K E Y S e a r c h (TM) The Fast Windows File Locator Copyright 1993 Nildram Software All Rights Reserved KEY Search was written by Adrian Mardlin and documented by Colin Swan. Address: Nildram Software 82 Akeman Street Tring Herts HP23 6AF United Kingdom Telephone: +44 (0)442 891331 Fax: +44 (0)442 890303 Email: 76004.3436@compuserve.com nildram@compulink.co.uk CIS: GO UKSHARE, Section 10 FidoNet: 2:254/330 (Address messages to ADRIAN MARDLIN) BBS: +44 (0)442 891109/890807 Program and documentation are Copyright 1993 Nildram Software. All rights reserved. KEY Search is a trademark of Nildram Software. INTRODUCTION Overview KEY Search is a Windows 3.1 application that allows you to quickly and easily search for files containing a keyword or combination of keywords that you specify. KEY Search will produce a list of the files that match your search criteria from which you can launch associated applications, add descriptions or manual keywords and drag and drop onto compatible applications. In order to achieve such fast keyword searches, KEY Search must initially log the files that you wish to search and extract the keywords. These keywords are then placed in a database along with file details and cross references linking the files with the keywords. Once this information is in place, KEY Search has no need to access the files again unless new ones are added or existing ones changed. A keyword search is then simply a case of accessing the database files rather than the files you are searching , giving a great speed advantage. Here are some outstanding features of KEY Search: Fast. The advanced database engine used by KEY Search ensures a fast keyword search every time, no matter how many files you have logged. Multiple Document Interface. KEY Search uses the Windows MDI, enabling it to display as many file list windows on the screen as your computer's memory can cope with. This means that you can carry out one search after another and switch between the resultant lists of files at will. Drag And Drop Support. From a KEY Search file list you can drag and drop your files onto compatible applications, just like you can in File Manager. You can also launch associated applications simply by double-clicking on a filename. Easy To Use. A simple interface with a button bar, comprehensive on-line and context sensitive help makes KEY Search straightforward in operation. What Is Shareware? Shareware is a distribution method (not a type of software) which lets users evaluate software before buying. If you try a shareware program and continue using it, you must register and pay for it. (If you paid a small duplication and handling fee to receive a trial copy of a shareware product from a vendor, you have not paid for the product itself or the right to continue using it after a reasonable trial period. A separate fee to the program's owner and developer is required to continue to use the product after evaluation.) Copyright laws apply to both shareware and commercial software. Shareware authors are accomplished programmers just like commercial authors and the programs are of comparable quality. In both cases, there are good and bad programs. The main difference is in the method of distribution. The shareware system makes fitting your needs easier because you can try before you buy. Because overheads are low, prices are low also. Shareware has the ultimate money-back guarantee -- if you don't use the product, you don't pay for it. Terms And Conditions KEY Search is a shareware program and is provided by Nildram Software at no charge for evaluation. Feel free to share it with friends and colleagues for evaluation, but please do not give it away altered or as part of another system. The essence of user-supported software is to provide personal computer users with quality software without high prices, yet to provide incentive for programmers to continue to develop new products. Please encourage others to register their copies if they find it useful. All registered users receive a copy of the latest version of KEY Search. If you continue to use KEY Search after a reasonable trial period, you must make a registration payment of #29.00+VAT to Nildram Software. This registration fee licenses one copy for use on any one computer at any one time. You must treat this software just like a book. This software may be used by any number of people and may be freely moved from one computer location to another provided there is no possibility of it being used at one location while being used at another, just as a book cannot be read by two different persons at the same time. Commercial users of KEY Search must register and pay for their copies of KEY Search within 30 days of first use or their license is withdrawn. Site License arrangements may be made by contacting Nildram Software. Registration If you continue using KEY Search, you must register. To do this, select "Ordering" from the KEY Search Help menu and follow the instructions on the help screen that appears. There are options for various countries there; simply choose the order form relevant to where you are. Dealers Many dealers in your area or country should now be able to supply KEY Search. Check with your local dealer for details, or get them to contact us for details of our dealer terms. Support Support is provided to registered users in the following ways. First, any updates of KEY Search will be available to you for a minimal fee. All registered users will be notified of major updates. Lifetime support for KEY Search can be obtained by contacting Nildram Software by writing, telephone or the Email addresses listed at the front of this manual. Overseas customers can also obtain support by contacting their local distributor. Disclaimer Users of KEY Search must accept this disclaimer of warranty: "KEY Search is supplied as is. The author disclaims all warranties, expressed or implied, including, without limitation, the warranties of merchantability and of fitness for any purpose. The author assumes no liability for damages, direct or consequential, which may result from the use of KEY Search." The ASP This