README for WINSPLIT 1.0.8 (BUILD NO 020118)
-------------------------------------------
This is the 4th release for 1.0.8. I am not incrementing the 
versions to 1.0.8+ as the feature set has not increased 
dramatically.
This version fixed a few bugs from version 1.0.8(BUILD NO 010325)
This version fixed a few bugs from version 1.0.8(BUILD NO 010303)
and also features some new enhancements.
This version fixed a few bugs from version 1.0.8(BUILD NO 001030)
and also features some new enhancements.

1	FAQ
2	NEW FEATURES SINCE 1.0.8
2.1	NEW FEATURES SINCE 1.0.7
3	BUG TRAQ


1.FAQ
-----
-What is WinSplit   ?
-How much does it cost ?
-What do I do if  I find a bug ?
-How do i check the build no ?
-Where all can i download it from ?
-What is the biggest file that WinSplit can split ?
-What are these 3 splitting options about ?
-How do i get winsplit to span floppies like WINZIP does ?
-How do i join the pieces back ?
-I am getting errors while running the batch file ?
-What is winsplit  written in ?
-What is this new CRC check feature ?
	-Is WinSplit CRC32 compliant ?
-I am a foriegn keyboard user , i am unable to type the number of pieces ?	
-What do i do if i want to learn how to write programs like WinSplit ?
-I sent you an email yesterday about a problem , but you 
 still havent responded ?
-I cant seem to   find any documentation ?

		------------------------------------


-What is WinSplit   ?

Winsplit is a lite-weight  file splitting/joining GUI application for 
Win9x/NT platforms.


-How much does it cost ?

For personal use :
It dont cost you nothing ...
Winsplit can be downloaded   for free. 
There are -no- nag boxes, -no- "gimmee money or else ..."   messages. 
if you like it feel free to distribute it (always along with this
file). 
If you still want to pay something , please spend some time at a local
social welfare or charity and help them out (they need your time more 
than the money !).
[Wouldnt mind if you still want to pay 
me something , 10 bucks for a beer would not be bad :-).]

For corporate use :
You can download it for free,
but you've gotta pay me 20 bucks for unlimited usage/license .


-What do I do if  I find a bug ?

If you are not running 1.0.8 BUILD NO 020118, please download it , it 
fixes quite few bugs. 
if you are running 1.0.8 then :
You can inform me   by email [ashok@techie.com]. 
I may take my time   but I will fix it ...Also I can send you updates 
as and when I find/fix/enhance   winsplit.
Please keep checking my download sites for newer versions...

-How do i check the build no ?

Click on the about button of WinSplit.
The first sentence will be somethin like "Winsplit 1.0.8 (020118)"
the no. in brackets is the Build no.


-Where all can i download it from ?

http://lab.eccentrica.org/ashok/winsplit.htm
http://members.dencity.com/ashok/winsplit.htm

-What is the biggest file that WinSplit can split ?

It maxes out at just above 2 GIGs , my next release will fix this limitation..


-Why cant I join MP3 files...? Is winsplit MP3 unfriendly ?

There was a bug in build 010325 which was the cause of that problem...
Now  I have fixed it...


-What are these 3 splitting options about ?

1) Pieces : 
This is probably what you will use most.
This allows you to speciy the no. of pieces you want the file to
be split as. say you have a file of size 1 mb and you specify Pieces as 3 .
The file will be split in exactly 3 pieces.

2) Size : this allows you to specify the size of each split piece.
say you have a 2 mb file and you want to split it into pieces of size 
500,000 bytes each. specifying that number (in Megabytes ,Kilobytes or bytes) 
as the size of each piece will do just that.
[Note : 1 Kilobyte = 1024 bytes
	1 Megabyte = 1024 kilobytes]

3) Keyword : this allows you to split a file based on a keyword .
say you have a large text file and you want to split it at every occurence of 
the word 'page' or the phrase 'page no.'. then winsplit will do just that.
[To date 1 user has written back saying that he has actively used 
this feature -- 
apparently he had a text file and had a task which involved extracting each 
word in the text file into a separate file.  He ended up using WinSplit and
gave the KEYWORD as a space , and he ended up with a few thousand files each 
containing a word from the document !]

-How do i get winsplit to span floppies like WINZIP does ?
Winsplit does not span floppy disks, you can split the pieces to hard disk
and then copy the pieces individually to the floppy diskettes.

-How do i join the pieces back ?

There are two methods to join pieces back.

a)Using Winsplit itself :
Select the 'Join' Option button (under 'Do you wish to split or join files ?')
Now click on source file and browse to the folder where you have kept the split
pieces.  The .1 file (the first piece of the file you had split) should be visible
, select that.
Now select a target directory (where you want the original file to be recreated ).
Now Click Join. The file should have been recreated in the target directory.

b)Using the genarated batch file :
Check the generate batch files option BEFORE splitting, this will create a batch
file which when run will recreate the original file.
Note : the batch file is created in the same folder in which the split pieces
are kept [i.e. the target folder].
executing this batch file will recreate the original file.


