















                                MRBackup Version 3.3d
           
                             A Hard Disk Backup Utility

                                       for the

                                  Commodore Amiga 

                                   September 1989
           
                                   Mark R. Rinfret






          Introduction

               MRBackup provides  a range  of services which support backup
          and restore of files to/from hard  disk.   This program  has been
          available for  over a year and has seen several changes (good and
          bad) during that time.  Version 3 contains  major differences and
          some incompatibilities  with version  2.  See the Changes section
          at the end of this document for details.


          Requirements

               MRBackup requires the AmigaDOS version 1.3  operating system
          and an installed ARP library, version 34.1 or higher (arp.library
          should have been included with MRBackup).  In  addition, MRBackup
          runs best with at least 1 megabyte of RAM installed.  A hard disk
          is not necessary (believe it or not!) to use MRBackup. 


          Installation

               The MRBackup "kit" consists of the following files:

               MRBackup            - the program file
               MRBackup.info       - program icon file
               MRBackup.TXT        - document file
               MRBackup.init       - user preferences file
               MRBackup.xcld       - exclude filter file
               MRBackup.cflt       - compression filter file
               arp.library         - ARP shared library
               Install             - CLI command file installation

          To perform the default installation, just type

               EXECUTE Install

          This will install the program  in  the  SYS:C  directory  and the
          support  files  (minus  the  document)  in the S: directory.  The
          arp.library file will be copied to the LIBS: directory if it does
          not already exist. MRBackup looks for its support files either in
          the S: directory or in the directory that is current  at the time
          that MRBackup  is executed.   Of course, you can edit the Install
          file to tailor  it  to  meet  your  requirements.    To  obtain a
          hardcopy of the document file, type

               COPY MRBackup.TXT TO PRT:

          Operation

               To use  MRBackup, click on the program icon or type MRBackup
          at the CLI prompt. MRBackup runs in its  own screen.   During its
          initialization,  MRBackup  will  read  the  user preferences file

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          (MRBackup.init) and set various program options (including screen
          colors) according to the settings in the preferences file.  


          User Interface

               MRBackup  communicates  with  the  user  through  the use of
          standard Amiga features, such as windows, gadgets, requesters and
          menus.   It also  will communicate  with synthesized voice if you
          enable that option.

               MRBackup runs in a  custom screen  (2 bitplanes,  4 colors).
          The colors  of the  screen can be adjusted through options in the
          preferences  file  (color0  -  color3)  or  via  a  color palette
          accessible  from  the  menu.    The  main window displays various
          program  settings  and  status  information  through  the  use of
          numerous gadgets.  A second window is visible only when using the
          Utilities  command,  which  can   be  thought   of  as   a  small
          "program-within-a-program".

               The  main  window  has  been  designed  such  that primarily
          dynamic (changing) information is displayed in  the top  half and
          static information is displayed in the bottom half.  If you elect
          to use a console specification (CON: or NEWCON:) for your logging
          device, you can drag MRBackup's screen down to reveal the logging
          window and not miss  what's  going  on  in  the  dynamic  area of
          MRBackup's main window.

               There is  one program  menu, named Operations, which invokes
          MRBackup's "actions" (backup, restore, etc.).  Its items  will be
          described in detail later on in this document.


          Main Window Settings

               As  you  view  the  main  window,  you should notice several
          gadgets with boxes containing text or numbers.  The gadget titles
          are placed  either on top of or to the right of the gadgets. When
          changing the contents of  the various  string gadgets,  please be
          sure to hit the RETURN key to complete the change.  MRBackup will
          not recognize the change until the  RETURN key  has been pressed.
          If you  make an  input error  and you  forget to press the RETURN
          key, you may not find out about it  until you  start a  backup or
          restore operation.  Several of  these gadgets  have arrow gadgets
          (>>>>) adjacent to them.  Clicking on the arrow gadgets invokes a
          requester which  assists in  filling in  the gadget values (which
          may also be entered directly into the gadget box). There are also
          a pair  of gadgets near the upper right hand corner of the window
          labelled STOP and PAUSE.  The  purpose of  each of  these gadgets
          will be described in the following paragraphs.

               Test Date

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                    The test  date is used when MRBackup performs a backup.
               Only files which have been created or changed since the test
               date will  be eligible for backup.  You should note that the
               default value for the test date is "01/01/78 00:00:00" which
               is the  Amiga's "beginning of history". This value makes all
               files eligible for backup  operations. You  may enter  a new
               value  (using  the  same  format  as  the default value)  by
               typing  directly  into  the  test  date  string  gadget (and
               pressing RETURN) or you can invoke MRBackup's date requester
               by clicking on the  arrow gadget  adjacent to  the test date
               gadget.  

                    If  you   click  on   the  arrow  gadget,  a  requester
               containing the test date will appear.   You  may then change
               the test  date through  a combination of keyboard and gadget
               operations.  Remember that  to  clear  the  gadget,  you may
               press  right-Amiga-x.  A  null  date  value  (all blanks) is
               allowed, should  you want  to backup  all files  in the home
               path, regardless  of their  creation dates. The minimum date
               value  handled  by  this  date  requester  is  01/01/78. The
               required date  and time format is MM/DD/YY HH:MM:SS (24 hour
               clock), the  time  specification  being  optional.  You will
               notice upward and downward pointing "arrows" above each date
               component. Clicking on the appropriate arrow  will increment
               or decrement  the respective portion of the date. Though the
               values normally will  wrap  around,  not  affecting adjacent
               date  components,   certain  situations   will  arise  where
               incrementing a day value  may cause  the month  to increment
               (incrementing  February  28  in  a  non-leap-year will yield
               March 31).  There is also  a "NOW"  gadget.   Though not too
               meaningful by itself, it provides a convenient way to "click
               in" dates like "yesterday".  To do this, simply click on the
               "NOW" gadget, then click on the uparrow gadget above the day
               field of the date.


               Status

                    The Status gadget provides a brief  textual description
               of  the   state  of   MRBackup  during  backup  and  restore
               operations.


               Error Count

                    The Error  Count gadget  displays the  number of errors
               that have occurred during a backup or restore.


               Home Path 


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                    The  Home  Path  gadget  defines  the home location for
               files being backed up or restored. For backup operations, it
               is the  name of  the "source" or "from" device or directory.
               On restore operations, it is the  name of  the "destination"
               or "to" device or directory. The "Home Path" may be the name
               of any disk directory  or volume  or file-structured logical
               name.


               Current File

                    The Current  File gadget  is updated  during backup and
               restore operations to report the active file.


               Backup Path

                    The  Backup  Path  gadget  defines  the   "offline"  or
               "archived" location  for files  being backed up or restored.
               For backup operations, it is the  name of  the "destination"
               or "to"  device or  directory.  On restore operations, it is
               the name of the  "source"  or  "from"  device  or directory.
               Note that  its meaning  is directly  opposite to that of the
               Home Path gadget.  You should also note that the value input
               to the Backup Path gadget is not verified immediately, as is
               the Home Path.  This  allows  you  to  specify  a  device or
               directory which  is not  currently mounted.   If you make an
               erroneous entry, it will be  detected  and  reported  by the
               backup or restore operations.
                 
                    The  "Backup  Path"  must  specify the name of a floppy
               disk device (DF0:, DF1:, etc.) if formatting is enabled (see
               Formatting in a later paragraph).  Otherwise, it may specify
               any directory, volume or file-structured logical name.


               Current Backup Volume

                    The Current Backup Volume  gadget is  updated by backup
               and  restore  operations  to  display the volume name of the
               backup device or directory.


               Output Capacity

                    The Output Capacity gadget is similar  in concept  to a
               fuel  gauge.    It  graphically displays the amount of space
               remaining on the output  device, which  is specified  by the
               Backup  Path  during  backup  operations  and  the Home Path
               during restore operations.



