THE BRIDGE TERMINUS(c) V2.5A Copyright 1991 by S.T.Calise Mailing Address: 673 Herbertsville Road, Brick NJ 08724 USA Read further for QUICK START installation and run. PROGRAM DESCRIPTION: THE BRIDGE TERMINUS(c) is a SHELL utility for ARC, LHARC, PAK, and PKZIP archivers. THE BRIDGE features easy to use flat archive menu driven compression and extraction routines. It effectively deals with existing archives that have included path information and allows pathname inclusion during compress operations by toggled insertion of user defined custom parameters. It's ideal for the everyday user who is interested in 'getting the job done' . It is not necessary to have ALL of the archiver programs that are suppported by the BRIDGE. Users may select the archiver of their choice and all BRIDGE operations, i.e. extract, compress, SFX creation, filtered directory displays, etc. will then be directed to the selected type. TERMINUS accepts custom parameters and allows for user tailoring of most operations. Hands-free toggled virus detection is provided for both compress and extraction operations. McAfee's VIRUSCAN program is called up to scan all files extracted and those files which have been tagged for compression. THE BRIDGE uses an easy system of flexible defaults which are auto-configured when the program is first run to help speed up program installation. A path pick list is used to store frequently selected paths and provide the user with quick selection of source and target directories. Full extract submenu functions, i.e. tag, view, test etc. , are offered for SDNet/Works! archive files(files with the SDN extension) when the selected archive type is set to PAK. THE BRIDGE was designed to run from a hard disk but will work satisfactorily if installed on a high capacity floppy. It caters to the low-end of the video standard spectrum by offering compatibility with IBM MDA monochrome, IBM CGA Color and those systems that utilize the IBM CGA standard but employ a money saving green, amber or white monochrome display device. TERMINUS may be worked from the keyboard or by a Microsoft compatibile mouse. This program does not attempt to incorporate every possible archive option offered by PKZIP, PAK, LHARC, or ARC. Instead, it offers a modest selection of menu powered options that can be used with ease in today's computer and telecommunication environments which demand user competence in the areas of file compression, extraction and computer virus infection prevention. THE BRIDGE TERMINUS(c) is simple, easy to use, it gets the job done! ******************** The BRIDGE TERMINUS(c) may not be used in a business, corporation, government or agency environment without a negotiated site license. All rights are strictly reserved! Read BRT.DOC for further information. ******************** ***** HARDWARE REQUIREMENTS: 640K BYTES MEMORY (512K MIN) HARD DRIVE - OR ANY COMBINATION OF HARD DRIVE AND/OR HIGH CAPACITY FLOPPY(S)* (IBM MDA) OR (CGA C80) TEXT MODE/EMULATION REQ. MS COMPATIBLE MOUSE OPTIONAL ***** QUICK INSTALL: The BRIDGE TERMINUS(c) is a SHELL and needs the following programs for FULL access to ALL functions(see note): PC/MS DOS V2.11 - 4.X VIRUSCAN(tm) 6.3vXX or higher by McAfee Associates PKZIP v1.1X by PKWARE, INC. PAK v2.51 by NoGate Consulting LHA212 by Haruyasu Yoshizaki ARC602 by Systems Enhancements Make sure you have the following files from each(* see below *) of the above in the same subdirectory for hard disk installation or on the same (* see note *) floppy for quick start and access to ALL TERMINUS functions:(NOTE: Only one type of archiver is needed if you do not anticipate using the remaining other types that are supported.) PKZIP files needed : PKZIP.EXE; PKUNZIP.EXE; ZIP2EXE.EXE; PKZIPFIX.EXE All version 1.1x McAfee VIRUSCAN files needed: SCAN.EXE BRIDGE TERMINUS files needed: BRT25A.EXE; BRTHELP.EXE; BRTDPF.EXE; MS/PC DOS files required : COMMAND.COM (floppy installation) PAK Compression Utility : PAK.EXE v2.51 (command line verison without custom configuration) Yoshizaki LHA212 : LHA.EXE v2.12 ARC602 SEA Compression Uty. : ARC.EXE, MKSARC.EXE ** FLOPPY START: Start BRIDGE TERMINUS by typing each line followed by : A: cd\ BRT25A.EXE ALL of the above may be placed into a DOS batch file for faster execution. (Read BRT.DOC for more information) ** HARD DISK START: Assuming you have placed the required files on DRIVE #C in a subdirectory named TERMINUS you may start TERMINUS by typing each line followed by c: cd\ cd\terminus BRT25A.EXE Change the line C: to D: or whatever the drive letter designation you installed TERMINUS on. Change the line cd\terminus to cd\whatever where 'whatever' is the subdirectory where you placed the TERMINUS programs. ** NOTE #1: Floppy installation in a system without a hard drive or if you boot off a floppy from drive #A(start your system by placing your DOS system disk in drive #A) requires that you MUST place COMMAND.COM on the TERMINUS disk and that this disk must be placed in the BOOT drive. Systems with 720K, 1.4MEG, or 1.2MEG BOOT drives will be able to place all of the above files on one disk. Systems with 360K BOOT drives and no hard drive will not be able to run THE BRIDGE TERMINUS satisfactorily and without sacrifice of certain options. ** NOTE #2: Running TERMINUS from a hard disk does not require that all needed files be placed in the SAME subdirectory. Each archiver MAY have its own subdirectory and this flexibility is provided in the default table to help identify where the needed files are located at. ** NOTE #3: It is not necessary to have ALL the archiver programs supported by the BRIDGE TERMINUS. The minimum requirement is all the needed files for just ONE archiver. Run the BRIDGE after installing TERMINUS and all other needed files. Press F5-CHANGE DEFAULTS while you are in the main menu. Change the STARTUP ARCHIVE TYPE to the archive type which you intend to use with the BRIDGE. All BRIDGE operations will then be directed to that archive type. ** NOTE #4: FLOPPY installation: The disk with ALL BRIDGE files and the archiver(s) of your choice must be placed in DRIVE #A. Also, do not remove this disk from DRIVE #A until you have quit the BRIDGE and the drive busy light is off. The BRIDGE saves it's PICK list to the disk when you quit the program. ** NOTE #5: Online configuration of defaults and program locations has been improved to help provide successful installations. A bug which MAY have caused SCAN.EXE not to be executed has been eliminated. Please take the time to read the INSTALLATION procedures found in BRT.DOC . The TERMINUS is error trapped for MISSING program files(PAK.EXE, SCAN.EXE, etc.) and will refuse to perform functions associated with the required files if they don't exist in the DEFAULT specified subdirectories. REMEMBER: TERMINUS is not a stand alone utility, it is a SHELL/MENU for PKZIP, PAK, VIRUSCAN, LHA212, and ARC602. The BRIDGE v2.5A first checks for missing programs before you reach the main menu screen. A check for missing programs is also performed each time you exit the default area or return from your shell / file utility. The first time you run BRT25A.EXE make sure you go no further than the MAIN MENU before you press F5 and make the needed additions or corrections to the DEFAULT TABLE. ***** IF you have IBM CGA C80 mode compatibility(you can run programs which require color 80 column text IBM CGA mode) but utilize a money saving green, amber, white etc. monochrome display, start TERMINUS like this: A> BRT25A.EXE cga255 (press return) ***** Version 2.5A has TWO HELP keys, F10 which is displayed in the lower function menu bar and F1. Each key produces the same result. ***** VERSION 2.5A Path Finder now scans and sorts up to 400 subdirectories. A manual entry option has been added so that users may enter subdirectory names not found in the sorted list. ***** UPDATE/UPGRADE Policy has been liberalized. Please read BRT.DOC for more information.