One bug report and several features request

[Smiling Spectre]

Some history in first.

I am collector of old games. Very old - 80s-begin of 90s. Recently I found big collection of images of old floppies. Mostly DOS-games, I presume. I wanted to check it, but first it need, of course, to be extracted to HDD. Because searching/viewing/comparing and such things are not very useful for images.

So I searched Internet, and found no suitable utility for batch-extracting floppy-images! Imagine that! Whole Internet, and no one cares about floppy! Except, of course, WinImage.

So I download Winimage and begin my test... Oops. Do not work for me.

So I begin main part.

Bug.

WinImage have "Extract" option in right-click menu. Unfortunately, when I do so, I lose all subdirs (with files in it) from the floppy-image. It is in .IMG format, and all subdirs simply ignored, no matter if I select "extract with pathname" or not. Exactly the same function (at least, seemingly) under WI works as intended: if I open image, select "Extract"-"Extract with pathname", everything goes all right.

Features request.

Batch conversion in WI is good, but it lose several features, that made it mostly not-usable for several different images at once.

1. It would be ideally, if resulting directory had the same name as image in question. I.e. Disk1.IMG or 12345.IMA transforms to Disk1 and 12345 dirs, accordingly. Unfortunately, only available option is "make incremental dirs", and it gave not much help, even if I have only ten different programs with one-three disks each - instead of assorting distinct files I will have to dozens of monotonous incremental subdirs. So feature request is: can you please allow option of "extract in subdirs of matching names"? Please?

2. Feature lack of 1. became worse with one WI habit: it always use list on input "as is". I cannot sort it or somewhat modify, except add new entries or remove all. It is not very helpful. Especially if I have some odd sorting in select window. But even without it, my Windows always take last file first, if I select several files in ones. In result, I cannot determine exact order of resulting images, even if I have all of it incremental. So feature request here ill be: can you, please, sort list - automatically or manually? (Of course, if you'll implement feature 1, it would be not very needed).

3. Even without bug, "extract" from right click not very helpful, if I need to extract not one, but several images. Can you add feature to open batch-assistant in case of several files, instead multiply "extract" screens?

4. Another one (actually, the same) useful feature would be option to "extract in matching subdir", exactly as in 1., only for "Extract" option, not only for batch.

Thank you beforehand!

[jaclaz]

From "My Cousin vinny":

Judge Chamberlain Haller: Mr. Gambini?
Vinny Gambini: Yes, sir?
Judge Chamberlain Haller: That is a lucid, intelligent, well thought-out objection.
Vinny Gambini: Thank you, sir.
Judge Chamberlain Haller: Overruled.

Very nice put, but maybe we have workarounds.

Winimage is a GUI image manipulating utility, it is not a command line driven floppy image archiving one.

I am assuming you are running 2K/XP/Vista.

You can use allright VFD (which is a command line driven Virtual Floppy utility) and drive it by batch:
http://chitchat.at.infoseek.co.jp/vmware/vfd.html
or IMDISK:
http://www.ltr-data.se/opencode.html

You use any "normal" dd-like app, to create the floppy images on your hard disk.

What I personally use is dsfo/dsfi from the DSFOK toolkit:
http://members.ozemail.com.au/~nulifetv ... /freeware/

Then you mount them and extract files from them.

BUT
did you try first EXTRACT?
http://www.winimage.com/extract.htm

Be aware that "Games" floppies can be tricky.

Here you can find some ideas/hints:
http://www.msfn.org/board/archive-old-f ... 36856.html

jaclaz

[Smiling Spectre]

jaclaz, I appreciate your suggestions. But it have two major flaws.

1. There is lot of floppy creators all around. There is also lot of floppy readers. But I need Floppy Extractor.

2. Extracting files manually is OK - just while you have one-two-ten floppies. In my case there is numbers more like thousands.

I checked Extract. It's main plus: it is freeware. It's main minus: it is command-line driven.

Of course, I can write utility for myself, that will be floppy extractor with Extract as main engine. But we already have such extractor, with much more possibilities than I can write quick and dirty! And, moreover, I believe that options needed for me is easy to implement and will be useful for many. If it is not... well, I'll end with Extract.

[jaclaz]

Well, you asked for a batch to extract and I "gave" you extract.

