The program MAKEIDX.EXE is used to create index files that PCBoard can utilize
to quickly locate files for downloading.  The following information explains
how to utilize MAKEIDX.EXE and what changes can or should be made to your
PCBoard configuration.


Usage
=====
Type:  MAKEIDX pathlist[.PTH] indexname[.IDX]

Where pathlist is an ASCII file (CR/LF delimited) listing paths that
are to be scanned for files (including any subdirectories of the paths
that are specified.

And the indexname is the name of the index file to be created based
on the files found in the paths specified by the pathlist file.



Creating a list of paths for MAKEIDX to use
===========================================
The program takes an ASCII file that is very similar to your DLPATH.LST
file as input.  Example:

    SUPPORT.PTH
    -----------
    C:\PCB\GEN\
    C:\PCB\HELP\
    C:\PCB\TIPS\
    C:\PCB\145\
    H:\145TEXT\
    H:\DOOR12\
    H:\DOOR14\
    H:\UTIL12\
    H:\UTIL14\
    H:\NET12\
    H:\NET14\
    H:\ZDL03\

The above list of PATHES specify where MAKEIDX is to search for files on your
system.  It should be noted that MAKEIDX, unlike PCBoard, takes the path that
is specified and searches ALL SUBDIRECTORIES underneath that path as well.
Therefore a path such as "C:\" would pick up every file in every subdirectory
on all of drive C:.

You may place any valid DOS drive and subdirectory in the list.  This includes
network drives, CD-ROM drives, even standard hard disks.  NOTE: the path must
be terminated with a backslash denoting the fact that it is a subdirectory.

MAKEIDX will then create a file with the indexname specified that has a list
of all files found in the subdirectories you have specified.


Modifying your DLPATH.LST file
==============================
PCBoard continues to support the standard DLPATH.LST file.  In other words,
you need not change a thing.  To take advantage of the indexing capability
you must edit the DLPATH.LST file to specify the names of any index file(s)
you wish to have searched.  Example:

    DLPATH.LST
    ----------
    %C:\PCB\LST\SUPPORT.IDX
    %C:\PCB\LST\MAIN.IDX
    H:\DUP\
    H:\LUP\
    H:\UUP\
    H:\NUP\
    H:\TEMP\

The above specifies that two index files are to be used.  The percent sign
is used to indicate their existence as index files instead of subdirectories
on the hard disk.

Note that you can specify as many index files as you wish.  The fewer you
specify, of course, the faster your files may be found.  However, it may make
sense, depending on your configuration, to group files into specific index
files.  For example, the above might indicate that all of the Main Board files
are grouped into MAIN.IDX while all Support Conferences files are grouped into
SUPPORT.IDX.  The advantage to this method would be that you could then modify
the contains of MAIN.IDX and automatically have all conferences utilizing this
index become updated immediately and without further action.

NOTE:  The above example specifies that all UPLOAD DIRECTORIES be listed
normally within the DLPATH.LST file.  The reason for this is that these
index files are STATIC, not dynamic, and therefore are not and cannot be
updated by PCBoard.  Therefore, in order for new uploads to be available for
immediate downloading you must include your upload subdirectory as a standard
location for PCBoard to search for files.

ALSO:  it would not be wise to include your upload directories in the index
(although it would work) because in the case of wildcard download commands
such as "D FILE*.*" PCBoard will locate the same file twice - once in the
index and once in the upload directory.

ALSO:  for the same reasons you would want to avoid listing even regular paths
both in the index and in the DLPATH.LST to avoid causing PCBoard to find the
same file twice.

Because the index files are static my recommendation is that you update them
whenever you run PCBFILER to move files into or out of your download paths.
Here's an example batch file you could use:

    REFRESH.BAT
    -----------
    makeidx main main
    makeidx support support

The above two lines would scan the files MAIN.PTH and SUPPORT.PTH for paths
and create the files MAIN.IDX and SUPPORT.IDX respectively.
