crayzee's patcher help

crayzee's patcher help
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Contents

First look
Generate patch script mode
Use patch script mode
Configuration
Command line

First look
First time you launch the program, it will show you an about window. You can turn this off in the configuration.
In the main window there are some buttons and edit boxes. Two buttons on the left and edit boxes on the rigth are used to enter filenames to work with. The large button is used to perform an action, depending on the actual mode. The mode can be chosen in the menu. You can also do everything using the menu instead of the buttons if you wish.

Generate patch script mode
This mode is used to compare two files and write the differences to a patch script file or a stand-alone minipatcher, respectively.
The best way to explain this is an example:

Problem:
You crack a program which is let's say 1 MB large. So you have the original file (orig.exe) and the cracked one (cracked.exe). You want people to get the cracked.exe, but don't want to transfer a large file anywhere.
Solution:
Launch the patcher, choose the generate patch script mode, enter path\orig.exe next to the original (old) file button (or push the button and browse the file). Then enter path\cracked.exe next to the changed (new) file button (or browse it using the button). Finally push the large write the patch script file! button. You will be asked for the file name to save to (choose from the File type to switch between patch script/minipatcher!). A progress bar will be shown and after that a success message should appear.
Now you can give the created .exe minipatcher or .pth patch script file to anyone who has the orig.exe (which as a shareware prog can be downloaded anywhere), without spending a lot of time to upload/send/copy the cracked.exe.
For your private use I suggest that you make .pth patch script files to save some disk space and because of better patcher's interface. If you want to release them, rather choose to make the stand-alone .exe minipatchers.

Any configuration settings that apply to patching (use patch script mode) will automatically be saved to and used by any created .exe minipatcher.
If some of the files cannot be read, a retry-cancel message will appear. If the patch script file cannot be written, a message asking you to enter a new file name will appear. If the compared files are so different that the patch script file would be bigger than the original file you will be asked if you really want it (you can turn this question off in the confiruration.
Warning: Choosing an already existing minipatcher/patch script file to save to and wanting to overwrite it means you don't want the existing file no matter what happens! If the comparison is not successful (e.g. the files had no differences) the minipatcher/patch script file will be deleted.

Use patch script mode
This mode is used to patch a file if you have a .pth patch script file you got somewhere (you could have downloaded it right here) and the original (old) file. You can use this mode also with your .exe minipatcher files if their program part seems to be corrupted or not working as you'd like it.
Again an example:

Problem:
You have a shareware program shware.exe, which doesn't like you. Luckily, somebody had already cracked it and they made a crack.pth patch script file. You downloaded that file and now want your shware.exe to be cracked.
Solution:
Launch the patcher and switch to the use patch script mode if it is not already chosen. Now enter crack.pth next to the patch script file button (or browse it by pushing that button) and shware.exe next to the original (old) file button (or push the button and browse it). Finally push the large patch the old file! button. You will be asked for the file name to save the patched file to, then a progress bar indicating the actual state will appear. After that a success message should be shown.
Now you can launch the patched .exe file and use it.

If there are any problems during the process messages will be shown asking if you want to continue. If you don't want these to appear, turn them off in the configuration.
Warning: Choosing a file which already exists and wanting to overwrite it means you are directly asking to wipe out the existing file! If the patching is not successful (e.g. the crc is bad), this patched file will be deleted.

Configuration
You can access the configuration window through the menu (options-configuration).
There are 3 buttons:

OK - accept the changes and close the configuration window
Save settings - save the changes to the registry (you HAVE TO do this if you want to keep the settings for the next time you run the patcher!)
Cancel - discard the changes and close the configuration window

and the following configuration tabs:

General
Messages
Confirmations
Processing

General configuration tab
Contains the following buttons and checkboxes :

create .pth file association button - writes a .pth file association to the registry, so you can launch the .pth files from the explorer (or other shell you may use)
remove .pth file association button - removes the .pth file association from the registry; do this if you no longer want to be able to use the .pth files from your shell
remove all settings from registry button - removes the settings you previously saved to the registry using the Save settings button (except of the .pth file association); this is good if you want to completely remove the patcher from your computer
always on top checkbox - makes the patcher to be always on top; this is comfortable for drag&dropping files from explorer or other shell; if you have this checked and need more space on your screen, simply minimize (or close) the patcher when you don't need it
use the same filenames for both modes checkbox - if checked, the file names in edit boxes (where you enter names of the files to work with) will stay there when switching the modes. if unchecked, the patcher will remember other filenames for each mode; leave this checked if you usually forget to change the mode before entering the filename

