CD-ROM - INFORMATION OVERKILL - Part 3 from Brian Burke @~Continued from last issue 13. I have 10000 paper documents to put on a CD-ROM. Who can help? Check the classified ads in the back of CD-ROM Professional Magazine. There are several companies that will do large scale scanning, OCRing, and data entry. Because these things are so labor intensive, most of work is done offshore, usually in Malaysia. Agro Computer Systems can process several thousand pages a day, and claims an error rate of less than 10E-6. For more information contact Mr. G. M. Mahindra Agro Computer Systems 28 Lalbagh (Mission) Road Bangalore 560 027 India Phone: +91 812 235083, FAX: +91 812 2241158 For smaller jobs that need a quick turn around try a company called "Quick-Set" (+1 510 685-9611) that does data entry, scanning, and OCRing. ================================================================== 15. Are there any organizations of CD-ROM Publishers? The Optical Publishing Association is a non-profit trade and professional organization for CDROM and other digital media publishers. They have been around since 1988, publishing newsletters and backgrounders for publishers, and promoting profitable practices for the business. OPA, PO Box 21268, Columbus OH 43221 USA, 614/442-8805 614/442-8815 (fax) ================================================================== 16. Where can I get more information about CD-ROM publishing? Subscribe to CD-ROM Professional Magazine, 1 800 248-8466, $39.95/year There is a mailing list devoted to CD-ROM publishing. ================================================================== 17. How much information will fit on a CD-ROM? It depends on the drive. Almost all CD-ROM drives will handle up to 620 megabytes with no problems. Many newer drives can read discs with over 700 megs. The CD-ROM Users Group (see earlier) has a diagnostic CD-ROM that will tell you how much information your drive can handle. ================================================================== 18. Why doesn't MSCDEX work with DOS 5.0? You must use SETVER with MS-DOS 5.0, to make MSCDEX 2.20 work properly. Otherwise you will get an incorrect DOS version message. See the MS-DOS 5.0 documentation on how to use SETVER. MSCDEX 2.21 works with MS-DOS 5.0 without SETVER. ================================================================== 19. Where can I get the latest version of MSCDEX? Call MS BBS at 206-936-4082. Choose F for file library, S UPDATES, F to list files, then D MSCDEX.ZIP to download the file (Microsoft may have deleted this file). You can get the latest version of MSCDEX (2.21) in a self-extracting zip archive via anonymous ftp from cdrom.com:/pub/cdext.exe. It is also available in the MSL library on CompuServe, as CDEXT.EXE. ================================================================== 20. I bought a used drive at a garage sale. Where can I find a driver? Many CD-ROM manufacturers maintain BBSs where you might be able to find drivers for their drives: NEC BBS: +1 508 635-6328 Philips BBS: +1 310 532-6436 Sony BBS: +1 408 955-5107 or +1 408 372-7426 Pioneer: +1 408 748 2105 (9600/HST/8N1) ================================================================== 21. What is the difference between `High Sierra' and ISO-9660? Not much. When the standard was first proposed, it was given the name "High Sierra'. Later it was adopted as an offical standard, with a few minor modifications, and was designated ISO-9660. Usually when someone says "High Sierra", they really mean ISO-9660. ================================================================== 22. Where can I get a copy of the ISO-9660 standard? You can order a copy of the ISO-9660 standard from ANSI Attn: Sales 11 West 42nd Street New York, NY 10036 212-642-4900 Cost to US destinations is $50, plus $6 shipping. Another source of a wide variety of standards documents is Global Engineering. Their service is often faster than ANSI, but they charge more. They also have offices in Europe and Asia. Global Engineering Documents 15 Inverness Way East Englewood, CO 80112-5704 (800) 854-7179 (same) (303) 792-2181 fax (303) 792-2192 ================================================================== 23. What is an HFS disc? HFS is the Macintosh's Hierarchical Filing System. It is unrelated to High Sierra and ISO-9660 formats. Most CD-ROMs intended for the Macintosh are created in the HFS format, since HFS does support the Mac's resource and data forks and file information. There are drivers made by AsimWare (AsimCDFS) and Xetec that allows HFS discs to be read on an Amiga. There is a list of differences that the drivers contends with, such as non-standard characters and 32 character filenames (Amiga supports only 30). "New Inside Macintosh: Files" published by Addison-Wesley, has the most complete description of HFS format. Inside Macintosh: Files By Apple Computer, Inc. Addison-Wesley Publishing Company ISBN 0-201-63244-6 In Chapter 2, the section on "Data Organization on Volumes" pages 2-52 to 2-76 contains as complete a description of HFS as is available. This book can be ordered from APDA (Apple Programmers & Developers Association) or any bookstore. APDA P.O. Box 319 Buffalo, NY 14207-0319 1-800-282-2732 U.S. 1-800-637-0029 Canada (716) 871-6555 International (716) 871-6511 Fax AppleLink APDA America Online APDA CompuServe 76666,2405 Internet APDA@applelink.apple.com ================================================================== 24. Can you give a short explaination of ISO-9660? ISO-9660 is an international standard that defines a filesystem for CD-ROMs. Almost all systems support ISO-9660. Level one ISO-9660 is similar to an MS-DOS filesystem. Filenames are limited to eight single-case characters, a dot, and a three character extension. Filenames cannot contain special characters, (no hyphens, tildes, equals, or pluses). Only single case letters, numbers, and underscores. Directory names cannot have the three digit extension, just eight single-case characters. All alphabetics are in UPPER case; some software maps this to lower case. Either the file name or the extension may be empty, but not both ("F." and ".E" are both legal file names). There is a "File Version Number" which can range from 1-32767, and is separated from the extension by a semi-colon. The file version number is ignored on many systems. Here are some examples of legal and illegal filenames: Legal Illegal Why TEST_1C.TXT TEST-1C.TXT hyphen TEST1C.TXT TEST 1C.TXT space TEST.1C TEST.1C.TXT more than 1 period README Readme not single case Subdirectories are allowed to nest up to eight levels deep. Level two ISO-9660 allows longer filenames, up to 32 characters. But many of the other restrictions still apply. Level two discs are not usable on some systems, particularly MS-DOS. @~To be continued next issue. - o -