Screen Layout

Drive Search List

Double-Click Default Action


Open Catalog
File Menu - Open Catalog

This menu selection opens an existing catalog for search operations.

If the catalog has keyword information, it will open in keyword sequence. Otherwise it will open in file name sequence.

The name of the "last open catalog" is stored in the ROMCAT.INI file so that the same catalog will re-open the next time the file finder is started.


Search Screen Layout

The layout shown here is the "horizontal" layout, which is the default when the program is installed.  An alternate "vertical" layout is available and was the default in older versions of the program.  Both versions have the same information.  To request the alternate layout, see the section Options Menu - Screen Layout

1.	Input field - where the search key is entered.

2.	Shows keys from the catalog closely matching the search key.

3.	Selects the index used for the search.  Used only for catalogs with both keyword and file name indices.  If the currently open catalog has no keywords, the "Search By..." box does not appear on the screen.

4.	Thumbnail box.  Previews a drawing when a ".CDR"  or ".CMX" file is highlighted in the result list box (#5 on the legend).  If the currently open catalog has no thumbnails and "on the fly" lookup of thumbnails has been disabled, the thumbnail box does not appear on the screen.

5.	Result list box.  If the full path is not viewable, single click any entry to display the name on the message bar.  Double clicking an item launches the application associated in the Windows File Manager.

6.	Message bar.  Show information and reports problems.  Also shows the full path name of any file highlighted in the result list box.  This should come in handy on lower resolution screens when the entire path name is not visible.


Overview and Acknowledgments

ROMCAT was designed to catalog the directory structure of one or more CD-ROM's or floppy disks to a hard-disk resident catalog for lookup.  In addition, it was also designed to collect search information from CorelDRAW drawing files (through version 5).

The extract of information from CorelDRAW files is based on a "best guess" of the file structure.  Whereas data appears to have extracted correctly for files available at the time of writing, it is reasonable to assume that variant formats may exist for which data cannot be extracted.

See the program's Help/About box for copyright and disclaimer information.

CorelDRAW is a registered trademark of Corel Corporation.

Windows is a registered trademark of Microsoft Corporation.


Build New Catalog
File Menu - Build New Catalog

ROMCAT can build a catalog covering multiple CD-ROM's, hard disks, floppy disks, or any combination of these.

Multiple disks can be indexed under one catalog, facilitating cross-disk searching for a particular file.

ROMCAT can also extract keyword and image header (i.e. thumbnail) information from CorelDRAW drawing files.  This has been tested with drawing files through version 5.  Including the thumbnails significantly enhances search functions, but also requires more disk space.

From the file menu, select "Build New Catalog".

You will first be asked to provided a title.  If entered, this will be shown on the title bar of the search window.  If omitted, the DOS file name of the catalog is shown.

Next, you will be prompted for the DOS file name under which the catalog is to be saved.  Use a standard DOS file name.  ".ROM" is the default (and recommended) extension.

You will be prompted for the drive letter of the first disk to be read.  Mount the first disk. If you'll be reading disk(s) containing files with ".CDR" or ".CMX" extensions, you may designate whether or not you want to collect keyword and/or thumbnail information. If you opt to collect this information for a subset of directories, an additional screen is displayed to allow selection of the directories.

Upon completion of scanning each disk, a statistics screen is displayed giving a count of directories, file names, and DRAW file keywords and thumbnails collected.

The catalog will include the DOS label of each disk for identification of a file's location.  For disks with no labels, the program will prompt for a pseudo label to be used in the catalog (the disk's label will not be changed).

Numerous tables will be built, sorted, and written to disk, then the newly built catalog will be opened and you may begin searching.

To place your catalogs as icons on the Windows Program manager, the command line in the program's attributes needs to specify the name of the catalog to open, e.g.:  c:\path\ROMCAT.EXE  MYCAT.ROM.  The ".ROM" extension is required.  Alternately, you can just use the File/Open Catalog to switch between catalogs.

See Also:

Catalog File Limits


Unload To Text File
File Menu - Unload To Text File

For those who need to extract the catalog data for other purposes, this menu option can be used to get an extract of the catalog's data.

Data can be exported with either comma or ASCII-tab delimiters.  Each field can be optionally wrapped with double quotes.  These formatting options are commonly available for import to spreadsheet and database programs.

The extract can be done by either the DOS file name index or the keyword index (if available).  There is no provision to export thumbnails.


Global Search
Options Menu - Global Search

If searching by either of the indices doesn't yield results, this menu selection will initiate an intensive search.

The program will prompt for some text, and will locate the text anywhere in DOS file names as well as keywords.  Matching occurs regardless of upper/lower case.