                                          5





               Blocks

                    For those of you with  a  digital  mindset,  the Blocks
               gadget displays  the same information as the Output Capacity
               gadget, but with a digital readout  of the  number of blocks
               available on the output device.


               Listing Path

                    The Listing  Path gadget  specifies the  pathname to be
               used  when  writing  the   detailed  listing   of  a  backup
               operations.  It  may  specify  the printer (PRT: default), a
               file (i.e. MRBackup.list),  or  some  other  stream oriented
               device, such  as SER:.   The Listing Path is only meaningful
               when the Listing gadget is set to ON.

                    Listings are currently only  generated when  the Backup
               command  is  used.  Each  time a backup is started, MRBackup
               checks for the existence of the listing file.  If it exists,
               you will be prompted with a requester which says

                    Overwrite contents of listing file (NO = append)?

               A  YES  response  to  this requester will cause the previous
               contents of the listing file to be destroyed.  A NO response
               will cause new listing information to be appended to the end
               of the listing file.  In  this manner,  you can  do separate
               backups of  different areas  of your disk while accumulating
               the summary information in one file.


               Compression Filter

                    The Compression Filter gadget  specifies the  name of a
               file which  contains pathname patterns of files which should
               not be compressed during backup.   The default  name of this
               filter is  "S:MRBackup.cflt". It has been found that certain
               files will actually expand when subjected  to the Lempel-Ziv
               compression  algorithm  employed  by  MRBackup.  Files which
               fall into this category include archives created by  the ARC
               and Zoo  programs.  Also, files previously compressed should
               not be compressed a second time.  Other  files which exhibit
               this behavior  include several types of graphics files, such
               as IFF ILBM files and GIF files.  

                    These  pathname  patterns  use  ARP-style  wildcarding.
               That  is,   both  the  asterisk  (*)  and  the  number-sign,
               question-mark combination  (#?)  can  be  used  to represent
               multiple-character  sequences.    The full range of AmigaDOS
               filename pattern specification can be employed.  


                                          6





                    The compression filter file  can  be  created  with any
               text editor  or word processor which will output plain text.
               Each line of  the  file  should  contain  only  one pattern.
               Blank  lines  are  ignored.  Also,  the  specifications  are
               case-insensitive.  That   is,  "SYSTEM"   and  "system"  are
               equivalent.  It  is  important  to  note  that  the pathname
               specifications  are  assumed  to  be  RELATIVE  to  the home
               device.  Everything up to and including the colon (:) in the
               Home Path specification should  be omitted  from the exclude
               filter specifications.  
                
                    There  are  three  built-in  patterns which need not be
               included in the compression filter file.  They are:

               *.arc     Files created by the ARC archiver
               *.zoo     Files created by the Zoo archiver
               *.Z       Files  created  by  MRBackup  compression  or  the
                         standalone "compress" utility.

               Other specifications that you might want to include are:

               *.GIF     Graphics Interchange Format files (Compuserve)
               *.IFF     IFF files (assuming you use this convention)

               Naturally, in  order to fully utilize this feature, you will
               have to adopt some  naming  conventions  for  files  of this
               category.

                
               Backup Volume Prefix

                    When  the  Backup  Path  names  a  floppy  diskette and
               formatting is enabled, MRBackup  must  give  a  name  to the
               newly  formatted  diskette.    The default naming convention
               creates a string of the form "Backup MM-DD-YY.n"  where <MM-
               DD-YY> is the current date and <n> is the sequence number of
               the  diskette  being  formatted.    You  can  override  this
               convention  (somewhat)  by  typing  a  value into the Backup
               Volume Prefix gadget.  The diskette sequence number  will be
               appended  to  the  prefix  you  choose.    Note that certain
               special  characters  are  forbidden  (#,  ?,  `,  ',  :, ").
               MRBackup will convert these to a period.



               Exclude Filter

                    The Exclude  Filter gadget  names a file which contains
               lines describing files which should not  be backed  up.  The
               default pathname  for this  file is "S:MRBackup.xcld".   Any
               filename matching an entry in  this  list  will  be excluded
               from  a  backup.  The  format  of the Exclude Filter file is

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               identical to that of the Compress Filter file. Here are some
               examples:

               ; Exclude all object files
               #?.o
               ; Exclude all files beginning with "System"
               system*
               ; Exclude all ".info" files
               *.info
               ; Exclude the "include" directory and all subdirectories
               include
               ;  Exclude  any  file  ending  in  a  period followed by one
               character
               #?.?


               Preferences

                    The Preferences gadget specifies  the name  of the file
               containing all  of MRBackup's custom settings. When MRBackup
               is started, it first  looks for  the file  MRBackup.init, in
               the current  directory.   If that file isn't found, it looks
               for  S:MRBackup.init.    You  may  change  some  or  all  of
               MRBackup's default  settings, using  the gadgets describe in
               this section, then save  them to  the file  specified by the
               Preferences  gadget.  Each  line  in  the  file is either an
               option setting, of the form:

               OPTION = VALUE

               or a comment. Comment lines begin  with a  semi-colon (;). A
               sample initialization file is included on the next page.  It
               illustrates the use of all possible parameter settings.




















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          ; This is the MRBackup preferences/initialization file.
          ; This file is comprised of parameter settings and comment lines.
          ; Parameter setting lines are of the form:
          ;     <keyword> = <value>
          ; where <keyword> names the parameter to be set and <value> is
          ; either a boolean (YES/NO) or a string value.
          ; Leading blanks are discarded and empty lines are ignored.
          ; Comments may begin with a semi-colon (;).
          ; Decimal value for screen color 0
          color0 = 0
          ; Decimal value for screen color 1
          color1 = 3020
          ; Decimal value for screen color 2
          color2 = 4080
          ; Decimal value for screen color 3
          color3 = 3616
          ; Level of Lempel-Ziv file compression.
          compression = 13-Bit
          ; Level of Lempel-Zip file decompression.
          decompression = 13-Bit
          ; Should MRBackup generate a paginated listing during backup?
          listing = YES
          ; Should MRBackup talk to me?
          speech = YES
          ; How should floppies be formatted during backup?
          format = Quick
          ; Should MRBackup split large files across multiple floppies?
          bigfiles = YES
          ; Should MRBackup set archive bits during backup/restore?
          setarchivebits = NO
          ; Should MRBackup test archive bits during backup?
          testarchivebits = NO
          ; What is the name of the logging file or device?
          log = NEWCON:0/10/640/190/MRBackup.Log
          ; What is the name of the home device/volume/directory?
          home = DH0:
          ; What is the name of the backup device/volume/directory?
          backup = DF0:
          ; What is the name of the listing device or file?
          list = PRT:
          ; What is the name of the exclude filter file?
          exclude = MRBackup.xcld
          ; What is the name of the compression filter file?
          cfilter = MRBackup.cflt
          ; What is the prefix to be used when naming backup diskettes?
          prefix = MyBackup







                                          9






          Log File

               The Log File gadget contains the name of the file  or device
          (including  console)  which  will  receive  special informational
          messages output by MRBackup during the  course of  its operation.
          You  can  disable  the  log  file simply by clearing the Log File
          gadget and pressing the RETURN key.  Any stream-oriented  file or
          device  specification  is  allowed.    If  you wish to direct the
          logging output  to  a  window,  use  a  CON:  or  NEWCON: console
          specification.  Example:

          NEWCON:0/10/640/190/MRBackup-LOG

          If you  do specify  a console,  you must be aware that the window
          will be opened on  the WorkBench  screen, rather  than MRBackup's
          custom  screen.    To  view  the  console  window,  just flip the
          WorkBench screen to the front with the Left-Amiga  N combination.
          When you  are done viewing it, return to the MRBackup screen with
          Left-Amiga M.


          Listing

               The Listing gadget is an ON/OFF gadget (clicking  on it will
          invert  its  value)  which  controls  whether  a  listing will be
          produced when performing a backup.


