------------------------------------------------------------------------- ConCat/Split V5.0.0.1 ------------------------------------------------------------------------- ConCat/Split is a Windows Explorer context menu extension that provides two complementary facilities: 1. A split facility that lets you easily convert a single large file into several smaller ones. You can copy these smaller files onto removable media such as a memory card, floppy disks, or CDs, or send them through email facilities that will not allow large attachments. 2. A file concatenation facility that performs the same operation as the command line "copy /b SrcFile1+SrcFile2 [+SrcFileN] DestnFile" operation. With ConCat, you can append any number of files and store the result as a new file, or overwrite one of the original files. ConCat - Copyright (c) 1996-2006 JD Design, All Rights Reserved ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Note ---- You might like to print this file so that you can easily refer to it during installation. You can re-read this file after installation by clicking the Start -> Programs -> JD Design -> ConCat -> Readme menu item. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Installation ------------------------------------------------------------------------- You can execute the concat.msi file directly from your web browser (if you're accessing ConCat from our web site), or download it and run it from your hard disk, or from the supplied floppy disk (if you've ordered one with your registration). If you don't have an up-to-date copy of the Windows Installer, you may need to install a more recent version. For Windows 9x/ME use this URL: http://download.microsoft.com/download/WindowsInstaller/Install/2.0/W9XMe/EN-US/InstMsiA.exe For Windows NT/2000, use this one: http://download.microsoft.com/download/WindowsInstaller/Install/2.0/NT45/EN-US/InstMsiW.exe If Microsoft have changed the location of these redistributables, try the following starting point and look for the Windows Installer Redistributables: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/ The setup will copy files to your computer and then prompt you for your registration information (which you can skip if you're evaluating it). The last step of Setup informs you that ConCat is installed and briefly tells you how to use it. If you're upgrading an existing version, setup may need to restart Windows. Installing under Windows NT4, 2000, XP, Windows 2003 Server, or Vista --------------------------------------------------------------------- You need to run the installation from an account with Administrator privileges. If an administrator applies the EnforceShellExtensionSecurity policy to limit the use of shell extensions to approved ones, they will need to add ConCat to that list in the registry: Create a REG_SZ value whose name is "{B2D4ADE0-0C85-11cf-872F-444553540000}" under the HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Shell Extensions\Approved branch. Administration Installation --------------------------- The installer supports the MSI administrative installation options. For example: msiexec /jm concat.msi "Advertises" ConCat on all the machine's users Programs menu items. When a user invokes the Start->Programs->JD Design->ConCat->Readme option, the installation of ConCat will complete. or: msiexec /a conat.msi Performs an "administrative" installation to a shared network location. Files Installed by Setup ------------------------ Setup copies the following files to the installation folder: ConCat.dll The ConCat Context Menu DLL ConCat.lang The (English) resource language DLL ConCat.txt This file And for Windows 9x: unicows.dll The Microsoft Layer for Unicode Setup will also add relevant registry entries and Start menu items. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- How Do You Use ConCat? ------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1. Split -------- Select the file that you want to split in an Explorer window. Display the context menu by clicking with the secondary mouse button, or use the Explorer window's File menu. Choose the "Split File..." menu item to display the Split dialog box. Operation of this dialog box is straightforward. The "Split Size" group radio buttons populate the combo box list with either: a. Common drive sizes, or b. The free space size of any removable drives on your system that have media inserted in them. When you select this option, it may take a few seconds to find what's available. If there are no removable drives with media inserted , the combo list will be empty. You can enter a custom size setting by typing a value (in KB) in the edit field of the combo box. The destination names field shows the range of file names that you will get from the split operation. You can change the file name (and path) for the destination files if you use the Change button. To perform the split operation, press the "Split File" button. Note: the split operation is non-destructive; it will not delete your original file. Operation is fast (depending only on the size of file you are splitting). 