LIBRARY UTILITIES
by Editor, KCUG Charleston, May 1987

(A look at some NULU and LRUN)

In the last Newsletter, I was discussing the features of NULU.  I
did not get around to pointing out that NULU also has a filesweep
capability with command similar to NEWSWEEP.  In the NULU command
mode, recall that the one letter commands had to be prefixed with
a "-" or hyphen.  Enter the filesweep mode by typing:

A>-F

At that point, one only needs to enter the single letter commands
to execute filesweep commands.  The hyphen prefix is not
required.  A few notes about the file sweep mode are in order. 
If no library is open, you will receive the prompt "No library
open."  and only the L (Log new drive/user), O (Open new
library), X (Exit Nulu), Y (Disk directory), Z (Return to NULU
command mode) and ? (Display menu)  commands will be available. 
When listing files in the filesweep mode, the file size in K is
displayed.  That file size is the size of the file if or when it
is extracted.

You may find the filesweep mode easier to use or less awkward
since you don't have to bother with the hyphen prefix. 

If you decide not to library files because you feel it may be too
much trouble to extract them, there are a few utilities that may
change your mind.  One called LDIR.COM allows you to look at the
library directory without having to go through NULU.  Issue the
command "LDIR <FILENAME>".  The .LBR extension is assumed.  
Another utility is LRUN.COM.  This  utility allows you to run COM
type files in the library, that is without extracting them.  For
example, if you libraried the files STAT, PIP, SUBMIT, D and NS
in a library called UTILS.LBR, you could issue the command 

     LRUN UTILS d

and the file d.com would execute as if it had been executed
directly from the CP/M command prompt.  Of course, there are some
trade-offs.  One, you cannot squeeze or crunch the individual
file members if you plan to use LRUN with the library. 
Obviously, you cannot squeeze the library itself.  It does
require some more typing than having the files individually
located on the disk.  What it comes down to, is that you have to
decide if the trade offs are worth the extra trouble.  I have
found that many text files, like letters, are good candidates for
libraries.  Once they have been written, they are seldom, if
ever, looked at again.  I frequently library  notes, tips, hint,
etc.  that I collect from bulletin boards and magazines.  It
saves having a lot of loose papers around and keeps those items
in one place.  Occasionally, I will break out the library and
browse through it.