          Test Archive Bits

               Each AmigaDOS file has a  special  flag,  called  an archive
          bit,  which  can  be  used  to indicate whether the file has been
          archived by a disk backup program.    If  the  Test  Archive Bits
          gadget is  set to  ON, only  files whose archive bits are not set
          will be considered for  backup (the  test date  is also applied).
          This  gives  you  a  very  accurate method for incremental backup
          selection if  you're careful  with your  backup diskette library.
          Also, see the Set Archive Bits gadget description.


          Set Archive Bits

               If this gadget is enabled, MRBackup will set the archive bit
          of any file that it  backs  up.  The  archive  bit  will normally
          remain set  until the file is modified in some way. On subsequent
          backups, if the file remains unchanged and the  Test Archive Bits
          gadget is  enabled, the  file will  be excluded from that backup.
          This  provides  an  alternative  to  the  Test  Date  when  doing
          incremental backups.

               The setting of the archive bits is deferred until the backup

                                         10





          is completed or the current diskette is filled.  Thus,  should an
          error occur during the backup, you won't be left with files whose
          archive bits have been set but in reality do not exist on  a good
          backup disk.


          Big Files

               The Big  Files gadget  is an ON/OFF gadget which toggles its
          value when clicked. When  ON, it  enables the  archiving of "big"
          files.  Big  files  are  files  whose  size exceeds the formatted
          capacity of a standard 3.5" diskette  (1756 blocks).  In order to
          backup big  files, MRBackup  must split  them across  two or more
          diskettes. In order to  accomplish  this,  a  special information
          file,  MRBackup.bigfile,  is  written  to  each  backup  diskette
          containing a big file.  MRBackup also  requires formatting  to be
          enabled in  order for a big file backup to be attempted. If these
          conditions are not met,  MRBackup will  simply skip  over the big
          file, reporting the event.


          Voice

               The Voice  gadget is an ON/OFF gadget which enables/disables
          MRBackup's ability to speak to you, using the Amiga's synthesized
          voice  capabilities.    This  is  especially  useful  when  doing
          backups. When a new diskette is required, MRBackup will call you.
          In order  to enable  the voice  option, your system must have the
          SPEAK: device mounted.  SPEAK: was introduced with version 1.3 of
          AmigaDOS.


          Compression

               The Compression  gadget determines if file compression is to
          be performed during backup and, if  so, the  size of  the "codes"
          used to  perform the  compression.   Clicking on this gadget will
          cause it to cycle through its range of values from "None" to "16-
          Bit".    See  the  section titled "Compression/Decompression" for
          more details on file compression.


          Decompression

               The Decompression gadget behaves in much the same  manner as
          the  Compression  gadget,  except  that  it controls the level of
          decompression to be performed  during restore  operations.  Thus,
          you  can  independently  control  backup and restore compression.
          During restore, files which  were compressed  with a  larger code
          size  than  that  selected  by  the  Decompression gadget will be
          copied  to  the  home  device,  rather  than  being decompressed.
          Should you wish to decompress these files later, MRBackup will do

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          it for you.   Just use  the Utilities  command in  the Operations
          menu.


          Formatting

               The Formatting gadget controls the level of formatting to be
          applied to a diskette when a  backup is  done.   Clicking on this
          gadget  will  cause  it  to  cycle  through its range of possible
          values.  They are:

                    None - The  diskette  is  assumed  to  be preformatted.
                    Files backed up to the diskette will either be added to
                    files already on the diskette.  If a  file by  the same
                    name already exists, it will be overwritten.

                    Normal - The diskette will be completely formatted.  

                    Quick  -   The  diskette   must  have  been  previously
                    formatted.  It may be a brand new diskette or  one with
                    old files  on it.  All information about existing files
                    on the diskette is erased.  Since only  two tracks need
                    to be  rewritten in  order to  do this, the diskette is
                    initialized very  quickly.    If  you  batch-format new
                    disks  as  you  purchase  them,  this  mode  is  highly
                    recommended, as it will save you a fair  amount of time
                    over the "Normal" mode.


























                                         12







               Error Handling

                    The Error  Handling gadget  controls the level of error
               handling that MRBackup will employ during backup and restore
               operations.   Clicking on this gadget will cause it to cycle
               through its range of values.  They are:

                    Interactive - When an  error  is  encountered, MRBackup
                    will  report   the  error,  then  present  you  with  a
                    requester  listing   the  recovery   options  that  are
                    available.

                    Retry - When an error occurs, MRBackup will attempt the
                    operation again, up to the number  of retries specified
                    in the  Retries gadget  (later). Errors will be counted
                    and displayed in the Error Count gadget.

                    Ignore - MRBackup  will  attempt  to  recover  from the
                    error by retrying up to the number of retries specified
                    in the Retries gadget.    If  recovery  isn't achieved,
                    MRBackup will  skip the  current operation and go on to
                    the next.  For obvious reasons, this mode  of operation
                    is not  recommended, though it is provided for the user
                    who sees a need for it.

                    Abort - upon  detection  of  any  error,  MRBackup will
                    promptly   terminate   the   current   operation  after
                    reporting the error.


               Retries

                    The Retries gadget determines the number  of times that
               MRBackup will  attempt to  recover from a file or disk error
               before aborting or proceeding to the next file.


          Compression/Decompression

               The form of compression employed by  MRBackup is Lempel-Ziv,
          used in   popular  archiving programs and the compress program on
          Unix systems. It is reasonably efficient,  performing compression
          "on-the-fly"  (requires  only  1  pass  of  a file) and can yield
          compression factors on the order of 35% - 65% (typical). 

               Compression is achieved by  remapping  byte  sequences  in a
          file  to  new  "codes".    Usually, the remapping results in code
          sequences whose total number of bits is less  than the  number of
          bits in  the original  file data.  The codes have a maximum size,
          specified  as  a  number  of  bits,  which  governs  the  overall

                                         13





          performance of  the compression.  MRBackup supports code sizes in
          the range of 12-16 bits.   The  larger  code  sizes  require more
          processor time  to compress  a given file and more memory to hold
          the code tables.  Using 12-Bit codes requires an additional 30000
          bytes of  memory (vs.  no compression).   16-Bit codes require an
          additional 414000 (yes!) bytes.  You will not be able  to use 16-
          Bit  codes  on  a  minimally  equipped Amiga.  Depending upon the
          amount of memory you  have available,  you may  have to terminate
          some applications  and/or close  some windows in order to free up
          enough memory to use 16-Bit codes.  If this doesn't  work, reduce
          the code  size until you find a value that works on your machine.


          The Operations Menu

               MRBackup currently  has  one  Menu,  titled  the "Operations
          Menu".    Each  item  in  the  menu  causes  some operation to be
          performed.  The Operations Menu items are:


               Backup

                    This command  begins  the  backup  process.  You should
               first be sure that all program settings are correct.


               Colors

                    The Colors command pops up a color palette requester on
               your screen.  With it, you can change  the 4  colors used by
               MRBackup's screen and windows.


               Resume Backup

                    This  command  allows  you  to backup your hard disk in
               stages or recover from  an  interruption,  such  as  a power
               failure. Prior  to "starting" each backup diskette, MRBackup
               writes information about its  current  internal  state  to a
               file named  S:MRBackup.context. The  first line of this file
               is the disk sequence number (1..n).  The second  line is the
               name  of  the  first  file  to be written to the floppy. The
               third line is the backup "delta date". Subsequent  lines are
               the names  of files  and directories in MRBackup's top-level
               file list. As long as the  file specified  in line  2 can be
               found, MRBackup  should be  able to resume your backup, even
               if changes  have  occurred  since  the  original  backup was
               interrupted. You  may even edit the context file for special
               situations where  you  wish  to  backup  a  disjoint  set of
               directories.



