[478] in comp.os.os2.announce archive
NEW RELEASE: PMDMatch version 1.10.05
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (71333.2463@compuserve.com)
Fri Dec 15 19:37:30 1995
To: os2ann.DISCUSS@bloom-picayune.MIT.EDU
Date: Fri, 15 Dec 1995 09:35:32 GMT
From: 71333.2463@compuserve.com
Reply-To: 71333.2463@compuserve.com
Submitted by: Larry R. Waibel (71333.2463@compuserve.com)
Source: Larry R. Waibel (71333.2463@compuserve.com)
Date received: 1995 December 10
Date posted: 1995 December 14
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I have just uploaded the registered user's passworded version 1.10.05 of
PMDMatch, THE directory matching utility to CompuServe's OS2BVEN library 1,
OS/2 Shareware, where support will be provided.
PMDMatch is a 32-bit native OS/2 PM program inspired by the DirMatch utility
originally published years ago in PC Magazine. It compares directories based
on filters which allow it to only show, for example, those files which exist
in both, but the file in one has been modified. It allows file manipulations
such as copy, delete, edit, etc. on all or selected files. It can be used to
maintain floppy backups of the projects you're working on by matching the
project directory with the same directory on the floppy and only having to
copy files that are newer. It can also be used to take a 'snapshot' of the
directories, which can be used later to compare to the same directory. This
is handy for determining which files were changed when a new software package
is installed. It is a specific purpose utility which doesn't try to address
every feature of a file management package; however, it does what it does
very well and is very flexible and configurable. It makes extensive use of
the powerful PM control features and is CUA compliant and certified as
'Ready for OS/2 Warp' (tm).
To quote one of my users:
"As a LONG time PMDMatch user, let me say that it is one of my MUST-HAVE
OS/2 utilities. It is a full-featured, state-of-the-art application and
Larry is VERY responsive to his users.
If you ever need to:
- compare the contents of two directories (and optionally all of their
sub-directories),
- copy and/or move files between these directories based on various
comparison criteria,
- record a snapshot of the contents of a directory (and optionally all
of it's sub-directories) for later comparisons,
then you'll find PMDMatch as an absolutely super tool.
It was originally designed for developers who need to move files between
directories containing various versions of their products' files. I'm not
a developer, but I use PMDMatch to address lots of similar needs.
Since I was the user who originally requested the "snapshot function",
let me give you one example of how I use this super function.
First, I have an OS/2 program-reference object named "Snapshot Drive c:",
which invokes PMDMatch with the appropriate parameters to create a snapshot
file containg a point-in-time record of ALL the files and directories on my
boot drive. All I have to do to record a boot-drive snapshot is double click
on this object and name the snapshot file when PMDMatch pops up its file-save
dialog (in which I also enter an optional comment that describes the snapshot
-- e.g., "Boot-Drive Contents Before Installing AmiPro for OS/2). BTW, in
response to OUTSTANDING user input <grin>, Larry puts this comment at the top
of the snapshot file itself -- AND in the snapshot file's comment EA.
I ALWAYS snapshot my boot drive before installing a new application. And,
after the installation, I record another one, using the same object (above).
Then, using another program-reference object named, "Save Delta Snapshot",
I almost automatically create a third snapshot that contains ONLY the changes
that were introduced to my boot drive during the installation. You'd be
surprised at what some applications do to our boot drives. <grin>
With these "delta" snapshots, I have a record of boot drive changes for EVERY
application I've ever installed on a system.
Anyway, that's just ONE example of how I use this SUPER tool, FWIW."
You may want to check out the July 1994 issue of PC Magazine article on
"The Perfect Utilities Toolkit" where they actually mention several OS/2
utilities. Of course <s>, one of them is my PMDMatch shareware utility!
I'm working hard on another release which will first go to my registered
users, so if you want to keep up, don't forget to register <s>...
You can also find a review in the February 1995 issue of OS/2 Magazine where
Brian Proffit says "PMDMatch is a very handy utility for tracking changes to
your disk."
The most recent public version can also be found in:
CompuServe's OS2BVEN (OS/2 Shareware library 1) as 'pmdmat.zip'
ftp.wilmington.net (/bmtmicro) as 'PMDMatch.zip'
hobbes.nmsu.edu (/os2/diskutil) as 'PMDMatch.zip'.
Here's a list of the things which have been added to the registered user's
version:
1.10.05
1) Corrected so appropriate controls/menus are disabled
when a snapshot is loaded.
2) Added the ability to capture a snapshot from either
side when using the commandline.
3) Corrected some bugs when using byte-by-byte compare.
4) Added the ability to specify the colors used for
selection and differences highlighting.
5) Made changes to better handle saving the positions
of the vertical split bars.
1.10.04
1) Corrected so that confirmations, if enabled, apply to
the 'mark all and ...' operations.
2) Changed to not reset the selection state of an entry
that is passed to the editor or comparitor.
3) Took away the menu bar separation that put the 'Help'
item at the extreme right since most other OS/2 programs
seem to just have it as the last item.
4) Added the 'Snapshod.exe' program, generously provided by
Mark Kimes, to the package. This allows you to take a
snapshot on a native DOS system which can be used by
PMDMatch.
5) Changed so that the files to be compared are always
supplied to the compare program in left/right order.
1.10.03
1) Added the ability to put directories in the include/
exclude filter masks.
2) Corrected a bug where snapshots on some user's systems
weren't written correctly.
1.10.02
1) Added the ability to drag a directory/folder from either
a PMDMatch container or the WorkPlace Shell (such as the
'Drives' object) and drop it on the container title area
in order to change the directory being shown in that
container.
2) Moved several items from the main popup menu to a
'Miscellaneous items' cascaded menu.
3) Added the ability to open any directory entry in the
container as a folder.
4) Corrected a bug where files with spaces in the name
weren't fully supplied to the editor/comparitor.
5) Corrected a bug in direct editing the container title
from a snapshot back to a directory name.
6) Added the ability to compare the first selected file
in each container so that files with different names
can be compared.
7) Added a popup menu item to 'invert' the selection state
of all the items in the container(s).
8) Added a popup menu item to mark (select) just the 'unique'
entries.
1.10.01
1) Certified as 'Ready for OS/2 Warp'.
2) Finished the coding so that a second comparitor program
can be specified.
3) Implemented a compare byte-by-byte option for files which
appear to not be different (i.e. same size, date/time/etc.).
4) Corrected a bug where the stats was counting directories
as files.
5) Added support for copying and deleting (empty) directory
entries.
6) Moved some of the option settings from the filters dialog
to the settings notebook.
7) Added the /P command line parameter to load a snapshot(s)
at startup.
8) Added 'usage' and 'operations' counters to the statistics
dialog.
9) Added the /E and /I command line parameters to specify
the exclude and include masks.
