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t.modstar copier
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2022-08-26
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u
M O D S T A R C O P I E R
Original Program by Mike Maynard
Text & Modifications by James T. Jones
On Issue 54 of LOADSTAR, there is
a program for copying files from one
diskette, in the "Source" disk drive,
to another diskette, in the "Target"
or destination disk drive. This very
useful program has appeared on
subsequent issues of LOADSTAR, mainly
with cosmetic changes. The original
text file is on this issue.
Although the program will copy
files from the diskette in the source
disk drive, having various device
numbers, to the disk in the target
disk drive, also having various device
numbers, the program itself must be
LOADed and RUN using a disk drive
having a device number equal to 8.
This was a common drawback of the
early programs published on LOADSTAR.
In those days, one was fortunate to
have a disk drive at all, in addition
to a datasette. The device number of
the available disk drives was almost
always equal to 8 and could only be
readily changed with a program, by
using the so-called "software" method.
The new device number was, of course,
lost when the computer was turned off.
The purpose of the present
program, MODSTAR COPIER, on this
issue, is to rectify this drawback, so
that the program can be LOADed and RUN
from a disk drive having any proper
device number. Crashes, with the
dreaded display of the error message,
"Device not present", may thereby be
avoided when an attempt is made to
LOAD and RUN the program.
Modifications of the original
BASIC program were made with a
reasonable amount of effort; however,
the original program uses an object
file, COPIER.O, which is also
"hardcoded" to a device number equal
to 8.
It was by no means a simple matter
to create the source file -- MOD
COPIER.S -- on this issue, in the
format of the MERLIN assembler. If
necessary, the format of the file may
readily be changed to the format of
your assembler. MOD COPIER.S was used
to create the object file -- MOD
COPIER.O -- which has the advantage of
allowing the use of any disk drive
having a device number in the proper
range, 8 - 11.
The author has described in detail
in another program, BITS: UNIVERSAL
DIRECTORY PROGRAMS, the assembly
language strategem of incorporating a
statement equivalent to the BASIC
statements,
DV=PEEK(186):IF DV<8 THEN DV=8
into a source file. This program and
its associated files may have been
published by the time that you read
this text file.
In regard to assembly language
programming, at the time this text
file was written, eTower Marketing was
offering for sale STAR EXTRAS #4 and
#5 for $12.OO (including shipping and
handling). The address and telephone
number are:
eTower Marketing
P. O. Box 44
Holly, CO 81O47-OO44
Telephone: (719) 537-6484
A number of very useful articles
are on the diskettes concerning
assembly language by the master,
Jeffrey L. Jones, himself. They would
be a welcome addition to your
reference material on assembly
language programming.
There are a number of very useful
programs on the early issues of
LOADSTAR; the author plans to modify
other programs that must be LOADed and
RUN only on a disk drive having a
device number equal to 8.
Of course, one can always use the
early programs with a disk drive
having a device number equal to 8,
provided one knows in advance that a
device number equal to 8 is required
to avoid that dreaded "crash".
On a personal note, I would like
to express my appreciation to Judi and
Fender Tucker for sending me the
Commodore equipment, without which I
could not have typed the text file
that you are reading. Reportedly,
Fender has other items that may be of
interest. If you need a particular
piece of Commodore hardware, why not
contact him? His address and
telephone number are:
Mr. Fender Tucker
443 Gladstone Blvd.
Shreveport, LA 711O4
1-318-868-8727
JTJ
AFTER-NOTE: Dr. J isn't kidding about
the work it takes to disassemble ML
code, make sense of it, and rewrite it
to an assembler source file. Thanks,
Doc!
I have several other contributions
from Dr. Jones that were missplaced
during a frantic "cleaning day" at the
office. Now that my 215th floor office
is back to its normal, disaster area
motif, some interesting programs are
rising to the top of the heap. More
later, LOADSTARites!
DMM