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- uDirMaster v1.0a/Style
- by The Wiz
-
- Introduction In the 21st century much
- of the Commodore 64 as been ported
- over to the MS-DOS and Windows world.
- Disks are represented in single files
- using D64, D71, D81 formats, among
- others. One could boot up a C64
- emulator, load a directory editor or
- file copier, and edit these disk
- representations or move/copy files
- between them. But, unfortunately, the
- Commodore 64 has many drawbacks that
- don't exist in the Windows world.
- Wouldn't it be easier to manage your
- disk collection in a windowed
- environment?
-
- Of course, DirMaster is not the first
- Windows-based GUI tool for CBM disk
- image manipulation. But we feel it
- stands among the very best, pushing
- the capabilities again into the future
- with features like: full D64, D71, and
- D81 support! integrated with Explorer
- via file associations/icons open
- literally *hundreds* of images at the
- same time fully working drag and drop
- between disk images: copy or move a
- file from one image to another copy
- between different image formats (e.g.
- d64 to d81)
-
- move/reorder files on the same disk by
- dragging them drag and drop classic
- 'separator' entries onto your disk
- image drag files from Explorer onto
- disk images to import user friendly
- BAM view with track/sector view/edit;
- BAM view fully supports standard
- error-track extensions all the usual
- directory editing capabilities... most
- functions activated by keyboard
- equivalents, including file reordering
- and filename editing a multi-level
- undo capability working just fine
- under WINE for Linux/FreeBSD/Solaris
- freaks As a first version, DirMaster
- already surpasses... as a tool we aim
- to fully improve according to user
- feedback, the limits are oblivious.
-
- Installation Install DirMaster using
- the setup.exe; after installation you
- can locate a DirMaster shortcut on
- your desktop or in your your
- "..\Program Files\Style\DirMaster"
- directory. An updated, improved CBM
- font file is also included in the
- installation and placed in your system
- fonts folder. File associations will
- be made automagically, mapping all
- .d64, .d71, .d81, and .seq files to
-
- DirMaster. Making a new disk...
- Functionality: New Disks To create new
- blank disks (either D64, D71, or D81)
- use the sub menu: "Disk->New".
- Keyboard equivalents are 6, 7, and 8
- respectively. The new disk function
- only open a new disk image inside
- DirMaster itself - at this point the
- image has not been saved to disk.
-
- Functionality: Open/Save To open
- existing disk images, use the
- "Disk->Open" menu item. Alternatively,
- drag and drop disk images from your
- file manager onto the DirMaster
- window. You can drag and drop multiple
- images of any type (D64, D71, D81) to
- open them all at once. You should be
- able to have literally several hundred
- disk images opened at once, although
- memory usage will rise accordingly.
- Finally, double clicking a disk image
- in your file manager should open that
- image in a new instance of DirMaster.
-
- As soon as you make any change to a
- disk image, the image window title bar
- will update with an asterisk to
- indicate an edited but unsaved image.
- You can save the image using either
- the "Disk- >Save" or "Disk->Save As"
- menu items.
-
- Functionality: Directory Editing
- Directory editing operates as a
- WYSIWYG mode, allowing you to type in
- a full range of CBM characters
- including special graphics symbols,
- although most unprintable control
- codes (such as color codes) wont
- actually alter the displayed the
- directory (i.e. actual colors and
- cursor movements). Use of the cursor
- keys (up/down) allows selection of
- different files in the directory
- listing.
-
- The right-click menu over the
- directory display... Most operations
- regarding manipulation of single files
- can be found under the main "File"
- menu. To edit a filename, select
- "File->Rename" or simply press 'e' to
- enter edit mode for the currently
- selected file. In the edit mode,
- cursor keys (left/right) allow
- selection of individual characters.
- The 'insert' key toggles character
- over-strike or insert modes, and the
- cursor updates to reflect the current
- mode. The filename can be left or
- right aligned (using the 'l' and 'r'
- keys), centered ('c'), and expanded
- ('x', which pads the current filename
- with spaces out to 16 characters).
- While in edit mode, 'backspace' and
- 'delete' keys also operate as you
- would expect.
-
- Aside from filename editing, the file
- type may be altered using the sub menu
- "File->File Type"; valid types being
- PRG (also set with the 'p' key), SEQ
- ('s'), USR ('u'), REL ('r'), DEL ('d')
- and CBM. Finally, files can be locked
- (the '<' key) and splatted ('*') and
- the file size can be altered or
- auto-sized (DirMaster will trace the
- file links and set the filesize to the
- actual size, if different).
