Aminet 7/Aminet 7 - August 1995.iso/Aminet/misc/emu/bbtools1_1.lha/BBTools.doc

Text File | 1995-06-06 | 16.7 KB | 371 lines

                          BridgeBoard Tools

                             Version 1.10

                  Copyright (c) 1994 M. C. Henderson


         These programs have been tested extensively. However,
        use them is at your own risk. I will not be responsible
        for any damage or loss of data caused directly or indirectly
        by these programs. In other words, make sure you have backups
        of your valuable data!

    History

    1.0  Initial release

    1.1  Programs changed to prevent lockup when reading non-JDisk files.
         ReadJD fixed to prevent lockup when wildcarding a whole
         directory. Number of files ReadJD and WriteJD will handle
         increased from 300 to 1000. An option added to MakeJD to
         force a JLink. An option added to WriteJD to force an update
         of the PC's directories. A PC program "DIRUD.EXE" was added to
         implement this change to WriteJD. Also, the name of this package
         of programs was changed from "BPTools" to "BBTools". For some
         dumb reason I started calling it a BridgePort instead of a
         BridgeBoard.


1.0 Introduction

  The BridgeBoard comes with a set of utility programs which allow you to
  create and use virtual IBM disk drives on the Amiga. These JDisk drives
  can be written to and read from using the IBM programs AWRITE.EXE and
  AREAD.EXE. Although these programs can be fine for transferring small
  amounts of data, they can be slow when large files are being moved. I wrote
  these Amiga programs included herein so I could quickly transfer large
  amounts of data to the JDisks located on the Amiga.

    Using an Amiga 3000 with a 286 BridgeBoard, the WriteJD program will
  write a 250KB file from the harddrive to a ram based JDisk file in
  approximately 9 seconds versus 62 seconds using the AREAD program. The
  ReadJD program will transfer this same file from the JDisk to Amiga ram in
  approximately 6 seconds versus 62 seconds using AWRITE.


2.0 Programs

  BBTools consists of five programs:

  1. "JDir" is an Amiga program which allows you to get a directory listing
      of  a JDisk file while in the Amiga mode.

  2. "MakeJD" is an Amiga program which allows you to create a JDisk drive
      while in the the Amiga mode.

  3. "ReadJD" is an Amiga program which allows you to read files from a JDisk
      file while in the Amiga mode.

  4. "WriteJD" is an Amiga program which allows you to write to a JDisk file
      while in the Amiga mode.

  5. "DIRUD.EXE" is an IBM program which will force an update of directories
      on all the IBM drives. This program goes in either your Janus or
      DOS directory on the IBM.

3.0 Instructions

      In the instructions given below I have assumed that the reader has
    a good working knowledge of creating and working with JDisk files.
    If not, I suggest you throughly read the your BridgeBoard user's
    guide. Particularly the information on using JLINK.EXE, AREAD.EXE
    and AWRITE.EXE.
      Note that these programs only work with jlinked JDisk files (virtual
    IBM disks). They will not read or write to psuedo IBM harddrives.

  3.1  JDir

      As stated above, JDir is an Amiga program for getting a directory
    listing of a JDisk file from the Amiga side. This JDisk file could have
    been created on the IBM side with the JLINK.EXE program or the MakeJD
    program discused below. Use the following syntax to get a directory
    listing:

                  JDir vd

      Where vd is the full path name of the JDisk file on the Amiga (eg
    DH1:IBMdata/vd). Note that there is no colon after the file name. If it
    is included, the Amiga will think you are asking for a volume name and
    put up a requester asking for it.

      The syntax for subdirectors is:

                  JDir vd\dir1\dir2\dir3

      Note that the IBM backslash convention was used to separate directory
    entries. This was done so the Amiga would not treat these entries as a
    request for information on an Amiga file.

      The IBM wildcard symbol "*" (asterick) can be used to get information
    on specific files:

                  JDir ram:vd\dir1\*.exe

      This command will list all the files in subdirectory "dir1" that end in
    "exe".

    Limitations:

     JDir doesn't have any fancy options such as /p or /w to
    get paged listings. Maybe this is something which could be added if
    there is a request for it.


  3.2 MakeJD

     MakeJD is an Amiga program to create a JDisk file on the Amiga. The
   program is similar to the BridgeBoard IBM program called JLINK.EXE. It
   will create a file on the Amiga which acts as a virtual disk drive on
   the IBM. MakeJD will allow you to create a JDisk file and the programs
   WriteJD and ReadJD discussed below will allow you to write and read
   files to it. MakeJD will NOT however, jlink the file to the IBM. You
   must still do this using JLINK.EXE. As discussed below, an option has
   been added to MakeJD to force the IBM to run JLINK.

