
MechUtil v. 1.2.3
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Copyright 2003, Caroline Tardif
e-mail: carot@mac.com
(yeah, that's right, a Mac user creating Windows applications...  Go figure, huh!)



The sole purpose of this application is to make people's lives easier! That means helping cut down on the time needed for some silly little tasks while enabling merchants to concentrate on the really important stuff: quality products!



INSTALLATION INSTRUCTIONS:

To install, simply unzip to your hard drive.  And that's it you're ready to go!



USAGE INFORMATION:

There are 4 utilities in all:
  - Check File Names  (to ensure product can cross over to Mac)
  - Version Check  (to ensure PP & P5 files won't produce error messages in P4)
  - Path Check  (to ensure they contain properly formatted texture paths)
  - FileList  (to generate a list of all files located inside a directory)


You can go from one utility to the other simply by switching from one Tab to another.  Everything you need for each is on its page.  Once you have entered a Path in the path box, it will stay there and be sent over from one utility to the other.  However, once you leave a Tab, all other information will be lost!



Check File Names:
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Will enable you to verify all the files in one folder or a entire directory structure (including all subfolders).  The max filename length on a Mac is 31 characters - if you want to ensure that your product will cross over properly, then all filenames must be within this limit.

How to use it:

 - Specify whether path is a folder or directory
 - Enter a path or browse to a folder
 - Click the "Check!" button

Number of files found, as well as folders scanned & problems found will be  reported in the statistics area.

All files and folders that have a name longer than 31 characters will be listed in the Results pane followed by the total number of characters contained in their names.



Version Number Check:
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Can check either one file or a complete directory structure for ProPack and Poser5 files that would generate a version error message in Poser4. Only valid (and uncompressed) Poser files will be verified.


This utility ONLY fixes the version number!  It won't make .png into .rsr and won't fix MAT files so they load the correct file format for Bump Maps!!  ;-)


How to use it:

 - Specify whether path is a file or directory
 - Enter a path or browse to a folder or file
 - Click the "Check!" button
 - Files will be read & problematic ones tagged
 - Once checking is done you will have the option to fix files or not in the event that ssome need to be fixed, of course! 

Number of files checked, as well as problems found will be reported in the statistics area.

Original files are not overwritten, instead their extensions are changed to .OLD and a new file is created.  .OLD files will need to be manually removed from the folders before product is distributed...  ;-)



Check Paths:
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Will check paths inside Poser files to ensure that they are conform to submission guidelines (ie: paths shouldn't start at a drive lette) and that they can cross over to Mac and still function as expected. 

This utility ONLY checks the files, it will not fix them!

How to use it:

 - Specify whether path is a file or directory
 - Enter a path or browse to a folder or file
 - Click the "Check!" button

Number of files checked, as well as problems found will be reported in the statistics area.


FileList:
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Will generate a list of all files & folders contained in a directory.  Ideal for creating those nasty little file lists required by product submission guidelines.  ;-)

How to work it:

 - Enter a path or browse to a folder or file
 - Click the "Scan!" button
 - File list will be displayed in the result pane
 - You can copy/paste the contents of the list in a different file
 - ...or hit the "Save List" button to save the file to your hard drive.


That's it!  :o)
There are some small functionalities missing (ie: minimize button and perhaps some contextual help or tool tips) - they will be implemented eventually.



WHAT'S INCLUDED IN THE ZIP:

MerchUtil.exe     -- The application
Read-Me.txt       -- This file!!



RESTRICTIONS:

You may not sell this application, decompile, modify or claim it as your own.
You may not redistribute through a website or on a compilation CD of any kind, without my written consent.

You can give the file to anyone you like, provided it is free of charge and that no files are removed or added to the original ZIP.  

Oh, and you can definitely recommend it to your friends.  ;-))


CONTACT INFO:

If you find any bugs or would like to suggest improvements, please send me an e-mail to me at carot@mac.com 

This is a freeware application, but if you'd like to let me know you use it and like it, I love to receive virtual postcards!  :o)  Donations through PayPal are also welcome if you feel this application is worth it.  :o)


ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS:

I'd like to thank all the MP gang for their continued support while I worked on this project.  :o)

Many, MANY thanks to my great testers, AprilYSH, BlueBeard, Xena, Keihan and Stormrage.



VERSION HISTORY:

version 1.2.2 (April 27th, 2003):
	- Fixed an instance where some files would show as containing spaces but no quotes simply because there was an extra space after the path.  (Bug reported by Karanta- Thanks for the feedback!)

version 1.2.2 (March 23rd, 2003):
	- Fixed an instance where some files would show as containing an absolute path simply because there was an extra space before the quotes surrounding the path.

version 1.2.1 (March 20th, 2003):
	- Really fixed the List Maker's default file type for saving a file list...  The previous fix only worked in debug.  *lol*

version 1.2 (March 16th, 2003):
	- List Maker will always save as .TXT format even when no extension is entered by the user
	- Fixed an instance where file names with 32 characters would pass the name check
	- Version checker can no longer be fooled into thinking a folder is a file
	- Hand files (*.HD2) are now verified properly by the Version and Path checkers
	- The Browse window is now able to show all file types correctly

Version 1.0 (March 5th, 2003):
	- first draft










