Path: news.uiowa.edu!chi-news.cic.net!brutus.bright.net!usenet.eel.ufl.edu!newsfeed.internetmci.com!in1.uu.net!csn!nntp-xfer-2.csn.net!csn!magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu!freenet.columbus.oh.us!not-for-mail From: dalloff@freenet.columbus.oh.us (Dave Althoff) Newsgroups: comp.sys.apple2 Subject: Re: Dos 3.3 commands Date: 5 Dec 1995 23:50:56 -0500 Organization: The Greater Columbus FreeNet Lines: 147 Message-ID: <4a37fg$el9@acme.freenet.columbus.oh.us> References: <4a2lpl$db7@panix.com> NNTP-Posting-Host: acme.freenet.columbus.oh.us X-Newsreader: TIN [version 1.2 PL2] digiacom@panix.com wrote: : I'm a newbie to the apple II realm and would like to know if there exists : a quick ref document listing valid commands under Dos 3.3? : I have a disk with Dos 3.3 but it goes straight into Integer BASIC. Is there : a command or keystroke to exit to DOS 3.3? Is it going into integer BASIC (prompt is ">") or Applesoft (prompt is "]")? Just to clear THAT up. Second, there is no way to exit "to DOS 3.3." Unlike certain other computer platforms I can think of (ahem), the user interface for DOS 3.3 is completely transparent to the user. When you enter a command from the prompt, whether it is ]Applesoft, >Integer BASIC, or the *Machine language Monitor, that command is pre-processed by Uncle DOS. If DOS doesn't recognize it as a command, the line is passed on to whatever command handler is next. See, heirarchial command handling is nothing new...the Apple has been doing it since 1979 8-). From within a BASIC program (either Applesoft or Integer BASIC), it is a little more complicated. DOS watches the standard character output continuously. If the first character of a line (that is, the first character following a carriage return) is a ^D (ASCII $04), then DOS will attempt to process the remainder of that line as a DOS command, and will return an error if the command is not valid. This is not a complete command reference, but off the top of my head, this will get you started: CATALOG returns a disk directory. File structure is not heirarchial, there are eight filetypes, of which B, A, I, and T are the most common. A directory looks something like this: DISK VOLUME 254 *A 002 THE LAST FILE B 033 TETRA/SOFT LOGO T 142 DAVE'S LIST OF DOS COMMANDS I 002 INTEGER BASIC PROGRAM ^^ ^^^ ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ || ||| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| || ||| |______________________________Filename || |__________________________________File length (MOD 256) ||____________________________________File type |_____________________________________* means the file is locked LOAD filename This command causes DOS to retreive an Applesoft or Integer BASIC program from the disk, and switches the computer to the appropriate language. If the language does not exist in the computer, the error LANGUAGE NOT AVAILABLE is returned. LOAD overwrites any program already in memory. SAVE filename This command stores the current BASIC program on the disk. NOTE REGARDING LOAD AND SAVE: LOAD and SAVE, without a filename, are valid Applesoft commands. They will *appear* to cause your system to hang, but in fact, they are trying to move a BASIC program through the cassette port of your computer. The simplest way to recover is to press *RESET*. Most of the time (i.e. unless some program has reset the RESET handler), pressing RESET will either get you back to BASIC (on a ][+, ][e, or IIgs under DOS 3.3), or will dump you into the system monitor on a ][. RUN filename Performs a LOAD filename, and then executes a BASIC RUN. BLOAD filename This command loads a binary file (type B) from the disk into memory. If you want to specify the image load address, simply append ",Annnn" where nnnn is the address you wish to use. To specify an address in hexadecimal, substitute ",A$nnnn". BSAVE filename,Annnn,Lkkkk Similar to BLOAD, except that this command stores the contents of memory beginning at nnnn and including kkkk bytes on the disk. Again, hex values may be used with a $ prefix. BRUN filename BLOADs a binary image, then does a JMP (unconditional branch) to the file load address. DELETE filename Removes a file from disk. If the file is locked, a FILE LOCKED error will be returned. LOCK filename Protects a file from accidental DELETEion. UNLOCK filename Unprotects a file from accidental DELETEion. EXEC filename Causes the lines of a text file to be read in and executed as if they were typed on the keyboard. If you are familiar with the MS-DOG world, files of this nature (type T) are equivalent to .BAT files. FP Clear BASIC memory and switch to Applesoft BASIC, if available. INT Clear BASIC memory and switch to Integer BASIC, if available. INIT filename Low-level formats a 5.25" disk, erasing it completely. Automagically writes a copy of DOS 3.3 onto tracks 0-2, so all DOS 3.3 disks are bootable when formatted in this manner. Also creates the directory and SAVEs the current BASIC program. The specified filename is placed in the DOS image. When the disk is booted, DOS will load into memory, then attempt to RUN the filename imprinted in the DOS image. Personally, I think it is a lot nicer than having to build CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT... 8-) RENAME oldfilename,newfilename Changes the name of "oldfilename" to "newfilename". No checking is done to make sure that newfilename doesn't already exist, so be careful. A NOTE ABOUT DOS 3.3 FILENAMES: DOS 3.3 filenames may be up to 30 characters long, and must conform to the following restrictions: a. The first character must have an ASCII code greater than 63 ("@") b. Commas and colons may not be used. Apart from that, anything goes, including uppercase, lowercase, numbers, symbols, and CONTROL characters. All file commands (including CATALOG and INIT) have optional switches available: ,Sn Specifies disk controller slot number n, usually 6. Default is the most recently accessed slot. ,Dn Specifies which drive on the controller. Unless patched, DOS 3.3 only knows about D1 and D2. ,Vn Seldom used; specifies a disk volume number. Most disks are V254, and the default is V0, which matches any disk. Hope this helps. Email me if you need more specific data. --Dave Althoff, Jr. (DOS 3.3 hold-out) -- /-\ _ _ __*** Closed for the season *** /XXX\ /X\ /X\_ _ /XX\_ _ _ _____ /XXXXX\ /XXX\ _/XXXX\_ /X\ /XXXXX\ /X\ /X\ /XXXXX _/XXXXXXX\__/XXXXX\/XXXXXXXX\_/XXX\_/XXXXXXX\__/XXX\_/XXX\_/\_/XXXXXX