



                                 What Floppy Format?
                         Copyright (c) 1992 by Angel Babudro

                             "Organic Computer Wizardry"
                   28 Mulberry Street * Clinton, NY USA 13323-1506
                                    (315) 853-6942


        I.   DISCLAIMER OF WARRANTY

             THIS SOFTWARE  PROGRAM AND DOCUMENTATION ("WFF")  IS PROVIDED "AS
        IS" WITHOUT  WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS, EXPRESS  OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING,
        BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THOSE CONCERNING MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A
        PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  BY  USING WFF, YOU ARE EXPRESSLY  RELEASING ANGEL
        BABUDRO FROM ANY LIABILITY RESULTING FROM THE USE OF THIS SOFTWARE AND
        DOCUMENTATION.  YOU MUST ASSUME THE ENTIRE RISK OF USING WFF.  YOU ARE
        ADVISED TO TEST AND SUPERVISE WFF THOROUGHLY BEFORE RELYING ON IT.


        II.  LICENSE

             1.    WFF  is  being  distributed  as  Freeware.    There  is  no
        registration fee and you are licensed to use it for an unlimited time.
        The  copyright  and  marketing  rights, however,  are  held  by  Angel
        Babudro.

             2. You may keep as many backup  copies of WFF as you wish and you
        may run WFF simultaneously on as many  computers as you like.  You are
        granted the right to share WFF  with others, as long as you distribute
        the original files exactly  as you received them, with  all associated
        files included.

             3. Under no circumstances may you  charge any fee or receive  any
        other form of  consideration for  distributing the  WFF files  without
        express  written consent  from  the copyright  holder, Angel  Babudro,
        other than to charge a fee of not more than US$6 (six dollars) for the
        media and/or service of distribution.


        III. TECHNICAL SUPPORT (HOW TO REACH ME)

             If  you  have questions  or need  help, just  send  a note  to me
        through the mail or a BBS listed below.  Registered users (or those in
        the  process of registering), vendors,  and sysops may  contact me via
        telephone as well.  Sysops and shareware vendors please see VENDOR.DOC
        for distribution information.

              Mail        Angel   Babudro,    "Organic   Computer   Wizardry",
                          28 Mulberry   Street,   Clinton,  NY     13323-1506,
                          (315) 853-6942 Mon-Fri 9am-5pm Eastern Time

              I will be moving during the summer of 1993 so please allow extra
        time for  me to  respond.   You can  still  contact me  via the  above

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        address & phone number - my wife's parents will continue  to live here
        and  they will give you  my new address (I don't  know what it will be
        yet) and forward mail & orders to me.

              Official Distribution Bulletin Boards

              On bulletin  boards I use  the first  name "Angelo" -  it avoids
        gender confusion and I am used to either name.  Scan for the file name
        WFF*.* to  locate the latest version.  All six of my software packages
        are free downloads on both systems.

        East Coast   Excalibur, Central NY (315) 736-3792 USR Dual
                     This is my local distribution board where you can  always
                     find the  latest updates to  all of my software.   I will
                     get  messages left here within  a few days.   My software
                     can  be  FREQed  from this  board  via  RBBS Net  address
                     A:954/401,   FIDO  Net  address   1:26501,  or   ICN  Net
                     91:315/101.

        West Coast   Researcher's BBS, So Cal (805) 949-8151 USR Dual
                     This is my west coast distribution board which is updated
                     every 1-3 weeks with the latest versions of my  software.
                     Conference #136  is OrganicSftwr  - enter "J  136" before
                     downloading,  browsing  for  topics  of  interest, and/or
                     leaving messages to me.

              My software can also  be found on national bulletin  boards such
        as Exec-PC (Wisconsin) and Channel 1 (Mass.).


        IV.   INTRODUCTION

              WFF  is  a menu  shell  for  use with  Christophe  Hochstatter's
        FDFORMAT.  WFF is Freeware; it is my contribution back to all the fine
        programmers who have donated their labour in the form of public domain
        software.  Please distribute complete copies of WFF to bulletin boards
        and  friends  --  please shackle  any  temptations  you  might have  to
        eliminate or modify anything -- not nice. :)  I am open to donations if
        your  situation warrants.   For  the latest  version of  WFF  order my
        Sampler Disk (see ORDER.FRM).

              Now, let me tell you what it is that I've created.

              What  Floppy  Format? (WFF)  is an  easy  way to  quickly format
        floppies without remembering commands  and option switches for various
        disk types using FDFORMAT, a formatting utility written and donated to
        the  public  domain  by  Christophe  Hochst tter  (normally  found  as
        FDFRM16A.ZIP or FDFORM18.ZIP on  BBS's).  FDFORMAT is the  best floppy
        format utility  I've seen,  but  it's so  flexible  that there  are  a
        million and one  combinations of options.  So I wrote  WFF to allow me
        to  set & test  certain options, save  the options I  prefer, and then
        format a  disks without having  to remember any  of it.  I  don't even
        need to remember which drive is A: (not that it's a problem...).

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              I use the extra high-density and off-colour formats provided via
        FDFORMAT for my  archive disks.   FDFORMAT packs  1.48Mb on a  5-inch
        disk and  up to 1.72Mb  on a 3-inch disk,  which dramatically reduces
        the number of  disks I need  to off-load large  software from my  hard
        disk.  And  I've noticed that with a CompatiCard  IV the <300-byte TSR
        isn't needed for the  extended densities.  It's the best disk capacity
        extender I've seen, and it's public domain, too!  Can't beat it.

              If  you can't  find  it  on  your local  BBS,  FDFORMAT  can  be
        downloaded from the BBSs listed above.

              By the  way, I don't  have any  interest in FDFORMAT  other than
        using it.  I'll have to write a letter to the author some day...