2. Concatenate -------------- Copy the individual files that you have previously split into a folder on your hard disk. Select the files that you want to concatenate in an Explorer window. Display the context menu by clicking with the secondary mouse button, or use the Explorer window's File menu. Choose the "Concatenate Files..." menu item to display the Concatenate dialog box. Important: The selected order of the files in the Explorer window determines the order that the files are copied. The first file is always the one with the focus (dotted rectangle). Here is how you can ensure that you get the files copied in the correct order: i. Select the first file. ii. Hold down the shift key and click the last file that you want. iii. Release the shift key and right click on the first selected item to bring up the context menu. iv. Choose the "Concatenate Files..." item to display the Concatenate Files dialog box. v. The order that the files appear in the "Copy" list box, is the order that they will be concatenated. Ensure that this is the order that you want. In an unregistered version, the default destination file name is the same as the first selected file. If you want to alter this, change the "To" file name before you press the OK button. Misc ---- If you'd prefer not to have the bitmap displayed on the Explorer context menu, add the following registry setting: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\JD Design\ConCat Create a DWORD value named "Options" and set the value to 0 to disable the bitmap. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Registering ------------------------------------------------------------------------- The easiest way to register is online using a credit card via a secure web site - see our web pages for the details and links to the secure site. Alternatively, anyone with a UK bank account can register by sending a cheque made payable to "J Lowndes" at: 162 Mow Cop Road Mow Cop Stoke-on-Trent ST7 4NH England The current prices are: Code Product Price (GBP) JDU1 ExpPrint 7 JDU2 TouchPro 7 JDU3 ConCat 7 JDU4 Tab2Desk 7 JDU5 Space Patrol/Control 7 JDUP Partial Set (JDU1...4) 12 JDUF The Full Set (JDU1...5) 15 You can find the latest prices on our web site, or by calling us on +44 (0)1782 516923. When you receive your registration information, enter your registered name and number into the About dialog box. You can access this dialog from the ConCat dialog About button. You must enter the information exactly as it appears. The case, spaces, and punctuation of the name are significant, and the number is composed of the characters 0-9, A-F and again, the case of the letters is significant. If you register the set of utilities, be sure to use the correct registration number for each product. You can check that registration has worked by re-displaying the About box from the main dialog. When the product is successfully registered your registration name is displayed in the About dialog rather than the entry fields. Updates ------- Any updates to the current version are free to registered users by downloading the latest version from our web site. Problems? --------- See the FAQ on our web site for answers to common problems. Additional Features for Registered Users ----------------------------------------- 1. The ConCat dialog box has the ability to re-order the files you want to join, making it unimportant to select the files in the correct order in the first place. Select the file in the Copy list box and use the up and down buttons as required. The buttons respond to the keyboard accelerators Alt+U & Alt+D. 2. Automatically selects the correct destination filename for files that are split and retain their Split/ConCat naming convention. 3. The ability to automatically create a batch file that will rejoin the files easily on any MS-DOS compatible system that does not have Split/ConCat installed. 4. The last split size is saved between uses. Removal ------- Use the Control Panel, Add/Remove Programs applet and choose the ConCat item. Revision History ---------------- V5.0.0.1 19 Nov 2006 --------------------- Windows Vista compatible. Registration is now per-user rather than per-machine so as to work under Vista without requiring elevation. You will need to reenter your registration details if you upgrade from an earlier version. V5.0.0.0 30 Sept 2005 ---------------------- Handle splitting to files > 4GB. Note that only NTFS formatted disks (NT4, Windows 2000, Windows XP, and later operating systems) supports files greater than 4GB. New fixed size options for extended CD & DVD sizes. Internal coding improvments to reduce memory usage with large selections. Fix for minor cosmetic problem when the Split dialog is initially shown without the "to" file name(s). Registry setting option to not display the context menu bitmap. Use new registration number scheme. Delete split files if the split operation is cancelled. V4.1.0.1 20 Feb 2004 --------------------- Minor change to display the regionalised About dialog from the Split dialog rather than the embedded English version. V4.1.0.0 11 Jan 2004 --------------------- Changes to allow language translation by having all resources in a separate DLL (concat.lang). Fix for a specific situation where a system error was misreported. Added more precise error message if the destn file couldn't be opened during the Split operation. V4.0.0.0 21 June 2003 ---------------------- Split dialog has more preset media sizes (for memory cards and CDs) and a "removable" media option that scans all removable drives and presents the available space on each. Custom sizes are still catered for by entering the figure in the combo box edit field. Very old (small) floppy preset sizes have been removed. Split & ConCat operations are multi-threaded - the UI stays responsive and redraws while performing the file operations, and the operations can be cancelled. Supports Unicode. Windows 9x & ME operating systems aren't fully Unicode, so support under those operating systems is limited. Setup now uses the MS Windows installer. Dialog Cancel buttons are now labelled Close except when the Split or Concatenate operations are working. Fixed a potential problem where the ConCat "To" destination file is in use when the ConCat operation starts. It would have resulted in being unable to rename the temporary destination file to the original name. Revised several error messages and improved error reporting by displaying the underlying Windows system error message. V3.3.3.0 4 April 2002 ---------------------- Added auto-complete to the Concatenate "To" edit control. Code changes ready for Unicode version. Corrected potential problem in initialisation of split dialog. V3.3.2.0 4 Oct 2001 -------------------- Fixed a bug that caused a crash if low disk space occurred when concatenating files. Modified the ConCat list display to ensure that the right hand side is normally visible since the numerical file extension is the most relevant part of the name to see. Similar for the display of the current file name that's being concatenated. In a registered version, the ConCat list is now automatically sorted. Enhanced the code used in a registered version to remove the digits to form the original file name. V3.3.1.0 16 Sept 2001 ---------------------- Changes to the concatenate dialog to display the file part number, and to just show the filename (rather than the full path) in the progress section. The concatenate file overwrite prompt now displays the file name. Correction to support numerical output of file sizes in locales that use Indic grouping of numbers (e.g. 12,34,45,789). V3.3.0.0 25 Nov 2000 ---------------------- Added progress displays to the dialogs to give feedback when manipulating large files. Added support for files greater than 4GB. Note that only NTFS formatted disks (NT4, Windows 2000, Windows XP, and later operating systems) supports files greater than 4GB. V3.2.1.1 15 Sept 2000 ---------------------- The file names in the copy batch file now have surrounding quotes to work with file names that have spaces in them. Added the option to overwrite any existing files in the split operation. V3.2.1.0 25 May 2000 --------------------- Fixed a 2GB problem in the split dialog operation. Files > 2GB can now be split and rejoined correctly. V3.2.0.0 26 March 2000 ---------------------- Registered version saves the last used split size. Display the original file size value in regional number format. Disabled the Change button for the batch file creation in an unregistered version. Removed the "success" dialog boxes. Confirmation is now done with a beep instead. Failure will still display suitable error messages. V3.1.4.1 18 Sept 1999 ---------------------- Modified the About dialog. Changed the registration number field to make it a little easier to enter the number. Updated the home page URL and added a mail link. V3.1.4.0 11 July 1999 ---------------------- Modified file handling (yet again). The previous method had problems splitting files > 800 MB under Windows 9x, and even Windows NT could not cater for manipulating files where the total size approached 2GB. This version can now split and join very large files under both Windows 9x and NT. V3.1.3.0 3 July 1999 ---------------------- Modified to handle very large files. V3.1.2.1 30 January 1999 --------------------------- Minor change to allow international registration names. V3.1.2.0 14 December 1998 --------------------------- Modified the file handling operations to allow manipulation of very large files (several hundred MB). V3.1.1.2 December 1998 ---------------------- Rebuilt, and updated documentation for the new self extracting installer. V3.1.1 June 1998 ---------------- Added cosmetic bitmaps for the menu items to aid visibility. V3.1 October 1997 ----------------- New registration system. Improved presentation of long items in the ConCat dialog list box - uses the familiar ellipses notation for long paths. Support ------- We maintain a list of frequently asked questions on our web site. If you have a technical question, please check there to see if you can find an answer before contacting us. We will post the latest versions of our utilities on our web site as soon as they are available, so please take a look to keep up to date and to see what other software and services we offer. Web Site: http://www.jddesign.co.uk/ If you have any suggestions for improvements to any of our utilities, please contact us via email (our up-to-date address is on our web site's contacts page). It's always good to hear from people using our products, and we appreciate your taking the time to tell us. Thanks JD Design