                                         14





               Restore

                    Restore  allows   you  to  recover  files  from  backup
               diskettes  previously  created  with  the  Backup  or Resume
               Backup commands.  MRBackup will  prompt you for diskettes as
               they are needed. Note  that  there  is  no  rigid  order for
               restoring diskettes.


               Load Preferences

                    This command  reads all  MRBackup program settings from
               the file specified  by  the  Preferences  gadget.  You would
               typically use this command to restore MRBackup's settings to
               your startup settings.


               Save Preferences

                    This command writes the MRBackup's current  settings to
               the file  specified by  the Preferences  gadget. This allows
               you   to   establish   MRBackup's   default   initialization
               parameters.  MRBackup  will  attempt  to  make a copy of the
               current preferences to a file of the same name, but  with an
               extension  of  ".bak".    If  the  preferences name you have
               specified does not currently exist, MRBackup will inform you
               that it could not make a backup.  


               Utilities

                    The  Utilities  command  provides  tools for performing
               certain operations on select groups of  files.   It provides
               its own window and support gadgetry.  The utilities provided
               and the means for  accessing them  are described  in a later
               section  of  this  document.    PLEASE  READ  THE  UTILITIES
               DOCUMENTATION CAREFULLY!  Operation  of  these  utilities is
               not  entirely  intuitive  and  there  are  certain operating
               characteristics that you must be aware of if you are  to use
               them correctly.   Also, these utilities do not attempt to be
               a replacement for the standard AmigaDos  utilities.  Rather,
               they  are  provided  as  a convenience for use while running
               MRBackup.


               Quit

                    Alas - all good things must come to an end. As much fun
               as MRBackup  is to  use, you'll probably want to put it away
               once in a while :-).



                                         15





               Backing Up a Disk

                    The instructions  that follow  assume you  are going to
               backup your  hard disk,  or a  portion of it, to unformatted
               diskettes.  You may also move  files from/to  just about any
               file-structured  volume   or  directory.  Just  remember  to
               disable  disk   formatting   to   relax   the   Backup  Path
               restrictions. To back up your hard disk, or a section of it,
               first get an indication  of the  size of  the area  with the
               Info command,  "ls" (if  you have  it), List,  etc. To get a
               rough estimate of the  number of  diskettes required, divide
               the total  number of bytes (blocks * 512) by 800000.  If you
               have enabled file compression, multiply this result by 0.60.
               This should  give you  a very rough estimate (probably high)
               of the number of diskettes required to back up that area. 

                    The  diskettes  selected  for   backup   need   not  be
               preformatted, as MRBackup will format them as needed. If you
               are using previously formatted diskettes, remember  that you
               can save  time if  you use the Quick format option. Remember
               that formatting (Normal  or  Quick)  will  destroy  any data
               previously stored on your diskettes.

                    Once your diskettes are ready and stacked neatly within
               reach (get some labels and your favorite marker  pen, too!),
               the  fun  begins.  First, modify the pathname specifications
               according to your requirements.  Normally,  the  "Home Path"
               would be the device name of your hard disk or a directory on
               it (e.g. DH0:) while the  "Backup  Path"  would  specify the
               device name of  one of your floppy drives (e.g. DF0:). While
               earlier versions  of  MRBackup  were  pretty  rigid  in this
               regard,  this  version  will  allow  you to specify ANY disk
               device name  in  either  specification.  PLEASE  BE CAREFUL!
               Many  users  asked  for  this increased flexibility. Just be
               aware that it carries with it an increased risk that you now
               have  more  "opportunity"  to  burn  yourself  with improper
               pathname specifications.

                    Finally, the listing path may  be  set  to  the printer
               device (PRT:)  or to  the name  of a file on a hard drive or
               any available floppy drive not being used by the backup. The
               listing path  will be  ignored if you set the Listing gadget
               to OFF.

                    Make sure that you have set the desired  options in the
               main window, then select Backup from the Operations menu. 

                    Once  the  date  has  been  entered, the rest is fairly
               automatic. You will be prompted immediately  for a diskette.
               Insert it  into the  floppy drive  that you specified in the
               backup path and the disk requester will be satisfied. Should
               you  want  to  abort,  simply  hit  the CANCEL gadget in the

                                         16





               requester. Also, you may abort  the  backup  process  at any
               time by  hitting the  STOP gadget  which appears  in the top
               left area  of the  screen. This  gadget is  checked prior to
               each block  write operation,  so be  patient if  it does not
               respond  immediately.  Use  the  STOP  gadget  with caution-
               it really lives  up to  its name! You may also use the PAUSE
               gadget to suspend a backup or  restore operation.   Once the
               PAUSE  gadget  is  hit,  it  must be hit again to resume the
               current operation.

                    As each diskette is  filled, you  should promptly label
               it.  If   formatting  is   enabled,  MRBackup  automatically
               generates volume names of the form:

                    Backup MM-DD-YY.<sequence number>

               Also to be noted is the  fact that  the files  on the backup
               media   retain   the  creation/modification  date,  comments
               (FileNotes) and protection bits of their counterparts on the
               home device.

                    You will find that the Amiga's multitasking environment
               shines when using this program. For those long-haul backups,
               get everything  started, then shove MRBackup's screen to the
               back and go start something useful.  MRBackup will  carry on
               without your  watchful eye.  When it  needs a disk, the disk
               requester will pop out in front  of everything  and MRBackup
               will ask  (out loud, if voice is enabled ) for another disk.
               Having something else to do will make the time pass faster.


               Restoring the Backups

                    No, this isn't always the bad part. Backup  and restore
               can also  be useful  when your  hard disk is crowded and you
               have to "juggle" data  around.  The  restoration  process is
               quite similar,  mechanically, to  the backup  process - it's
               just reversed. In addition,  the  meanings  of  the pathname
               specifications  are   altered  somewhat.   The  "Home  path"
               describes the destination for  the  restored  files  and, as
               with the  backup process, may specify any valid directory or
               file-structured device pathname. The "Backup Path" describes
               the file  or files  to be  restored and  thus may be defined
               down to the file level (1 file).

                    Note that on a  restore  operation,  the  file creation
               date of the backup file is compared to its matching file (if
               it exists) on the home  device.  If  the  file  on  the home
               device has  the same  date or is newer, the file will not be
               replaced. If you wish to restore the older copy, it  must be
               deleted first.


                                         17






          Utilities Operation

               The  MRBackup  Utilities  window  is  activated by selecting
          "Utilities" from the Operations  menu.   The utilities  provide a
          range of  services which  augment the  power of MRBackup and lend
          convenience to its use.  PLEASE READ THIS SECTION CAREFULLY!  The
          proper operation  of these  utilities may run counter to what you
          expect and some of the features/capabilities are quite subtle.

               The first point to be  noted  is  that  these  utilities are
          designed  primarily  to  perform  operations  across directory or
          device boundaries, though the Compress and  Decompress operations
          may be  performed in  a single directory and the Delete operation
          always works  on  a  single  directory.    At  the  heart  of the
          utilities' operation is a highly interactive file requester which
          supports the concept of  "extended  selection"  (quite  common on
          you-know-who's  computer).    With  extended  selection,  you can
          select a subset of files listed for a given directory  by holding
          down the  SHIFT key  during the selection process.  This group of
          files may then be "fed" to the desired operation.  I will discuss
          this in more detail later on.

               Now, let's  get acquainted  with the  layout of the MRBackup
          Utilities window.  If  MRBackup  isn't  already  running  on your
          Amiga,  fire  it  up  and  select  the Utilities command from the
          Operations menu.  Refer to the screen while reading this document
          to maintain your orientation.

               Note  that  when  the  Utilities  are selected, a new window
          appears.  Also note the "close  box" (rectangle  with the  dot in
          the middle)  on the  title bar  of the MRBackup Utilities window.
          The utilities are exited by clicking in the close box.  Though it
          is possible  to flip  back and forth between the Utilities window
          and the main window (for parameter viewing purposes),  you should
          confine  your  actions  to  the  Utilities  window  until you are
          through with the services that  it  provides.    Mouse-clicks and
          menu  operations  in  the  main  window  are  ignored  while  the
          Utilities window is open.

