 ArcMirror  George K. Saliaris, 1993


 Please note that you will need RISC OS 3 and an archive filing system like
ArcFS or SparkFS in order to use ArcMirror.

 Program Description

 ArcMirror is an application which provides a unique and simple way to
catalogue the contents of directories on any filing system (floppy discs,
hard discs, etc). It achieves this by producing a 'mirror' Spark archive
(filetype &DDC) of all the file tree structure with identical filesize,
filetype, date/time stamps, access details *without* including actually any
file (except '!Boot' & '!Sprites' files of application directories).

 Consequently a mirror archive allows the user to quickly examine the
contents of any disc/directory from the Desktop, as if viewing the actual
filer directories. Of course you will need an archive filing system like
ArcFS or SparkFS in order to open a directory viewer of the mirror archive.

 Installation and use

 After running the program, an icon will be installed on the icon bar. To
create a mirror archive of a directory, drag *any* object contained in this
directory onto the ArcMirror icon, and a savebox will appear. The name of
the archive in the savebox will be the name of the directory. If the source
directory is a root ($) the archive name will be the discname (useful for
scanning floppy discs). Drag the archive to a destination directory to start
scanning process. 

 You can abort scanning procedure by pressing <Escape>.

 You can specify in the 'Include ' submenu if the files named '!Boot' or
'!Sprites' inside application directories will be included in the mirror
archive.

 Any archives encountered in the source directory during scanning procedure,
will be opened and their contents will be displayed as normal directories in
the mirror archive. That's why ArcFS/SparkFS should be loaded before
ArcMirror if the source directory contains any archives. Please note that
ImageFS option should be enabled in SparkFS. Also if there are any ZIP, LZH,
ARJ etc archives in the source directory, the appropriate modules should be
loaded in SparkFS before scanning, otherwise 'Bad Archive' errors will be
raised.

 Comments

 Of course you will not be able to read the original data but you will have
all the directory structure, the filetypes, lengths, time/date stamps, file
attributes and the original icons of all application directories. So you can
easily identify an application or a datafile.

 You can also perform searches on the mirror archives with Filer 'Find file'
facility or count all the files of a directory/disc, or check a version of a
program by examining date stamp.

 ArcMirror can cope with longer than 10 character filenames (e.g. MS-DOS
names) and more than 77 entries per directory. It has also been tested with
Image filing systems like PC emulator hard discs (e.g. Drive_C). It has been
tested successfully with ArcFS 0.54 and SparkFS 1.24.

 Some possible uses of ArcMirror:
        PD libraries/Computer magazines producing demo versions of their discs.
        Personal floppy disc library, for quick examination/search.
        Users swapping Public Domain programs compiling their collection.

 Acknowledgements

 Spark and SparkFS is  David Pilling, available from:
        David Pilling, PO Box 22, Thornton Cleveleys, Blackpool FY5 1LR
 ArcFS is  Mark Smith, available from:
        Software 42, 109 Ferry Road, Hullbridge, Hockley, Essex, SS5 6EL

 How to contact me

 Feel free to contact me for latest version, comments, bugs or whatever:

Mail:    George Saliaris
          Veriti 7
           Chios  821 00
            GREECE

Fax:    +30-271-41355
