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From: ghio@netcom.com (Matthew Ghio)
Newsgroups: comp.emulators.apple2
Subject: ProDOS Emulator v0.1 in incoming on ftp.asimov.net
Date: 8 Jan 1996 21:00:17 -0800
Lines: 47
Message-ID: <4cssp142s@news.alias.net>

Announcing ProDOS Emulator v0.1 for Linux

Prodosemu combines 65C02 processor emulation with an operating system
emulator to translate ProDOS MLI calls to native unix calls.  Prodos
applications run directly from your unix filesystem, with no need to
create disk images.  Simply create a subdirectory, place your ProDOS
system binaries in it, and run them with Prodosemu.

When Prodosemu is run, the current directory (or another directory that
you specify with the -r option) becomes the root of a simulated prodos
filesystem, mounted as /UNIX on slot 7, drive 1.  The named application
is loaded into a virtual machine at $2000 and executed by a simulated 65C02
processor.  As files are read and written by Prodos applications to the
simulated filesystem, they are read and written to the corresponding
directory in your unix filesystem.  Prodos-specific filetype information
is stored in a .prodosdir file, which is automatically created in each
directory if it does not already exist.  Filetypes are ignored by Prodosemu
when launching applications.

To launch a prodos application, just type 'prodos' and the application name,
at your shell prompt, for example,
  prodos BASIC.SYSTEM
will launch Applesoft Basic.  Type CAT,S7,D1 to see the files in your
directory.  Remember that Prodos filenames are UPPERCASE and limited to 15
characters.  (Prodosemu actually does allow you to create and access
filenames longer than 15 characters, but only those filenames 15 characters
or less will show up in directory listings.  This is due to the fact that
Prodos's directory entries have a fixed size buffer which can only hold 15
characters.)  When you are finished with basic, type BYE to return to the
unix shell prompt.

If you have ShrinkIt, you can use it to unpack software by typing
  prodos SHRINKIT.SYSTEM
This will unpack file archives and set all the filetypes correctly.

You do not need a copy of ProDOS to run Prodosemu.  You will need a copy of
the Apple IIe's ROM to run most applications.  The rom file is a copy of the
data from $C100 to $FFFF and should be placed in the file apple.rom in the
directory you launch Prodosemu from.

Prodosemu will work with all ProDOS applications except those which attempt
to read or write the disk at the sector level.  I haven't tried it on any
systems other than Linux, but it shouldn't be hard to port.  Source code is
free.  The current version supports text modes only (no mousetext).

Let me know if you find any bugs, and/or tell me of applications that you
ran successfully.