ReadMe File for

Touch(C) CopyLeft Bill Buckels 2000
All Rights Reversed.
Modify File Times and Dates in Windows 95/98/NT
Version 1.0

Program Description
-------------------

Touch is a command line utility program for Windows 95/98/NT that allows
updating the time of a file to be the current system time. Alternately
the time and/or the date of a file can be specified as optional command
line parameters. Touch handles long filenames.

Usage
-----

Usage is : "touch -cfv mm-dd-yyyy hh:mm:ss FileName*.*"
- or -   : "touch -cfv mm-dd-yy hh:mm FileName*.*"

The date, time, and -cvf options are not necessary (optional).

Detailed Description
--------------------

Touch attempts to set the time of each existing file to the current
system time.  If the file exists, the touch will occur only if it is not
read-only (but see the -f (force) option below).

The -f (force) option will try to force the touch regardless of whether
or not the file is read-only.

If a file does not exist, an attempt will be made to create it unless
the -c (don't create) option is specified.

The -v (verbose) option turns on verbose mode and touch will report each
file it touches.

The date and time options allow specification of the date and time to be
used instead of the system date and time.

When the date and time options are used, the previous file time or date
is preserved if a change is not specified for both the time and the date
together. This allows only the time or only the date to be changed
without affecting the other value.

The format of the date and time options is like that of the DOS date and
time commands.

Allowable date formats are MM-DD-CCYY and MM-DD-YY. For the date, ccyy
may be just 2 digits (yy) (eg. 80) in which case 1980 is inferred. When
a 2 digit year is used, dates before 1980 are considered to be after
2000, since DOS files start in 1980.

Allowable time formats are HH:MM:SS and HH:MM. For the time format
seconds may be eliminated. Time is specified in military time format
(range 00:00:00 - 23:59:59).

Other than the variations noted above, partial dates and times cannot be
used.

Wildcards can appear in the file name.

Reporting Bugs
--------------

Even though Touch is FreeWare, bugs can be reported. To report Bugs,
use the online form at:

http://www.escape.ca/~bbuckels

Please note: Touch was written for fun, and as a public service,
but mostly to make the Author's working life easier. Enhancement
requests will probably not be accepted, since the goal is not to be
perpetually developing this product.

Open Source
-----------

Touch is distributed as FreeWare with Open C Language Source Code. It
is written in hard-wired 100% Pure Industrial Strength Microsoft 32 Bit
C, and compiled under MSC Version 12 (Visual Studio 6). The code in this
program is pretty simple and you shouldn't have much trouble reading it.

Installing and Running Touch
------------------------------

Install by "UNZIPPING" complete with pathnames to the drive of your
choice.

Start Touch from the Command Line.

Licence Agreement
-----------------
Touch(C) CopyLeft Bill Buckels 2000.
All Rights Reversed.

Touch is distributed as FreeWare with Open Source.

You have a royalty-free right to use, modify, reproduce and distribute
this program and its source code and associated files in any
non-competitive way you find useful, provided that you agree that Bill
Buckels has no warranty obligations or liability resulting from said use
or distribution in any way whatsoever. If you don't agree, remove Touch
and all associated files from your computer now.

Bill Buckels
589 Oxford Street
Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada R3M 3J2

Email: bbuckels@escape.ca
WebSite: http://www.escape.ca/~bbuckels

Touch is not a derivative work of any other author, although it is
modeled after the various Touch programs that have historically existed
in both Unix and DOS, and is the exclusive property of Bill Buckels (the
author). All methods are the product of work and study by the author.

Touch was not produced in anticipation of profit.

End of ReadMe
