DESCRIPTION:
The general syntax of the CAT command is:
CAT[,<drive list>][,<match list>]
where <drive list> can be one or more drive numbers separated by commas, and <match list> is a set of name and extension characters to be matched against names in the directory. For example, if only file names which started with the characters 'VE' were to be cataloged, then VE would be in the match list. If only files whoose extensions were 'TXT' were to be cataloged, then .TXT should appear in the match list. A few specific examples will help clarify the syntax:
+++CAT
+++CAT,1,A.T,DR
+++CAT,PR
+++CAT,0,1
+++CAT,0,1,.CMD,.SYS
The first example will catalog all file names on the working drive or on all drives if auto drive searching is selected. The second example will catalog only those files on drive 1 whoose names begin with 'A' and whoose extensions extensions begin with 'T', and also all files on drive 1 whoose names start with 'DR'. The next example will catalog all files on the working drive (or on all drive if auto drive searching is selected) whoose names start with 'PR'. The next line causes all files on both drive 0 and drive 1 to be cataloged. Finally, the last example will catalog the files on drive 0 and 1 whoose extensions are CMD or SYS.
During the catalog operation, before each drives files are displayed, a header message stating the drive number is output to the terminal. The name of the diskette as entered during the NEWDISK operation will also be displayed. The actual directory entries are listed in the following form:
NAME.EXTENSION SIZE PROTECTION CODE
where size is the number of sectors that file occupies on the disk. If more than one set of matching characters was specified on the command line, each set of names will be grouped according to the characters they match. For example, if all .TXT and .CMD files were cataloged, the TXT types would be listed together, followed by the CMD types.
In summary, if the CAT command is not parameterized, then all files on the assigned working drive will be displayed. If a working drive is not assigned (auto drive searching mode) the CAT command will display files on all on line drives. If it is parameterized by only a drive number, then all files on that drive will be displayed. If the CAT command is parameterized by only an extension, then only files with that extension will be displayed. If only the name is used, then only files which start with that name will be displayed. If the CAT command is parameterized by only name and extension, then only files of that root name and root extension (on the working drive) will be displayed. Learn to use the CAT command and all of its features and your work with the disk will become a little easier.
The current protection code options that can be displayed are as follows:
| D | File is delete protected (delete or rename prohibited) |
| W | File is write protected (delete, rename and write prohibited) |
| (blank) | No special protection |