-
- File positions can also be altered by
- using the mouse to drag and drop file
- entries above or below other files.
- For keyboard fans, files can also be
- moved by holding the shift key down on
- the file you wish to select, and then
- using the cursor up/down keys to move
- that file.
-
- An entire file entry can be deleted by
- using the "File- >Remove" menu item or
- by hitting 'delete'. Note: DirMaster
- will reset the BAM to reflect the
- deleted file entry, but it leaves the
- actual sector data intact! To wipe all
- free blocks on the disk, use the
- "Disk->Fill Free Sectors" item. Disk
- related data including disk name and
- disk id can also be edited by using
- the "Edit->Rename Disk" and
- "Edit->Edit Disk ID" menu items
- respectively.
-
- Please note that almost all functions
- related to file and disk editing, as
- well as exporting files, can also be
- accessed by clicking the right mouse
- button over a file entry.
-
- Functionality: File
- copy/move/import/export With
- DirMaster, copying and moving files
- between disk images is as easy as
- dragging and dropping the file between
- any two opened images. You may
- copy/move files between different
- image types, like from a D64 to a D81.
- When a file is copied, the file is
- written to the destination disk using
- a standard sector interleave and the
- destination BAM is updated
- accordingly. When a file is moved,
- after the copy is written to the
- destination as described earlier, the
- source disk is updated as if the file
- had been deleted: directory entry is
- removed, BAM is updated, but file data
- remains intact.
-
- To export a file from a disk image to
- the host file system, use the
- "File->Export" menu item. When
- exporting a PRG file, the exported
- copy retains the two-byte load
- address. When exporting a SEQ file,
- the exported copy will be written
- using a PETSCII character set unless
- the "Convert to ASCII" checkbox in the
- file save dialog is checked, in which
- case, obviously, the file is
- translated into a standard DOS ASCII
- format.
-
- Importing a file, oddly enough, can
- be accomplished with the
- "File->Import" menu item. When
- importing a text file, check the
- "Convert to PETSCII" checkbox to
- perform an ASCII to PETSCII
- translation. Finally, files can be
- dragged from your file manager and
- dropped onto an open disk image in
- DirMaster. This accomplishes the same
- outcome as importing.
-
- Functionality:
- Undo
- DirMaster keeps track of multiple
- undo points for each open disk image.
- Use 'CTRL+z' to invoke the undo
- function (or invoke it using the
- "Edit->Undo" menu item). Since undo
- tracks changes on a per image basis,
- be aware than invoking undo
- immediately after a file move, for
- example, will only roll back the
- change to the current disk image. To
- fully reverse the move operation, you
- would invoke undo once each on both
- the source and destination images.
-
- BAM Editor from a .d64...
- Functionality: BAM Editor The
- DirMaster BAM editor can be invoked
- using the "View->BAM Editor" menu
- item. You may open one BAM editor per
- disk image, and you may have multiple
- BAM editors open at the same time. To
- avoid confusion, check the title bar
- of the BAM editor window - it will
- reflect the same filename as the disk
- image it corresponds with.
- Furthermore, the BAM editor displays
- the actual disk image name and id at
- the top of the window.
-
- The BAM editor displays a track/sector
- map where green represents unallocated
- sectors and red represents allocated
- sectors. Sector errors, if this option
- is enabled (see
- "Disk->Extensions->Sector Errors"),
- will be displayed as an overlayed
- number corresponding to the CBM error
- code (e.g. 23 for checksum error). The
- BAM editor will look slightly
- different for each different image
- type, varying by both the number of
- tracks (represented as rows) and
- sectors (represented by tracks).
- Otherwise all BAM editor operations
- work identically across image types.
- In the BAM editor, right clicking will
- ordinarily toggle the status of the
- sector in the BAM between allocated
- and unallocated. The exception to this
- is when the Sector Errors option is
- turned on.
-
- Then, right clicking brings up a
- context menu that allows you to toggle
- an individual sector as well as allow
- you to set a disk error (one of 20,
- 21, 22, 23, 25, 26, 27, 29) on the
- selected sector. Note: Disk images
- with sector error information can have
- two possible formats: one in which
- error is represented as a byte whose
- value corresponds to the actual error
- number (e.g. 23) and one in which the
- error is represented by some other
- format specific code value. DirMaster
- will support reading of either
- version. To write disk images in the
- former mode, turn on the
- "Disk->Extensions->Write Error
- Numbers" feature. To write disk images
- in the latter mode, turn that feature
- off.