               Now let's get oriented.  The top-leftmost  gadget is labeled
          "DRIVE".   This gadget  allows you to cycle through the currently
          mounted disk volumes (logical  and physical  drives). This gadget
          is only  active when either the "From" or "To" switch (later) has
          been set to "ON".  To the right of the  DRIVE gadget  is a string
          gadget labeled  "FileSpec".  This gadget allows you to limit your
          file  searches  ("From"  directory  only)  to  only  those  files
          matching a  given pattern.  Normally, this pattern, if specified,
          will include the wildcard characters  "*",  "#?"  and  "?".   For
          instance (and  we're jumping ahead of ourselves a little), if you
          want to  decompress a  group of  files, it  is highly recommended
          that you  first enter  the string "*.Z" into the FileSpec gadget.

                                         18





          This limits visibility to only those files which end in ".Z" (the
          only files  which can  be decompressed).  If you wanted to delete
          all  object  files,  you  would  probably  enter  "*.o"  into the
          FileSpec gadget.   Get  the picture?   For  those who are totally
          unfamiliar with  wildcard (meta)  characters, an  asterisk (*) or
          number  sign  and  question  mark  (#?) are used to represent any
          number  of  characters,  while  a  question  mark  (?) represents
          exactly one character.  Got the drift?  Good.

               Below  the  FileSpec  gadget  are  two  triplets of gadgets,
          labeled "From" and "To".    The  "From"  gadget  is  a  device or
          directory  pathname  specification  for  a  group  of files to be
          operated on.  The "To" gadget  specifies the  device or directory
          which is  the destination for these files (when it is appropriate
          to have a destination - DELETE has no  destination).   The ON/OFF
          switches to  the left  of the From and To gadgets determine which
          path's files are currently displayed in  the file  display box at
          the bottom  of the  window.   To the  left of the "From" and "To"
          pathname gadgets are a couple of  upward pointing  arrows.  These
          gadgets attempt  to obtain the parent directory or device for the
          pathname currently displayed.  For example, if the  "From" gadget
          is currently displaying the pathname

               DH0:Devs/Printers

          clicking on the arrow gadget will cause

               DH0:Devs

          to be  displayed, the  file display  box (big  box at the bottom)
          will be cleared and a new file scan will be started.   You should
          also note  that the switch gadget related to that gadget need not
          be open for this behavior to occur.

               The next string gadget (down) is labeled "Info".  The "Info"
          gadget is used to display general information about the status of
          the Utilities, including  the  name  of  the  current  file being
          processed and error reports. 

               Now we  get to the good part.  You should see a big box with
          a  border in the center of the  screen. Immediately  to its right
          is a  slider gadget.   To  the right  of the slider are two boxes
          labeled "All Files" and "Clear".   These  all  make  up  the file
          requester that  control the Utilities operation.  You've probably
          used similar file requesters before.    Though  I  wrote original
          code for  this, I  tip my  hat to Charlie Heath (MicroSmiths) and
          Peter da Silva for  their pioneering  in this  area.   I borrowed
          heavily from  their prior  works.  In discussing the operation of
          the file requester, I  will be  referring back  to the previously
          described gadgets.

               In order  to do something here, you first have to select one

                                         19





          or more files to "do it to".  This group of files is described by
          the "From"  list.  You can start a scan for this list by entering
          the desired starting path in the From pathname gadget and hitting
          the RETURN  key or  by clicking  on the associated switch gadget.
          If you have done  this correctly,  you should  immediately note a
          bustle  of  activity  as  the  disk is searched and the screen is
          updated.  You should observe filenames appearing in the requester
          display box and the slider bar should start to shrink.  Depending
          on the starting path you  entered  into  the  "From"  gadget, you
          might notice that some of the filenames are displayed in the same
          color as the title bar, while others are  displayed in  the color
          used by the requester and gadget borders.  Those displayed in the
          menu bar's color are simple filenames,  while the  others are the
          names of  directories.   If you want a good illustration of this,
          select FONTS: or DEVS:  as the  starting path.   You  should also
          note  that  the  filenames  appear  in unsorted order.  They will
          remain unsorted until you click on the slider.

               Now let's discuss the  interactive and  interruptible nature
          of the  file requester.   The normal human tendency is to start a
          scan, then sit back until some indication is given that  the scan
          is complete, then start mucking with the list of files.  Don't be
          so polite!  You can do just about anything, including clicking on
          those big  boxes to  the right  (command buttons)  that I haven't
          described yet.  To select a file, position the mouse pointer over
          its name  in the  display box  and click once.  You should notice
          that the filename is now displayed in reverse video.   This means
          that the  file is  selected.   If you  click the  same file again
          (after a short pause), the file will revert to normal  video (the
          unselected state - sort of like Rhode Island :-).  If you wish to
          select multiple files, depress the SHIFT  key (either  one) prior
          to  clicking  the  mouse.    Otherwise,  the  previously selected
          file(s) will be deselected.   If  you wish  to select  ALL files,
          wait until  the scan is complete, then click in the little box to
          the  right  of  the  "All  Files"  gadget.    To  clear  all file
          selections, click  in the  little box to the right of the "Clear"
          gadget.

               You will  notice that  only 12  filenames can  appear in the
          display  box  at  any  time.    By  using  the  slider,  you  can
          view/select other files in the list.  You  do this  by "dragging"
          the slider  bar -  click the  mouse on  it and, while holding the
          mouse button down, drag the mouse pointer downward.  As  you drag
          it, other  filenames should  be revealed (depending upon how many
          files exist in the  currently selected  directory).   The size of
          the  slider  bar  is  proportional  to the number of files in the
          directory.  If half  of the  files are  visible, the  bar will be
          one-half the  size of  the slider box.  Also, note that if a scan
          is in progress, the file list will be resorted (case-insensitive)
          each time you click on the slider.

               To descend  to deeper levels in the directory structure, you

                                         20





          can either type a new name in the From gadget  (the hard  way) or
          you can  double-click (two  mouse clicks in rapid succession) any
          of the red (directory name) entries  visible in  the display box.
          A new  scan will  immediately be started even if the current scan
          is not complete.  To go back up the directory tree, click the up-
          arrow  gadget  described  earlier.    Again, the current scan (if
          active) will be abandoned and  a  new  one  started  at  the next
          higher level.

               The preceding  discussion has focused on the behavior of the
          file requester when  the  "From"  list  is  active.    Though its
          behavior  for  the  "To"  list  is similar, there are some strong
          differences.  First of all, the  object  of  a  "To"  scan  is to
          select a target DIRECTORY (not a file).  Although both file names
          and directory names appear in the display list when doing  a "To"
          scan,  only  directory  names  can  be  selected.  Also, extended
          selection  (via  SHIFT  key  or  the   "All  Files"   gadget)  is
          meaningless here  and so  it is  not supported.  You just use the
          "To"  scan  to  locate  a   target   directory.      Once  found,
          double-clicking on  the directory  name will cause it to be added
          to the "To" pathname.    The  interruptible  nature  of  the file
          requester is also supported for this mode.

               Before getting to the processing options (soon, I promise!),
          there is one other file requester behavior to note.  If you start
          a scan  for one list, then start a scan for the other list before
          the first one is complete, the partial results of the  first scan
          will be  abandoned.   If the scan is allowed to complete, you may
          then activate the other list, do some navigating, then reactivate
          the other list.  It will be redisplayed immediately without a re-
          scan.  This may not be what you  want, especially  if both "From"
          and "To"  lists are  on diskettes  which have  been swapped in or
          out.  To force a rescan, just position the mouse pointer into the
          appropriate "From"  or "To"  pathname gadget and press the RETURN
          key.

