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Australian MacWorld - February 1994
DOS but not DOS

MacDOS 1.0

MacDOS executes DOS commands and batch files on the Macintosh. It does not run DOS
software; it merely understands the arcane (but sometimes useful) syntax of the dreaded
MS-DOS operating system.

For example, if a DOS user wants to delete all files beginning with the letter
"A", they need only to type "DEL A*". This very useful capability may be hard to read
and long to type, but is actually very powerful and difficult to duplicate on the
Macintosh.

Most DOS batch files are used to execute DOS programs and are therefore of
little use on the Macintosh. However, the Macintosh is in dire need of a simple
scripting language for gaining control over files. AppleScript and Frontier attempted to
address this need but they are, ironically, too powerful. To delete files as in the
previous example, many more complex commands would be required. This is because
AppleScript and Frontier try to do too much while MacDOS focuses purely on files and
text input/output.

Instead of creating a brand-new scripting language, MacDOS uses widely-
known DOS commands with special extensions to take advantage of Macintosh
features.

For example, DOS users know that files ending with "TXT" are text files.
Macintosh users must access a hidden attribute called File Type to find text files.
MacDOS does this through the use of additional command parameters. The
command "DIR *.TXT" must be replaced with "DIR/T=TEXT" under MacDOS.

The problem with such long-winded commands is that typing errors are very
frequent, as any DOS user will confess. Moreover, MacDOS requires the inclusion of
many quotation characters to handle Macintosh filenames which contain spaces.
This leads to even more incorrect typing. Fortunately, MacDOS allows the creation of
batch files which provide easy execution of common commands. Simply put the
commands in a text file, then type the name of the file. MacDOS will execute the
commands automatically. The batch files can be double-clicked from the Finder much
like the Applets created by AppleScript and Frontier.

MacDOS also introduces the concept of piping to the Macintosh. This is a standard
facility under DOS and Unix which allows the output of one program to become the input
of another. For example, the output of a directory listing can be directly passed to
another command which sorts the listing into alphabetical order. Similarly, any
output to the screen can be sent to a file via a redirection command. These capabilities are
confined to use with the commands supplied with macDOS because no Macintosh
software understands the concept of "Standard Input" or "Standard Output"
which exist in the text-based computer world.

MacDOS has been extended to cope with Macintosh-only features. For example,
an EJECT command is supplied which will eject floppy disks when required. DOS has no
such command because ejecting disks is a manual operation which happens without
the knowledge of the computer. The very common DOS error message "Drive not
ready" never occurs in MacDOS because it knows which disks are available.

DOS operates on the concept of drives. The main hard disk is drive "C:" while the
floppy is drive "A:". However, the Macintosh is capable of remembering floppy
disks even when they are ejected (they are usually shown in grey on the desktop). To
cater for this advantage, MacDOS allows disks to be referenced by their volume number
instead of the physical drive in which they reside. Volume 1 is the startup disk and
other volumes are assigned numbers thereafter. This enables DOS commands such
as "DIR A:" to be translated into "DIR 2:" yet remain fully compatible with all DOS
commands.

Credit should be given to the Western Australian company Rainbow Hill, maker of
MacDOS, for creating such a professional product. The user guide, supplied on disk and
available in printed form for an additional $25, is of very high quality and somewhat
better than the DOS manuals supplied by many IBM-clone manufacturers. The manual
very clearly explains the differences between MacDOS and standard DOS
commands, most notably explaining how to cope with filenames which are much more
expressive than the DOS "eight-dot-three" filenames.

The usefulness of MacDOS lies in its ability to create batch files for the
Macintosh. Its use of the DOS command language is more useful for its familiarity of
commands than the transportability of existing batch files from DOS machines.
Indeed, users will find themselves scripting in MacDOS in a fraction of the time required
for writing similar AppleScript commands. Perhaps this Australian creation has a place
in the worldwide marketplace, even if it does pay homage to the historical enemy of
Macintosh.

John Rotenstein

(C) 1994 IDG Communications Pty Ltd.

Reprinted from Australian MacWorld AMW, February 1994, with permission from IDG
Communications Pty Ltd, Publisher of Australian MacWorld AMW 88 Christie Street,
St. Leonards, NSW 2065, Australia. Tel [phone]  [phone]