After the catalog search completes, a box with the results will be shown.  This box is pushed to the lower right corner of the screen so as much as possible of the main screen remains visible.  As you navigate through the results list, the main screen updates to show the related files.  When you exit, the last hit remains as the current position on the main screen.  Note: the search index (Keyword vs. File Name) may be changed; set it back if necessary.


Copy Selected Path Name to Clipboard
Options Menu - Copy Selected Path Name to Clipboard

This menu selection is available when the highlight is currently on a file item in the result list box.  When selected, the full path name of the highlighted file will be placed on the Windows clipboard.  The drive letter may or may not be included.

Use this to save time retyping the file name when opening or importing in another application.  Many applications will allow you to do a Shift+Insert key combination to paste the contents of the clipboard into the "File Name" field when opening or importing a file.

This was the primary vehicle for effecting clipart imports in older versions of the program. The current version of the program has a direct menu method for importing.


Catalog File Limits

These are the design limits of the catalog file.  The program has not been tested under these extremes:

Number of files: 4,177,920 when running on a 386, 486 or later; 262,124 if running on a 286

Number of directory paths: 65,535 when running on a 386, 486 or later; 65,531 if running on a 286

Number of disks: Each disk's volume ID counts as one "directory path"

Number of draw file keywords: 4,177,920 when running on a 386, 486 or later; 262,124 if running on a 286

Maximum catalog file size: the entire compressed catalog (minus thumbnails) must fit into virtual memory.


Double-Click Default Action
Options Menu - Double-Click Default Action

This menu selection sets the action to be taken when a file with the ".CDR" extension is double-clicked in the result list box.  The possibilities are to open or import the drawing.  Most users will probably want to set this to "import".

The user can set the double-click for the most frequently used operation, then use Open Selected Drawing and Import Selected Drawing when the other operation is needed.

Note that pressing the Enter key while the highlight is on a file performs the same action as a double-click of the mouse.

Note also that this setting applies to files with a ".CDR" extension.  For files of type ".CMX", the action is always import. For other file types, the action is always "open".

Settings made on this menu are preserved in the ROMCAT.INI file and are recalled the next time the file finder is started.


Open/Import Selected Drawing
Options Menu - Open/Import Selected Drawing

The Open and Import selections from the Options menu can be used when an file with a ".CDR" extension is selected in the result list box.  Only Import is available for a file with the ".CMX" extension. If CorelDRAW is not running, it will be started, then the requested action (open or import) will be carried out.

It is also possible to setup the double-click mouse action to do an open or import.  For more information, see Double-Click Default Action


Screen Layout
Options Menu - Screen Layout

This menu selection changes the appearance of the search screen.  The horizontal layout is the default when the program is installed and is the one documented in the on-line help.  The vertical layout is retained for compatibility with older versions of the program.

This menu can also be used to set the size of the thumbnail box.  In the "auto" mode, the program picks the thumbnail box size based on the video card's resolution.  The user can also specifically request the small or large size.  The small thumbnail offers the clearest resolution for 1K and 4K image headers, the large thumbnail is clearest for 2K and 8K image headers.

Settings made on this menu are preserved in the ROMCAT.INI file and are recalled the next time the file finder is started.


Drive Search List
Options Menu - Drive Search List

The drive search list is consulted in three cases: (1) when a CDR/CMX file has no thumbnail in the catalog, and the user has requested "on the fly" reading of thumbnails from the source disk (selected on this screen), (2) when opening and importing drawings, the search list avoids the "mount disk" screen, and (3) when copying a path name to the clipboard, the drive letter will be inserted if possible.

The "Read uncataloged thumbnails direct from source disk" check box selects whether or not thumbnails will be displayed for a catalog built without thumbnails.  If unchecked, thumbnails are displayed only if cataloged.  If checked and no thumbnail is cataloged for a particular file, the drive search list is consulted for disks to be checked for the drawing file.  If the file is found and it has an image header, the thumbnail is displayed.  Note that a drive search list (also entered on this screen) must be provided in order for the thumbnail lookup to work.

Here's an in depth description of how the drive search "order" works.  First, it is necessary to understand that finding a file is based on two pieces of information: (1) the "Volid" noted on the ROMCAT search screen, and (2) the full path name (directory name(s) plus file name plus extension).  The order of search is:

1.	If the Volid being sought was encountered during a previous search, that drive is consulted first.  If that drive contains the needed file, the search ends.

2.	Next, the drive search list is used, in order, for a matching Volid and path name.  If the file is found, the search ends.

3.	Next, the drive search list is rescanned, in order, for a matching path name irregardless of Volid.  This allows a catalog built for one maintenance release of clipart to work with another maintenance release, provided the directory structure is essentially identical.

4.	Last, all local hard drives are searched for the file.

Technically, steps 2 and 3 involve only one pass of the drive list, but the priority of the matching process is as described.