Of course is command line driven, I thought you were trying to "automate" something.

If we are talking of hundreds or thousands, you write a small batch that prompts you to insert a floppy, dd it to a file, than either use extract or mount it in virtual disk extracts the files to a directory, then loops , prompting for a new one.

I really don't see the difficult part.

Now I see what you were asking for a GUI batch utility (which is something rather pointless in this case, as I see it).

jaclaz

[Smiling Spectre]

Well, you asked for a batch to extract and I "gave" you extract.

You are right. Partially. It seems, my English still far from perfect, and I am sorry for it.

I already have about five thousand of floppy images. No real disks, but images. So yes, I need automatization for extracting it. Because "mount disk, made dir on HDD, copy all files into it" way too slow. I tried. Two hours for one hundred of floppies. I cannot afford it. And WinImage gave me almost what I need. It can extract files. It can made subdirs. Only part that missing is "meaningful" subdir instead "generic number" one. So I requested this feature, that's all.

Of course is command line driven, I thought you were trying to "automate" something.

And you are right in that part. But it is much easier to take already finished solution (WinImage), even if I need to pay for it, than made my own automated solution, that's all.

If we are talking of hundreds or thousands, you write a small batch that prompts you to insert a floppy, dd it to a file, than either use extract or mount it in virtual disk extracts the files to a directory, then loops , prompting for a new one.

I really don't see the difficult part.

I even don't need floppy.

But difficult part is made something meaningful from that. So ideally I need procedure:

1. Take image (Let it be WIZ7_01.IMG).
2. Make dir by first part of name (WIZ7).
3. Make subdir by second part of name (Floppy number inside game - 01).
4. Extract all files with subdirs into newly created WIZ7/01.
5. Go to next image.

Well, if WinImage could made WIZ7_01 dir, it would be enough for me. But it can't now!

Uh, Ok, you are talked me into it. I take my good old Clipper and made this utility. It happens, I already had similar template, for ZX Screen recode, so for pure brains it taken about fifteen minutes. And about hour and half for tuning it into perfectness.

So well, I have my transcoding batch, and it already finish it's work. Thank you for temptation! (No, I really grateful.)

But I still thinks, that WI would benefit from this features!

[jaclaz]

So well, I have my transcoding batch, and it already finish it's work. Thank you for temptation! (No, I really grateful.)

But I still thinks, that WI would benefit from this features!

Happy that I tempted you in finding the solution.

About adding these features to Winimage, I am personally against it, whch is a good thing as it means that anyone can have his own opinions.

I am getting old, and actually belong to dinosaur's era, but I see this trend into "featuritis" which leads to always bigger programs that do a multitude of things, making the possibility of a bug or incompatibility much more probable.

In a "perfect world" - as I would see it - we would have a number of small, very "specialised" apps, each one doing exactly and perfectly what it is supposed to do.

And yes, this sounds very simialr to DOS .com's and small .exe's and a script of some kind to "assemble them".

But since you actually remember the word "Clipper" without associating it to a vessel, it means you are not that much younger than me, and all you needed was a small push to win your "lazyness".



jaclaz

[Smiling Spectre]

About adding these features to Winimage, I am personally against it, whch is a good thing as it means that anyone can have his own opinions.

I am getting old, and actually belong to dinosaur's era, but I see this trend into "featuritis" which leads to always bigger programs that do a multitude of things, making the possibility of a bug or incompatibility much more probable.

Hmm. I can see your point. But I still think, that in that particular case it is not so serious issue. WI already have this feature "put files in specified dir". So technically "rename into name of file" not very different from "rename into given name and increment this name". But, well, I already received what I want, so I have not much care about this features now.

But still, bug is real. For some strange reason extracting from right click is different from extracting under WI itself. I can only speculate, that it could be something about "active point" after starting WI from right click (not upper level, but first file after dirs, for example). Because I do not believe that two exactly matching interfaces could be different inside.

[jaclaz]

I would guess that the "right click extract" is a "simplified" version of the "Extract" in the actual GUI, most probably a "glitch in the matrix".

Another thing that you may want to explore.
7-zip can open Floppy images allright (normally, again some games use "peculiar" formats).
I believe that also the command line version has the same feature.
See the screenshot.

7zipextract.JPG (65.92 KiB) Viewed 366 times

jaclaz