LOAD and SAVE are *NICE* shareware programs:  they are *FULLY* functional
without registration.  In return for their use, however, the author would
appreciate a modest contribution to his Graduate Studies of one to ten
dollars ($1 - $10).  Why $1 to $10?  It is your way of ranking the program
on a scale of 1 to 10, 10 indicating you think this is a very good program
which you find extremely useful.  Please send checks payable to:
        
        Ron Coffen
        306 Cedar Run Place, Apt K
        Catonsville, MD  21228


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BRIEF DESCRIPTION
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LOAD and SAVE allow you to transfer very large files between computers by
allowing you to copy files that are larger than the capacity of the disk you
are using.


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WHY THIS WOULD BE A VERY USEFUL PROGRAM
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Let me illustrate why I felt there was a need for this program, and then I'm
sure you can come up with your own uses.

I have Word for Windows 6.0 configured very nicely on my computer at home
which is running DOS 5.0.  It took me a very long time to get the menu bars
and icons and macros set up just the way I like them.  Now, I want to use
*MY* configured version of WfW 6.0 at work.  How can I do that?  Well, one
way would be to use the WfW install program to install a totally new version
at work and then spend lots of time reconfiguring WfW.  The other option
would be to simply copy all the necessary WfW files from my home computer to my
computer at work.  The obvious problem is, there are a lot of files, and
several files are, in themselves, >3 megabytes in size, thus, there are single
files that I cannot copy onto a single floppy disk.  Okay, well, perhaps I
can use the DOS BACKUP and RESTORE commands so I can span disks.  Well, that
would be lovely except that my computer at work does not have the same version
of DOS that I have at home, so when I get to work and try to RESTORE the files
from my disks, all I get is an "INCORRECT DOS VERSION" error.  Another option
would be to use one of those compression programs that automatically span
disks for me, but I find all the switches and manipulations a bit cumbersome
and often confusing to try to get to work (especially if I only want to copy
*ONE* file between computers).  The solution to use here is LOAD and SAVE!  I
could compress all the desired files into one large compressed file (say, 8
megabytes in size), and then use SAVE to copy it to floppies and then use
LOAD to unload it onto my computer at work!  BINGO!  VOILA!  Or, I could just
use SAVE to copy the really large files without bothering with a compressor.


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USING LOAD AND SAVE
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First of all, copy the files SAVE.EXE and LOAD.EXE to the directory where
your other DOS commands are (usually this will be C:\DOS or C:\BIN).  You
don't *have* to copy these files there, but if you don't, you'll have to
precede the SAVE and LOAD commands with the complete pathname of where those
files are located.


SAVE:
syntax:   SAVE {filename} {device} {/Sn} {/?}
where:  filename = name of file to save to floppies; may contain wildcards
        device = drive to save the file to (usually A: or B:)
        /S = switch to indicate starting disk number
        /? = display help on syntax
        {filename}, {device} and switches are all optional.  If you don't 
        provide them on the command line (i.e., you type SAVE and press ENTER),
        you will be prompted for the filename and device.


This command will take a large file (or even a not so large file) and use all
the space (every byte) on your destination disks to store the file.  Your
destination disks (in drive {device}) do not have to be blank.  Any files on
the destination disk will not be erased or effected in any way by SAVE.  You
could have 10 files already on the disk in drive A: and have only 3072 bytes
left on the disk, but you could still use that disk as your first destination
disk, and the 10 files already on the disk will be unaffected.  Of course,
you'll only get 3072 bytes of {filename} on the first disk, but that's your
problem (or benefit if you're tight on disk space)!

NOTE:  The SAVE command changes the LABEL of the destination disk when a file
is saved across more than one disk.  For most people this should not be an
issue.  If, however, you don't want the LABEL of the destination disk changed,
don't use SAVE.  (If you don't know what the LABEL is, then you don't need to
worry about using SAVE.  Or, if when you type DIR and DOS reports that "Volume
in drive {device} has no label" then you don't have anything to worry about.


LOAD:
syntax:   LOAD {filename} {destination} {/A} {/?}
where:  filename = filename to copy from floppies to a new destination; the
                filename may contain wildcards which can be effective across
                multiple floppies
        destination = the drive and path to copy the file to (e.g., C:\WINWORD)
                if the destination does not exist, you have the option of
                creating the new subdirectory
        /A = switch which causes LOAD to ASK you, after each file is copied,
                whether or not you wish to search for more matching files;
        /? = display help on syntax
        {filename} and {destination} and switches are optional, if you don't
        provide them on the command line (i.e., you type LOAD and press ENTER),
        you will be prompted for the {filename} and {destination}.

This command will find the file on the disk specified as part of the {filename}
copy it to {destination}, prompting you to insert the next source disk when
necessary.  LOAD automatically gives the destination file the same name, time,
and date as the original file had, although you can change the path it is
saved to (i.e., change the {destination} path).  LOAD will copy a file saved
to a disk with the normal DOS COPY or XCOPY commands as well.


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TECHNICAL STUFF
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There isn't much technical stuff, since it's a pretty straight-forward
program.  However, it could be helpful to know that SAVE changes the label
of the first destination disk to the original filename of the file being SAVEd
if the file spans more than one disk.  SAVE then saves the original file in
bits and pieces and names each bit and piece a different name.  These names are
produced by making the last character of the original filename a number.  So,
if the original filename were FILE.EXE, the destination disk would be labeled
FILEEXE   and the first file written to the first destination disk would be
FILE___1.EXE, the second destination file on the second disk would be
FILE___2.EXE, and so on.  When SAVE has saved the last file to the destination
drive, it creates a file with a .END extension with a length of zero which
indicates the last disk in a sequence (for the above example, the last disk
would have FILE.END in the directory list).  For software compatibility
purposes where the program may check for the date of a file, the SAVEd file
will be given the same date as the source file.  If you want to know what
date you actually performed the SAVE command, get a directory of the last
disk.  The time and date of the .END file will indicate the time and date you
SAVEd the indicated file to disk.

So, when you use LOAD, LOAD uses the label of the first source disk as the
filename to create on the destination device if the file spans more than one
disk.  LOAD looks for the first file in the sequence on the first destination
disk, and the second file on the second disk, and so on (i.e., looks for
FILE___1.EXE on disk 1, then FILE___2.EXE on disk 2, etc.) until it finds the
disk that contains the file with the extension .END on it.


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ENJOY! and other comments...
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If you have serious comments or criticisms, please direct inquiries to the
above address, or, send E-Mail to RCOFFE1@GL.UMBC.EDU


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Warranties, guarantees, and other stuff...
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Oh, and there are no warranties, guarantees, or promises, expressed or
implied.  The only warranty, guarantee or promise is, I use my own program.
Use the program at your own risk.  I have not lost any data, if that makes you
feel better!
