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- CPACK - UTILITY PROGRAMS FOR CP/M
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- Copyright (C) 1980
- FBN Software
- 24 Mistral Avenue
- Mosman NSW 2088
-
- Permission is granted to copy this document
- and the associated programs for all purposes
- with the exception of resale for profit
-
-
- NOTE
-
- You may find that the file BACKUP mentioned in this document
- has been renamed BCKUP on this disk in order to avoid
- confusion with another program with a similar name.
-
-
- PACKAGE DESCRIPTION
-
-
- CPACK is a package of utility programs designed for use
- with the CP/M operating system. It contains a number of
- programs designed to make use of the system easier, in
- particular for those systems using a single disk drive which
- are not well catered for by the CP/M software as it is
- distributed.
-
-
- The following programs are included in the package:
- BACKUP - Disk copier
- COMPARE - File comparison utility
- COPY - File copier
- RESTORE - File recovery program
- SORTDIR - Directory sorter
-
-
- (CP/M is a trademark of Digital Research, PO Box 579,
- Pacific Grove, California, 93950, USA)
-
-
- OVERVIEW
-
- On the following pages, the CP/M command lines applicable
- to each program are listed, followed by a description of the
- program operation and use. THe general comments below are
- applicable to all programs.
-
- Disk prompts: All programs prompt the operator for a
- possible disk change prior to commencing execution. This
- allows use of a single disk for utility programs and avoids
- the requirement to have a copy of commonly used programs on
- each disk. BACKUP, COPY and COMPARE also prompt for the
- necessary changes during operation. The prompt calls for a
- carriage return (<CR>) and this character will cause execution
- to continue. Control-C in response to a prompt will cause an
- immediate warm boot. All other responses are ignored. If no
- disk change is required, simply depress <CR>.
-
- Program termination: With the exception of BACKUP, all
- programs return to CP/M on termination without rebooting.
- This avoids system crashes when using disks without a system
- copy on tracks 0 and 1. BACKUP overwrites the CP/M system in
- order to provide the largest possible memory buffer and a
- reboot is therefore necessary. Before terminating, the program
- issues a disk change prompt.
-
- Drive Selection: None of the programs attempts to access
- any drive other than the one currently logged in by CP/M. In
- a single drive system, this will be drive A. COPY
- specifically calls the 'Reset BDOS' CP/M entry and is
- therefore useable only in drive A. However, if you have more
- than one drive, there are easier ways to perform a file copy!
-
- Logged Disk: All programs which write on a disk leave
- the one in the drive on termination as the currently logged
- disk. This will be in Read/Write mode (unless it is
- physically write protected). COMPARE, which reads disk files
- only, does not alter the currently logged disk.
-
- Use of CBIOS: BACKUP, SORTDIR and RESTORE all directly
- access the CBIOS to perform some I/O operations. This is
- necessary in the case of BACKUP to provide the maximum buffer
- space and of the other two to allow direct access to the CP/M
- disk directory. In standard CP/M systems this will cause no
- problems but difficulties may be encountered in systems with a
- non-standard CBIOS jump vector.
-
- Directory access: Both RESTORE and SORTDIR conduct
- operations on the CP/M Disk Directory. Version 1.4 of the
- CP/M system uses a standard directory structure with up to 64
- entries of 32 bytes each and this is the structure assumed by
- the programs. Version 2.2 allows different structures, which
- may vary between different drives of the same system. Neither
- of the programs should be used with Version 2.2 CP/M unless
- you are sure that your system is using the Version 1.4
- compatible structure.
-
-
-
- A>BACKUP
-
- BACKUP is a program for making backup copies of an entire
- diskette on a single drive system.
-
- BACKUP prompts the user to insert source and
- destination disks. The disk contents are copied on a track to
- track basis, buffered in memory. BACKUP automatically adjusts
- the size of the memory buffer to the maximum allowed by the
- host system. In a 56K system an 8 inch single density
- diskette can be backed up in five passes.
-
- On completion of the transfer, the program asks whether
- another disk is to be backed up. If the answer is yes, the
- operation repeats, otherwise the operator is prompted for a
- command to return to CP/M.
-
-
-
- A>COPY <sourcefile> <destfile>
- A>COPY <sourcefile>
- A>COPY
-
- Copy is a program to simplify disk to disk copies of
- files in CP/M systems having a single drive. It operates in a
- somewhat similar manner to the CP/M supplied utility PIP, the
- disk file copying routines of which are not usable in single
- drive systems.
-
- COPY operates by buffering the file into memory and then
- prompting for a disk change before dumping the file onto the
- new disk. The buffer size is automatically adjusted to the
- TPA area available under the CP/M system in use and for long
- files, the program prompts for the necessary disk changes
- caused by the requirement to transfer the file in two or more
- buffer loads.