               OK, let's get back to those labeled buttons at the bottom of
          the window.   Those are the "command buttons" which tell MRBackup
          to start performing specific processing  on  the  files  you have
          selected.    For  all  operations,  the  name  of  the file being
          processed is displayed in the "Info" gadget.  If an  error occurs
          that MRBackup  considers "tolerable", you will be prompted with a
          requester  that  will  give  you  the  choice  of  continuing  or
          aborting.  

               As each file is processed, its name is removed from the list
          and the display box is refreshed.   When  processing is complete,
          one of two things will happen.  If there were errors, the display
          box will be left displaying the names of the files  that were not
          processed.   If all went well, a new scan will be started for the
          "From" list. 


                                         21





               You may interrupt a command button's processing at  any time
          by clicking  on it again.  This will cause a requester to pop up,
          asking if you wish to abort the operation.  A "Yes" response will
          terminate the  current command,  while a "No" response will allow
          processing to continue.
           
               Please note that no support currently  exists for processing
          a complete  hierarchy of  subdirectories.  Though you are allowed
          to select directory entries,  the  utilities  won't automatically
          descend to  the next level and process files there. You will have
          to "manually" descend to the next lower level  by double-clicking
          on the directory entry.

               The description  of the command buttons and their processing
          follows:


          Compress

               The  selected  files  will  be  compressed,  using  the same
          Lempel-Ziv method used by the Backup command.  The number of bits
          used is determined by the Compression gadget setting  in the main
          window.  Unlike  the  Backup  command,  however, files that don't
          compress properly are not copied  instead.    The  file  date and
          comment are maintained. The destination file will have the suffix
          ".Z" appended to its name.  Also -  and this  is important!  - if
          the "From"  and "To"  specifications are  identical, the original
          file will be deleted if the compression is  successful.   This is
          standard Unix  compress behavior which seems quite appropriate to
          me.


          Decompress

               The  selected  files  will  be  decompressed.    The maximum
          compression code  size allowed is determined by the Decompression
          gadget setting  in the  main window.  Note that  only files whose
          names end in ".Z" will be processed, regardless of what may be in
          your selection list.  It is  a good  idea to  type ".Z"  into the
          FileSpec  gadget  to  limit  visibility only to compressed files.
          This will  prevent  confusion.  The  file  date  and  comment are
          maintained.  Again,  as  with  compress,  if  the "From" and "To"
          specifications are the same,  the original  file will  be deleted
          after a successful decompression.


          Copy

               The  selected  files  will  be copied to the "To" directory,
          which MUST BE DIFFERENT  than the  "From" directory.   File dates
          and comments are maintained.


                                         22






          Rename

               The selected  files are  renamed (moved) to a new directory.
          The "From"  and "To"  directories MUST  BE DIFFERENT.   Also note
          that you  cannot rename across device boundaries.  If you wish to
          do this, use a combination of the Copy and Delete operations.


          Delete

               The selected files are deleted.  Period.   Please be careful
          with this  as there is currently no "last chance" prompt prior to
          the operation.  


          SetArcBit

               The AmigaDOS "archive bit"  will  be  set  for  all selected
          files.  This could be used to inhibit the backup of certain files
          when the "Use Archive Bits" flag is set.


          ClrArcBit

               The AmigaDOS "archive bit" will be cleared for  all selected
          files.   This would  assure that certain files would be backed up
          when the "Use Archive Bits" flag  is set.   Another  use for this
          operation  is  to  "unmark"  files  that  were marked as archived
          during a failed backup operation.  This would be done  before the
          "Resume Backup" command is used.

               There's room for lots more stuff here, but the usual lack of
          time keeps me from getting them in this release.  I would like to
          add  a  MakeDir  command  and  possibly  add an "Execute" command
          button which would fire a command off to a CLI.  Also  nice would
          be  some  running  statistics  (file  count,  bytes in/out, etc.)
          during file processing.  Support for  nested directories  is next
          on the  agenda.  Please give me your feedback on your impressions
          and any suggestions you might have.


          Using RAD: for Speedy Backups

               John Hopf of Newport, RI, called me to  report a  "bug" with
          MRBackup when  he used  RAD: as his backup destination.  Huh?  It
          seems that John  discovered  that  MRBackup  is  blazingly (well,
          quite)  fast  when  RAD:  is  used  as the output device.  John's
          approach is to backup to  RAD:,  then  DiskCopy  from  RAD:  to a
          floppy diskette.   Though  the process sounds klunky, the overall
          reduction in time is remarkable (about a factor of 6).


                                         23





               The only  thing keeping  John from  employing this technique
          fully was the failure of MRBackup to properly format RAD:.  Well,
          that's  no  longer  a  problem.    If  you  wish  to  employ this
          technique, add an entry to your DEVS:MountList file which creates
          a RAD: drive with a structure identical to a 3.5" floppy disk. Be
          sure to Mount the drive when you boot your system. Start MRBackup
          with "Run  MRBackup",  leaving  the  CLI  free  for  the DiskCopy
          command.   Now, proceed to do your backups.  MRBackup will prompt
          for a new disk each time RAD:  is  full.    At  this  point, push
          MRBackup's screen to the back, pop a floppy disk into a drive and

               diskcopy from rad: to <floppydrive>

          When the  copy completes,  pop MRBackup's screen to the front and
          click the  OK  gadget  on  the  requester,  allowing  MRBackup to
          proceed.

               Thanks for an excellent idea, John!



































                                         24






          Warranties and Support

               There are  no warranties,  either expressed or implied, with
          regard to the use of this  program. Use  it at  your own  risk. I
          have tested  MRBackup thoroughly, but not exhaustively.  A bug or
          two is bound to be lurking  around, though  none that  would shut
          you down completely.
           
               As for  support, I will do my best to respond to bug reports
          for as long as I have  an  Amiga  in  working  condition  (I hope
          that's  a  l-o-n-g  time).  If  you  have  a  situation which has
          worsened as a result of using  MRBackup,  I  will  work  with you
          immediately to  rectify the problem. I will only support the most
          recent version, so please know your version number if you call. 

               MRBackup is a "laid  back shareware"  program. I  would like
          some compensation  for my efforts, especially for the effort that
          went into version 3.0.   A  donation of  $10.00 would  be greatly
          appreciated. However, I welcome feedback from all MRBackup users,
          so  don't  be  reluctant  to  call  or  write  if  you're  a non-
          contributing  user.  Matter  of  fact,  you can consider the long
          distance phone call (Rhode Island is long distance  to everywhere
          - even Rhode Island :-( ) to be a contribution!  





























                                         25






          MRBackup Roll of Honor

               The  following   users  have  sent  shareware  contributions
          exceeding the  requested $2.00  for a  copy of  MRBackup. I would
          like  to  publicly  thank  them  by including their names in this
          "MRBackup Roll of Honor".

               Toby Cabot,              Warwick, RI
               Henrik Clausen,          Denmark
               Paul Coene,              Rochester, NY
               James De Marco,          N. Chelmsford, MA
               Allan Duncan,            Australia
               Andrew Drummond,         Cayman Islands, British West Indies
               Clive Ellis,             Escondido, CA
               Don Estok,               USCG, Kodiak, AK 
               Robert Farrel,           Tivoli, NY
               Otto Gruber,             Wappingers Falls, NY
               Volker Herrmann,         Giessen, West Germany
               Ray Hulinsky,            Lincoln, NE
               Alan Kelm,               Ottawa, Ontario
               Tony Koehn,              Hutchinson, KS
               Ken Lazzaro,             El Cajon, CA
               Henry Marszal,           Vermilion, OH
               Justin Parker,           Santa Fe, NM
               Grant Robertson,         Los Angeles, CA
               John Sauter,             Merrimack, NH
               W.H. Stanton,            St. Albans, England 
               Lorrie Shattuck,         Walled Lake, MI
               Alexander Smith,         Ottawa, Ontario
               Milt Very,               Oakdale, CA
               Ralph Watson,            Chesterfield, SC
               Tom Zartler,             West Chester, PA

               Roll  of  honor   members   will   receive   special  notice
          (unsolicited/free  updates,   in  some  cases)  of  new  MRBackup
          releases and other PD stuff that I may find the time to write. 
