-
- The BAM editor may also be invoked by
- using the "Edit BAM" icon in the
- toolbar immediately below the main
- menu.
-
- Functionality: Sector Editor To invoke
- the sector editor, simply click a BAM
- entry (a green or red disk
- corresponding with a given track/row
- and sector/column). A sector editor
- opens up, which like the BAM editor
- will reflect the disk image file name
- in it's title bar. The operation of
- the sector editor is
- fairlystraightforwardd... use the
- cursor keys to navigate and select
- individual bytes; then change the
- value or the byte. Editing can be done
- on either the left hand side hex
- representation (which accepts valid
- hex input) or on the right hand side
- PETSCII representation, which allows
- any PETSCII value.
-
- Note: changes are taken immediately -
- there is no "save" option in the
- sector editor. However you may use the
- undo function to rollback multiple
- consecutive changes.
-
- Press the 'j' key (or 'Alt-Down') to
- follow the current sector's 'next
- track/sector' link, if it is valid;
- 'Ctrl- Right'/'Page Up' and
- 'Ctrl-Left'/'Page Down' increment and
- decrement the sector; 'Ctrl-Down' and
- 'Ctrl-Up' increment and decrement the
- track; 'Page Up' and 'Page Down' will
- move to the previous or next sector;
- finally, 'Alt-Left' and 'Alt-Right'
- will swap the cursor between the
- current hex and PETSCII byte.
-
- CBM Tool... Functionality: CBM Tool
- The CBM Tool, invoked using
- "View->Show CBM Tool", displays an
- entire set of CBM characters. Use the
- CBM tool when editing a filename, disk
- name, disk id, or sector to
- insert/over-strike characters: while
- editing, click a character in the CBM
- tool and this has the same effect as
- if you typed it using the keyboard.
-
- The CBM Tool may also be toggled
- on/off by using the "Show/Hide CBM
- Tool" icon in the toolbar immediately
- below the main menu. Functionality:
- Separator Tool The Separator Tool,
- invoked using "View->Show Separator
- Tool", provides a collection of common
- directory file names which provide the
- typical 'separator' style directory
- entries that became so ubiquitous
- among scene releases. While the
- Separator Tool is open, you may drag
- entries from it onto disk images to
- place separators in the directory. You
- may also edit entries on the Separator
- Tool by right clicking the mouse over
- any entry. You can move entries up and
- down to reorder the list; you can edit
- individual entries in place, you can
- delete entries, and you can add new
- entries. All changes you make will be
- saved for the next time you use
- DirMaster. The right-click menu over
- the Separator Tool... The Separator
- Tool may also be toggled on/off by
- using the "Show/Hide Separator Tool"
- icon in the toolbar immediately below
- the main menu.
-
- Functionality: Miscellaneous SEQ files
- can be viewed by selecting a SEQ file
- and pressing the 'v' key, by selecting
- the "File->View File" menu item, or by
- invoking the same item from the right
- click context menu. On most windows
- including disk images, SEQ files, and
- the sector editor, the CBM character
- set case can be toggled using
- "View->Toggle Case" or by clicking the
- "Toggle Case" icon in the toolbar
- immediately below the main menu. While
- selecting a file on a disk image,
- press the 'j' key or select the "Jump
- to Sector" item in the right click
- context menu to immediately open the
- sector editor and jump to the first
- sector of the selected file.
-
- Extensions menu... Extended track disk
- images can be loaded and saved when
- the "Disk->Extensions->Extended
- Tracks" feature is enabled. With
- extended tracks, a D64 image with
- tracks 36 to 40 can be manipulated and
- saved. However, other than direct
- sector and BAM editing, the extra
- tracks are not currently supported
- when copying/writing files.
-
- Credits and Contact DirMaster was
- coded by The Wiz/Style with testing by
- the entire Style crew. Please find
- contact information on the About panel
- inside the app, or leave us feedback
- We would greatly value your input as
- to future versions of this tool - let
- us know what you want!
-
- http://www.style64.org/index.php?cid=r
- ele.dirmaster
-
- Tried to email the website in order
- to be able to print this information
- but received no reply
-
- ...end...
-
-