Thank you for your patience in waiting for Heatseeker.  Alpha testing
has just finished, and all appears to work perfectly.  I have just a few
brief comments, and then I'll let you get on to the software!

First, before you do anything else, read the documentation.  Heatseeker
is not a typical program with typical commands.  If you do not read the
documentation, you won't know what you're doing when you get into the program.

Second, please distribute this file as widely as you can!  Give it to your
friends, relatives, neighbors, coworkers, user's group, bulletin boards,
anywhere you can!  The more response I receive from users of this test
version, the more convinced I'll become to create a Release 1.00 with all
of the features everyone wants - copy commands, hard drive compatibility,
resource fork handling, etc.  Time is scarce for me, and if there is not
enough interest, I may not be able to complete the project.  Also, please
be sure to include this documentation with every copy of the software you
hand out.  Thank you.

Third, word has broken out on comp.sys.apple2 that I might have written this
entire program as a cover-up for a virus.  I'll let you look at the software,
use it, and decide for yourself if I would have put so much effort into
creating such a product as a cover-up...

Fourth, I mentioned in the form letter that I "traded safety for speed."  One
user asked what exactly I meant by that statement.  I should have cleared
that up on the spot - the safety I traded was from the programmer's
perspective.  The program itself is extremely safe and filled with error
trapping; however, as with any software product, I cannot be responsible
for any damage that might arise out of use of this product.  I do not expect
any, but I waive all liability.  This is just standard procedure.

Fifth, I suggest that you refrain from using Heatseeker v0.50b on vital
data for a period of about one to two weeks so that the testing has had
some time to sink in and any problems that may have been missed in the
rigorous alpha testing can be weeded out and updates provided.  If such
a problem arises, I will immediately notify everyone via email.  However,
it is your responsibility to notify me of the problem.  I can be reached
via email at curtis@achilles.ctd.anl.gov or B41801 AT ANLVM (BITNET).

Sixth, please remember that although v0.50b is free of charge, it is
still protected internationally under copyright laws.  Do not steal the
code, and do not resell it.

Seventh, several users inquired as to the matchup of Heatseeker versus
Glen E. Bredon's Cat Doctor program.  I have recently been allowed to
borrow a copy of Cat Doctor 6.7 for testing purposes, and it was no
match for Heatseeker.  I only was interested in the Delete command, and
Cat Doctor was every bit as slow as Copy //+ - anywhere from 10 to
100 (or greater) times slower, depending on the workload.

Finally, enjoy yourself, and enjoy the speed and power of Heatseeker!

                                                -- Jeffrey S. Curtis



                                Heatseeker
                         Documentation for v0.50b
                 Copyright (C) 1991 by Jeffrey S. Curtis


Introduction
------------

Heatseeker is an ultra-high-speed disk utility program written and developed
for the 8-bit Apple // series.  It will run on any Apple // capable of
running ProDOS (e.g. Apple //+, //e, //c, //gs).  Version 0.50 beta is intended
to develop interest within the Apple // community and to create a feedback
environment whereby the author can determine if the effort to create future
releases is practical.

Heatseeker was developed by Jeffrey S. Curtis of Naperville, Illinois, USA.
The program was originally intended to provide a fast way to move files from
one folder on a disk to another, but the author got carried away.  A
full-blown utility program thus developed.


Compatibility Issues
------------- ------

Heatseeker has been successfully tested on the following types of hardware:

CPU:            Enhanced Apple //e      Apple //gs (ROM 01)
Floppy:         Apple 5.25"     Rana Elite 5.25" (40 track)     Laser 3.5" 800k
                Apple 3.5" 800k
Other media:    /RAM drives

Based on successful tests on the above hardware, and from programming
methods employed, it is assumed that the hardware requirements are as follows:

Any Apple // capable of running ProDOS (i.e., 64k Apple //+ or greater)
Any 5.25" or 3.5" floppy drive with capacity of up to 2 megabytes


Hard Drive Users
---- ----- -----

Owners of hard drives take note.  Heatseeker has NEVER been tested in use
with a hard drive.  Most commands (verify, catalog, lock, unlock, rename)
should work properly; however, until further testing can be performed,
the delete, undelete, and move files commands have been disabled on devices
with capacities greater than 2 megabytes.  If time and user interest so
merits, full hard drive compatibility will be supplied in the next version
of Heatseeker.


Main Menu
---- ----

From the main menu, you select any of the listed options with the 'hotkeys'
method - that is, simply press the letter of the desired command, and it
will be executed.  There is no need to press return.  Pressing escape at
any menu will return you to the previous menu.

