PDDos

                     PDDos  version 0.1
                 copyright 1991 - E. Sakara

This is a preliminary release of my PDDOS program for the ATARI ST and the
Tandy Portable Disk drive model 1.  This program and supporting files are
Copyrighted 1991 by Eric Sakara.  They may be freely distributed as long as
all files are left intact and the copyright notice is left in place.

This is an experimental program and no guarantees are made as to its
usefullness or correctness.  To the best of my knowledge the program works
(as detailed below) and has not caused any problems on my ST or my M102 and
associated disks and drives.  None the less, as with any new program, you
are urged to use caution.  I suggest you use a floppy disk version until
you are satisfied it works on your system.  I run mine from a hard drive
with no problems.

PURPOSE:-  The IBM world has a number of programs for reading and writing
to the Tandy Portable Disk drives (PDD) but none exist for other computers.
I saw an article in a back issue of PICO magazine outlining the commands
to be used to access the disk drive from a BASIC program so I decided to
write my own version.  This is the result.  This version is written using
GFA BASIC v2.  The source code (.LST) and a compiled version (.PRG) are
included.  The source code is NOT complete and there are some bugs that
still need to be chased down (see below) but it DOES work.

HOW TO USE:- 
  1) connect your PDD to the ST serial port directly.  DO NOT use any null
     modem adapter or cable.  Mine is connected into a switch box so I can 
     switch the drive between the ST and M102 easily.
  2) Boot your ST and make sure you have the control panel ACC installed.
  3) using the control panel, change your RS232 setting to 19200
  4) if you want, set up an ASCII file called PDDOS.INF with a line
     specifying your default disk path.  e.g. D:\M102\  (final \ required)
     (the default is the current path you are running from).
  4) double click on the PDDOS program.
  5) the start procedure goes throught the following steps
     a. alert box to remind you about setting the RS232 speed
     b. check for default path for ST disk
     c. get directory from PDD and display
     d. get directory from ST and display
     e. wait for selections
  6) all the options work on the "active window" (i.e. the one with the
     shaded title line.  Always make sure you are in the correct window
     before you make your selections.
  7) use the mouse to click on any file names, to select them.  If they
     are already selected (in BOLD type) then another click will un-select
     them.
  8) after your files are chosen, select the menu option to perform.

MENU OPTIONS:-
   Desk  - due to problems with GFA BASIC, all ACCessories are turned off
           (including the control panel).
     About PDDos - copyright notice
   File
     copy - copy from active window to the other window
     copy & rename - same as copy but you are given a chance to change the
            output name of each file.
     new path (ST) - change current ST path
     refresh display - rebuild directory and redisplay
     quit - exit the program (you can also click on the 'close box' of the
            active window)
   options
     rename - rename ST file (doesn't work on PDD)
     erase - erase selected files in the active window
     format - (not implemented yet) format PDD disk
     print directory - (not implemented yet) print active window

RESTRICTIONS:-
    - currently only works on MONO monitor.  Should be easy to change it to
      work on medium rez but not a priority, for me.
    - only works with PDD Model 1 drive (100k).
    - GFA BASIC seems to have a bug in the FILES TO command.  If you erase
      the last member on the disk (or folder) it seems to have trouble
      displaying the empty directory.  It keeps showing the last file as 
      still being there.  It's not a problem, just ignore it or keep the
      PDDOS program in the same disk (or folder) and therefore it is never
      empty and this error doesn't show up.
    - can't format disks (yet) so make sure you have enough ready.
    - The ST disk is restricted to a maximum of 60 members and the PDD to
      a max 40 members (a hardware restriction, enforced by the drive).
    - I enforce the Tandy name convention of 6 characters for the name and
      2 for the extension and padded with blanks.  On the ST I strip the
      blanks off, so you will get slightly different names on the two
      disks.
    - I do NOT enforce any restrictions on the EXTENSION names; they do not
      have to be DO, BA or CO.  This might cause you problems if you later
      try to load them into your M102 without renaming them.
    - to display all the ST members and their respective sizes, I truncate
      the display to the above mentioned 6 and 2 characters.  The true file
      names are preserved and used for the copy, erase or rename functions.
      Again, this might cause confusion when it gets copied to the PDD,
      since I throw away any extra characters.
    - error handling is very limited.  Many errors give no response at all
      (prime one, if speed is wrong, it just hangs waiting for the PDD to
      respond).
 
FUTURE PLANS:-
    
  minor changes
    - finished the options 'FORMAT' and 'PRINT DIR'
    - make resolution independent (won't work on low rez, due to amount of
      data that has to be displayed).
    - allow it to work with accessories
    - cleanup error responses and messages
    - add scolling window on ST side and increase number of files.
    - check output disk to ensure room for all files to be copied
    - sort ST directory display
  major changes
    - add support for PDD model 2
    - set the RS232 speed from within the program.
    - allow rename on PDD
    - find better way of building the ST directory (I don't like the way
      the FILES TO works).  It should be possible to do it all in memory
      without writing a temp file to the disk.

Anyone using this program is encourage to leave me comments and
suggestions.  The program was written for my own use and is not intended
for major distribution.  I reserve the right to ignore your suggestions.

I would be especially interested in hearing from anyone that can help with
the 'major changes' in the 'future plans'.

eric sakara
73347,201
PDDos

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