
  +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
  +                                                             +
  +                      Big Bob the Finder                     +
  +           version 0.93 for Atari ST/STe/TT/Falcon           +
  +               September 1995  by Mark Slagell               +
  +                           FREEWARE                          +
  +                                                             +
  +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++


 Purpose
 =======

Big Bob is a no-wildcard item finder.  It quickly finds files and
folders by identifying character sequences in their names, in much the
same way a word processor finds text strings in a document. 
Optionally, it can also look for strings in the files themselves.

When you not only don't remember where something is buried in your
gazillions of nested directories, but also aren't quite sure of its
name, you will find Bob indispensible.


 Where the name came from
 ========================

   At the door another policeman stopped him, and Dirk was about to
wave an expired Marks and Spencer charge card at him with a deft
little flick of the wrist that he had practiced for hours in front of
a mirror on those long evenings when nothing much else was on, when
the officer suddenly said, "Hey, is your name Gently?"
   Dirk blinked at him warily.  He made a slight grunting noise that
could be either "yes" or "no" depending on the circumstances.
   "Because the Chief has been looking for you."
   "Has he?" said Dirk.
   "I recognized you from his description," said the officer, looking
him up and down with a slight smirk.
   "In fact," continued the officer, "he's been using your name in a
manner that some might find highly offensive.  He even sent Big Bob
the Finder off in a car to find you.  I can tell that he didn't find
you from the fact that you're looking reasonably well.  Lot of people
get found by Big Bob the Finder, they come in a bit wobbly.  Just
about able to help us with our enquiries but that's about all.  You'd
better go in.  Rather you than me," he added quietly.

     -- from _The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul_ by Douglas Adams


 How to use Big Bob
 ==================

Bob runs as an accessory or program; rename with a .PRG or .ACC
extender as desired.  The user interface consists of a single windowed
dialog containing these elements.

1. SEARCH STRING:  Enter text here.  Depending on the selected mode,
either item names or actual files containing that text will be
searched for.  Do not use wildcards when searching for item names
(more on this under MODE below).

2. STARTING DRIVE:  All active drives, except B: on single-floppy
systems, are searched beginning with the one you specify here.

3. MODE lets you select from "File names", "File and folder names",
and "File contents".

  3a.  In the first two modes, only item names are searched.  This
  is quite fast; Bob can get through my 360 meg hard drive in less
  than a minute.  Wildcards are unnecessary under this scheme, and 
  furthermore, are not allowed.  To see README files, for instance, do
  not type "READ*.*", but simply "READ".  This will locate files that
  would not show up using a mask, like YOU_READ.NOW and I_READIT.TOO.
  If folder names are being reported, they are displayed with a
  trailing backslash.

  3b. In "file contents" mode, each file is opened and scanned to see
  if it contains the search string.  The search is case insensitive.
  In this mode any characters may be included in the search string
  except for nulls (ASCII zero).  As you might guess, scanning file
  contents takes much, much longer than searching the names.  It may
  be small comfort to know that before I rewrote the search routine in
  assembler, it took twice as long!  Consider this mode your option of
  last resort, when you're really stuck.

4. FIND FIRST begins a fresh search.

5. FIND NEXT resumes the previous search.  If you have changed any
settings in the dialog, they will revert to what they were the last
time you selected "FIND FIRST".

6. EXIT, or the <Undo> key, has the same effect as clicking the
window-closer gadget.

7. SAVE PREFERENCES creates [boot drive]:\BOB.INF, ensuring that Bob
will remember his configuration the next time he gets loaded.  :-)


 Revision history
 ================

0.90 (Aug 20, '95): First version, written entirely in C.  Search
always starts in drive C: if possible, otherwise A:, and looks for
file and folder names.  No user input except for search string.

0.91 (Sep 01, '95): Added popup submenu to choose starting drive.

0.92 (Sep 08, '95): Added popup mode selector, and ability to search
file contents.  First public release.

0.93 (Sep 25, '95): Added AP_TERM support (TOS 4+).  Fixed a bug that
prevented Bob's menu entry from appearing on some systems.  



 Legalese
 ========

Big Bob the Finder version 0.93 is freeware.  Use at your own risk; I
accept no responsibility for the results of its use or misuse.  Please
direct bug reports or other comments to one of the email addresses below.

  Mark Slagell
    bald_soprano@geocities.com
    sluggo@ames.net