                                         26






          Permissions

               You  are  permitted  to  use  MRBackup  and  redistribute it
          freely. No charge (other than reasonable duplication fees - $5.00
          or less) may be made for MRBackup. 

               If you wish to contact me, I can be reached at the following
          addresses:

               Usenet: mrr@amanpt1.Newport.RI.US  (always)
               Compu$erve:    72017, 136          (infrequently)
               BUX:           markr               (infrequently)

               or

               Mark R. Rinfret
               348 Indian Avenue
               Portsmouth, RI 02871
               401-846-7639 (home) (1900-2200 weekdays, 0700-2200 weekends)
               401-849-8900 (work) (0700-1730)
































                                         27






          Changes

               This section  lists changes, in reverse chronological order,
          as they have appeared  in official  releases of  MRBackup. I have
          attempted to be thorough, but may have missed a few key items.

          Version 3.3d

               This release came about largely as a result of conversations
          I had with Tom Zartler of West Chester, Pa. Tom reported a couple
          of bugs and offered some suggestions that will show up in version
          4.0 (which is well on its way!).

               The Rename function in the Utilities  window was brain-dead.
          It's been fixed.

               If you  copied a  file using  the utilities  and the From/To
          selections were on the  same disk,  the result  (for large files,
          anyway) was  a slow,  tedious grind.  This was  due to the use of
          asynchronous  I/O   in  a   situation  where   it  obviously  was
          counterproductive.      MRBackup      now     chooses     between
          synchronous/asynchronous I/O. Asynchronous I/O  is used  when the
          From and To devices are different.

               Tom  suggested  that  when  the  Set Archive Bits option was
          enabled, the backup copy of the file should have its  archive bit
          set,  as  well  as  the  original  file.  I  think  someone  else
          recommended this also, but I was too dense at the time to realize
          what was  being said.  What's implied here is the fact that since
          the file exists on a backup disk, it  IS archived.  If you should
          restore  from  that  disk,  the  archive  status  is still valid.
          Agreed!

               If you left Utilities with  either  of  the  "scan switches"
          enabled,  upon  return  you  would find that they didn't function
          properly. MRBackup now resets the switches prior to first use.

               I may catch some  flak for  the most  obvious change. You'll
          notice  that  all  of  the  gadget  borders  are  gone.  I dunno-
          sometime a week or two ago, I decided that all those boxes on the
          screen were U-G-L-Y! I hope you agree.

               MRBackup is  more efficient  in its use of buffer memory for
          copying/compressing files. 

               Some of you complained  that the  abrupt color  change after
          MRBackup loaded its parameter file was unsettling. I had some fun
          with this one and implemented a more gradual color shift that has
          a nice  effect. It's more pronounced, the more your colors differ
          from MRBackup's defaults.


                                         28






           
          Version 3.3c

               If I  keep up  at this  rate, I'm  gonna' run  out of single
          letters of  the alphabet  (groan). The minor enhancement added in
          version 3.3a (detection of  disk  inserted)  is  probably  a nice
          idea. Unfortunately,  the system tells you about ANY diskinserted
          event. When  using RAD:,  you get  bitten since  the requester is
          really a "dummy", blocking the formatting of RAD: while you sneak
          behind MRBackup's back and do a DiskCopy to a floppy.  As soon as
          you'd  insert   the  floppy  disk,  the  requester  would  see  a
          diskinserted event and start formatting RAD:.

               My approach to this was to inhibit detection of diskinserted
          events if the request is for an output disk.  Input disk requests
          (generated by Restore) will be satisfied by a disk insertion.


          Version 3.3b

               Sigh... Version 3.3a lasted all of a day.  Under  my pile of
          "input" was  a letter from Andrew Drummond of the Cayman Islands,
          describing a problem with Resume Backup.  He claimed  that if you
          were not  positioned at  the "root"  (e.g. CD DH1:) when invoking
          Resume Backup, an error would occur.  He  was right.  Thanks very
          much, Andrew! Version 3.3b corrects the problem. There was also a
          related problem that would cause a  Task Held  requester when the
          resume failed. That has been fixed, also. 

               Also,  Andrew  and  others  have  claimed to get a GURU when
          clicking  the  close  gadget  of  the  main  window  (terminating
          MRBackup).  I  have  beat  upon  MRBackup in every way that I can
          think of to duplicate this problem  and I  can't recreate  it. If
          others of  you experience  this problem with version 3.3b, PLEASE
          give me some feedback. Painful detail is required.  For instance,
          what  sequence  of  steps  got  you  the  GURU? Was anything else
          running at the time? 

               I apologize for the bugs in  previous versions  of MRBackup.
          I know  how frustrating  they can  be for you, the user. The fact
          is, I've been trying to do too much with too little time and have
          been  careless  in  my  approach  to changes. MRBackup is a large
          program with a lot of interaction between many source modules and
          support libraries.  Work on  a program  this size really requires
          full-time concentration and I've been lucky to steal an hour at a
          time,  here  and  there,  to  effect  changes.  I guess I've been
          relying too much on a saturated memory. And, it's almost time for
          my 40 year overhaul. 'Nuff excuses.

               What really  surprises me  is the  encouragement I've gotten
          from users who have been "bitten"  by bugs  in MRBackup.  I often

                                         29





          hear "MRBackup  is a  great program, but there are these few bugs
          I'd like to tell you about...and here's a contribution."  Wow!
          That's tolerance! Thank you  all for  your continued  support and
          feedback. I'll continue to try to do my part.


          Version 3.3a

               In  case  you  were  wondering  -  a  letter at the end of a
          version number implies bug fixes only.  Much as  I hate  to admit
          it, there  were still  bugs in  the handling of big files. If you
          got an error 205 on the "big file", you saw the problem. Though I
          did extensive  testing of  this feature, it was with a "relative"
          home path, which masked the problem.  My thanks  to Justin Parker
          of Santa Fe, New Mexico, for pointing out the problem. Dare I say
          the problem  is fixed?  Waalll...you be  the judge.  As always, I
          apologize for any problems this may have caused you. 

               Actually,  I  did  sneak  in  one  minor enhancement. During
          restore,  the  "next  disk"  requester  will   recognize  a  disk
          insertion and automatically terminate.
           

          Version 3.3

               I  finally  ran  MRBackup  through  lint (Gimpel) and, after
          wading through lots of "noise", found several bugs  that may have
          been haunting  MRBackup for quite a while. Hopefully, the changes
          I made will eliminate some of the mysterious gurus reported  by a
          few users.  Thanks for your patience.

          Version 3.2

               The  primary   change  is  in  MRBackup's  disk  formatting.
          MRBackup can now  format  drives  other  than  3.5"  floppies. In
          particular, those  with sufficient  memory may  want to try using
          the RAD: device as an intermediate destination for  backups.  See
          the  section  entitled  "Using  RAD:  for Speedy Backups". Though
          MRBackup has not been  tested with  a 5  1/4" drive,  that should
          work, also.  If you  have access  to one, I would appreciate your
          feedback on MRBackup's ability to use it.


          Version 3.1

               The color requester has been fixed up a little.   The system
          will  not  hang  when  the  right mouse button is clicked and the
          color requester is active.

               There was a problem when handling  "file in  use".  MRBackup
          would quit when the intent was to ignore the error.


                                         30





               The first page header was incomplete.

               MRBackup now  checks for  the existence of the listing file.
          If it exists, the user is prompted for the decision  to overwrite
          or append to the listing file.