     The syntax for using MakeJD is:

                  MakeJD JDisk kilobytes

      Where "JDisk" is the full path and file name of the file you wish to
    create (eg. Ram:dir/vd). "kilobytes" is the number of kilobytes you
    want to assign to this virtual drive (eg. 300 = 300,000 bytes). Note that
    like JLINK.EXE, MakeJD does not create a file that is "kilobytes" large,
    it only creates a file which is allowed to become this size. The file
    becomes larger as you add files to it. Like JLINK.EXE, MakeJD will
    create JDisk files from 160KB to 30MB.

      In the 1.10 update, an option was added to force a jlink of the JDisk to
    to an IBM drive. If a pcwindow is open, the program will ask if you want
    to link the newly created JDisk to the PC. If you anwser yes (y), the
    program will ask for a drive letter (eg. d). When the program receives
    a drive letter, it will send a message to the PC to jlink the JDisk to
    this drive. The program uses the JLINK.EXE program on the PC, so the
    JLINK.EXE program must be in your Janus directory on the PC. If a
    pcwindow is not currently open, you won't receive this query.

      Note that this option will not work if you are using the program
    SXSERV as your link to the PC. This program does not use a pcwindow so
    there is not anything for my program to detect and you won't be asked if
    you want to link it. I'am looking into a way around this. You can still
    use MakeJD to create the JDisk if you use SXSERV, but you will have to
    link it manually using JLINK on the PC.

      As a sample session, assume you want to create a 300KB JDisk file
    named "vd" in ram and make this file drive d: on the IBM. You would enter:

                 MakeJD ram:vd 300

      If a pcwindow is open, the program will ask if you want to link it.
      Enter "y". The program will ask for a drive letter. Enter the drive
      letter.

      If a pcwindow is not open, you won't receive these queries, so go to
      the PC and enter:

                 jlink d: ram:vd

      When you were through with it, you could unlink it by entering:

                 jlink d: /u

      Of course it would have been just as easy to create the JDisk on the
    IBM without using MakeJD if this all you wanted to do. The primary
    reason for writing MakeJD was so I could create the JDisk on the Amiga,
    transfer files to it on the Amiga side, then go to the IBM side and
    link it. In my case, I have a VGA card and I have to change the
    monitor output before going to the BridgeBoard, hence it is
    nicer (and faster) to be able transfer the data before I switch over.


    Limitations:

      MakeJD has none of the options of JLINK.EXE. It doesn't have a /N
    option because there are not really any messages to surpress. It doesn't
    have a /U option because as explained above, JLINK.EXE must be used
    to link and unlink the JDisk to the IBM. I have never used the /R
    option (create a read only file) with JLINK.EXE, so I didn't include
    it in MakeJD. Again, if this is an option you would like included,
    let me know and I'll look into it.

      Although not a limitation, the file sizes created by MakeJD may not
    always correspond to the file sizes that would be created by JLINK.EXE.
    I spent considerable time trying to figure out the criteria used in
    the JLINK program for assigning file sizes, but never made much sense
    of it. I finally gave up and used my own criteria. As an example,if you
    ask  for a 165KB file with JLINK, you get a 163KB file. With MakeJD you
    will  always get a file at least as large as you have requested. Note
    that neither JLINK or MakeJD can give you exactly the file size you
    request because the sizes depend on number of heads, sectors, etc.


   3.3 ReadJD

     ReadJD is an Amiga program which is anologous to the program called
   AWRITE.EXE on the IBM side. AWRITE will write a JDisk file to the Amiga.
   ReadJD will accomplish the same task by reading the JDisk on the Amiga
   side, but much faster.

     ReadJD will read files from any JDisk file using the following syntax:

                   ReadJD vd\dir1\dir2\jname ram:outname

     This would read a file named "jname" from subdirectory "dir1\dir2" of
   JDisk "vd" and write a file "outname" in ram:. If the output name were
   omitted, the file name "jname" would be written to the current directory.
   Note that back slashes must be used to separate directory entries and
   that no colon is used between the JDisk name and the directory entries.
   If there were no directories, the syntax would be:

                   ReadJD vd\jname

     This would read the file name "jname" and write it to the current
   directory. Again, there is no colon between the JDisk and file name.
   The Amiga interperts the colon as being part of a volume name, and
   will put up a requester asking for it.

     The IBM style wildcard symbol "*" (asterick) can be used to read
   multiple files, as for example:

                   ReadJD vd\*.c

      This would read all files with a "c" extension into the current
    Amiga directory.

      There is only one option with ReadJD, /t. I'am sure not everone will
    be happy with it. I have flipped the /b option that is used with
    the IBM program AWRITE.EXE. The /b option is used in AWRITE to specify
    binary files. Since most of the files I transfer are binary and I was
    always forgetting to add the /b. I wrote ReadJD to handle binary as
    the default mode. To transfer text files, you must add a /t. This
    option will strip the carriage returns from the IBM text files.
    For example:

                   ReadJD vd\ibm.txt dh1:amiga.txt /t

      This would read the IBM text file "ibm.txt", strip the carriage
    returns, and write a file named "amiga.txt" to drive dh1:. The
    option /t must be the last entry of the command.