C)atalog

        You will be asked to select a slot and drive to catalog (again, using
        hotkeys).  If the selected device contains no subdirectories, the
        volume catalog will be shown, one screenful at a time, with a prompt
        for a keypress in between screens.  At the end, volume free space
        information is displayed.  If the device contains subdirectories,
        you will be taken to a menu where you will select the path to
        catalog.  At this menu, you will be given a list of all possible
        subdirectories with a number next to each.  Enter the number of the
        desired subdirectory or "S" to view the current.  At any time, if
        you want to back up, type "P" for the parent directory.  A hard
        drive will show an incorrect (too low) amount of free space on
        the drive.  This will be corrected in future upgrades.

        Files are displayed with a prefix of "D" if the file has been deleted,
        "Q" if the file has been deleted with Heatseeker's QuickDelete option
        (see below), and "*" if the file is locked.  The file's name, date,
        and EOF mark in hexadecimal follow.

D)elete files

        You will be taken to a submenu where you can select QuickDelete,
        FastDelete, or Standard delete.

        - QuickDelete

                By far, this is currently Heatseeker's best feature.
                QuickDelete lets you delete hundreds of files in just
                seconds!  You will first be asked to select the path of
                the files you wish to delete (see "Catalog" above for an
                explanation of this system).  Then you will be presented
                a list of every file in that path for you to take action
                on.  Press "y" to take action on the file, escape to stop
                selecting files and begin taking action, "A" to abort the
                action entirely, or any other key to leave the file alone.
                After the last file in the directory has been prompted (or
                the escape key has been pressed), Heatseeker will delete
                all of the selected files.  Files deleted by QuickDelete
                are only undeletable with Heatseeker's Undelete option.
                Other utility programs should return an error.

        - FastDelete

                This option appears to the user as identical to QuickDelete.
                The difference is in the way that Heatseeker handles the
                files internally.  At a cost of speed, FastDelete will delete
                all selected files, but in a manner that is compatible to all
                other disk utility programs.  Files deleted with FastDelete
                can be undeleted by other utility programs, but those deleted
                by QuickDelete cannot.  FastDelete operates at roughly
                one-half the speed of QuickDelete, which is still considerably
                faster than any other utility available.

        - Standard delete

                This option deletes files in the same manner as other utility
                programs.  With the addition of FastDelete, Standard delete is
                no longer necessary, but has been left in for testing and
                timing purposes.  Future versions will probably not include it.

E)rase volume

        Erase volume does exactly that - erases the entire volume of a device
        you select.  This is not the same as formatting, however.  Future
        versions will upgrade this command to allow formatting, as erasing
        a volume has only limited practical application.

K)opy

        Not yet supported.  Time pressures did not allow the completion of
        the kopy command before release was scheduled.  Future versions
        should include it, and the author guarantees that it will perform
        better than any other disk utility program presently available.
        Watch for the new release of Heatseeker.

L)ock and unlock files

        Although rarely used (and ignored by most disk utilities, including
        Heatseeker), file access modes still exist in the form of locked and
        unlocked files.  Heatseeker allows you to alter these modes.  Select
        a device, path, and files, and then select "L" to lock the selected
        files or "U" to unlock them.

M)ove files

        The original command of Heatseeker.  Previous versions (0.1x) referred
        to it as "Swap files".  This command allows you to move files from
        one subdirectory on a disk to another almost instantly.  You will
        be asked to select a slot and drive, then a source directory, then
        files, and then a destination directory.  Files will then be copied.
        Just try this on another disk utility!

Q)uit

        Exits Heatseeker to whatever ProDOS "bye" routine you have installed
        on your system.

S)ort directory

        Not yet implemented.  Watch for future upgrades to be offered.

U)ndelete files

        This option restores files you may have accidentally deleted.  It
        doesn't matter whether the file was deleted by Heatseeker's
        QuickDelete, FastDelete or Standard delete, or even another disk
        utility.  Heatseeker correctly handles all files.  You will be asked
        to select a volume and then a path, and then you will be presented
        with a list of all files in that folder which have been deleted.
        After you have selected the files, Heatseeker goes out and attempts
        to undelete them.  If another file has overwritten the space that
        the selected file used to occupy, you will be told that that file
        cannot be undeleted.  It is possible, however, that another file
        has taken up that space and then been deleted itself; in this case,
        Heatseeker may or may not be able to tell the difference (it is
        impossible for any disk utility to be 100% sure that the file is
        the correct one), but will attempt to undelete it anyway.

