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1. --- Introduction ---

    This is the readme file for the DLSuperC package containing:

    1. DLSuperC.exe -- Version 1.1 of the Compare program
    2. ListDirT.exe -- A list directory tree utility
    3. DLPrntF.exe  -- A text print utility
    4. CreatGrp.exe -- A DLSuperC Program Manager Icon
                       installation program
    5. DLSuperC.ini -- Text file containing test programs names
                       that appear on the main compare panel.
                       The user can elect to invoke the sample
                       compare and see the results after initial
                       entry to the program.
    6. Two DLSuperC test files
                    -- TestNew.txt and TestOld.txt
    7. CppSupc.exe  -- Internal use pgm - no documented interface

    The "flag ship" utility in the package is the DLSuperC
  compare program.  DLSuperC is a line compare program that
  models itself after the IBM main frame "Best of Breed" SuperC
  product.  Variations of the IBM's SuperC program were
  originally developed to operate under MVS, VM, AS/400,and PC
  DOS operating systems. This Windows version is completely new
  code designed upon the external specifications of the IBM
  program.  It has been developed to bring its unique technology
  to the Windows PC desktop.

    DLSuperC is a not an ordinary compare program.  It features
  speed, accuracy (doesn't get lost) and versatility.  It handles
  file sizes greater than 64K and allows a user to "filter" out
  changes that are temporarily considered as unimportant (eg.,
  comments and text upper/lower case changes).  The program has
  been specially written for execution under Windows 3.1x.  The
  program's capabilities will be detail later below and in the
  DLSuperC Help (Overview) file.

    The DLSuperC package is an "update" to a previous AOL
  downloadable "VBSuperC" distribution package.  However, the
  newer DLSuperC package is a "Delphi-only" package and contains
  a different set of associated and independent utilities. This
  package does not completely replace the VBSuperC package. There
  is some overlap. Both packages may be of some combined value.

2. --- Credits ---

  The DLSuperC package is distributed for your personal use by
 its author:

         Donald M. Ludlow
         7829 Harbor Drive
         Raleigh, NC 27615
         (919) 846-7108
         superc02@aol.com

    These 3 contained programs are not intended to be used with
  any commercial product but may be freely distributed in the
  normal hacker tradition.  I would like to charge $40 for each
  copy but statistics show that only 5% of normal users pay. Why
  make the poor occasional users feel guilty -- enjoy!

    Commercial shops have their own internal policies for usage.
  Okay, i'll just pay for my own development programs, tools, and
  books from my retirement check. However, if any one feels that
  they enjoy the productivity of either package and wants to
  contribute $40 to further my hacking efforts, feel free to send
  a check to the address above.

    Note: Special commercial personalizations of DLSuperC can be
  generated upon special request by contacting this author. This
  version of DLSuperC can be commercially configured, for
  example, as a specialized/reduced function "embedded compare
  application" minus the front end DL component. Front end
  programs tend to get in the way of commercial products.  The
  IBM SuperC version (I was its author) was very successful in
  many embedded applications.  Many host applications never
  alluded to its presents as an underlying operating capability.

    In any case, I would feel privileged to receive any comments
  (good or bad) on the package programs.  Please let me know if
  there are bugs in the current release. My hardware testing
  environment is somewhat limited.  Use my E-Mail address or just
  give me a buzz.  There are always better better ways to do
  things.  Maybe you have some good thoughts on how a compare
  program should work. Some have said that sequential file
  compares are a thing of the past as most users store data in
  relational data bases.  Maybe so, but I have yet to see a data
  base program source file.

3. --- Package Details ---

    The DLSuperC package is designed to be contained in a single
  PKZIP file.  Many users who download the package are quite
  capable of selecting downloaded programs and executing them
  with very little assistance.  However, a separate program group
  installation program has been included and distributed as part
  of the package to help create a Windows Program Manager Group.
  The "installation" program (CREATGRP.EXE) generates a program
  group icon for the three separate program icons within the
  installed user's Program Manager environment.

    All of the 3 programs have separate help files that are
  independently invokable by double clicking on the "*.HLP" file
  name within a File Manager display list.  The same help files
  are also integrated within the programs under an "OVERVIEW"
  menu topic.  These help files describe each program and list
  their overall capabilities.  The DLSuperC.HLP file is quite
  elaborate and contains hypertext links to discuss various parts
  of the program support. Some of the discussion may be somewhat
  lengthy but it is intended to give an extensive background on
  DLSuperC's operations and its usefulness as a compare
  application utility. The help text contains multi-text
  highlighting. There is no color scheme plan (except for the
  green hypertext links) - just colors that are intended to liven
  up some boring dialog.  The Help Compiler that was used was
  "Forehelp" by ForeFront - Version 1.0.

