DELOLDER.EXE v1.0  (c) 1996 by David C. Filmer.  All rights reserved.

---- LICENCE ----------------------------------------------------------------
The executable file DELOLDER.EXE and this text document are released by the
author into the public domain as freeware; no payment is sought or accepted;
permission is granted to copy and use this program freely provided the
executable and this text file are distributed together without modification.
Usage of this program requires acceptance of the terms of the DISCLAIMER.

Your comments (including requests for additional features) are welcome;
E-Mail to DFilmer@aol.com.  The primary distribution source for future
versions of this program will be via America-On-Line's file areas.

---- DISCLAIMER -------------------------------------------------------------
This program DELETES FILES. The author assumes no responsibility or liability
whatsoever for the use of this program.  Use it at your own risk.  If you are
not satisfied with this condition, do not use this program.

---- INTRODUCTION -----------------------------------------------------------
This program will delete all files matching a particular file specification
(DOS wildcard characters OK) that are older than a specified number of days.
It WILL PROCESS hidden or read-only files; it will not delete directory
entries.  If no directory path is specified, deletion will occur from the
current directory.  The program will not recurse directories (ie, will not
delete from any directory other than the directory specified OR from the
current directory if no directory is specified).  You can specify deletion
of files up to 9999 days old (!).

The program does not prompt for confirmations; it is therefore suitable for
use in batch scripts, but BE CAREFUL to correctly type the command line in
every case - what you type is what you get (the program will make some file
spec assumptions if you are not explicit; see PARTICULARS below).

The program uses the system's internal clock/calendar and DOS file datestamps
to determine the age of the file.  If your system date is not correct (or if
it was not correct when the target file was created) the program will not
work as expected.

The program should work under any version of DOS 3.3 or higher, from a DOS
prompt in Windows or Windows95, or from any FAT partition in OS/2 (do not use
in an OS/2 HPFS partition).  For Windows95 users: note that the file spec
follows the traditional 8.3 character DOS format; Windows95 supports long
filenames but "really" stores the file with an 8.3 filename.  It is the
"real" 8.3 filename that DELOLDER will operate on.

---- USAGE ------------------------------------------------------------------
The command syntax is:

             DEOLODER [d:][path] filespec #days
Where:
             [d:]      is the optional drive specification (default: current)
             [path]    is the optional path specification  (default: current)
             filespec  is the required file specification (wildcards OK)
             #days     is the required integer number of days; any files which
                       match the filespec that are older than this parameter
                       will be deleted.

(type DELOLDER without any parameters to see a command summary)

---- EXAMPLES ---------------------------------------------------------------
             DELOLDER c:\windows\*.bmp 120

                 deletes all .BMP files in the C:\WINDOWS directory
                 with file dates more than 120 days old (about 4 months).

             DELOLDER *.* 180
                
                 deletes all files in the current directory with file dates
                 more than 180 days old (the current directory is whatever
                 subdirectory you happen to be in when you type the command).

---- PARTICULARS ------------------------------------------------------------

When the program runs, it will report one of the following results:
       The number of matching files deleted,
   OR  That no files were found matching the filespec,
   OR  No matching files are older than the time interval specified,
   OR  There was an error in the command line (invalid parameter, etc).

The program is rather intelligent; it will inspect the command line for
errors and report them accordingly.  HOWEVER it will attempt to correctly
format the filespec to a fully qualified d:\PATH\FILENAME.EXT form if you
do not provide it in this form. The program doesn't care about upper or
lowercase characters.

If you specify a directory without a filespec (ie, C:\XXX) the program will
default to a *.* filespec (ie, C:\XXX\*.*).  WARNING: if you use a plain "\"
as your file spec (ie, DELOLDER \ 60) while on your C: drive the program will
default to C:\*.* (probably NOT what you want to do).

Only files OLDER than the deletion period are processed; if you specify 20
days, any files that are exactly 20 days old are not processed.

If you specify 0 as the #days, all files matching the filespec are deleted
(this is one way to delete a *.* filespec in a batch file without worrying
about the DOS confirmation prompt). The program will reject negative numbers.

You can specify a deletion period of up to 9999 days (about 27 years), which
should delete everything matching the file spec (you don't have any 28 year
old files on your system, do you?).

Files are deleted using ordinary DOS type deletion services, meaning you can
UNDELETE them (using the DOS command or any number of utility programs)
subject to the same conditions that apply in DOS (ie, you can't UNDELETE a
file if the file has been physically overwritten, etc).  If you need
high security deletions (disk wipes) this program will not meet your needs.

---- FEEDBACK ---------------------------------------------------------------
Your comments (including requests for additional features) are welcome;
E-Mail to DFilmer@aol.com.  The primary distribution source for future
versions of this program will be via America-On-Line's file areas.

