The number
of
files that were scratched will be automatically displayed. For exam-
ple,
if
your diskette contains program files named
"TEST,"
"TRAIN,"
"TRUCK,"
and
"TAIL,"
you may scratch all four, along with any other files beginning with the letter
"T,"
by using the command:
SCRATCH
"T*"
and
if
the four listed were the only files beginning with
"T",
you will see:
01
,FILES SCRATCHED,04,00
READY
•
The
"04"
tells you 4 files were scratched.
You can perform a SCRATCH within a program, but there will be no prompt
message displayed.
MORE
ABOUT
SCRATCH
SCRATCH is a powerful command and should be used with caution to be sure you
delete only the files you really want erased. When using it with a pattern, we suggest you
first use the same pattern in a DIRECTORY command, to be sure exactly which files will
be deleted. That way you'll have no unpleasant surprises when you use the same pattern in
the SCRATCH command.
Recovering
from
a
SCRATCH
If
you accidentally SCRATCH a
file
you shouldn't have, there is still a chance
of
saving it. Like BASIC's NEW command, SCRATCH doesn't really wipe out a file itself;
it merely clears the pointers to it in the diskette directory. There may be an "Unscratch"
program on your Test/Demo diskette.
NOTE:
If
you accidentally SCRATCH a file within the DOS Shell (see Chapter 4),
you can unscratch it with the Shell's RESTORE FILES function.
More
about
Splat
Files
Never SCRATCH a splat file. These are files that show up
in
a directory listing with
an asterisk (*) just before the
file
type for an entry. The asterisk (or splat) means that
file
was never properly closed, and thus there is no valid chain
of
sector links for the
SCRATCH command to follow in erasing the file.
If
you SCRATCH such a file, odds are
you will improperly free up sectors that are still needed by other programs or files, and
cause permanent damage
to
those other programs or files later when you add more files to
the diskette.
29
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