Loadstar 26/026.d81/t.disk editor 12

Text File | 2022-08-26 | 7KB | 404 lines

         128 DISK EDITOR
                by
         John J. Kottler


COMMODORE MICROCOMPUTERS MAGAZINE
July/August, 1986
p.104


**************************************
NOTE: Because this program is written
for the Commodore 128, it cannot be
run like other programs on LOADSTAR.
To run this program, press your
C-128's RESET button.  This will
display a menu of all C-128 programs
in this issue.  Choose the program you
wish to run from this menu.
**************************************


  The 128 DISK EDITOR allows you to

read, edit, and write to almost every

sector on a disk.  You can also jump

file links, jump to previous links,

and search forward and backward

through sectors.  As you might expect,

detailing the commands that allow you

to accomplish these tasks will take a

little time, so without further

ado....


FIRST THINGS FIRST....


  The 128 DISK EDITOR is designed to

be used with the 1571 disk drive, but

will also work with the 1541 disk

drive.  If you are using a 1541,

press the "*" key before you start

editing to select the single sided

mode.  If you are using a 1571, you

may edit both single and double-sided

diskettes.  Pressing the "*" will

determine the type of disk you have in

the drive.


THE WORK SCREEN


  When you run 128 DISK EDITOR, after

a brief delay, you will see the work

screen.  A list of DISK EDITOR's

commands is displayed at the bottom of

the screen.  Above the list, you will

see three boxes: two which display the

present and previous track and sector,

one which displays the current cursor

position and character value.  On top

of these three boxes is a text window

which displays the information in a

sector.


  Because you have not read a sector

yet, the window is empty.  When the

window is empty, you can use only

four commands: READ, DISK DIRECTORY,

DOS COMMANDS, and SELECT SIDE.

Commands WRITE, TEXT, VALUE, JUMP,

JUMP BACK, and PLUS or MINUS will

have to wait until you've read a

sector.


READING A SECTOR....


  When you press "R" to read a

sector, a prompt at the bottom of the

screen will ask you to enter the num-

ber of the track and sector you wish

to read (or you can press RETURN twice

for default value of TRACK 18, SECTOR

0). Then, if there are no errors in

that sector, the window displays that

sector's data in ASCII form.  (If

there IS an error, the error will be

displayed on the screen.)


WRITING TO A SECTOR....


  Choosing a sector to write to is

just like choosing a sector to read.

You can use this command to copy the

data on the current track and sector

to any other track and sector.  For

example, if the current track and

sector were TRACK 1 - SECTOR O, and if

you pressed the "W" key and entered

TRACK 1 - SECTOR 1, sector 1 would

become an exact duplicate of sector 0.


THE PLUS AND MINUS SYMBOLS.....


  The PLUS and MINUS keys allow you

to "scroll" through disk sectors.

The DISK EDITOR will automatically

jump tracks when you try to read a

sector below 0 or above the track's

greatest possibility.  For example,

if you are at TRACK 20 - SECTOR 0,

pressing the MINUS key will display

TRACK 17 - SECTOR 20.


THE EDIT MODE.....


  The DISK EDITOR allows you to

change values in the sector that is

displayed.  First, though, you must

learn some things about moving the

yellow cursor which appears in the

upper left corner of the screen around

in the window.  You move the cursor,

of course, with the cursor keys.  As

you do so, you will notice that the

POSITION box continually keeps track

of the cursor.


  The upper left corner is Position 1;

the lower right is Position 256.

Notice that moving the cursor down one

line will decrease the position by 40.

(Pressing the HOME key will return

the cursor to Position 1.)


  In order to change the data within

the sector you are editing, you must

use either the TEXT MODE or you can

change single values.  To change a

single value, press "V".  You will

then be prompted to "enter new value".

This value must be a decimal number

between 0 and 255.  Or, if you enter

the "$" symbol followed by two

hexidecimal digits, the computer will

automatically translate it to the

screen.


  If you need to type a series of

characters into the display window,

press "T".  You will then be asked to

select either upper or lower case

characters.  When the flashing cursor

appears, you can start typing.  But

if you make a mistake, don't use the

cursor keys to move around-- they

will only  display their ASCII

values.  Instead, use the DELETE key.

Once you have entered your

characters, press RETURN to return to

the EDIT MODE.


JUMPING TRACKS AND BACK....


  As you will probably notice quite

quickly, reading through a disk using

only the PLUS and MINUS commands could

take a while.  Also, if you try to

follow any kind of file besides a

relative file, these keys will not

show the next block of information for

that file.  The JUMP command allows

you to read the tracks and sectors

that link a program together.


  To use the JUMP command, you must

position the cursor at Position 1 in

the display window (This character

represents the next track of the

file.) and press "J".  The computer

will then display the next link of

that file.


  You may also use the JUMP command

while you are reading the BLOCK

AVAILABILITY MAP (BAM).  After you

read TRACK 18 - SECTOR 0, press "J"

to jump through the BAM.  You can now

place the cursor two characters in

front of any file name and press "J"

again to jump to the first sector of

that file.


  If you want to jump back to the

sector you were reading before you

pressed "J", you can use the "B"

command to reread the last sector.


THE DISK DIRECTORY....


  To display a list of programs on

the disk, press "D".  Press the NO

SCROLL key to stop the list.  Press

any key to return to the work screen.


DOS COMMAND AND DISK STATUS....


  To access the DOS commands, press

the "@" key.  You will then see a ">"

sign and cursor.  You can type in

these commands:


COMMAND              FORMAT
-------              ------

INITIALIZE A DISK    I0

VALIDATE             V0

SCRATCH FILES        S0:filename

FORMAT               N0:header;id

RENAME FILENAME      R0:filename1=
                        filename2


Remember to type these commands

exactly as they are listed and to

press RETURN after each command.  To

return to EDIT MODE, press RETURN

again.


DISK FILE USED:

DISK EDITOR 128

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