DFS Commands

Title: drives2 By Trevor Crapper K4V I want to present a run down of the Disc Filing System (DFS) commands. Please note that list is not comprehensive. Not all DFS's support all of these commands and some have more! When using these commands, please type them in as shown. There is a full version and an abbreviated one for almost all. There is a list of the abbreviations at the end of this article. Files and programs will be shown as either <fsp> <file specification> or as <afsp> <ambiguous file specification>. This is used when a wild card character is included with the filename. Wild card characters are # and *. I shall also use <drv> to denote drive, <source drv> to denote the source drive <dest. drv> to denote the destination drive, and <dir> to denote directory. Please type the commands in as shown, and press the RETURN key when finished. In the abbreviated versions do not forget the full stop '.' at the end. THE COMMANDS.... *ACCESS <afsp> (L) This command will either 'lock' or 'unlock' a file. This will prevent the file from being overwritten, added to or deleted. *BACKUP and *FORM will overwrite a locked file. To use:- *ACCESS PROG L Locks the file PROG *ACCESS PROG Unlocks the file PROG *BACKUP <source drive><destination drive> This command is used to transfer files from one disc to another or, from one drive to another. Before it can be used the command *ENABLE has to be typed in first. To use:- *ENABLE *BACKUP 0 2 Will transfer files from drive 0 to drive 2 without removing the disc from the disc drive. *ENABLE *BACKUP 0 0 Will transfer files, but this time you are asked to exchange discs. You may transfer files from any drive to any drive, stating the source drive first and the destination drive second. Please be very careful when using this command because any files on the destination disc will be overwritten. Make absolutely certain you have selected the correct drives because you could transfer a blank drive onto the side containing your files and wipe the lot off! Be warned. *BUILD <fsp> This command when entered will automatically give you line numbers starting from 1. When you have typed in your information press ESCAPE to save the file. The command is used to build files using commands that you will type in. You can create a special file called !BOOT. This is the auto boot file. To use:- *BUILD !BOOT 1*BASIC (the computer will be in BASIC 2CHAIN"PROG" (the file to be auto run 3 (press ESCAPE now You must now type in *OPT 4 3 and press the RETURN key. See OPT in the list of commands for more information. This will create a file called !BOOT on the disc. To use it, press and hold down the SHIFT key, at the same time, press and let go of the BREAK key. Your program should then run. One of the widest uses of the !BOOT file is to run menu programs. *BUILD !BOOT 1*BASIC 2CHAIN"MENU" 3 (press ESCAPE now) A very simple file which will auto run the MENU program. Use the information shown above to complete the task and to boot the MENU in. Please note that generally your disc can only have one !BOOT file that will run with SHIFT+BREAK. Some DFS's will allow you to SHIFT+BREAK on each of the surfaces. Some DFS's default to side 0 on SHIFT+BREAK, others stay in the current drive. Any other !BOOT files would have to be run using the *EXEC <fsp> command, where fsp is the file to be run. See *EXEC for more details. *BUILD !WW+ 1*BASIC 2*SRLOAD WORDWSE 8000 7 Q 3*WORDWISE 4 (Press ESCAPE now) This creates a file called !WW+ and it will automatically load Wordwise Plus into slot 7 on a Master and call it up for you. To use it type in *!WW+ and press the RETURN key. Finally a simple way to auto run programs on other drives, for example: *DRIVE 2 (press RETURN now) *EXEC !BOOT (press RETURN now) and away you go. You could also *EXEC <fsp> where fsp is the file to be run. *CAT <drive> This command will catalogue the drive specified by you. Providing the disc has been formatted. To use:- *CAT 0 (press RETURN now) (00) FM Drive: 0 Option: 0 (off) Directory: 0.$ Library: 0.$ You will see the above on a blank formatted disc. If it has programs on it, you will see something like this: (07) FM Drive: 0 Option: 2 (RUN) Directory: 0.$ Library: 0.