TMCopy file utility

Last edited: December 15, 2003 08:18 AM

    TMCopy is a Touch Menus utility that simply copies files from a source to a destination. Sounds like DOS’s COPY and XCOPY commands huh? So why in the world would Touch Menus re-write these tried and proven applications? Well, the answer is that DOS’s commands do not automatically recover from a sharing violation, and sharing violations DO happen in a network environment. See, what happens is this: When you are using DOS’s commands to copy files and they happen along a locked file, they prompt the user for an action (Abort? Retry? Fail? look familiar?) Now, in an automatic, unattended backup situation, this is not good. (Especially if you are doing this from a shell that has locked video output.) TMCopy knows just what to do when it encounters a locked file, wait and try again later. (the equivalent of the Retry? choice DOS prompts you for)

    Not only does TMCopy handle sharing violations, but it is more efficient and faster than DOS’s copying functions. It only has to look for supported Touch Menus directories and it also looks prettier.

    In case you were wondering, the supported subdirectories (as of 10/29/97) are:

            * Checks
            * Data
            * Reports
            * Inv
            * InvData
            * InvRecipe
            * Bread
            * BreadRecipe
            * CashMgmt
            * A_R

How do you work this thing?

    To use TMCopy, just launch it with any (almost) combination of the available command line switches. There’s a lot to choose from so I’m sure you’ll find what just the right mix for your situation.

    Here they are, the myriad of command line switches:

        {/DEST=} {/APPDIR=} {/INIT} {/UNC=} {/AUTOCLOSE} {/LOGIN} {/CHANGED} {/?}

    And what do they mean?

        * /INIT – will initilize the video. Use when not run from Touchnet.
        * /DEST= – will specify the drive to copy to.
        * /APPDIR= – will specify the application directory to copy from.
        * /UNC= will allow specification of a network share using universal naming conventions
          (i.e. \counter1c-drive)
        * /LOGIN – will perform a Lantastic 7.0 for win95 net login/out on the computer name specified in the /UNC command line switch.
        * /AUTOCLOSE – will bypass completed notification screen.
        * /CHANGED – will only copy files that have their archive attribute turned ON. Once copied this switch will also set the archive attribute to OFF.
        * /? – Displays help info.

    NOTE: You don’t have to tell TMCopy the application directory if you don’t want. It will assume that the current directory is the directory you wish to copy from. The only caveat is that it does require that the application directory is a child of Touchnet directory (which must be off the root). So, for example:

        “Touch MenusTouchnetMyApp” is not a valid directory

        BUT,

        “TouchnetMyApp” is a valid directory

    It is not necessary to create the directories on the destination, TMCopy will create them for you if necessary.

    Here’s a example of usage:

    To back up a application called Joes from your local hard drive to a shared drive on a file server named COUNTER1 you would launch TMCopy like this:

    TMCopy /INIT /APPDIR=Joes /UNC=\Counter1c-drive /LOGIN /AUTOCLOSE /CHANGED

    Once launched with these command line switches TMCopy will initialize the video (because you’re not using a shell), perform a net login to the machine COUNTER1, copy the files from TouchnetJoes that have changed since the last time it was run, perform a net logout from COUNTER1 and shut it self down.

Revisions

01/10/97 Version 1.00

  1. Initial Release.

08/20/97 Version 1.01

  1. Added command line switch /AUTOCLOSE. Will not inform user the operation was complete, instead will just close.
  2. Added command line switch /UNC=. Will allow use of UNC instead of drive letter.

08/22/97 Version 1.02

  1. Added command line switch /LOGIN. Will perform a Lantastic 7.0 command prompt login to the computer name specified in the /UNC= field before doing file copies and upon exit, will perform a net logout.

10/28/97 Version 1.03

  1. Added command line switch /CHANGED. Will only copy files with archive attribute ON.