Messages configuration tab
Contains the following checkboxes:

about on startup checkbox - uncheck this if you don't want the about window to be shown at patcher's startup

ran twice warning checkbox - if checked, the patcher will show a warning message if any instance of it is already running

patch script file written checkbox - if checked, the patcher will show a success message after writing a patch script or a minipatcher file in the generate patch script mode
patched file written checkbox - if checked, the patcher will show a success message after writing the patched file in the use patch script mode

Confirmations configuration tab
Contains the following checkboxes:

application shutdown checkbox - if checked, the patcher will ask if you really want to quit; if unchecked, it will quit immedialety after pressing alt-f4 or pushing the X sign in the corner of its window

script will be bigger than the new file checkbox - if checked, the patcher will ask you if you want the patch script to be written if it would be bigger than the changed (new) file [generate patch script mode]
the size of the file is bad checkbox - if checked, the patcher will ask you if you want to use the old file regardless of its size [use patch script mode]
unexpected contents of the old file checkbox - if checked, the patcher will ask you if you want to use the old file even if the bytes that are about to be patched are other than they should be (for example if the file is already patched in some way) [use patch script mode]
incorrect old file's crc checkbox - if checked, the patcher will ask you if you want to use the old file even if it has a different crc than it should have (it is changed or corrupted in some way) [use patch script mode]
incorrect new file's crc checkbox - if checked, the patcher will ask you if you want to write the patched file regardless of any bad data in the old file or error that may have occured during the patch process [use patch script mode]
incorrect patch script crc checkbox - if checked, the pather will ask you if you want to use the patch script file even if it is damaged in its data section [use patch script mode]

Processing configuration tab

Contains two edit boxes where you can enter the size of the block which is to be read and written in a cycle. For best performance, set these values to multiples of the size of a disk sector. Enter a smaller value for slower disk drives, a bigger one for faster drives. Never use a block larger than half of your currently FREE ram because in both modes the memory for the block is allocated twice - for both the old and the new file.
Warning: The duration of the compare/patch process depends a lot on these values so if you don't know what a sector or a kilobyte (kb) is ;), leave the default (128 kb) values there!

This tab also contains some checkboxes:

set the new file's time to the old one's checkbox - if checked, in the use patch script mode the patcher will remember the creation, lastwrite and lastaccess times of the original (old) file and set these times to the patched (new) file after writing it, even if you are overwriting the old file with the new one (this is useful for programs which check their dates and times or if you simply don't want anyone to know what you have done)
restore the file attributes checkbox - if checked, in the use patch script mode the patcher will remember the original (old) file's attributes and set them to the patched (new) file after writing it [this is similar to the previous option]

Command line
The patcher works in GUI only, but anyway, it supports the command line, too. The "explorer .pth file association" is based on the command line capability.
The command line usage is:

patcher???.exe [<mode> [<file1> [<file2> [<file3>]]]]

where <mode> can be:

	g - generate patch script file; then	<file1> is the original (old) file
		<file2> is the changed (new) file
		<file3> is the patch script file to generate
	u - use the patch script file; then	<file1> is the patch script/minipatcher file to use
		<file2> is the original (old) file
		<file3> is the patched (new) file to create

If you do not enter any <file?> you will have to do so in GUI.
The command line does not support generating a minipatcher automatically - this means it won't make a minipatcher if you enter an .exe file as the <file3>. If you want a minipatcher using command line enter the <file1> and <file2> ONLY, then choose a minipatcher in the file type and enter a desired file name.

Examples:

patcher???.exe g oldfile.exe newfile.exe difference.pth

will generate the difference.pth patch script file by comparing oldfile.exe and newfile.exe files

patcher???.exe u dif.pth oldfile.exe

will use the dif.pth patch script file to patch oldfile.exe but will ask you for the filename to write the patched file to...

page created 05/08/1999
last update 07/30/2000
(c) by crayzee