$ !BOOT GAME1 GAME2 GAME3 MENU A.ROBBERS L B.PLANES Remember the names will be different! Note the Option is set to 2 for auto run, the current directory and library are set to default. The file ROBBERS is in directory A and is 'locked'. The file PLANES is in directory B but is not 'locked'. *COMPACT <drive> You may get a 'Disk full' error message at times when trying to SAVE a program, if no single space is big enough to take the program. It may be that there is enough space on the disc but, it has been split into small sections. If you have been deleting files this will have left spaces around the disc. This command moves the remaining files to the 'start' of the disc and leaves the space as a continuous block. There must be space on the disc for the command to work. As the command 'works' it shows file details on the screen. A note of warning. Because the files are being 'moved' there is a chance that some of the data may get 'lost' in the transfer. *BACKUP the disc before using *COMPACT! *COPY <source drv><dest. drv><afsp> This command is used to copy any named file or files from disc to another. To use:- *COPY 0 2 <fsp> Will copy a file from side 0 to side 2. *COPY 0 0 <fsp> Will copy a file from side 0 of one disc to side 0 of another, in this case you will have to swap discs over as requested by the program. *COPY 0 1 #.PR* Copies all files beginning with PR irrespective of directory they are in. Because this command overwrites part of the computers memory, save anything you may be working on before using it, otherwise it will get 'lost'! *DELETE <fsp> This command will erase the file named by <fsp>, and the space created can be used for other files. It will only delete one file at a time. Once a file has been deleted it is not easy to recover, so don't delete anything you wish to keep. The command cannot delete 'locked' files, these must be 'unlocked' first using the *ACCESS command. See above. To use:- *DELETE PROG This assumes you are using the drive that PROG is on. If PROG is on another drive then you must go to that drive before using the command. Type in *DRIVE <drv> where drv is the drive you want and the press the RETURN key and now you can delete your program. *DESTROY <afsp> Before using this command, you must first type in *ENABLE and press the RETURN key. Now type in *DESTROY <afsp> The command is used to delete a group of files in a single operation and is normally used with wildcards. Files deleted cannot easily be recovered, so take good care before using the command that the files to be deleted are the correct ones. In operation you will see the command 'Go' or 'Delete' on the screen with (Y/N) beneath it along with a list of the files you have specified. This gives you the chance to decide before pressing the 'Y' key! It will not delete 'locked' files these must be 'unlocked' first using the *ACCESS command, see above for details. To use:- *ENABLE *DESTROY *.PR* (for instance) Will destroy all the files beginning with PR irrespective of their directory so be very careful because you may want to keep a file(s) that has the same letter(s) but, is not specified! It is so easy to forget!! *DIR <dir> This command is used to change the directory from the current to another one. A directory is usually a single letter, however, it can be anything except these four characters # * . : When the computer is first switched on the current directory is $. When CTRL and BREAK keys are pressed this resets the computer and the current directory will be $ again. You must save any files put into a new directory before changing to another one, providing you wish to save the files of course. This command can be used to store files on a drive which have the same name. For instance you could have a file named PROG in the $.directory. You could also have many more files named PROG but, they would all have to be in different directories. And in order to run them you would have to specify the directory in which a particular program was in. No doubt this would lead to a lot of confusion for the user to sort out! To use:- *DIR A This command sets the current directory to A. Any files in this directory can be accessed without having to specify the <dir> first. For example if you want to look at A.PROG you must load it as "A.PROG" in directory A you simply type in LOAD "PROG". Any files now saved in this directory will be prefixed by the dir. letter using either *SAVE or the BASIC SAVE commands. Other directories are unaffected by any changes you may make. In addition to altering directories you may also alter drives using this command. *DIR :<drv>.