






            APPLY version 1.1
            Copyright 1989, 1990 by Bruce D. Feist



                 APPLY executes a DOS command on  a group of files.  It
            reads standard input for a list of files and executes a DOS
            command on each one.  In this release, the input file list
            must contain one file per line, in standard DOS format (no
            imbedded blanks, drive and directory are optional, and so
            on).

                 The syntax of APPLY is:

                 APPLY options doscommand parameters, where:

                 "filemask" is a DOS wildcarded filename, with optional
            directory and drive specifiers.

                 "options" can be chosen from the following; in the
            event of conflicting options, the last one specified will be
            used, and case is ignored:

                 /E+  will cause execution to terminate as soon as an
            error is encountered.

                 /E- will cause execution to continue through all
            filenames matching "filemask", whether or not errors occur.

                 /L+ will cause the name of each file to be written to
            standard output as APPLY executes the command with it.

                 /L- inhibits the writing of filenames.

                 /Vc sets the "variable character identifier" to
            character c, whatever that is; see "parameters".

                 The defaults are /E+ /L+ /V`.

                 'doscommand' is any valid DOS command or program; it
            must be either an internal command, contained in the current
            directory, or in a directory specified by the PATH
            environment variable.

                 'parameters' are the parameters for the command to be
            executed.  Before execution for each file, substitution
            occurs as follows:

                 Occurrences of "'d" are replaced by the drive of the
            file, including the trailing colon.






                 Occurrences of "'p" are replaced by the path of the
            directory that the file is located in, with leading and
            trailing backslashes.

                 Occurrences of "`f" are replaced by the name of the
            file, without its extension.

                 Occurrences of "`e" are replaced by the extension of
            the file, with its leading period.

                 Occurrences of "`[" are replaced by a less than sign
            (<); this is useful for forcing redirection of input on a
            by-file basis.

                 Occurrences of "`]" are replaced by a greater than sign
            (>); this is useful for forcing redirection of output on a
            by-file basis.

                 These substitutions are done ignoring case; "`D", "`P",
            "`F", and "`E" are also replaced.  Also, the "`" symbol
            (which is called the "variable identifier character") can be
            altered using the "/V" option.

                 Examples: (many assume the existence of the LT command
            packaged with APPLY):

                 APPLY DEL `D`P`F`E

                 deletes all files typed in at the console.

                 LT *.C | APPLY /C% /e- REN %f%e %f.BAK %f.BAC

                 renames the .BAK files corresponding to all .C files in
            the current directory to end in .BAC.

                 LT /I \*.TXT APPLY SORT `[`F`E `]`F.SRT

                 sorts all .TXT files on the disk -- including
            subdirectories -- into corresponding .SRT files.



                 The APPLY program and this documentation are
            copyrighted materials, which I am making available for free
            distribution subject to the following conditions:

                 1)   No changes may be made to either the program or
            the documentation.

                 2)   The program, documentation, and registration form
            can only be distributed TOGETHER.

                 3)   I reserve the right to limit distribution of
            further versions of the program and documentation.






                 4)   If you use this program beyond an initial four-
            week trial period, continued use is contingent upon sending
            me a payment of $10 at the below address for registration.
            This fee also entitles you to use a number of other
            shareware utilities which I have written, including BUFLG (a
            utility to determine the need for backing up your disk),
            FORFILE (a companion to APPLY that executes MS-DOS commands
            on a wildcarded file name), and SECURE (which provides
            limited password security for a PC).

                 If you have any questions or comments, either send me a
            message on CompuServe at [71320,3635], or write to me at the
            address below.

                 Thank you, and use it well.

                 Bruce D. Feist
                 Enlightened Software
                 926 Kemper Street
                 Alexandria, VA 22304-1502