4. --- Rest of Readme.Txt File Organization ---

    The folowing 6 sections appear below under the headings:

    5.  DLSuperC Program Overview
    6.  ListDirT Program Overview
    7.  DLPrntF  Program Overview
    8.  Differences between the DLSuperC and VBSuperC Packages
    9.  Drag and Drop Under Windows 3.1x systems
    10. DLSuperC Test Program Files

5. --- DLSuperC Program Overview ---

    DLSuperC is an intelligent compare program that compares two
  text file and generates a report file. The program handles file
  sizes greater than 64K (a feat that is hard to do in a 16 bit
  world). There are numerous output and input filtering options
  (e.g., comparing lines ignoring text upper and lower case
  differences, recognizing reformatted lines, and flagging text
  lines that have moved from a previous sequence, ignoring
  comment lines that are part of the program but not vital to
  seeing the program changes).  Different comparison reports can
  be selected to give a variety of output types allowing the user
  to see as little or as much of the compare results as
  necessary.  DLSuperC is also fast. It appears to give
  comparison results that look like the editing session that
  might have produced the changes. It doesn't get lost in
  determining changes.  The program can best be described as a
  super compare utility.

    The DLSuperC program is modeled after the IBM mainframe
  program -- SuperC.  Both programs appear to give similar
  results when comparing text data. Both can compare binary
  files. DLSuperC compares binary files by breaking up each line
  into 254 character line segments and listing the line as text
  data displaying a selectable substitute characters for each
  binary data character.

    The DLSuperC Windows program is a totally new program
  (actually an upgrade of the previous released VBSuperC program)
  and runs under the Microsoft Windows 3.1 environment.  It has
  several new capabilities specially for the Delphi and Visual
  Basic developer. The DLSuperC help file is quite extensive so
  refer to it as you are leaning its vast capabilities.

    DLSuperC is written in a combination of Delphi and C++.
  However, the C++ back end portion may someday be rewritten in
  Delphi so that the whole program may be written in the same
  technology.  This would make the combination program more
  responsive to time sharing the Windows message queue.
  Currently, the Delphi front end program quite graciously give
  up control while the C++ back end program tends to be a "CPU
  hog" until it gets done processing.

6. --- ListDirT Program Overview ---

    ListDirT is a valuable utility program that generates a
  report detailing the external storage occupied by a user's
  system.  It lists the subdirectories and, optional, file names
  for any designated drive path and that drive path hierarchy.
  For example, the program can show the whole directory tree of
  the C drive and how big each of the subdirectories are.  The
  sum total of the storage allocated appears in the immediate
  parent subdirectory. The report can also show what percentage
  the subdirectory occupies on the containing drive.

    The program gives results similar to the DOS TREE command
  except ListDirT runs under Windows and can give file size
  statistics.  ListDirT also details space allocation that
  appears unused due to the Windows cluster size allocation
  technique. Some users still believe that a 1 byte file and
  an allocated directory item uses up little space. How about a
  cluster for each one for 16K total bytes -- assuming an 8K
  byte cluster size on many partitioned systems.

7. --- DLPrntF Program Overview

    DLPrntF is a Delphi based text file print program.  It is
  self contained and does not need to direct its output to an
  editor to change the printing font, font size or directed
  output device. It features several advantages besides printing
  a text file.  It has options to change the "Courier New" font
  size for the text body.

  Note: VBPrntF (from the VBSuperC package) allowed the title and
  text to be printed in any font style.  However, DLPrntF appears
  to be faster and most of the use for the utility was found to
  be for program text where mono-fonts are normally used.

    DLPrntF implements line wrap or truncation on large lines and
  expands embedded tabs characters. It also produces a title line
  for each printed page. DLPrntF identifies the file being
  listed, the DOS date-time stamp of the file creation or
  alteration and a page number for each printed page.

    Delphi, Visual Basic 3, and Access 2 users may consider the
  optional bold print highlighting of Procedure/Sub/Function
  routine headers a productivity enhancement when printing .PAS,
  .FRM and .BAS files. An Xref section can be requested to appear
  on the first page detailing the lines numbers of the sections
  in the following listing.

    The Delphi IDE print routine does highlighting but it high-
  lights too much -- all the language keywords.  The Visual Basic
  IDE support, on the other hand, does no highlighting.  It also
  offers no print selectivity for font sizes.