<dir> If you are on side 0 in directory $ you could change to say side 2 and directory A by :- *DIR :2.A Or you can simply alter the drive by using:- *DIR :2 *DRIVE <drv> This command will change over to the drive specified by <drv> in the range 0 1 2 or 3 from the drive in use. To use:- *DRIVE 2 This allows you to save programs to drive 2 of your discs, or to any other drive you want to use. You must enter the drive on which the program you want is saved, in order to run the program. *DUMP <fsp> This command is used to list a file in its hexadecimal form, with the ASCII equivalents on the right hand side. It is useful for examining machine code listings. When using this command the screen will scroll uncontrolled, to hold the screen use the page mode by pressing the CTRL and letter N keys together and using the SHIFT key to scroll the screen. As an alternative you can hold both the CTRL and SHIFT keys down, and release one slightly to allow the screen to scroll, then press it down to stop the scrolling again etc. To use:- *DUMP PROG If you have used CTRL and N to stop scrolling, pressing the CTRL and O keys will reinstate scrolling once more. *ENABLE This command has to be used with the commands *BACKUP and *DESTROY. If you are using a Master you can omit this command, however, when using *BACKUP, *DESTROY and *WIPE on the Master if you do use *ENABLE the the operation will start without delay. If you do not use *ENABLE with the above commands on the Master then you will asked Y/N before anything happens. *EXEC <fsp> This command can be used to run certain files that have been created using the *BUILD command, see above. It reads the file and prints out what is in it onto the screen. You may notice these commands when auto running a program, immediately before the program runs. EXEC is ideal to use when you have to input data, such as programming the function keys before starting work. BUILD the file with your own commands and EXEC it before starting. It will save time and trouble remembering what the key functions are every time! To use: *EXEC <fsp> This will run the file <fsp>. If you want to examine an EXEC file use either the command *TYPE or *LIST, see below for details. *FORM 0 80 or *FORM 80 0 or *FORM80 0 etc! Prepares a new disc for use. Can come in several forms, or not at all! You will need to experiment to see which works for you. In this example the 0 represents the drive number and the 80 represents the number of tracks. *HELP <keyword> Help will display a list of commands available in the DFS. The two keywords are DFS and UTILS. To use:- *HELP DFS This will list the commands you are reading now and give the correct way to write (type) them in. *HELP UTILS This will list the utilities available in your computer and again some of these are in this list. *HELP Typed in on its own will give you a list of all the ROMs in your computer and any keywords associated with these ROMs. Use these keywords to get more information about the uses of the ROMs. Try *HELP . (don't forget the dot) *INFO <afsp> Use this command to get information about a single or group of files. *CAT will catalogue a disc but, this command gives the following information:- The directory. The filename. The access restriction (if any). The load address of the program. The execution address of the program. The length of the program in bytes. The address of the first sector on which the program starts. To use:- *INFO <afsp> This will give the information shown above for the file specified by <afsp> *INFO *.* Typed in like this will give you the same information shown above for all the files on a drive. *LIB <drv><dir> This command sets the library to the drive and directory that you have spec- ified in <drv><dir>. Once this has been set you have the option of simply typing *PROG (the name of the file you want to run) and the DFS will search through the drive and directory that you set and run your program, without having to actually specify the drive or directory. To use:- *LIB :2.A This sets the library to drive 2 and the directory to A. The command *PROG has the same effect as typing in *RUN :2.A.PROG. For users with dual disc drives this command is ideal because you can keep a utilities disc in drive 1 and use drive 0 as your working drive. Then all you have to do if you want to use a utility is type *PROG and it will be run. *LIST <fsp> This command will list a text file named by <fsp> along with the line num- bers used on the screen. Please note that this command differs from the LIST command used to list BASIC program files. *LISTing