       Pakem (Pack 'em) is freeware. You are under no obligation to pay
anyone in order to use it. However, the author would appreciate
receiving mail with your comments and suggestions, and, if you feel the
effort was worthy, a donation of any amount in any currency. In return
you will receive the warm inner-glow that comes from knowing you have
committed a good deed! Send these to:

                              Mark Watkins
                              319 West Tonhawa
                              Norman OK 73069


       Pakem will copy or move files from the current directory to a
floppy in drive A: or B:. It will start with the largest file and work
its way down in order to fill the floppy to its maximum capacity. If
there are any files left to process, it will prompt you to insert the
next disk and continue in this manner until all files are done. With any
luck the floppies will have 0 bytes free.

       Pakem.btm is a special kind of batch file that only runs under a
shareware program called 4DOS. It requires version 4.0 or greater. If
you haven't heard, 4DOS is a command processor meant to replace MS DOS'
command.com. It will do everything command.com does and MUCH more. You
do not have to load 4DOS permanently to use pakem. You can run it from
the commandline by typing "<path>\4dos /c pakem [parameters]" where the
path is the directory you have copied 4dos.com into, and parameters are
the optional parameters you have selected to tell pakem the files on
which to operate. For a help screen containing more information, use "?"
for the parameter in the example above. After Pakem has finished
running, control will be returned to your normal command processor.
However, if you've gone to the trouble to obtain a copy of 4DOS, you
owe it to yourself to look over the manual and test drive the program.
You will probably decide that regular DOS just can't compare.


       Here are some changes to pakem.btm that have been made since it was
first posted on Fidonet in mid-February 1992:

---
alias added:
alias cls *cls whi on bla
    This will be reset to its normal value after completion of the
batch, and will allow the screen clearing commands in the batch to work
as intended.

---
new variables:
set List_1=%temp%pakem1.tmp
set List_2=%temp%pakem2.tmp
     These clean up the code a little and make it easier to read and follow.

---
        After I posted the file I discovered a bug that attempted to operate
on files in subdirectories in the CWD if there were no parameters on the
command line, or if "*.*" was used as the parameter (I only tested pakem on
directories with no subs - shame on me!). Here's the fix:


old line:
if not exist %temp%pakem1.tmp *dir /b /o:sr %& > %temp%pakem1.tmp

new line:
if not exist %List_1 *dir /b /a:-d-h-s /o:sr %& > %temp%pakem1.tmp


---
      If you have already specified the TMP and/or TEMP variables, pakem
will leave them as you've set them and build its temporary files there.
It will check to make sure you ended it with a backslash and append one
if you didn't. If you haven't set this variable, the root directory of
the last logical drive on your system will be used.


---
      I added the capability to format disks in the target drive. Pakem
assumes you have a 1.2M A:drive and a 1.44M B:drive. If your system
differs from this configuration you will need to edit the :Format
subroutine to reflect your setup. In any event, check the format routine
for compatibility with your system before using it.

---
      Added a bell to alert you when it's time to change floppies so you
can focus your attention elsewhere while pakem is working.

---
      Added the ability to selectively delete files from the
target disk.

---
      For version 1.14, the list of pending files displayed by pressing
"l" now shows total bytes for the remaining files (dileneated with
commas). Also moved the exit screen down one line for people who use
the top line of the screen for their prompt.

      Changed the display for the number of disks required for
remaining files to limit decimal places. This changed the 4DOS
version required to 5.5.

---
                                             Enjoy!,

                                               .\\ark

