                                                              User's Manual

                                                             Document Press

                                                        Version 1.00 Beta 1



Contents
--------

  Contents
  Introduction
  Command line syntax
  Switches
  Final comments


Introduction
------------

Document Press is a freeware program for compressing compound files. It can
compress Word, Excel, Access, PowerPoint documents and big number of other
files. Document Press reduces file size by removing dead space. THERE IS NO
ANY DATA LOSS. After compression you can use these files without any
decompression.

Document Press is a console 32-bit executable for Windows 95, 98 and NT.

What is Compound file?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Compound file is a number of individual files bound together in one
physical file. The most Microsoft programs write data to compound files.
The examples of programs that write data to compound files:

   * Word
   * Excel
   * Access
   * PowerPoint

How does it work?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Compound files provide incremental saves inherently, so the physical size
of a compound file on disk will typically be larger than necessary. This is
because the size of the file is determined by the amount of space between
the first and last sectors used by that file. Document Press reorganizes
file content and removes all the dead space.


Command line syntax:
--------------------

          docpress [<switch>...] [<arguments>...]

          <arguments> ::= <switch> | <wildcard> | <filename> | <list_file>

          <switch>::= {'/'|'-'}<switch_characters>[<option>]

          <list_file> ::= '@'<filename>

Expressions in square brackets (between '[' and ']') are optional.

Expressions in curly braces (between '{' and '}') are required.

Expression

          expression1 | expression2 | ... | expressionN

means that any (but only one) from these expressions must be specified.

Switches can be entered in upper or lower case.

The switches and other filenames can be in any order.

Wildcards or filenames with spaces must be quoted:

          "Program files\*"

          "Program files"\*

Switch options can be combined to save command line length. However, some
switch options take optional string arguments and therefore, must be the
last option in a combined argument token string because Document Press
accepts the rest of the argument token as the optional argument.

Document Press uses wild name matching similar to Windows 95:

   * '*' means a sequence of arbitrary characters.
   * '?' means any character.

Examples:

 "*.txt"      means all files with an extension of
              ".txt"

 "?a*"        means all files with a second
              character of "a"

 "*1*"        means all names that contains
              character "1"

 "*.*.*"      means all names that contain two "."
              characters

The default wildcard "*" will be used if there is no filename/wildcard in
command line.

Restrictions for wildcards and filenames:

   * Wildcards and filenames can't contain disk name or network name. Every
     wildcard/filename path is treated as path from current directory on
     disk and as path from root directory in archive. In other words, the
     first part of path (letters before first slash ('\') symbol) always
     must be name or wildcard.
   * Wildcards and filenames can't be ended by slash ('\') symbol
   * Wildcards can contain wildcard characters ('*' and '?') only in last
     part of path.

Examples:

 Dir1\*.doc             OK

 c:\Dir1\*.doc          ILLEGAL: path contains disk name

 Dir1\Dir2\g?.txt       OK

 Dir1\D?r2\file1.txt    ILLEGAL: there is a wildcard char in
                        non last part

These restrictions do not act to filenames and directory names used not as
archiving files.

List file
~~~~~~~~~
You can supply one or more filenames or wildcards for special list files
(files containing lists of files). The filenames in such list file must be
separated by space, tab or new line symbol(s). Wildcards or filenames with
spaces must be quoted.

Multiple list files are supported.

For example, if contents of file "listfile.txt" is the following:

          "My programs\*.doc"

          Doc\*.doc

then command

          docpress @listfile.txt

compresses files from directories "My programs" and "Doc"


Switches:
---------

  ID   Description

  -i   Include filenames

  -r   Recurse subdirectories

  -t   esTimate compression ratio

  -w   Assign Work directory

  -x   Exclude filenames



-i: Include filenames
---------------------

Format:

          -i [r [- | 0] ] {@ listfile | ! wildcard}

This switch specifies additional include filenames and wildcards.

 r [- | 0]        Specifies how wildcards and file
                  names specified in this switch must
                  be used. If this option is not
                  assigned then global value, assigned
                  by -r switch will be used. For more
                  details see specification of -r
                  switch

 @listfile        Specifies name of list file. See List
                  file description

 !wildcard        Specifies wildcard or filename

Multiple include switches are supported.

Example:

          docpress *.doc -ir!DIR1\*.xls

compresses all "*.doc" files from current directory and all "*.xls" files
from directory "DIR1" and from all it's subdirectories.

See also: -r, -x


-r: Recurse subdirectories
--------------------------

Format:

          -r [- | 0]

This switch specifies method of treating wildcards and filenames assigned
in command line.

 -r         Enable recurse subdirectories.

 -r-        Disable recurse subdirectories.
            This option is default.

 -r0        Enable recurse subdirectories only
            for wildcard names.

Examples:

          docpress -r src\*.doc src\*.xls

compresses all "*.doc" and "*.xls" files from directory "src" and all it's
subdirectories.

See also: -i, -x


-t: esTimate compression ratio
------------------------------

Format:

          -t

This switch specifies estimate mode for compression. In this mode DocPress
attempts to estimate possible compression ratio.

Example:

          docpress -t *.doc

estimates compression ratio for "*.doc" files.


-w: assign Work directory
-------------------------

Format:

          -w [<path>]

This switch specifies working directory for temporary files. By default,
DocPress builds a temporary file in the same directory as the document
file. By specifying the "-w" switch, you can assign the working directory
where the temporary file will be built. After the temporary file is built,
it is copied over the original document and deleted. If <path> is not
assigned, then DocPress will use Windows temporary directory.

Example:

          DocPress *.doc -wc:\temp


-x: Exclude filenames
---------------------

Format:

          -x [r [- | 0] ] {@ listfile | ! wildcard}

This switch specifies what filenames or (and) wildcards must be excluded
from operation.

For full option description of this switch see -i Include switch
description.

-i[r[-|0]]@listfile|!wildcard

Multiple exclude switches are supported.

Example:

          docpress * -x!*.doc

compresses all files, except files with "doc" extension

See also: -i, -r


Final comments:
---------------

Please, If you will disclose any bugs in program then give me to know about
it.

The official page of the Document Press can be accessed at:

http://compress.da.ru
http://www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/Lakes/9584/index.html

You can find my other programs at:

http://compress.da.ru



You may freely send your comments and suggestions to Igor Pavlov, the
author of the Document Press:

E-mail: igorp@geocities.com



Igor Pavlov



End of document