-I am getting errors while running the batch file ?

a)Check that you have 1.0.8 and above versions, prior versions used to have
a bug in the batch file with respect to carriage returns in the JOIN.BAT
which causes the file not to get executed under win 9x (though it works in 
Winnt).  
If you have a batch file prior to 1.0.8 do the following :
	a) launch a command prompt in the folder where join.bat resides.
	   [if join.bat resides in d:\split_files, go to explorer click 
	    on d:\split_files to make it the current folder and then 
	    select startmenu->run and type 'command' and press enter]
	b) in the command prompt type  :  edit join.bat.
	   the file should open in the dos editor edit .
	c) now go to File->Save, after saving exit out.
	d) The batch file should be OK now.



-What is winsplit  written in ?

Winsplit was completely   written using the Win32 SDK APIs, using Visual C++ 6.0 
as a development tool.   It is completely written using the standard SDK which 
accounts for its -small- size [48KB] and does not require any additional vbxxx 
or mfcxxx runtimes.

-What is this new CRC check feature ?

Its not mandatory to use this feature , you may if you want to :
This feature allows you to check the consistency of joined files.
Typical problem : you split a 5 meg JPG file into 5 pieces and copy them 
through floppies to another PC and rejoin the pieces..
Now you can check if the rejoined file is EXACTLY same as the original by 
using the CRC feature [inconsistencies arise because of bad floppy disk media].

To use : Check the 'CRC Check ?' check box before splitting.  If you were splitting
called archive.zip into 3 pieces , in the target folder you would now find the 
following files :
archive_zip.1
archive_zip.2
archive_zip.3
archive_zip.CRC <-- this is the CRC file
If you want winsplit to verify the CRC while joining back the pieces you will 
have to copy this .CRC file into the same folder as the split pieces.
[CRC checking is not available when using the batch file to join files.]

	-Is WinSplit CRC32 compliant ?
	Yes ! WinSplit is CRC32 compliant.

-I am a foriegn keyboard user , i am unable to type the number of pieces ?	
Please use the numeric keypad to enter numbers.

-What do i do if i want to learn how to write programs like WinSplit ?
a)buy a good book on win32 programming from someone like jeffrey richter or 
charles petzold.
b)read it
c)play some good music 
[I recommend the barenaked ladies , 
	http://www.bnlmusic.com
	http://www.barenaked.net]
d)now start writing

-I sent you an email yesterday about a problem , but you 
 still havent responded ?
gimme a couple of days more -- i've got a fulltime  job you know..


-I cant seem to   find any documentation ?
I'm a lazy bum , this is all i could write...


2.NEW FEATURES SINCE 1.0.8
--------------------------
f)With 1.0.8 (010303) there is a size option by megabytes...
g)With 1.0.8 (010325) CRC checking has been added as a feature
h)Target folder defaults to source folder
i)layout of controls changed .

2.1 NEW FEATURES SINCE 1.0.7
----------------------------
a)Added Join functionality (in additon to the batch file)
b)Split option allows size specification in Kilobytes now
c)Tooltips for all the controls (for a rudimentary help system)
d)Improved error trapping
e)Size increase of 4KB (aint exactly a feature ?!!)

3.BUG TRAQ
----------
[Thanks to all the individuals who reported bugs.]
BUG FIXES SINCE 1.0.8 (020118)
a)Buffer overflow problem caused files with long names 
to not join (esp. mp3s) 

BUG FIXES SINCE 1.0.8 (010325)
a)Added a few optimizations
b)plugged a memory leaks

BUG FIXES SINCE 1.0.8 (010303)
------------------------------
a)Added a few optimizations
b)plugged a memory leak

BUG FIXES SINCE 1.0.8 (000103)
------------------------------
a)Foriegn keyboard users (correction , only the french complained)
were unable to use the numeric keyboard to enter no.s
b)On some pcs (win9x i suspect) there used to be "Out of memory" 
errors when trying to split very large files.

BUG FIXES SINCE 1.0.7
---------------------
a)JOIN.BAT used to be written unix style with \n 
carriage return, changed it to put \r\n.
b)Added a check for 0 length source files
c)Added checks for blank source, target or keyword fields.

BUG FIXES SINCE 1.0.5
---------------------
a)Join.bat used to fail in case of very long file names
-- changed way in which the batch file was genarated.
b)sneaky bug caused extra file to be put for joining in 
batch file.
c)Renamed binary from KsplitW to Winsplit.

