Heatseeker Documentation Copyright 1991 Jeffrey S. Curtis Background ---------- Heatseeker is an ultrafast, ProDOS 8-based file and disk utility program written by Jeffrey S. Curtis and distributed by Sidewinder Software. The application has provisions for every standard ProDOS function as well as many other extra features. The current version, 0.63b, is free of charge. Please distribute it to as many Apple // owners as possible. It is a beta test version, and contains some known and some unknown bugs. None of the known bugs can cause any data loss. Compatibility and System Requirements ------------- --- ------ ------------ Heatseeker will function on any Apple // computer which can run ProDOS 8. The application can perform all of its functions on devices of size less than one megabyte, but a few functions have been temporarily disabled for devices of size one megabyte or greater. Still others will allow large devices to be used but will show improper results. For example, catalog will incorrectly report the amount of free space on such a device. User Interface ---- --------- Below is an explanation of the current interface and instructions on using it. Menus are not case sensitive, and the escape key will abort most actions. o Main menu. Function selection can be performed one of two ways. First, each function has a letter that is its "hot key", such as the "C" in "C)atalog". Pressing the hot key starts that function. The other way to manipulate the main menu is via the arrow keys. Pressing the arrow keys moves the pointer up and down the screen, and pressing return starts the function that is pointed to. Pressing the escape key moves the pointer to "Q)uit", but does not exit the program. If a clock is installed, the present date and time is displayed at the bottom of the main menu. o Slot/drive selection. Most functions require you to specify a slot and drive. To do so, simply type the number of the slot and then the number of the drive that you wish to access. No returns are necessary. To view the online volumes, type "?" at either entry. Escape quits to the main menu. o Path selection. On disks which have subdirectories, you will need to select a path for some functions. A list of selectable directories will be displayed with numbers to their left. To enter a subdirectory, enter its number and press return. To select the current path, type "s". To go to the parent of the current path, type "p". To abort the function, type "q". o File selection. Some functions require files to be selected for the action, such as deleting or renaming files. A list of files appropriate for the given action will be displayed and a pointer will be placed at the first file. Use the arrow keys to scroll up and down through the list of files; space bar to select and deselect files; return to start the action; escape to abort. o Filename entry. In a few instances (such as renaming a file), you need to type the filename directly. Heatseeker follows standard ProDOS guidelines for filenames with one small exception: lowercase filenames are currently not allowed. Heatseeker Functions ---------- --------- B)uild subdirectory. Creates a subdirectory with the entered name in the entered path. C)atalog. Shows all files (deleted or not) in the selected path. Deleted files are prefixed by a "D". Files deleted with Heatseeker's QuickDelete function are prefixed by a "Q". Locked files are prefixed by an asterisk. Following the appropriate prefix(es), the filename, length in blocks, length in bytes, modification date and time, and creation date and time are displayed. This information is displayed one screenful at a time. At the end of the display, the volume's free space information is shown. D)elete files. There are three subfunctions. - QuickDelete. This option will delete hundreds of files in just a few seconds. Files deleted by QuickDelete can only be undeleted by Heatseeker. - FastDelete. This option operates at roughly half the speed of QuickDelete, but files deleted by FastDelete can be undeleted by other utility programs. - Standard Delete. This option is extremely slow, but has been left in for comparison purposes. It is also the only current option available for deleting tree files (files with more than 256 blocks of data) and files with resource forks. E)rase volume. This function zeroes out an entire slot and drive. F)ormat volume. This passes a low-level format call to a slot and drive specified by the user. A good number of devices do not support this option, and will return an error to Heatseeker. K)opy files/volume. File copying is currently not supported, but volume copying is. Specify a source and destination slot and drive. Both source and destination must be high-level formatted disks, although it may be under any operating system and they do not have to match (e.g., you can copy a DOS 3.3 disk onto a blank ProDOS disk). Disk swapping is fully supported if