        WARNING   WFF allows  you to  format disks in  drive letters
        _______
                  other  than A: or B: by assigning drive A: to that
                  drive.   I did this so  that I could format  my 8"
                  drive (which is K: on my system) using FDFORMAT.

                  To  illustrate, my 8" drive  is K: so  WFF does an
                  "ASSIGN  a=k" before issuing the FDFORMAT command.
                  When FDFORMAT  is finished, an "ASSIGN" command is
                  issued by itself to remove the drive assignment.

        BEWARE    If you set  a hard  disk letter as  a floppy  disk
        ______
                  drive I  have no  idea what will  happen (I'm  not
                  going to try it!).  So PLEASE PLEASE be careful if
                  you use something  other than drives A:  and B: --
                  double check that it's a floppy disk letter you're
                  using!


        File List
        _________

              The files that make up What Floppy Format? are as follows:

              wff.exe     The executable file
              wff.txt     The documentation (this text) in ASCII format [*]
              wff.wp      The  documentation  (this  text)  in  WordPerfect  5
                          format (so you can format for your printer) [*]
              wff.new     Late-breaking news [*]
              file_id.diz Description file for BBSs [*]
              desc.sdi    Description file for BBSs [*]
              order.frm   Order  form  for  all   of  my  Shareware!    Please
                          TYPE ORDER.FRM > PRN

              These are the  files which make up WFF.  When you give copies to
        friends, BBSs,  etc. please  be sure  to include all  of these  files.
        Additional files will be created in  the same directory as you use the
        software.  The files marked with [*] can be deleted if disk space is a
        premium, but I ask that you please keep ORDER.FRM handy in case you or
        someone else you  know wants to contact me.  Since  I am asking for no

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        money for WFF I hope you will do this for me.  Thanks.


        Using WFF
        _________

              NOTE: WFF.EXE  should reside  in a  directory in  your DOS
              PATH.   Otherwise you will have  to use "cd" to  change to
              that directory each time.   To set your path use the  "set
              path=" command in your autoexec.bat file.

              Just type WFF  from the DOS prompt.  The first  time you use it,
        WFF will pop-up  its set-up screen for you  to fill in.  Just  tell it
        whether you have a monochrome or colour  screen, which types of floppy
        disk drives you have (up to 4) and the drive letters,  and the path to
        the FDFORMAT programme.   If FDFORMAT resides in  a directory which is
        in your DOS  PATH it will  automatically be filled  in.  (See  WARNING
        above  about floppy drives.)  Default values for disk verification and
        sector sliding  are also presented for  you to change.   If you aren't
        sure what you  want to use, just leave the defaults as they are -- the
        default sector sliding  values should improve the  floppy disk's speed
        on any computer.  See the documentation for FDFORMAT for details about
        these.

              Directory Command -- While you are formatting disks you can press
        F5  between disks  to see  a directory  on the  screen.   This  is the
        directory command, and  parameters, you like to use.   You can use the
        DOS "DIR" command, or "NDIR" as I use, or "HDIR" or anything else.

              Root Dir  Files -- This is  the maximum number of  files the disk
        may  have in its  root directory (\).   In more  technical terms, this
        setting determines  the size of the FAT  (File Allocation Table).  See
        FDFORMAT docs.   Leave "112" for  default of 112 or  224, depending on
        disk type.  You can lower the  number to squeeze a few more bytes  out
        of your disks.   This does not affect subdirectories;  only the number
        of files you can have in the root.

              After  you've done the  set-up, just pick  the size of  disk you
        want  from the  horizontal menu --  3-inch, 5-inch, and  8-inch -- and
        press RETURN.  You'll  see a vertical menu of the densities available,
        depending on whether you have double-density or high-density drives  --
        densities  which are not valid  for your drive(s)  cannot be selected.
        Highlight your selection and press RETURN.  That's all there is to it!


        Special Features & Functions
        ____________________________

              Quick Format  -- If  you have  verification turned  OFF, FDFORMAT
        version 1.8 will re-format  a disk in  5-10 seconds by only  verifying
        already formatted tracks and clearing the FAT.

              Continuous Format -- After a disk is formatted you will hear some
        tones to tell you the disk is finished (so you don't have to watch the


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        screen),  and a ticking will begin.1  This is to let you know that WFF
        is waiting for your response:

              1. You  can press Esc to  stop formatting disks  or F5 to  see a
        directory of another disk.

              2. You can remove the disk.  This will initiate WFF's Continuous
        Format feature -- WFF will wait for you to insert another disk or press
        Esc to quit or F5 for a directory.

              Before inserting another disk you can  press the F5 key to get a
        directory of a disk.  WFF will prompt for a drive letter at the bottom
        of the  screen.  While  it is  waiting for  the drive  letter you  can
        insert the disk you would like to view.

              NOTE  Both  FDFORMAT and  WFF test  the  disk drive.
                    Usually this causes no noticable delay,  but I
                    stumbled across a  combination of  electronics
                    that   took   16-seconds   to    identify   an
                    unformatted disk.  If this is happening to you
                    there  may  be  a  conflict  in  your  system;
                    experiment with card  settings (address,  IRQ,
                    etc.).  In my case it was an address conflict.

              Drawbacks -- I  designed WFF  to allow selection  of disk  drives
        based on size  rather than drive letter.   This avoids confusion where
        one 5.25" and one 3.5" disk drive are used since you can't even assume
        that the  top drive is A: (Tandy  broke that rule).   But, if you have
        two of the same drives  (like an old AT or XT with  dual 5.25" drives)
        there is no way to choose between them.  Anyone got a good idea on how
        to deal with this??



















                            
        ____________________
               1  These sounds are only  audible if the  Sound option under
          "File" is turned ON.

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