program is produced by a member of the Association of Shareware Professionals (ASP). ASP wants to make sure that the shareware principle works for you. If you are unable to resolve a shareware-related problem with an ASP member by contacting the member directly, ASP may be able to help. The ASP Ombudsman can help you resolve a dispute or problem with an ASP member, but does not provide technical support for members' products. Please write to the ASP Ombudsman at 545 Grover Road, Muskegon, MI 49442, USA or send a CompuServe message via CompuServe Mail to ASP Ombudsman 70007,3536. Installation To install KEY Search, place the supplied disk in drive A or B as appropriate for your system. Run Windows and from the Program Manager menu bar select "File" to pull down the File Menu. From here select "Run..." and then type "a:\setup" or "b:\setup" in the dialog box that will appear. Clicking on the OK button in this box will then install KEY Search. The installation routine will place all the program files in a directory called "KEYSRCH" on your C drive unless you specify otherwise when prompted. A new program group will be created within Program Manager that will contain the KEY Search icon. Once the installation is complete, double clicking on this icon will run KEY Search. TUTORIAL This tutorial will guide you through the setting up of KEY Search, the logging of your hard disk(s) and then the actual use of the various search methods. Setting Up Before logging your hard disk(s), there are certain settings which you must configure so that KEY Search knows what you want it to log. Select General Setup from the Config Menu and enter the following information in the General Setup window: Disk Drive(s) To Log Simply enter, one after the other, all the hard disk drives and CD-ROM drives (not floppy drives) that you would like KEY Search to log. If you only have a C drive, then leave this at its default setting. Min Key Length This defines the minimum length of the keywords that KEY Search will scan for. The default is four which will be sufficient for most uses. Default Launcher This is set to Windows Notepad which will be launched if a selected file does not have an associated application. If you have a preferred file viewer that can view most file formats, then enter its program name and path, if necessary here. Keyword Contents You will only need to change anything here if you are using a language that contains non-alphabetic characters. Add these characters to the list and KEY Search will then be able to find keywords that contain them. When you are satisfied that the settings here are correct, click on the OK button and then, from the Config Menu, select Auto Scan File Specs. In the window that pops up you will be able to enter up to 36 file extensions. All the files that have extensions listed here will be added to KEY Search's database and will also be scanned through for keywords. When entering file extensions, simply type the extension only, eg., "DOC". If you wish to log all the files that have no extensions, enter "." as one of your file extensions. Clicking on the OK button will close this window and update the specs whereas clicking on the Cancel button will close the window and ignore the entered specs. If you simply want to log files that contain text this is all the setup that is required. If, however, you have files that do not contain recognisable text, such as graphics files, but you still wish KEY Search to log them, select No Scan File Specs from the Config Menu and enter their file extensions there. This means that KEY Search will add these files to its database but not scan them for keywords. You can then, at a later stage, add keywords manually so that you will be able to search for these files by keyword. Logging Your Disk(s) Once you have completed your setup, select "Log Disk(s)" from the Maintenance Menu, click on the "Log" button on the Toolbar or press to start the logging process. If you wish to stop the logging at any time then click on the Cancel button. KEY Search will finish adding the current file, which may take some time, before changing the Cancel button to OK. The OK button also appears when KEY Search has logged all the files and clicking on it closes the Log Disk(s) window. If you have lots of files to log, the whole process can take a long time, especially from scratch. You can either leave KEY Search logging in the background, overnight or log a little at a time. Whenever you select Log Disk(s), Key Search will check all those files that it has previously logged for any changes and re-scan them if necessary. Thus, regularly logging your disk(s) will keep KEY Search's database up to date with your new and changed files. Using KEY Search Once KEY Search has logged your disk(s) and built its databases, you can then carry out various searches of those files as follows: Keyword Search To start a keyword search, select Keyword Search from the Search Menu, click on the "Key" button on the Toolbar or press . You will then see the Keyword Search dialog box where you can enter your search criteria as follows: Keywords To Match Enter here up to six keywords that you wish to search for. Logic Type This can be either "AND" or "OR" but not both. Selecting "AND" means that KEY Search will search for files containing Keyword1 AND Keyword2 AND Keyword3 etc. That is, each file must contain all of the keywords that you have specified. Selecting "OR" means that KEY Search will search for files containing Keyword1 OR Keyword2 OR Keyword3 etc. That is each file contains at least one of the Keywords that you have specified and maybe more. To select a Logic Type, click on the radio button in the dialog box. Once you have specified your keywords and logic type, click on the OK button to start the search. As soon as KEY Search has found all the files that match your criteria, it will open a new window containing a list of those files. Wildcard Search KEY Search allows you to search for files using wildcards in the same way as you would when using "DIR" in DOS. Please refer to your DOS documentation if you are unfamiliar with the use of wildcards. A wildcard search can be slow; certainly slower than a keyword search which is the preferable method. To carry out this type of search, select Wildcard Search from the Search Menu, click on the "*.