If you want to speed up the time it takes PCBoard to scan the files for download on your CD-ROM or hard drive, create one or more index files using MAKEIDX.
MAKEIDX [path file] [index file]
| [path file] | The path file is read by MAKEIDX to determine the filenames that should be stored in the index file. This file is a regular ASCII file with one path listed on each line. If you do not include an extension for this file, .PTH will be assumed. |
| [index file] | This is the index file that will be created by MAKEIDX. The index will contain all files stored in the paths listed in the path file. There is a limit of 65,535 files per index. If you have more than 65,000 files available on your system, create more index files. If you do not include an extension for this file, .IDX will be assumed. |
Use any ASCII text editor to create the path file. On each line, type in a path that you want MAKEIDX to search for files to put in the index. If the path you specified has child subdirectories, they will automatically be included in the index. For example, if you have a CD-ROM (drive J) and want to create an index file of the entire drive, create a path file which contains the following line:
J:\
Since MAKEIDX searches paths recursively, it will search all of the files on drive J. This is much faster than having to type in all of the paths on your CD-ROM into the path file.
Another example may involve one of the hard drives on your system. This index may be a little more tricky because you do not want to make all of the files on that drive available for download. What you need to do is specify only the paths you want MAKEIDX to search in the path file as shown in the following example:
D:\DL1\ D:\DL2\ D:\DL3\ D:\SPECIAL\
When you create the index, all files in the D:\DL1\, D:\DL2\, D:\DL3\, and D:\SPECIAL\ subdirectories will be included in the index file.
NOTE: Do not include the paths to any public or private upload file directories in your index files. The index files are static and do not get updated when files are uploaded to the system. To update the index files you must recreate them using MAKEIDX.
Once you have created a path file you can create the index file using MAKEIDX. For this example, let's assume your path file is called CDROM1.PTH and the contents of the file are as follows:
I:\
To create the index, type the following:
MAKEIDX CDROM1.PTH CDROM1.IDX
On the upper lefthand corner of your screen you will see a list of the paths being searched. Once the paths have been searched, PCBoard will sort the files and write the index to disk. You will find the index file in the location you specified when running MAKEIDX. Now that the index file has been created, modify the configuration of PCBoard to use the index file you created.
The only place PCBoard will recognize index files inside of the DLPATH.LST file. Each conference has a field that specifies the DLPATH.LST file that will be used. Once you have created an index, edit DLPATH.LST and make sure any paths listed in your DLPATH.LST are deleted. For example, if your original DLPATH.LST resembled the following
D:\DL1\ D:\DL2\ D:\DL3\ D:\DL4\ D:\DL5\ D:\UPLOAD\
and you created an index which stores the filenames of the first five directories, modify your DLPATH.LST file to read:
D:\UPLOAD\
Next, insert a line and type % followed by the location and filename of the index you want PCBoard to use. If you create your index in the C:\PCB\INDEX\ subdirectory and called it CONF0.IDX, you will have the following entries in your DLPATH.LST file:
D:\UPLOAD\ %C:\PCB\INDEX\CONF0.IDX
If you do not put the % at the beginning of the line, PCBoard will not find the index. Instead, it will treat C:\PCB\INDEX\CONF0.IDX as a subdirectory and attempt to search it for files.
Unlike a CD-ROM, the data on a hard drive can change. Files can be deleted, renamed, moved, or added to the drive. To help accommodate the use of an index file with a hard drive, PCBFiler will run REFRESH.BAT if it exists and files have been moved, copied, or deleted on your system.
In the REFRESH.BAT file, add the necessary lines that will run MAKEIDX to re-create all of your index files. For example, your REFRESH.BAT may resemble the following:
MAKEIDX C:\PCB\INDEX\CDROM1.PTH C:\PCB\INDEX\CDROM1.IDX MAKEIDX C:\PCB\INDEX\GIFS.PTH C:\PCB\INDEX\GIFS.IDX
The REFRESH.BAT file should be put in the same directory as PCBFiler or in a subdirectory that is specified by your PATH= statement.