STEVE'S FILE SPLITTER v. 2.0
Copyright 2003, by Steve D. Perkins


DESCRIPTION

	My file splitter application is a simple little app I put together over 
time to fill two needs.  I wanted to learn more about the Tcl/Tk 
programming language for use in graphical-application programming... and 
I got sick and tired of the old DOS-based splitter program I used up at 
the office when I needed to transfer a file too big for a floppy between 
two computers.  

   At the time the first version of File Splitter was released several years
ago, I was using it to split files such as printer drivers to transfer 
between machines with floppy disks when network file sharing was unavailable.
Much has changed since then.  I never anticipated that high-capacity portable 
storage options such as Iomega ZIP disks and CD-R's would become so prevalent...
the original File Splitter application had problems splitting files several
hundred megs or more in size.  The fact that it was written in an interpreted
language (Tcl/Tk) also made it unbearably slow when splitting extremely large
files.  Last but not least, I stopped working professionally with Tcl/Tk a couple
of years ago... and haven't had the motivation to continue maintaining the 
Tcl/Tk codebase for File Splitter.  

   However, I've been absolutely amazed by the reaction from users.  Despite 
being such a simple little app, it's spread further than I ever imagined... I've
received email about it from users in over a dozen different countries.  I have
really appreciated people's kind feedback... so even though I wasn't planning
to continue work on the Tcl/Tk codebase, I decided to port the application to 
C++ and continue its maintenance.  Being in natively-compiled C++ will prevent 
the problems that the older version has with handling very large files, and the
difference in speed should be night-and-day.


INSTALLATION
   
   Running "setup.exe" will install the application, creating shortcuts in your
Start Menu and on the Desktop.  No system files or registry settings are altered, 
and the uninstall feature completely removes all files and directories created.

   If you wish, you can use the bare application executable alone without running
the installation program.  The executable is named "splitter.exe", and can be 
found beneath the directories within the installation package.


USING THE APPLICATION

	I have tried to make this app as intuitive and user-friendly as 
possible.  There are only three fields of input:

Number of bytes per chunk:
   Select the radio button for a pre-defined file size, or select
   "Custom size" and enter any number of bytes you wish.
File to be split:
   Type in the path and filename for the file you would like to split,
   or use the "Browse" button
Path and basename for destination files:
   File Splitter will create file chunks with a basename you select plus an
   extention number (i.e. if you select "C:\windows\desktop\output" for
   the basename and there are three chunks created, they will be named
   "output.1", "output.2", "output.3" and placed on the Desktop).  Type in
   the path and basename you would like to use... or click the "Browse"
   button and type in the basename, after browsing to the desired directory.
   If the "Overwrite existing files" box is not checked, then File Splitter
   will fail if there is an existing file with the same name as a chunk to be
   created

   When you have finished splitting your file, copy the chunks to their destination
through whatever medium you are using (disks, network, etc).  In addition to
chunks, File Splitter creates a batch file in the format "REJOIN-<original filename>.bat"
Copy this file to the same directory on the destination where the chunks have been
copied, and run the batch file (in Windows, just double-click on it) to recreate
the original file.  After you're done, you may safely delete the chunks and the
batch file.

	I hope you enjoy and find some use for this program... I always 
welcome any feedback, suggestions, and complaints... at 
'steve@steveperkins.net'.


NON-WIN32 PLATFORMS

   This release of File Splitter comes with the source code bundled in the 
package.  It is built from an open-source C++ framework that is compatible across
Microsoft Windows, Linux, and several other platforms.  Although I have only built
and tested File Splitter on Windows, it should not be terribly difficult to compile
on other platforms.  I'd love to hear reports from any users who attempt this.

   Note that even if you run File Splitter on another platform, it will still generate 
a rejoining batch file intended for Windows/DOS-based systems.  I hope to add the ability 
to perform rejoins on alternate platforms with future versions of File Splitter.


KNOWN ISSUES

   Previous versions of File Splitter generated rejoining batch files with long
filename support turned off when not needed, so that split files could be rejoined 
even on 16-bit DOS / Windows 3.1 systems.  With version 2.0 of File Splitter, 
long-filename support is always in place and support for those older systems has been
officially dropped.  If you need to rejoin your files on an older operating system 
without long-filename support, you should continue using the previous release of 
File Splitter (version 1.4).


FUTURE PLANS	

- Adding the ability to rejoin files from within File Splitter, as an alternative to
generating a rejoining batch file.  This will make it easier to use File Splitter 
across multiple platform types, and will let me add CRC checking so the application
can determine when a chunk is corrupt.

- Other suggestions/wish-lists are welcome!



DISCLAIMER AND LICENSE

Steve's File Splitter, Version 2.0
Copyright (C) 2003, Steve D. Perkins 

This software is provided as-is, with no warranty or assurances of any kind.
Use this software entirely at your own risk.

This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or
modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public License
as published by the Free Software Foundation; either version 2
of the License, or (at your option) any later version.

View the GNU General Public License at http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/gpl.html