-
- The single copy version of the program is invoked by
- either of the first two command lines listed above where
- <sourcefile> and <destfile> are unambiguous file names
- complying with the CP/M syntax. If <destfile> is omitted, it
- is assumed to be the same as <sourcefile> and the file
- transferred to the new disk has the same name as the original.
- On completion of the transfer, the program returns control to
- the CP/M Console Command Processor (CCP) without rebooting the
- system. The logged-in disk is the one to which the transfer
- was made.
-
- If both file names are omitted, then COPY enters the
- multiple copy mode and responds with a prompt character ('*')
- and commands may be entered in the following form:
-
- *<sourcefile> <destfile>
-
- Omission of <destfile> has the same effect as in the
- single copy mode. On completion of each transfer the prompt
- is re-issued and further transfers may be made. Control is
- returned to the CCP by typing <return> after the prompt.
- Control may be returned at any time by typing <^C> which
- causes a warm boot.
-
- During the transfer, COPY initially creates a temporary
- file 'COPY.$$$' on the destination disk. On successful
- completion of the transfer, any file on the destination disk
- having the same name as <destfile> is erased and COPY.$$$ is
- renamed <destfile>. Note that COPY may be used to duplicate a
- file on the same disk merely by leaving the original disk
- inserted before responding to the prompt. In this case the
- <sourcefile> and <destfile> must have different names or the
- original file will be deleted.
-
-
-
- A>COMPARE <sourcefile> <compfile>
-
- COMPARE carries out a byte for byte comparison between
- two files. If any difference is found, the following
- information is presented on the console:
- The record number in the file
- The byte number within the record
- The ASCII and hex values of the differing bytes
-
- If the files are of differing lengths, this fact is
- reported but the 'overlapping' bytes are not listed. If no
- differences are detected, a 'Files Identical' message is
- issued.
-
- COMPARE operates in a somewhat similar manner to COPY,
- buffering <sourcefile> into memory and then reading
- <compfile> record by record for the comparison. Disk change
- prompts are issued as necessary, as described for COPY.
-
- If the files to be compared have substantial
- differences, the listing of differing bytes at the console may
- be excessively long. To avoid waiting, the program may be
- terminated by typing a space at the console.
-
-
-
- A>RESTORE <filename>
- A>RESTORE <filename> n
-
- *****************************************
- * WARNING - USE WITH CP/M *
- * VERSION 1.4 COMPATIBLE DISKS ONLY *
- *****************************************
-
- RESTORE is a program to recover CP/M files which have
- been inadvertently ERAsed. CP/M erases files by setting a
- byte in their disk directory entry, the actual file data is
- not erased but merely becomes eligible for being overwritten.
- RESTORE resets the byte, making the file once again useable.
-
- Use with long files: CP/M files with more than 128
- records have more than one directory entry. The second and
- subsequent entries describe extensions of the file, each of
- 128 records or less. The second form of the command line
- above allows extension n of the file to be recovered, where n
- is a hex digit. (RESTORE <filename> 0 means exactly the same
- as RESTORE <filename>). To restore a long file, successive
- calls to RESTORE should be made, with n increasing, until a
- 'Not found' message results.
-
- WARNING: Restore can have some strange and unpredictable
- effects if it is not used properly. It should only be used
- after a file has been erased and before any other operations
- affecting the disk directory (such as SAVE, Editing, COPY,
- etc) have been carried out. The reason for this is that these
- operations may have utilised part of the disk space of the
- ERAsed file.
-
- Similarly, RESTORE only restores the first erased
- filename it finds which matches the name specified. If you
- have been doing a lot of editing or other work there may be
- more than one erased 'edition' of the file. After use
- therefore, the file should be carefully checked. If it is
- not the correct one, it can be RENamed, ERAsed again and then
- RESTORE reinvoked to find the right copy. Note that this
- situation can be avoided by periodic use of SORTDIR.
-
-
-
- A>SORTDIR
- A>SORTDIR *
-
- *****************************************
- * WARNING - USE WITH CP/M *
- * VERSION 1.4 COMPATIBLE DISKS ONLY *
- *****************************************
-
- SORTDIR is a program which will sort the disk directory
- into alphabetical order, either by filename or by file type
- (ASM, COM, etc) and name. The second command line above sorts
- by file type.
-
- In addition to sorting the directory, SORTDIR also tidies
- the directory entries by completely deleting all ERAsed files
- and all zero length files. These files have their complete
- directory entries overwritten. Use of SORTDIR is recommended
- after RESTORE has been used and all files have been checked.
-
- Note that RESTORE will not work immediately after SORTDIR
- has been used because all ERAsed file names will have been
- completely deleted from the directory.
-
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-