          Version 3.0

               This  version  incorporated  some  massive changes. The user
          interface  has  been  totally  redone.    All  program  parameter
          settings are  now done via gadgets and requesters (vs. the former
          Flags menu) in the  main  window.    The  Pathname Specifications
          window  is   history.  Pathname  specification  gadgets  are  all
          complemented by the ARP file requester. 

               MRBackup's screen now has  only 4  colors (vs.  8). This was
          done to  reduce memory  consumption. To offset this, MRBackup now
          has a color palette which will allow you to customize its colors.
          You may  then save  your color settings with the Save Preferences
          menu command.    The  Progress  Window  is  gone.    A  new, more
          generalized  logging  capability  has  taken  its  place. See the
          section describing the "Log Path".

               MRBackup employs overlays as  a  memory  conserving feature.
          This  technique  allows  program  segments to be "rolled in" from
          disk  when  needed.  MRBackup  frees  unneeded  overlay segments,
          thereby giving memory back to the system for use by other tasks.

               MRBackup is  now dependent  upon the ARP library, created by
          MicroSmiths, Inc.  You  must  have  arp.library  present  in your
          Libs: directory in order to run MRBackup.

               The  compression/decompression  algorithm  in  MRBackup  now
          supports compression codes up to 16  bits wide.   This  was added
          primarily as a convenience to Unix system users who typically use
          16 bit compression.  

               Disk  reads  and   writes   are   now   done  asynchronously
          (overlapped).    This  feature  is  probably  more  academic than
          practical. Since you're most  likely  going  to  be  using floppy
          drives as your backup medium, MRBackup will spend a great deal of
          its time waiting for the floppy drive, negating the advantages of
          overlapped  I/O.    Ah  well,  it  doesn't hurt.  I would like to
          extend a special "Thank You" to Matt Dillon.  I  borrowed heavily
          from his async I/O routines which were distributed on Usenet.

               There is a new Quick format option which greatly reduces the
          time required to format a diskette. 

               A new Pause gadget has been added, allowing you to suspend a
          backup or restore operation.

                                         31






               The voice  option now  uses the new SPEAK: device introduced
          with KickStart version 1.3.  SPEAK: must be  mounted in  order to
          enable the voice option.

               MRBackup now allows you some control over the naming of your
          backup  disks.    If  you  don't   care  for   MRBackup's  naming
          convention,  there  is  a  Backup Volume Prefix gadget which will
          allow you to specify the  primary  part  of  a  backup diskette's
          volume  name.    MRBackup  still  sequences  backup  diskettes by
          appending the diskette number to the volume name.

               Some incompatibilities exist with old MRBackup support files
          (MRBackup.init,  MRBackup.xcld,   MRBackup.cflt).    The  comment
          character  for  these  files  is  now  the  semi-colon,  which is
          consistent  with  the  comment  character  used  by the CLI. This
          change was necessitated  by  the  introduction  of AmigaDOS-style
          wildcard  patterns  which  use  the number sign (previous comment
          character) as a meta-character.

               The old "Use Archive Bits" option has given  way to  two new
          gadgets, "Test Archive Bits" and "Set Archive Bits".  This allows
          you to independently test  and set  file archive  bits when doing
          backups.

               If you  have tried  to use  the Big Files option in the past
          without success, try it again.   I  spent  quite  a  bit  of time
          testing this and it appears to be quite solid.  For my test case,
          I created a 2.4 MB file which required 3 floppy disks to back up.
          After backup,  the original  was renamed  and the backup copy was
          restored.  The files were then compared using  cmp (Aztec compare
          utility) with no differences reported. 

               Many other minor changes and bug fixes have been added.


          Bugs

               There are  none that  I know  of, but there might still be a
          gnat or two lurking in MRBackup. PLEASE! - If you discover a bug,
          let me know about it!  I'll fix it!  I promise!












                                         32





                                        Index

          "All Files" gadget  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  19, 20
          "Clear" gadget  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  20
          "Current File" gadget . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  19, 21
          "From" gadget . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  19
          "NOW" gadget  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
          "To" gadget . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  19
          Abort
               error handling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  13
          Archive bit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  23
          Archive Bits  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  10
          Arp.library . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
          ARP-style wildcarding . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
          Arrow gadget  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  19
          Backing Up a Disk . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  16
          Backup  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  14, 15
               Operations Menu  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  14
          Backup Path . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  16, 17
          Backup Path gadget  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
          Backup Volume Prefix  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
          Beginning of history  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
          Big files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  11
          Big Files gadget  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  11
          Blocks gadget . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
          Changes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  28
          Charlie Heath . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  19
          ClrArcBit
               Utilities  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  23
          Code sizes
               compression  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  14
          Codes, compression  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  13
          Colors
               Operations Menu  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  14
          Command buttons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  20, 21, 22
          Comment lines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
          Comments  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  17
          Compress  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  18
               Utilities  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  22
          Compression Filter  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
          Compression filter file
               format of  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
          Compression gadget  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  11, 22
          Compression/Decompression
               description  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  13
          Copy
               Utilities  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  22
          Creation/modification date  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  17
          Current Backup Volume . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
          Current File gadget . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
          Date and time format  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
          Decompress  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  18

                                         33





               Utilities  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  22
          Decompression gadget  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  11, 22
          Delete
               Utilities  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  23
          Disk sequence number  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  14
          Document file . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
          Error Count . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
          Error Count gadget  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  13
          Error Handling gadget . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  13
          Exclude Filter file
               format of  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
          Exclude Filter gadget . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
          Extended selection  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  18
               Utilities  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  21
          File creation date  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  17
          File display box  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  19
          File requester  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  19
          FileSpec  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  18
          FileSpec gadget . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  18
          Formatting gadget . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  12
          From gadget . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  19
          Home Path . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  16, 17
          Home Path gadget  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
          Ignore
               error handling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  13
          Incremental backup  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  10
          Initialization parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  15
          Install . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
          Installation  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
          Interactive
               error handling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  13
          Introduction  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
          Lempel-Ziv  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  13, 22
          Lempel-Ziv compression  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
          Listing gadget  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  10, 16
          Listing Path  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6, 16
          Listing Path gadget . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
          Load Preferences  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  15
               Operations Menu  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  15
          Main Window Settings  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
          Matt Dillon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  31
          Menus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  14
          MRBackup Roll of Honor  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  26
          MRBackup Utilities  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  18
          MRBackup.bigfile  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  11
          MRBackup.context  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  14
          MRBackup.init . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  15
          MRBackup.xcld . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
          ON/OFF switches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  19
          Operation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
          Operations Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  14
          Output Capacity gadget  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

                                         34





          Parent directory  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  19
          Pathname specifications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  16
          PAUSE gadget  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  17
          Permissions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  27
          Peter da Silva  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  19
          Preferences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  15
          Preferences gadget  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  15
          Protection bits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  17
          Quick format option . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  16
          Quit  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  15
          Rename
               Utilities  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  23
          Restore . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  11, 15, 17
               Operations Menu  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  15
          Restoring the Backups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  17
          Resume Backup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  14, 15, 23
               Operations Menu  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  14
          Retries gadget  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  13
               error handling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  13
          Retry
               error handling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  13
          Save Preferences  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  15
               Operations Menu  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  15
          Select multiple files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  20
          Set Archive Bits  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  10
          SetArcBit
               Utilities  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  23
          Settings  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  15
          Slider  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  20
          Slider bar
               Utilities  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  20
          Speak . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  11
          SPEAK: device . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  11
          Status gadget . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
          STOP gadget . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  17
          Support files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
          Switch gadget
               Utilities  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  20
          Test Archive Bits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  10
          Test Date . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
          To gadget . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  19
          Up-arrow gadget . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  21
          User Interface  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
          Using RAD: for Speedy Backups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  23
          Utilities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  15, 18
               Operations Menu  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  15
          Utilities Operation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  18
          Voice gadget  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  11
          Volume names  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  17
          Warranties and Support  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  25
          Yesterday . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4


                                         35

