Fatcat
------
A Beagle Brothers product
written by Alan Bird


   Fatcat is a "multiple-disk catalog" program
that reads and organizes all of your Apple DOS
3.3 and ProDOS file names together into one
or more "Master Catalog" files. Each Master
Catalog may be sorted, searched, printed, and
saved on disk, thus becoming a handy referance
guide to your personal library. Master
Catalogs may be updated at any time by reading
in new or altered disks.
   Fatcat lets you assign an optional short
File Description" for each file name in each
Master Catalog. DOS 3.3 disks may be assigned
a descriptive "Disk Title" that will optionally
appear at the top of each disk's normal Catalog.


KEYCHART OPTIONS

(1) and (!) Catalog Drive 1 and 2
Pressing "1" or "!" (shift-1) will catalog the
disk in Drive 1 or 2, respecively. DOS 3.3
disks will catalog normally. ProDOS catalogs
will show you the main directory plus ALL of the
files in ALL catalog sublevels.

(2) Disk Names
Pressing "2" will let you perform several
functions concerning disk names--
  1.Display the disk names of all disks that
    have been read so far into the Master
    Catalog in memory.
  2.Display the name of the disk currently in
    the Subject Drive.
  3.Add or change the name of the disk in the
    Subject Drive.

Disk Names in DOS 3.3 Catalogs
Fatcat will let you specify that a disk's name
will appear as a title when you execute a normal
DOS 3.3 "CATALOG" command. Try this feature on a
backup of a disk and see if you like it.

Deleting a Disk Title
To delete a Disk Title from the catalog, select
keychart option 2 (Disk Names) then screen menu
option 3 (Change Disk Name). Type the disk's
name and answer "N" to "Name in Catalogs?".

(3) Read Sublect Disk Into Memory
Type "3" to read the directory (catalog) of a
Subject Disk into memory. As the directory is
read, the disk's name is displayed, followed by
each file name and a number indicating its
current position in the Master Catalog.
   If a disk has never been read by Fatcat, it
will assign an invisible ID number. If it
has not been assigned a name, you will be asked
to name it. Don't miss this opportunity to name
your disk; you'll be glad you did later.
   After naming a 3.3 disk, you will be asked
if you want the name to appear at the top of
your catalogs. Answer "Y" or "N".
If "Y" is your answer, stand by while Fatcat
rearranges your catalog and adds the title.


F7:


(4) Clear Memory
Type "4" if you want to erase the current Master
Catalog from memory and start a new one. This
should be done if you are starting another (be sure
you save the first one on disk), or if you simply
want to start over again.

(5) Load Master Catalog Into Memory
Type "5" to load a Master catalog from disk into
memory. This must be done before you can update,
list or print a Master Catalog.
   Mater Catalog file names are preceeded by
a "MC." prefix. Do not type this prefix when
loading (or saving) Mater Catalogs from Fatcat.

(6) Save Master Catalog
Type "6" to save the Master Catalog that is
currently in memory onto a disk. You must use a
disk with enough free space---about 100 free
sectors for each Master Catalog. If Fatcat
gives you a "Disk Full" error message, you
will have to insert another disk with plenty
of free space.
   Master Catalog file names are automatically
prefixed with "MC." Do not type this prefix
when saving Master Catalogs from Fatcat.

(7) Printer Off/On
Type "7" to get your printer ready for one of
these print functions:
   o CATALOG A DISK
   o DISPLAY MASTER CATALOG
   o SEARCH
Each of these functions will print only on the
screen (not the printer) unless you have pressed
"7" to connect your printer. Each "7" keypress
toggles from Off to On and back again. The
Off/On status is always displayed in the middle
of the screen in the Keychart Command mode.
   By the way, Fat cat has no way of knowing
if your printer itself is turned on (or even
plugged in, for that matter). Option 7 just gets
it ready to print if it is.
   When the printing function is completed, the
printer is automatically disconnected (Off). You
will need to reactivate it (On) to print
something else.

(8) Display Master Catalog
Typing "8" will list the Master Catalog in
memory to the screen (printer Off) or to your
printer (printer On: option 7). This option
assumes there is a Master Catalog in memory.
Press any key to pause the display and any key
to resume. Press Esc or control-C to terminate
the listing.

(9) Add File Descriptions
Type "9" to add File Descriptions to any or all
file names in a Master Catalog. File
Descriptions allow you to do searches on them.
For example, you can search for and list all of
the file names with a "GAMES" description.
   File Descriptions appear in parenthesis in
the Master Catalog after the main field information.


F7::59


   Here is the proceedure for adding File
Descriptions:
   Select keychart option 9. Fatcat will first
ask "Stop at Each File Name?".
   IF YOU ANSWER "Y", each appropriate File
Name will be displayed one at a time, and you
will select a File Description from a menu at
the top of the screen. Something like this:
   1:BACKUP   2:DATA       3:DATA
   4:GAME     5:HIRES PIC  6:UTILITY
If you want to select a File Description that
doesn't appear in the menu, press "A" to add a
new one (9 characters or less). If you want to
rename a description, type "R". There is a
maximum of 45 File Descriptions.

IF YOU ANSWER "N" to "Stop at Each File
Name?", you will then select a "Search Type":
   1.FILE NAME
   2.DISK NAME
   3.FILE TYPE
   4.FILE DESCRIPTION
If you select 1 (File Name) or 2 (Disk Name),
you will be asked to type in a Search Word.
If you select 3 (File Type) or 4 (File
Description), you will select from a menu on
the screen.

(0) Delete Files
Type "0" if you want to delete some file names
from a Master Catalog. The files to be deleted
are selected with a search word (see "search
Words")
   If you answer "Y" to "Stop at Each File
Name?", Fatcat will stop at each file name that
matches your search word and ask if you want to
delete it.
   If you answer "N" to "Stop at Each File
Name?", Fatcat will automatically list each file
name it thinks it should delete. You will then
have the oppertunity of approving the list
before actuall deletion.

(-) Sort Master Catalog (":" key on Apple II+)
Select this option to alphabetize your Master
Catalog by disk name or file name, or to sort it
numerically by sector size, or to group it by
file type or File Description. Sorting will
occur ONLY IN MEMORY, not on the disk. You must
save your Master Catalog (option 6) after
sorting if you want to keep it in sorted form.
   Sorting alphabetically by file name before
any other type of sort is often a good idea. For
example, if you sort by file name, then by disk
name, the files will be grouped alphabetically
within each disk name group.

   A Master Catalog may be displayed or saved
or updated in its sorted form.

(=) Search Master Catalog ("-" on Apple II+)
Select this option to search through the Master
Catalog and list or print those entries that
match a search word (see below). Connect your
printer first (option 7) if you want a search
to be printed.
   Note: If you sort a Master Catalog before
you use the Search option, you will, of course,
get a sorted search.

SEARCH WORDS
A search word is simply all or part of the
word(s) to be searched for.
   For example, a file name search on the
search word "CAL" would select the file names
VISICAC, CALIFRAGIC and LOCAL NEWS.