*" button on the Toolbar or press . The Wildcard Search dialog box will then pop up and you can enter your wildcards. Enter the wildcards as you would in DOS, eg., "README.*" or "*.DOC" etc. and, once you have finished, click on the OK button to start the search. Note that KEY Search can only search the files that it has logged, not all those on the hard disk. As soon as KEY Search has found all the matching files, it will open a new window containing a list of those files. KEY Search also allows you to list the files that it has logged in several different ways as follows: All Files Selecting All Files from the Search Menu simply opens a new window that contains a list of all the files that KEY Search has logged. Auto Scan Files Selecting Auto Scan Files from the Search Menu opens a new window that contains a list of all the files that KEY Search has logged and also automatically scanned for keywords. In other words, those files specified in the Auto Scan File Specs in General Setup. No Scan Files Selecting No Scan Files from the Search Menu opens a new window that contains a list of all the files that KEY Search has logged but not automatically scanned for keywords. In other words, those files specified in the No Scan File Specs in General Setup. Files Without Keywords Selecting Files Without Keywords from the Search Menu opens a new window that contains a list of files that have neither automatically scanned or manually entered keywords. KEY Search supports multiple windows so you can carry out as many searches as your computer's memory can cope with. You can then select any of the windows on the screen by clicking on what you can see of it or selecting that window from the Window Menu list. You can also select from here whether the windows are tiled or cascaded within the main KEY Search window. If the screen becomes too cluttered, each window may be reduced to an icon which will be labelled with the title of the window that it represents. Once you have a list of files, there are several things you can do with the files in that list as follows: Add Descriptions And Manual Keywords To add a description or enter your own keywords, either click on the desired file with the right mouse key or highlight it using the cursor keys and press . This will pop up the File Maintenance window which shows the file details and is where you can enter a description and up to 6 keywords. The keywords that you enter here are added to KEY Search's database in the same way as scanned keywords and can be similarly searched for. Once you have entered the description and keywords that you require, click on the OK button to return to the list of files. Launch Applications You may launch a file's associated application by double clicking with the left mouse button on the desired file or clicking on the Launch button on the File Maintenance dialog box. If you are using the keyboard, highlight the desired file using the cursor and/or page keys, press enter to pop up the File Maintenance dialog box and press . An associated application is usually the application that initially created the file such as a wordprocessor or database program. The application will normally start with the relevant file loaded. If a file does not have an associated application then the program specified as the Default Launcher in General Setup is started. Drag And Drop KEY Search supports dragging and dropping which means that you can "pick up" a file with the mouse, drag it to another application that supports drag and drop and drop it there. Simply position the mouse cursor over the desired file in a KEY Search window then press and hold the left mouse button. As long as the button is held, you can drag the file around the screen. If the cursor is over an application that does not support drag and drop, or is not over anything, the cursor will be a circle with a line through it to indicate this. To drop a file, position it over the desired application or icon and ensure that the cursor has changed from the no drop symbol, then simply release the left mouse button. You will then find that the application will load up the file that you have dropped on it. REFERENCE File Menu Check Indexes This option runs a check on the database indexes that KEY Search uses. If you suspect that the indexes may be corrupt, if, for example, your computer was accidentally switched off during a search, run this check to verify. The Check Indexes window shows the following information: Status This shows the operation that is currently being performed. Firstly, "Counting Records In Data Files" appears here as KEY Search counts the number of records in each data file. Next, "Checking FILEINFO Index (xxxx records)" appears where xxxx is the number of records checked. This will be present while KEY Search is actually checking the index and is followed by similar messages for XREF and KEYWORD respectively. Finally, when all indexes are checked, or the Cancel button has been selected, "Complete" appears here regardless of the outcome of the check. Click on the OK button at this point to close the window. FILEINFO File This shows the number of records contained in the FILEINFO data file followed by either "Indexes OK" or "Indexes Corrupt - Rebuild!" depending upon the outcome of the check. XREF File This shows the number of records contained in the XREF data file followed by either "Index OK" or "Index Corrupt - Rebuild!" depending upon the outcome of the check. KEYWORD File This shows the number of records contained in the KEYWORD data file followed by either "Index OK" or "Index Corrupt - Rebuild!" depending upon the outcome of the check. Rebuild Indexes Selecting this option pops up the Rebuild Indexes dialog box where you can select, via checkboxes, which indexes to rebuild. Those with a "x" in their box will be rebuilt when you click on the OK button. While an index is being rebuilt, the