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If anyone can use them, the attached ATR has several utility programs I've written.

 

SORTDISK will sort the directory of any ATARI DOS disk (including DOSXL). Since Atari DOS stores the file number in every files data sectors, it will rewrite each file with the new file number. I am working on a new version that does not require data sectors to be rewritten

 

FIXDISK will repair disks of common problems. Opening a file for output and not closing it can cause hidden directory entries that chew up space on your disk. Run this utility on your disks and if there are any errors it will report on them and repair them. If there are lost sectors on your disk it will give them back to you.

 

UNDELETE will undelete a file as long as the data sectors in the file have not been reused by another file. If so, it will tell you that the file cannot be undeleted.

 

RAMXL is very cool (if you are running on an XL machine). When using DOSXL, external commands such as COPY, DUPSK, etc. have to load into memory every time you use them. Rename RAMXL.COM as AUTORUN.SYS. On a DOSXL disk, change the extension of COPY.COM to COPY.MEM. You can rename up to four files (such as DUPDSK.MEM, INIT.MEM). When you reboot your disk, RAMXL will search for file with the MEM extension and store them beneath the OS. Now, to run any external command, prefix it with RUN 2300.

 

For example, to copy a file your would key in RUN 2300 COPY <File A> <File B> Or to run DUPDSK you would key in RUN 2300 DUPDSK

 

Finally, a hidden utility.

 

Atari DOS will only let you store 64 files on a disk, even if it is a double density disk and has lots of room. This ATR was created with a utility I call DOS CD (capacity doubler). It will allow you to store up to 128 files on a DD disk. If you boot from this disk and then create new disks using INIT to rewrite your DOS files, the new disks will also have DOS CD on them.

 

I hope someone finds this stuff useful. :)

Utilities.atr

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i've never been happy with the UNDELETE program. You had to key in the name of the file you wanted to undelete, Wouldn't it be nicer if the program displayed the names of the files on the disk which had been deleted? And all you had to do was choose which file to undelete?

 

I rewrote the UNDELETE program to do exactly this and I am much happier with it. I've re-posted the Utitilies disk with the new version of UNDELETE on it.

 

Ange

Utilities.atr

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I mentioned that I had written a utility called RAMDIR that moves the disk directories and the VTOC up into the memory under the OS. From then on it will access the directories from there instead of the disk. It will do this for up to 3 drives.

 

If the directory or the VTOC has been modified it will get rewritten back to the disk of course. It's smart enough to know if the disk has been swapped out and if so it will refresh the directory pages in memory.

 

You turn it on by keying in RAMDIR. You turn it off by keying in RAMOFF.

 

When using disk with lots of files, it saves a lot of IO since the disk does not have to be accessed to find files in the directory. The only IO that takes place is to check if the disk has been swapped out. The utility uses sector 720 which, due to a bug in DOS, is never used. It writes three random numbers to sector 720. Whenever a directory search is done, it checks sector 720 to see if the same disk is still in the drive.

 

Hope someone finds this useful.

 

Ange

 

PS: You'll see the screen flicker a little as it works. This is because the program is rapidly back switching from OS memory to RAM memory.

 

 

RAMDIR.atr

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Hah hah. Thanks Ken. I've been a student of Atari Dos for years. One of the things i've always loved to do is make it do things it was never designed to do. My copy of Inside Atari DOS is so dog-eared it's nearly falling apart.

 

Actually I'd like to change my name to DOSMaster but I can't find where to do it. Do you kow how?

Edited by AGiambra
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Yes, sure:

 

All we know, we got from restored manuals:
"
- BUGV4FIX.COM:
At the end of the Bug/65 manual we can read:
1. Copy the files BUG65.COM and BUGV4FIX.COM to a version 4 disk using the
COPY24 command (see the DOSXL manual for details on this command).
2. At the version 4 "D1:" prompt, type the command: BUGV4FIX [RETURN]
3. The file BUG65.COM on that disk is now compatible with version 4 of DOSXL.
WARNING: Do NOT perform the BUGV4FIX command on your version 2 master disk!
"

So, the fix just affects version 4 of DOS XL.


"SIMPLEREL.ACT" is an Action! file which was published via BBS only, we got that from the Action! bugsheet #3 at the end:

"
ACTION OBJECT CODE RELOCATION PROGRAM
The program SIMPLREL.ACT on this BBS may be used to cause an ACTION! program to load and run at a different address than that address at which it was compiled. The same program will also work for assembly language object files, providing you also follow the given instructions.
The program takes two object files as input and produces a third file which will load and run at a desired address. The relocating program prompts the user for the two input files, which must have been compiled one page (256 bytes) apart. It then prompts for an output file name (the relocated file), the page number of the starting address of the first file, and the page number of the desired destination address. Both page numbers must be decimal values. For example, specifying 32 as the destination page will cause the output file to load at address 32*256 ($2000), not $3200. See part V, "The ACTION! Compiler", chapter 2, page 144, for information on compiling programs to a specified address (Used to compile the two object files one page apart).
In order to use the relocating program, download SIMPLEREL.ACT and read the instructions therein.
"

Did already contact Clinton Parker about, but he didn't respond.

It would be so cool, because then, we have everything restored from OSS.

 

Any help of any kind in that case is very welcome at any time.

 

Thousand thanks in advance.

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