you have a single drive system. If the devices are the same size, specify the lower and upper limits of the copy (pressing return for both questions accepts the default, which is normally the maximum range of copying), and the action begins. If the devices are not the same size, you are given a warning and are asked if you really want to do that. The only practical application of copying between incompatible devices is to avoid swapping on a single drive system (e.g., copying a 5.25" to a 3.5" and then back to a 5.25"). You will be asked, after the copy, if you'd like the copy to reflect the true volume size or the size of the original. Answering "y" will update the volume's directory (if it is a ProDOS device) but not the bitmap (this would cause data loss). Copying a large volume onto a small volume is not recommended, although Heatseeker will allow this to take place. If you have extra RAM installed and ProDOS maps it to slot 3, drive 2, and you have not selected RAM as one of the volumes to be copied, you can use this extra space to allow for less passes during the copy. With extra RAM, Heatseeker uses 84k per pass; without, it uses 24.5k per pass. Copying is slower using the extra RAM, so it should probably only be used on single drive systems. Heatseeker keeps the RAM directory itself intact but destroys the actual contents of the disk. L)ock and unlock files. Select a path and files, and the appropriate action to perform (lock or unlock). M)ove files. This allows "copying" of files between subdirectories of a disk (note: this is different from file copying). Select a source path, files, and the destination path, and the files are moved there. Subdirectories are appropriately expanded if they become full and if disk space merits such action. Q)uit. Exit Heatseeker to whatever ProDOS quit routine is installed. R)ename files/volume. Allows names to be changed to any legal ProDOS 8 name, with the exception of lowercase filenames. S)ort directory. Not currently supported. T)ext and binary file viewer. Select a pathname and files and they are displayed in the chosen format. Text orientation displays only the ASCII of the file (with control characters represented by periods) across the entire screen. Hexadecimal orientation lists the files eight bytes per line, with hexadecimal, ASCII, and decimal representations of all data. A counter is also at the far left of the hexadecimal display to indicate how far into the file you are. Pressing "n" at any prompt skips to the next file, and escape quits to the main menu. U)ndelete files. Select a pathname and you will be given a list of all files which could possibly be undeleted. Heatseeker then attempts to restore all of the deleted files. If any section of the file has been overwritten, a message is displayed indicating that that file was lost. If a file has overwritten the original file space but then has been deleted itself, Heatseeker might allow you to undelete the original file, although the data will be invalid. V)erify volume. Select a slot and drive, and Heatseeker determines the readability of every block of data on the device. Z) Disk map. This reads in the bitmap of the selected slot and drive and shows a pictorial representation of the blocks on the device, with free blocks shown as periods and used blocks as asterisks. The current version of Heatseeker does not check whether the disk is ProDOS or not, so you will get invalid data on any non-ProDOS disk. General Statements ------- ---------- Sidewinder Software, the author of the program, and anyone else involved in the development of Heatseeker hereby waive all liability for any damage to data that may arise as a result of using this product. Any suggestions, criticisms, bug reports, encouragements, and so forth are welcome. Please give me your feedback on this software - I cannot develop a good program without knowing what people want to see in it. I can be reached via electronic mail at: curtis@achilles.ctd.anl.gov Or, if you do not have access to electronic mail, I can be reached via Sidewinder Software at the following address: Jeffrey S. Curtis Sidewinder Software P.O. Box 4341 Naperville, IL 60567-4341 The Future of Heatseeker --- ------ -- ---------- Initial feedback on Heatseeker has been overwhelmingly positive. There have been many bugs found, and I'm sure that many more exist which are still hidden, but satisfaction with the product has been high. I hope to hear from everyone who has any type of comment at all on the software, as I take every statement made into account when development is taking place. Your feedback molds the software. If you have not received this software directly from me, and would like to be on a mailing list to receive information about future upgrades, write to me at the address above, or via the email address. Thank you for your continued support throughout the development of Heatseeker. Jeffrey S. Curtis