Rebuilding Index - Please Wait! window pops up and displays the following information: Index File The name of the index file that is currently being rebuilt. There is one index file for each data file. Index Name The name of the index within that index file. There is one index in the XREF and KEYWORD index files and two in the FILEINFO index file. Records Processed The number of records that have been processed so far during the rebuild. Delete All Data This option will delete all the database files that KEY Search has created but retain your setup details. When selected, this option will pop up a window asking whether you are sure that you want to delete all data. Clicking on the Yes button will then carry out the deletion. Config Menu General Setup Disk Drive(s) To Log Enter here the hard disk drives and CD-ROM drives that you would like KEY Search to log. If you have multiple drives, simply enter them one after the other, eg., "CDE". Min Key Length Enter here the minimum length that you wish to allow for keywords picked up during automatic scanning. The maximum setting of this is 10 which is also the maximum length of the automatically scanned keywords. Default Launcher The application entered here, with its path if necessary, will be launched if the file that you have selected from a file search window does not have an associated application of its own. This should be an application capable of displaying most files such as Windows Notepad, which is the default setting. Keyword Contents Enter here all the possible characters that keywords could consist of. For the UK this would be simply the normal alphanumeric character set (default) but different language users may need to add other characters to ensure all keywords are found. Auto Scan File Specs Enter here the file extensions of those files that you wish to be logged by KEY Search and scanned for keywords. No Scan File Specs Enter here the file extensions of those files that you wish to be logged but not scanned for keywords. You can then add keywords manually at a later stage. This is useful for files which contain no text such as graphic files. Search Menu Keyword Search Selecting this option, which you can also do from the "Key" button on the Toolbar or by pressing , pops up the Keyword Search dialog box where you can specify the following search criteria: Keywords To Match Enter here up to six keywords that you wish to search for. Logic Type This can be either "AND" or "OR" but not both. Selecting "AND" means that KEY Search will search for files containing Keyword1 AND Keyword2 AND Keyword3 etc. That is, each file must contain all of the keywords that you have specified. Selecting "OR" means that KEY Search will search for files containing Keyword1 OR Keyword2 OR Keyword3 etc. That is each file contains at least one of the Keywords that you have specified and maybe more. To select a Logic Type, click on the radio button in the dialog box. Once you have entered the keywords you wish to search for and selected the logic type, clicking on the "OK" button will start the search. When KEY Search has found all the files that match the search criteria, it will open a window that will contain a list of those files. There are several operations that you can carry out from this window as follows. Positioning the mouse cursor over a file and clicking on the left mouse button simply highlights that file. Double clicking on a file, however, launches the application that is associated with that file. If there is no associated application, the default launcher specified in General Setup is launched and the file loaded. Clicking on a file with the right mouse button brings up the File Maintenance window which shows the File Name, Directory, Size and Date/Time. You may also enter here a description of the file of up to 36 characters and up to six user defined keywords. These keywords may then be specified for searches in the same way as the scanned keywords. From this window you can then use the Launch button to launch an associated application. Wildcard Search Selecting this option, which you can also do from the "*.*" button on the Toolbar or by pressing , pops up the Wildcard Search dialog box where you can specify the following search criteria: Wildcards To Match Enter here wildcards that you wish to search for. You can enter any combination of DOS type wildcards, eg., "FILENAME.*" or "*.EXT". Clicking on the OK Button after entering your wildcards starts the search and opens up a window containing the files found. You may then launch applications or add descriptions and keywords as for the files found by a keyword search. All Files Selecting All Files from the Search Menu simply opens a new window that contains a list of all the files that KEY Search has logged. Auto Scan Files Selecting Auto Scan Files from the Search Menu opens a new window that contains a list of all the files that KEY Search has logged and also automatically scanned for keywords. In other words, those files specified in the Auto Scan File Specs in General Setup. No Scan Files Selecting No Scan Files from the Search Menu opens a new window that contains a list of all the files that KEY Search has logged but not automatically scanned for keywords. In other words, those files specified in the No Scan File Specs in General Setup. Files Without Keywords Selecting Files Without Keywords from the Search Menu opens a new window that contains a list of files that have neither automatically scanned or manually entered keywords. Maintenance Menu Log Disk(s) Selecting this option will start a search of the files specified in Setup. KEY Search will log all files specified in both Auto Scan File Specs and No Scan File Specs and scan those in Auto Scan File Specs to extract the keywords. This option can also be selected by clicking on the "Log" button on the Toolbar or by pressing . The Searching Files window will pop up and display the following information: Status Shows what KEY Search is currently doing. "Scanning Directories..." means that it is searching through the directories looking for files that have not yet been scanned