Track Manager v1.0b

by Mike Latimer

FORWORD/DISCLAIMER: While I am fairly confident that this program will not

cause your computer to explode into flames, I will not accept any

responsibility for problems caused by using this program. This program

does rename TRI files, zip them into "libraries", and delete the original

file. As such, please exercise caution and maintain backup copies until you

are sure this program will work in your environment. This program is

considered beta, and odds are, bugs will be found. I do not expect any

major problems, but needless to say - be careful! Bottom line - USE AT

YOUR OWN RISK! If you find any bugs or would like to see any enhancements,

please send them to the following address: "76702.2334@compuserve.com"

Updates

The Track Manager is currently FREEWARE!! However, the Official Site for

the Track Manager can be found at the following url:

http://webhome.idirect.com/~puck/nfs.html

All updates and new versions will be posted there FIRST! Check back often

for new custom tracks, new utilities, and new info on NFS! Special thanks

go out to Doug Burg for his input into this utility.

Requirements

1. Need for Speed

2. PKZIP and PKUNZIP MUST exists in your path!!!!

3. COMSPEC must be set to the correct location for

COMMAND.COM. (If it does not exist, I will look in C:)

Setup

Setup is easy, simply unzip TRACKMGR.ZIP into the Need for Speed programs

directory, or some subdirectory. The ZIP file contains TRACKMGR.EXE,

TRACKMGR.DOC and a README.TXT file. Upon executing TRACKMGR.EXE, you will

be prompted for path information for the program to work properly. This

information is stored in a TRACKMGR.CFG file, found in the same directory

as TRACKMGR.EXE was executed.

There are two methods for entering the necessary path information,

Automatic and Manual. The Automatic method simply requires the path to

your main NFS directory. If this method is chosen, the default paths are

setup as follows:

- Main NFS Directory: <User must enter this>

- MISC Directory: <MAIN>SIMDATAMISC

- NewTracks/Import Directory: <MAIN>NEWTRACK

**Important: The NEWTRACK Directory will NOT be created

automatically! You must ensure this directory exists, and all

new tracks must be imported from that directory!!

The Manual setup method simply prompts the user for the appropriate path

information.

The last step of the setup process is the creating of a backup of the

original tracks. This process requires the NFS CDRom to be inserted into

your CDRom Drive. You will simply need to supply a drive letter for the

CDRom.

General Usage

Usage of the Track Manager should be fairly self explanatory. Each of the

options are listed below with a brief explanation.

Track Configuration: This option which allows you to activate

imported custom tracks for use in NFS.

Import Tracks:Before activating tracks, you must first

import them into the Track Manager. This

process looks for *.TRI file in the

NewTrack/Import Directory as defined in

Setup.

Delete Tracks:This option allows you to remove tracks

from

the Track Manager. ***This option does not

produce any kind of backup for the deleted

track!

Restore All Tracks:This option restores ALL original tracks.

Setup: This option allows you to change your

directory setup information.

Exit: Exits the Track Manager.

How It Works

Track Manager currently uses ZIP files for storing the imported tracks. A

Database file is used as an index for the TRI files found in the ZIP.

Currently, the Database file is a Text file. At this point in time, after

naming and describing imported tracks, you cannot automatically modify

those entries. Since the DB file is only a Text file, you can extract the

DB file, make the desired modifications and move it back into the ZIP file

(as long as the format of the DB file is not changed).

When configuring tracks, the DB file is read into memory. After choosing

the track you wish to activate, pkunzip is spawned to extract the

appropriate file into the MISC directory.

IMPORTANT IMPORTING INFORMATION

When importing a new track, the Track Manager will look for a TXT file

which has the same name as the TRI file. If it finds that file, it will

attempt to read the first three lines for automatic importation. For this

to work, the FIRST three lines of the TXT file must read as follows:

TRACK NAME="New Track"

REPLACES="TR1.TRI"

DESCRIPTION="Fast and Fun, etc..."

If all users creating tracks conform to this format, importing tracks would

be MUCH easier!!! Obviously, if the Text file does not exist, the user

is prompted for the necessary information. **Note: Track Manager does

delete the imported TRI file, but does not delete the TXT file. (The

assumption here is that it may have more information in it which the user

wants to keep.)

Enjoy!

Known Bugs

Every once in a while, I did notice it hang as it was pulling up imported

track records. Hitting Ctrl-C usually allow the program to continue.

Please let me know if you encounter this problem.

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Please send comments/bug info to "76702.2334@compuserve.com"

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Uploader disclamer notes: file uploaded for preservation purposes. There were not much tools/utilities for the original TNFS/TNFS:SE and today are VERY hard to find. This utility will only work under MS-DOS (or with DOSBox). All credits to the author.