    DLPrntF can also omit the Begin - End control section from a
  Visual Basic .FRM file.  This is a service much like the VB IDE
  provides with the "Code Only" print option. The DLPrntF print
  services are also augmented by a partial print of a file with
  page limits for start and stop page values.

    If you attempt to print a non-text file that contains binary
  data, the print program will prompt you before starting the
  print. The program is able to print these files because it
  substitutes a user selectable character in the output.

    The program, optionally, supports tab expansion by expanding
  the text stream that contains them.  If this option is not
  elected, tabs will have the substitute character used for
  binary data inserted in the output listing.

    Be sure that the output is directed to a printer.  Strange
  things happen if the output device is directed to a fax
  program.  DLPrintF can recover and suppress its output, but
  some fax programs have been known to take down the system with
  the DLPrintF data streams.

8. --- Differences in DLSuperC and VBSuperC Package ---

    This DLSuperC package differs from the previous (but similar
  AOL downloadable "VBSuperC") package in content and
  installation simplicity. There are no dependencies to use
  Microsoft's Visual Basic VBRUN300.DLL interpreter. All the
  programs are self contained within single directly executable
  EXE modules. All the programs have been designed using
  Borland's Delphi technology (except the DLSuperC C++ self
  contained back end program).

    The DLSuperC packaged install is simplified (as compared to
  the VBSuperC package and most other VB installs).  There are no
  interferences from other preloaded programs, Windows
  subdirectory DLLs and the new exe programs in this package. No
  special installation program are, therefore, needed to check
  for possible conflicts and transferring components to the
  Windows and Windows system subdirectory. The Creatgrp.exe
  program is provided, merely, to create a DLSuperC program
  group. It can also merge the new programs to an existing group.

    To repeat, no files are moved to the Windows subdirectory or
  Windows System subdirectory. The Windows Win.ini and System.ini
  files are never modified and the distributed programs require
  no special Windows DLLs or VBXs. A standard Windows system is
  sufficient.

    The 2 additional Delphi programs, DLPrntF.exe and
  ListDirT.exe, are goodies that could be helpful.  DLPrntF
  replaces VBPrntf from the older package.  ListDirT is new.

    The other VBSuperC companion programs (VBRevDel, VBDirCmp,
  LoadPgm, and FilePath) are all omitted because they are VB
  programs.  These programs require special installation
  considerations and are incompatible with the DLSuperC release
  intent.

9. --- Drag and Drop Under Windows 3.1x Systems ---

    Under the Microsoft Windows system file manager, a program
  app must be active before it can accept dropped file names.
  That means the application must be on the desktop (even
  minimized) before the mechanism can be completed.  This is not
  true with PCTOOLS and NORTON Desktop Systems. See the
  discussion in the DLSuperC Help file for more details about
  drag and drop and desktop systems.

    Be very careful when you drag and drop multiple files names
  from a File Manager to a Norton desktop icon.  There is a bug
  in the Windows 3.11 parameter list process.  File names in the
  string can not be over 126 characters in combined length.  The
  system will warn you that that limit has been exceeded.  It
  will also hang and require a reboot since there is no recovery
  even though the system gives a choice.  PCTools for Windows, on
  the other hand, passes each name as separately.  This causes
  the program to be feed a single name at a time.  This is good
  for a program like DLPrntF which only requires one name to
  start.  DLSuperC will not start until two names are received
  and it really looks strange.  Just a few things to watch for.

10. --- DLSuperC Installed Test Program Sample ---

    The DLSuperC.ini file has been initialized to bring up a menu
  with a comparison of two test files that are contained in the
  installed application subdirectory.  These files are actual
  different level of my own system.ini and the comparison shows
  the system reconfiguration changes.

    One test file is  : testnew.txt - New file name
    The other file is : testold.txt - Old file name

    The following comparison process options are used:

    dsem -- Don't process semi colon headed lines.
         -- Excludes comment lines appearing in the sample
            SYSTEM.INI file.
    fmvl -- Flag moved insert/delete matching lines.
         -- Shows matching configuration statements that appear
            out of sequence order but are still contained in
            both files.
    icas -- Ignore case during compare.
         -- Shows matching lines after conversion to the same
            case.
    rovr -- Reformat override.
         -- Lines that would match if blanks were ignored.

    The option list is rather encompassing - mostly to display
    the varied capability of the compare program.

    The listing type will be set for:

    Chng (changed lines will be listed with up to 6 preceding and
          following matched lines)

    After activating the DLSuperC application, click on the
  start compare button to run the program and see the results.
*************************************************************************
