Catman Disk Librarian XB program

[Ed in SoDak]

Here's an XB program I put together years ago to create a Master Library of all my TI disks. It runs on Old TI Iron, requires either SXB or RXB and is currently limited to a stock TI disk controller with three drives. Much of that could probably be updated to handle larger disk systems and run under standard TI XB.

 

Written pretty much for my own use and for my Dad, I never got around to writing a Doc file for it. Start with a test destination disk in your specified drive. Other than writing a couple files to it, nothing major happens.

 

Catman combines several small but useful utility programs that were floating around at the time I wrote it. I sorted out the variables and made the programs work together more or less and share some inputs between them. Given that heritage, it has some mighty strange jumps and twists in the code as it leaps between one option or another. Some could go under the chopping block. One of my goals was to create a giant mega-utility program, so I stuffed in as much as I could just for the fun of it. There's still room for editing and adding more, lol.

 

The gist of the program is the creation of a DV/80 file of how ever many TI disk catalogs you wish to include. For really large collections, it makes sense to break them up into categories. The program is written to include simple info as to which disk holder and category the actual disk is stored in.

 

You can add a simple note for each disk and additionally every file on said disk if desired. Files can be freely edited afterwards in any TI DV/80 editor. Printer support creates a continuous listing as you read each disk and add your notes or it can be disabled. Files are written in Append format so you can always add more disks to a file as long as there is disk space to store it. Really large library files can be loaded into TI-Writer in sections if need be.

 

I didn't stop there and added conversion of the files to a TI-Base compatible format. If you have and use that program, it opens up a whole new way to search through and sort your TI programs.

 

I'm sad to say Catman is only partially functional in emulation in V9T9. I don't have any other TI emulator to test it on, but it seems to run fine on a real TI. Input checking and error reporting is very extensive and the program resumes or re-runs instead of just crashing.

 

I don't know if a Library created on a TI and converted to TI-Base and then ported over will work with TI-Base under emulation or maybe imported to a Mac or PC database program. That would be very cool if so and that should be doable.

 

I'm happy to share my program and hope it's of some use. It's my small contribution to the forum for the much-appreciated help I've already received here. Maybe the sharp minds on this forum can help make it work under emulation, that would be a real asset. It's an apparently much-needed program for people's large collections of TI files.

 

Please feel free to use, copy, share, hack, dismember and improve it!

-Ed

 

 

XM TIfiles, remove the .txt after downloading

 

catman214.txt

 

 

Here's a V9T9 version, again remove the .TXT

 

CATMAN.TXT

Edited April 10, 2014 by Ed in SoDak

[Ed in SoDak]

That bad, huh?

[+hloberg]

I downloaded it

[Ed in SoDak]

That's a start, thanks! I'm interested if it runs under any of the emulators. It's a fail under V9T9 here, not sure why. I used it for my own library of flopppies in the early 90's and haven't run it much since.

 

I'm pretty sure there's other library programs, but none with TI-Base conversion I know of. Gotta dust off my own copy on a real TI and revisit it, lol.

Edited April 13, 2014 by Ed in SoDak

[RobertLM78]

Ed - you might want to take a look at this. I haven't tried it in emulation yet, honestly, but it works great on the Real Iron. It's real similar to your catman - it's from one of the Computes! books if I recall correctly .

 

[Ed in SoDak]

Hi Robert, might be I should. Seems way too well-organized for my style though. I may have to go back a few versions in my Catman program to track down the disk-reading error. Way too similar to what it's also doing under V9T9, makes me suspect something crept in on my code.

-Ed

[Astharot]

Hello ED, you speak that use RXB on real ti99.. How you had success in rxb use? I try at use RXB2012 on gram kracker but ever go in crash.. I wont try at use your file on mess emulation.. there is a special file that work only with rxb basic?

 

Try your program catman214 is basic version file.. i convert in v9t9 put in emulate floppy and work well.. catman file give me i/o error.. no read it..

Edited April 19, 2014 by Astharot

[Ed in SoDak]

>> Hello ED, you speak that use RXB on real ti99.. <<

 

That's not precisely correct. I tried it using RXB on Mac V9T9 and RXB on that emulator supported the CALL CLSALL command, so from that I guessed it would also run on a real TI with RXB. It would not be too difficult to change the CALL CLSALL in the program to the more compatible CLOSE #n command.

 

I also have many file errors running it with V9T9. I am attempting to revise the program so it might hopefully work correctly in emulation and also better on a real TI with just Extended Basic. I am removing the file sweep and file delete sections as they are not really needed. I wrote this in the late 1980's and early 1990's, I have a lot to relearn. It's been too many years since I used this program a lot.

-Ed

[RXB]

>> Hello ED, you speak that use RXB on real ti99.. <<

 

That's not precisely correct. I tried it using RXB on Mac V9T9 and RXB on that emulator supported the CALL CLSALL command, so from that I guessed it would also run on a real TI with RXB. It would not be too difficult to change the CALL CLSALL in the program to the more compatible CLOSE #n command.

 

I also have many file errors running it with V9T9. I am attempting to revise the program so it might hopefully work correctly in emulation and also better on a real TI with just Extended Basic. I am removing the file sweep and file delete sections as they are not really needed. I wrote this in the late 1980's and early 1990's, I have a lot to relearn. It's been too many years since I used this program a lot.

-Ed

 

RXB did not invent the command CALL CLSALL as that came from Miller Graphics XB for the GRAM KRACKER.

 

SXB and others all use the same Miller Graphics XB so many version of XB have the same command.

 

CALL CLSALL is to close ALL open files at one time. If you need to only close 2 open files then use CLOSE #? :: CLOSE #?