


DataView 2.2 Help
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┌─────────────────────────────────
│  Short Description of Features
└────────

[R]ead      : Read a text file from within the archive.
[F]ileSpec  : Search for a listing of files, ie: all EXE files.
[L]ist      : List all of the files in the archive.
[S]can      : Scan the archives integrity, or scan for viruses.
[D]ownload  : Download individual files from within the archive.

┌────────────────────────────────────
│  Detailed Description of Features
└────────

[R]ead
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This feature will allow you to read  a text file from within the archive
that you are viewing.  This is most often useful for reading information
files and documentations.

After invoking the [R]ead option,  DataView  displays this prompt to you:

Enter the [Num] or [Filename] to read, or [L]ist:

From this prompt you can  enter the file number, the filename, or you can
do a short listing of the files available with the [L]ist option.

If you try to read a file that is not an ascii text file, DataView will
let you know: "Sorry this file is not readable."

Once reading a text file DataView will tell you the percentage of the
file you have read at every more prompt.   Many documentations contain
form feed characters (Ascii 12) which clears the screen - this is
undesireable and annoying when reading text files.  Not to worry,
DataView weeds out these characters from the text file so that they will
not clear the screen and interfere with your reading.

While reading a text file you may also [P]age Up which reads backwards
instead of forwards (in case you missed something).


[L]ist
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You can list all of the files and their information in the archive with
this feature.  The 'Other' column displays to you if you have read or
downloaded the file.


[F]ileSpec
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This is useful if you are trying to sort through an archive which
contains lots of individual files.  Using this feature you could list
all files with the EXE extention simply by typing EXE at the prompt.
Additionly, you could list all files that start with AUTOEXEC just by
typing AUTOEXEC at the prompt.  I use this feature most often when I am
looking for the documentation to the particular program I am viewing.  I
will just type in DOC and all of the documentation files will pop up on
the screen.  If none of the files match your filespec, DataView will
report "Sorry, no files matching your filespec".



[S]can: [I]ntegrity
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This is a very useful, but simple to use feature.  When you invoke the
[I]ntegrity command DataView calls up Pkzip, Arj, or Lha with the t
option to test the archives integrity.  It will then report back to you
the results of the integrity scan.


[S]can: [V]irus Scan
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With the seriousness and abundence of viruses found in todays BBSing
world this feature can be quite useful.  It will scan for viruses using
SCAN.EXE (the most widely used and trusted virus scanner, from McAfee
Associates) DataView will only decompress the files most likely to
contain viruses in an archive, they are: .APP, .BIN, .COM, .EXE, .OVR,
.PGM, .PIF, .PRG, .SWP, .SYS, .XTP and .OVL.  Next DataView will call up
SCAN.EXE and obtain the errorlevel from SCAN.  DataView will report to
you the results.  Be patient with the virus scan feature, it can
sometimes take awhile, depending on how many files there are to scan.
It is not recommended that you use DataView's [S]can feature as a
replacement for your own virus checking.  Doing your own virus checking
is still the safest way to do it.  If you are interested in knowing
which version of SCAN.EXE the system is using, please ask the Sysop.


[D]ownload
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The download feature will allow you to download individual files from
within the archive.  You may choose any of the archive formats and
protocols available.  DataView has a limit to how many files you can
download which is definable by the Sysop.  Also, DataView will update
the Wildcat databases for downloads and kilobytes if it is enabled by
the Sysop.  I find myself using this feature most often for downloading
the documentation of a file.  This way I can read about the file offline
before downloading it.  It is also great if you are missing a file from
an archive that you allready have, then you can just download that
single file.

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