    Limitations:

      As mentioned above, I substituted /t for reading text files for the
    /b option used in AWRITE.EXE for writing binary files. At present
    there is no /cr or /nc options. Let me know if these are desired.

    3.4 WriteJD

      WriteJD is anologous to the BridgeBoard program AREAD.EXE. The IBM
    program AREAD is used to read Amiga files to a JDisk. WriteJD is an
    Amiga program used to write Amiga files to a JDisk (but much faster).
    The syntax is as follows:

                  WriteJD dh0:amiga.dat vd\dir1\dir2

      This command would write the file named "amiga.dat" found on drive
    dh0: to JDisk "vd" into subdirectory "dir1\dir2". Note that as with
    ReadJD, back slashes are used to separate subdirectory entries on the
    JDisk and no colon is used between the JDisk name subdirectories. If
    there were no subdirectories on the JDisk, the commamd would have
    simply been:

                 WriteJD dh0:amiga.dat vd

      You can also write to a specific file name on the JDisk:

                 WriteJD ram:amiga.dat vd\ibm.dat

      This would transfer the file named "amiga.dat" in ram to JDisk "vd"
    and name it "ibm.dat".

      You can also use wildcards to transfer files:

                 WriteJD work:cprogs/*.c vd\cprogs

      This command would transfer all files with a "c" extension found in
    the Amiga volume "work",subdirectory "cprogs" to JDisk "vd" subdirectory
    "cprogs".

     It should be noted that WriteJD will not create directories
    on the JDisk if they don't exist. This example assumes that the
    subdirectory "cprogs" had been created on the JDisk "vd" using the
    MSDOS command mkdir.

      As with the ReadJD program, the default mode on WriteJD is binary.
    All of the files in the examples above would have been written to the
    JDisk as is. To write text files to a JDisk, a /t option would be
    required:

                 WriteJD ram:amiga.txt vd\ibm.txt /t

      The /t option would cause a carriage return to be inserted before
    every line feed. The above command would read the file "amiga.txt" from
    ram, insert carriage returns, and write it to the file "ibm.txt" on
    the JDisk "vd". As with ReadJD, the /t option must be the last entry
    in the command line.

      An option was added to the 1.10 version to update the directories on
    the PC. If you use the Amiga to write to the JDisk, the PC will not
    know about it. It uses an image of the directory stored in RAM. If
    you enter a DIR command it will not show the files you just wrote. If
    you use the IBM to write to this JDisk, it will corrupt it.

      Originally the only way to prevent corrupting the JDisk was to either
    unlink the JDisk and relink it, or to do enter a CHKDSK command on the
    PC. The problem was that it was easy to forget to do it. Also, unlinking
    and linking was a hassle. Using CHKDSK could take a while and printed a
    lot of stuff. In the current version of WriteJD, the program checks to
    see if pcwindow is running, if it is, the program will ask if you want to
    update the PC directories. If you answer yes (y), the program will
    force the IBM to run the program "DIRUD.EXE" which will update all
    directories on the IBM. The program "DIRUD.EXE" must be in your Janus
    or DOS directory on the IBM for this option to work.

      If pcwindow is not running, you won't get this queary, but in this
    case you aren't linked to the JDisk. When you start the PC and jlink
    to JDisk, the directories will automatically be updated.

      Like MakeJD, this option will not work if you are using SXSERV. If
    you are using this program you have three options, unlink and relink,
    or enter a CHKDSK command on the PC, or you can run the DIRUD program
    manually on the PC.

   Limitations:

      As mentioned above, I substituted /t for writing text files for the
    /b option used in AREAD.EXE for reading binary files. At present
    there is no /cr or /nc options. Let me know if these are desired.

                         WARNING

       As stated above, if you have a JDisk linked to the Amiga and do
    subsequent writes with WriteJD, either have WriteJD send a command to
    update the directories, or unlink and relink it, or do a CHKDSK, or
    DIRUD command. If you use the BridgeBoard to write to this JDisk without
    doing this it will corrupt the JDisk.

      There is also something that I discovered when I wrote these programs.
    If you overwrite an existing file and you run out of disk space, you will
    lose the original file on the disk. This is the case whether you are
    using MSDOS, AREAD.EXE or my program WriteJD. All of these programs
    destroy the orginal to make room for the new copy, so if it can't
    find room for the new, the orginal is gone. Of course, you can always
    write the file to another storage device.


     Comments, errors, suggestions can be sent to:


                      Milt Henderson
                      6815 Wallsey Dr.
                      San Diego,Ca USA
                      92119
                      [e-mail]

      Like I stated above, I have spent considerable time trying to beat all
    the errors out of these programs, but you never know. Be sure your data
    is backed-up.