V)erify volume

        This option scans an entire device and reports which (if any)
        sections of the media return errors when read from.  Select a
        device and Heatseeker begins verifying.

Z) Disk mapping

        Not yet implemented.  Watch for future upgrades.


Bugs, Problems, Caveats and Wish List
----- --------- ------- --- ---- ----

There are several problems and limitations to Heatseeker v0.50b.  They are
listed below.

        o  Low hard drive compatibility.  This program was originally written
                for personal use, and the author does not own a hard drive,
                which makes programming for one difficult.  The program already
                contains the basic structure for hard drive compatibility; in
                fact, most commands already work with them.  However, commands
                which may need to alter the volume btmap could cause a hard
                drive to show erratic free space, and so these commands have
                been disabled for this version.  No other problems are expected
                of hard drives.

        o  Poor user interface.  The structure has been left open to allow for
                simple modification of the user interface; however, the author
                is presently concerned with more important tasks (such as hard
                drive compatibility).

        o  Slow disk verify.  Some devices do not respond quickly to
                Heatseeker's verify command.  This will be researched.

        o  Low non-ProDOS volume compatibility.  Currently, Heatseeker will
                not even allow you to verify a non-ProDOS volume.

        o  Completion of the copy (kopy) command.  This is ranked very high
                on the priority list; however, the author may wish to complete
                other tasks first, as finishing the copy command is bound to
                cause great frustration and many long nights.  As planned,
                it will include ultra-high-speed file copying and normal-speed
                disk copying.

        o  Support for resource forks.  This all depends on user feedback and
                willingness to support my efforts.

        o  Memory overlap.  Users of Apple //gs computer who exit Heatseeker
                to a CDA, NDA, Control Panel, or the like could run into
                problems if zero page locations $A5-$AA are altered and not
                properly restored.  Also, ROM 03 machines might use these
                locations for other purposes which could interfere with
                Heatseeker.  This will have to be tested and information
                returned to me, as I do not have proper hardware on which to
                test.

        o  Large directories.  If any action is taken on a large directory
                (over 8k/16 blocks/207 files), Heatseeker may have problems.
                It should flag this properly, but testing will have to
                determine this.

        o  No tree file handling.  Tree files (files with more than one
                index block, i.e., more than 257 blocks in total length)
                cannot be deleted by Heatseeker, except for the Standard
                Delete option, which handles this properly.  Heatseeker
                will refuse to undelete tree files.

        o  Forty columns.  Heatseeker looks horrid in forty columns.


The Future of Heatseeker
--- ------ -- ----------

Heatseeker may or may not ever see full completion.  Time is a precious
commodity - and also something I don't have an awful lot of.  If I am to
implement the changes and additions listed above, along with whatever the
users and testers suggest, it is going to take a lot of effort and energy.
Future versions may not be distributed for free for exactly these reasons.
However, if a fee is placed on it, it will be a small one - an absolute
maximum of thirty American dollars, but probably much less.  Usenet users
may receive a discount for their willingness to participate in the
initial offer (that is, the initial Usenet responders).

Your comments, encouragements, complaints, suggestions and so forth are
critical to the future of Heatseeker.  I chose the Usenet as the primary
means of distribution because it allows an easy means of feedback - almost
every has access to electronic mail.  People that obtain copies through
you (PLEASE distribute this product as widely as possible!  User groups!
In the office!  On local bulletin board systems!) that do not have such
access can forward their comments through you.  Tell me everything you like
and everything you don't like.  Don't be scared of insulting me or anything
of the sort.  Open up and tell all.  Please respond early and often via
email.  Give me your ideas and your input - it will mold Heatseeker into
the future.

Jeffrey S. Curtis

curtis@achilles.ctd.anl.gov     [ InterNet ]
B41801 AT ANLVM                 [  BITnet  ]

Addendum:  This copy of Heatseeker probably arrived to you via a bulletin
board system.  It was originally placed on several BBS systems in the
Chicago area.  If you need to contact me, try to do so back through the
BBSs.  If this is impossible, and the information is important enough,
such as Heatseeker v0.50b destroying or corrupting data, then call me at
(708)972-2000.  Ask to speak with Jeffrey Curtis of Computing and
Telecommunications.  They'll probably forward you to the wrong number,
but the people at that end will know where to reach me, so bear with them.
Thank you.

                                        -- Jeffrey S. Curtis