or logged. When a file is found that requires logging and/or scanning, the Status shows "Adding File" whilst this is being carried out. When all the required files have been logged as necessary or the search has been manually stopped, the Status shows "Completed Scan". File/Directory Shows the current directory when scanning directories or the current path and filename when adding files. Files Checked This shows the number of files found so far that match the specs set in both Auto Scan and No Scan File Specs. Files Added This shows the number of files so far that have been checked and added to KEY Search's database, ie., files that have not been added previously. XREFs Added If KEY Search is logging a file that you have specified should be auto scanned, it will extract the keywords from that file. Each keyword will have a cross reference that links it to that particular file along with other cross references should it appear in any other files. XREFs added shows the total number of cross references that have been added so far. Keywords Added This shows the total number of keywords added so far. Keywords are only added if they have not previously been added so this figure will increase rapidly when initially logging files but slow down as the keyword database gets bigger. You may click on the Cancel button at any time during the logging process but KEY Search will finish with the file that it is currently adding before it changes the Cancel button to an OK button. Clicking on this OK button will close the File Logging window. You may continue logging your disk at any time simply by selecting Log Disk(s) from the Maintenance Menu. KEY Search will then start logging your disk again but will not add those files that are already logged. You will see that each file is checked each time, this is so that any changes are picked up. Purge Old Data This option checks through all the data held by KEY Search and deletes all the files, XREFs and keywords that are no longer relevant. The Purging Data Files window shows the following information: Status Shows firstly "Erasing Files..." while KEY Search checks for any files that are no longer relevant and deletes them. A file is deleted if it is no longer present on the hard disk or if the file specs have been changed such that it is now excluded from the files to be logged. Once the files have been erased, KEY Search then checks through the XREFs and deletes any that pertain to a deleted file. During this stage, the Status shows "Erasing XREFs...." A similar operation is carried out on the keywords and the Status then shows "Erasing Keywords...." No Checked This shows the number of Files, XREFs or Keywords that have been checked so far. No Erased This shows the number of Files, XREFs or Keywords that have actually been erased so far. You can click on the Cancel button at any time to stop the purging which will pop up a new window showing the number of Files, XREFs and Keywords that have been erased. This window also pops up when the purge completes normally and clicking on the OK button will close the window. Window Menu Along with the options detailed below, this menu contains a list of all the currently available windows. You can select any of these windows from this menu which may be useful if any of them are not visible. Tile This option "tiles" multiple KEY Search windows so that you can see the contents of all the windows without having to move any of the others. If you open a new window, it will be placed on top of what is already there and you will have to reselect this option to tile the new window. Cascade This option, which is the default setting, arranges multiple windows one on top of the other but slightly offset so that a small part of each window can be seen. Arrange Icons This option arranges any minimized icons that you may have in the main KEY Search window in a neat row at the bottom left hand corner. Close All This option will close all window in the main KEY Search window even if they have been minimized. Working With Found Files Once you have carried out a search or listed files using KEY Search, you will have one or more windows on your screen each containing a list of files. The way in which you work with these files depends upon whether you are using the keyboard or a mouse although you can do the same with each and use any combination of the two. Mouse If a window contains a list that is too long to display, you can click on the vertical scroll buttons to scroll up and down it. Positioning the mouse cursor on a file and clicking the left button will highlight that file. Double clicking on a file, however, will launch the application associated with that file. This is usually the application that created a particular file such as a word processor and the file will be loaded by the application when it starts. If a file does not have an associated applicatio n then the application specified as the default launcher in General Setup will be launched. Positioning the mouse cursor on a file and clicking the right button will pop up the File Maintenance window for that file. This window contains the following information: File Name Directory Size Date/Time You can also enter here a description of the file of up to 36 characters and up to 6 user-defined keywords. The description is purely for information but the keywords are added to KEY Search's database and cross referenced to that file in the same way as the automatically scanned keywords. This is useful if you have files that contain no text but you would still like to be able to search for them. This window also has a Launch button that will launch the associated application or the default launcher as appropriate. Keyboard To scroll the highlight bar up and down the file list, use the up and down arrow keys to move by one line and the and keys to move by the number of lines visible in the window. When the desired file is highlighted, pressing will pop up the File Maintenance window as described in the Mouse section. This is where you can launch associated applications by pressing or tabbing to the Launch button and pressing .