5. DOS FUNCTIONS FROM BASIC
Ian Finlayson continues his series with a longer routine for
disk users that can be used as shown or expanded further
For the fifth in this series I have chosen a rather longer
subroutine which, I hope, will be very useful. Some of you will
already have a `Minidos' of some sort but those who are newer to
Atari should find the technique interesting as it uses Basic's
special I/O function XIO which is not mentioned in the Basic
Reference Guide!
This routine allows access to some of the
functions of the Disk Operating System from Basic so you can carry
out disk file manipulations without leaving your program. It may be
appended to your program during the development phase and then
removed if it is no longer needed once the program is complete. If
you are ever stuck with a program to save and no formatted disk
available this subroutine can be ENTERed into your program and used
to format a disk.
THE XIO FUNCTION
The XIO function format is: XIO A,#B,C,D,Filespec
A is the command number. We will be using 32
(rename), 33 (delete), 35 (lock), 36 (unlock) and 254 (format).
Other available commands are 5 (get record), 7 (get character), 9
(put record), 11 (put character), 12 (close), 13 (status request),
17 (draw line), 18 (fill), 37 (note) and 38 (point).
#B is the device number as used in an OPEN
command. In most applications it is ignored but it must be included
and must have a # sign. Do not use the number of an I/O channel
which is already open.
C and D are auxiliary control bytes. They are set
to zero for most applications and we do not need to consider them
for this routine.
Filespec is the name of the file being operated
on, or in the case of Rename the name of the old and new files with
a "," separator. If it is typed in it must be in quotation marks but
in the subroutine we will use a string variable for the file name.
SUBROUTINE ANALYSIS
Lines
31400 — 31470 are secondary subroutines called by the main
subroutine which follows. These are adapted from the keyboard input
subroutines in Issue 31. The strange set of conditions in line 31440
is designed to allow input of A-Z 0-9 and also . , * and ? so that
all file names including wild cards can be input.
Line 31480 - Enter the subroutine here, i.e. GOSUB to this
line. This clears the screen, then checks the value of TT15. TT15 is
zero if the subroutine is being run for the first time, otherwise it
will have been set to 1 in line 31490 and line 31490 is skipped to
avoid an error through trying to dimension the variables a second
time.
Line 31490 - dimensions the variables needed in the
subroutine and sets a trap to line 31500 for any I/O error during
execution of the subroutine (such as a wrong file name).
Line 31500 - The destination for trapped errors, provides a
suitable re-entry into the program, an error message and resetting
of the trap for further errors.
Lines 31510 — 31540 get the directory from the disk and print
it on the screen.
Line 31550 - asks which function you wish to carry out and
goes to the subroutine at 31400 for a single character input.
Line
31560 - if C was selected (to change disks) a prompt is given to
change the disk. The program then waits for a key press and returns
to the start of the subroutine.
Lines 31570 — 31580 - If L or U were selected these lines are
implemented otherwise the program skips to 31600. TT16 is the
command number needed in the XIO function, for example, 35 for Lock
and 36 for Unlock. A prompt is made for the filename and this is
obtained from the subroutine at line 31420. "D:" is added to the
front of the file name and the program jumps to line 31710.
Lines 31590 — 31610 - These lines carry out a similar routine
for Renaming a file (Command No 32), but in this case the old
filename is retrieved first and then the new name. The latter is
appended to the former after a comma, so that TT11$ is of the form
D:oldfile.ext, newfile.ext. The program then goes straight to the
XIO function in line 31710.
Lines 31620 — 31640 are for Erase (Command number 33). As
this is a destructive routine a prompt for a Y input is included to
make doubly certain that it is intentional, then the program steps
to 31480.
Lines 31650 — 31670 - This is similar to the erase routine
but for Format (Command 254). Again a cautionary prompt is used.
Line
31680 - if Q is selected we quit the subroutine and return to
the main program. This is the only way out of this minidos
subroutine.
Line 31690 - if this line is reached then the original letter
selected was not an active letter so the subroutine is started
again, prompting for one of C,L,U,R,E,F or Q.
Line 31700 - this line is used by the Erase and Format
selections to check for the Y response to the prompt. Any other key
returns to the beginning of the subroutine.
Line
31710 - at last the XIO function! It operates as described
above. Once the operation is complete the program returns to the
start of the subroutine and displays the disk contents anew so that
the change can be seen immediately. From there another operation can
be selected or Q to return to the main program.
DEVELOPMENT
This
subroutine has been put together rather quickly and could, I'm sure,
be compacted and improved. It was developed in this form to enable
you to follow it easily. There are three obvious possibilities for
development of the subroutine - first add more XIO functions, second
improve the disk contents display to fit more files on the screen
(see Issue 28) and third provide for multiple disk drive
configurations.
That's it for this issue. As always any comments or suggestions for
other routines are welcome. Write to Ian Finlayson, 60,
Roundstone Crescent, East Preston, West Sussex.
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