a BASIC file will produce something that you cannot read and understand. The command is normally used to look at Text or Data files. You can use it to read !BOOT files. To use:- *LIST PROG Where PROG is the name of the file used by <fsp> If the file is a big one, then the screen will scroll too quickly for you to read the file. Hold down the CTRL key and press the letter N together to stop scrolling, press SHIFT to move the screen. As an alternative hold down both the CTRL and SHIFT keys together and release one of them to allow a screenful of info to move down and press that key in again to stop the screen. Press the CTRL key together with the letter O key and release them to reset the scrolling system. *LOAD <fsp><address> This command will load a file into memory and start it running from the address which was specified by your command or from the load address of the file when it was saved. To use:- *LOAD PROG 2000 This will load a program called PROG and run it from &2000. *LOAD PROG Will load and run the program called PROG from the load address when it was saved. This command would be normally used to load and run a Machine Code program or a Data file as part of a BASIC program. Of course it can be used on its own if you want to try it. *OPT 1 <number> This command will set a marker in the computer so that every time it accesses a disc file, information about the file will be shown on the screen. The info shown is the same as that shown when using the *INFO command. The command can be used to enable or disable messages. It is normally used to show any changes made in addresses by the program itself when it runs. To use:- *OPT 1 1 or *OPT 1,1 Will both enable messages *OPT 1 0 or *OPT 1,0 Will both disable messages The number 1, or any above this can be used to enable messages. A space between the numbers or a comma between must be used with this command. *OPT 4 <number> This is an option command and it differs from the one above completely. There are 4 <number> options 0, 1, 2 and 3, which are used with the command. The 4 options are as follows:- *OPT 4 0 SHIFT+BREAK no effect. (Used to reset previously set options) *OPT 4 1 *LOAD a !BOOT file. *OPT 4 2 *RUN a !BOOT file (usually a machine code program) *OPT 4 3 *EXEC a !BOOT file. Option *OPT 4 3, is used for !BOOT files that normally contain the BASIC command CHAIN. See *BUILD for more details. *RENAME <old fsp><new fsp> You cannot have more than one file on a drive with the name PROG for instance, at least not in the same directory. This is because the computer would not know which program PROG you want! If you want to copy a file to a drive that has the same name as a file already on that drive you must first rename one of the files before copying. You can also alter the directory of the file if you want to:- *RENAME PROG A.PROG Will put the program PROG into the 'A' directory. To use:- *RENAME PROG PROG1 This changes the filename PROG to PROG1 as specified by <old fsp><new fsp>. *RUN <fsp> This command is normally used to load in and run machine code programs. It loads in the machine code program to its *SAVEd address and begins execution at the execution address. To use:- *RUN <fsp> Where <fsp> is the filename of the program you want to run. This command can be used as part of a BASIC program to run a macine code program. The command WILL NOT RUN a BASIC program. *SAVE <fsp><start><end><exec><reload> This command is used to copy and save a part of the computers memory to disc. It must not be confused with SAVE which is a BASIC keyword used to save BASIC programs. *SAVE is normally used for machine code where <start> is the 4 digit HEX location of the start address. <end> is the 4 digit HEX location of the end address. <exec> is the 4 digit HEX location of the execution address. <reload> is the 4 digit HEX relocation address. Both <exec> and <reload> addresses can be left out, the computer will them assume these addresses are the same as the load address. To use:- *SAVE PROG 2000 2800 2100 1900 Where PROG is the <fsp>, &2000 is the start address, &2800 is the end address. Execution of the program starts at &2100 and, if the program is *RUN again, it will load at &1900. An alternative way to input:- *SAVE<fsp><start>+<length><exec><reload> Where <length> is a 4 digit Hexadecimal (&) value which must be preceeded by a +. To use:- *SAVE PROG 2000+0900 Will save a piece of memory &900 bytes long which could be called PROG, the <fsp>, with a