| File
Utilities- special for DOS (special purpose: delete, wipe, copy, move, rename) Ratings: [* fair] to [* * * * * excellent] |
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If you need to rename a series of 8+3 named files - and you want control over where to insert both common and unique identifiers, Donames is the utility to do it (apparently 4DOS already has this capability). You can determine both the common portion of the filename and the position where to begin numbering (extensions cannot be modified).
Notes: Donames only seems to work when the directory being processed is made the current directory. If you use the wildcard *.* for a filespec, subdirectories will also be renamed. It's best if you use a temp directory to copy files for renaming. reviewed 9-7-95; Fixed broken link 6-15-97
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As it's name suggests, this simple utility will take a set of files and replace the last four places of the filename with the numerical month and day. E.g., filename.ext becomes fileMMDD.ext. Works just swell.
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An oldie but a goodie. From the documentation: Fdate is a program which uses certain rules to rename the files given to it to either the date of the file itself, or the ``current'' date. Fdate currently supports the Julian date format, YYYYMMDD format, and ``hex-seconds-since-the-epoch'' which should be familiar to C programmers.
Options are:
| -d | Date -the filename is set to the
date, in YYYYMMDD format (default). |
-x | Hex - the filename is set to the
number of seconds, in hex, that last midnight GMT was, since 0:01 GMT on January 1, 1970. |
| -j | Julian - the file extension (filetype) is set to the Julian; i.e., the number of days since January 1, starting with 001. |
-c | Current - use the ``current'' date, and not the date on the file. |
| -f | File - use the file's date, not the ``current'' date (default). |
-s | days Subtract - subtract days days
from the ``current'' date. |
| -o | dow Force - force the ``current'' date to the weekday numbered dow (using the scheme 0=Sunday, 6=Satur- day, etc.). |
-l | Less - only do the rename if the date on the file is less than the ``current'' date. |
| -a | Always - always do the rename (default). |
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Usage: TDEL name_1 [...name_n] [options (below)] _Enhanced wildcards supported
Basic Parameters: Advanced Parameters:
/C » Confirm deletion (each file) + » Same as /S, but local
/CA » Confirm if *.* specified @file » Signifies script file
/I » Show percents and files left /D_ » How to treat empty directories
/P » Pause after each full screen /FS: » Delete until x KB free space
/Q » Quiet mode (no writing to screen) /NEW » Ignore SET and prior parameters
/S » Recurse sub-directories /NF » Process newer files first
/OF » Process older files first
Filters: /SF: » Delete until x KB freed
/TEST » Simulate command (no REAL del)
/A: » File attributes to process /W[n] » Wipe: Prevent from recovering
/DT: » Specify date range to process /YES » Override the /NO: option
/FN: » Specify files group to process /NoPRND » Disable the PARANOID feature
/NO: » Delete EXCEPT specified /NoSHOW » Do not show used options
/SZ: » Specify size range to process /NoTREE » Do not update tree-info files
/DAYS: » Del files by their age (days) /ReadDAT » Read TDEL.DAT file contents
______________________________________ /INSTALL » Replace DEL command by TDel
Need I say more? Tdel also has a great help screen.
Tdel can modify your COMMAND.COM file to use Tdel rather than DOS's Del (Note: If you're running OpenDos, Tdel will not allow this option; also note issue of compressed drives: must perform this action on the command.com residing on uncompressed drive).
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The best wipers (e.g., WIPE or Wipevk) allow a user to write over a file multiple times with zeros or garbage characters and they also scramble the deleted filename. One caveat: if you are running disk compression software (e.g., Stacker or Dspace), overwriting may be inefficient/ incomplete. Because the overwriting file contains n times the same character (where n is size of the file to be wiped) it will be compressed very well and will not completely overwrite the file. I have seen a utility that claims to overcome this limitation (in fact, a more recent - but shareware version - of WIPE). Wipevk offers more overwriting options than WIPE, including wiping conforming to certain government standards.
download
wipe-212.zip (WIPE)
download wipevk11.zip
(Wipevk)
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Shredders overwrite free space on a disk. This helps to ensure that deleted (but unwiped) file clusters are overwritten. Shred is a PCMag utiltiy that seems to do the job well- though I rarely use it.
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UnWanted is a command line app that helps rid your disk of "unwanted" files: backup files, temp files, FILE_ID.DIZ's, zero-size files and directories, etc. Since I rarely use this type of program I haven't compared UnWanted with the competition. But UnWanted does a fine job. When run, it looks in a config file for the file specs and types to delete (the user can edit the config file). It next searches a drive, asks for confirmation of deletions of each matching file, and performs the deletion. It can create a log file of all actions. Well designed. reviewed 6-15-97
download uw250b6.zip Beta version.
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Elim is a 1990 app does what it claims. From the documentation:
"The main purpose of ELIM is to enable the user to delete files which normal DOS DEL or ERASE cannot handle. For example, the user may run a poorly programmed utility which can create files which have a blank or other illegal character in the filename. DOS DEL will not be able to delete such a file. ELIM will solve the problem. ELIM does not prompt the user for confirmation, where a wildcard is used. Avoid using ELIM in preference to DOS DEL, unless you really know what you are doing."
RME is a similar 1995 program that's interactive and can delete directories. I can't seem to find this on other ftp sites, so I'm uploading it to my server. From the docs:
"The program will load and prompt the user for a filename. The name you enter can contain the usual DOS wildcards '*' and '?' for use when filtering certain filenames. RME will then attempt to locate any matching file or directory names. It will then ask you whether you are sure you want to delete the file or directory. You can exit RME.EXE back to DOS at any time by pressing <Ctrl> + <Break>. RME will not remove directories which contain other files or subdirectories."
download
elim10.zip (ELIM)
download rme.zip
(RME)
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Zcopy may be the only xcopy or move replacement you'll need. Includes several date and time filter options. It can compare files in different directories and perform updates. Zcopy can also pack files onto floppies efficiently. Zcopy doesn't offer any special switches for filtering files by attribute combinations. New version (5-97) compatible with year 2000 and beyond.
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The design of DO is unique- not quite a command-line utility but not a dedicated file manager. DO is best described as an interactive multi-purpose batch utility. DO's interface is essentially a command line with a help screen. The user must still type in commands, but the syntax and options are visible at all times. The functions include: find text, file&directory size, attrib, time, copy, move, rename, delete, xcopy, prune, and wipe. Some of these functions are already built into DOS, but DO presents the user with additional options and the syntax is simplified for batch jobs. Some options are unique to DO (e..g., recursive file operations, change the time and date stamp of one or more files). The output of DO is formatted nicely and can be re-directed to a file. I don't use DO often- but it is a handy little utility to have on a disk and is well suited to laptop users. reviewed 2-3-95
download
do21.zip
Get a more recent (1996) version here (I noted a new logo, but no
new program options): do311.zip
* * * * reviewed 7-13-97
Dirtotal is an app you may need infrequently but it can be a useful tool. In the author's words "The DIRTOTAL.EXE program is another directory-listing program." I partially disagree- it's not a directory lister in the sense of a DIR app. Rather, Dirtotal sums up the directory structure of your drive(s) and writes the results to nicely formatted report file- it displays no listing on screen. A default report includes a list of all directories, files, and their corresponding sizes, dates and attributes. Filtering, exclusion, and sorting by various criteria are supported. Some high-end file managers can print similar disk summaries, but most can't. The executable is large (190K) and WIN95 long filenames are not supported.
Other nice features:
download dirto702.zip (147K)
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(c)1997 Richard L. Green