start address of &2000+ The exec and relocation addresses can be left out if they are not required. *SPOOL <fsp> This command will prepare a file of the specified name <fsp> on the disc to receive all the information which is subsequently displayed on the screen. It is a very useful command, in particular for producing a text file from a BASIC program. To use:- LOAD "PROG" Where PROG is the name of the program loaded in. *SPOOL PROG1 This opens a file on the disc called PROG1 in readiness for receiving the data from the screen. Type LIST and press the RETURN key This causes the program "PROG" to be displayed on the screen and at the same time it will written into a file called PROG1 on the disc. When all the information from the screen has been written into the PROG1 file type in:- *SPOOL once more, press the RETURN key and this stops any further 'spooling' and closes the file called PROG1. This command can also be used to merge two programs together. To use:- Let us call the two programs you wish to merge FIRST and SECOND. Ensure that FIRST and SECOND do not have the same line numbers or else in this example, the line numbers from FIRST will overwrite the lines from SECOND. Type: LOAD "FIRST" (Press RETURN) *SPOOL NEW (Press RETURN) LIST (Press RETURN) *SPOOL (Press RETURN) LOAD "SECOND" (Press RETURN) *EXEC NEW (Press RETURN) SAVE "NEWONE" You just LOADed in the first file, then opened a file called NEW on disc to take this file. You then LISTed the first file. The output went to both screen and disc. When the information had been transferred, you stopped any further output to disc by typing *SPOOL on its own. You then LOADed in your second file SECOND and joined the file NEW to it with the instruction *EXEC NEW. You then saved the joined file to disc as "NEWONE". You will of course use your own file names instead of the ones shown above. *TITLE <disc name> With this command you can title any or all of your discs or, re-title them. You can use up to 12 characters, however, if there are any spaces in your title then you must use " (inverted commas) before and another " after it. To use:- *TITLE GAMESDISC1 or *TITLE "GAMES DISC 1" The title appears at the top left of the display when you use *CAT *TYPE <fsp> This command can be used for reading text files if you don't happen to possess a wordprocessor. As with *LIST it will not read a BASIC file properly, better to use the BASIC command LIST <filename> with the program in memory for this purpose. It can also be used to read data files no line numbers are shown. To use:- *TYPE <fsp> Where <fsp> is the filename of the file you want to read or look at. When using this command the screen will scroll unless you stop it. Do this by holding down both the CTRL and SHIFT together and just easing up on one to allow the screen to scroll. Alternatively you can use this method. Press the CTRL key and at the same time press the letter N key, then release them both. In order to scroll the screen press the SHIFT key and release it. If the SHIFT key is held down, the screen will scroll until you release the SHIFT key. To reset the scrolling press the CTRL key once more together with the letter O key. This particular system is called being in PAGE MODE, and a page is represented by a single screen so that for each new page a fresh screen will be seen. The computer uses a system which causes the screen to scroll and in order to read information you must stop the screen. *WIPE <afsp> This command will delete a file or groups of files from your discs. You will be asked to confirm that you do want to delete the named file(s). To use:- *WIPE <afsp> or *WIPE *.PR* or *WIPE PROG # *WIPE <afsp> will remove the file given by <afsp> off a disc. *WIPE *.PR* will remove all the files beginning with the letters PR off the current drive in any directory on that drive. *WIPE PROG # will wipe all files named PROG from any directory on the current drive. THE ABBREVIATIONS:- *ACCESS = *A. *BACKUP = *BAC. *BUILD = *BU. *CAT = *. *COMPACT = *COM. *COPY = *COP. *DELETE = *DE. *DESTROY = *DES. *DIR = *DI. *DRIVE = *DR. *DUMP = *DU. *ENABLE = *EN. *EXEC = *E. *HELP = *H. *INFO = *I. *LIB = *LIB *LIST = *LI. *LOAD = *L. *OPT = *O. *RENAME = *RE. *RUN = *R. *SAVE = *S. *SPOOL = *SP. *TITLE = *TI. *TYPE = *TY. *WIPE = *W. Can be used for example:- *EN. *BAC. 0 2 Care must be used when using abbreviations as they may clash with other commands from other roms you may have fitted. Trevor Crapper K4V.