Re: Spartados Help Needed
- From: Michael Current <hunmanik@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Thu, 08 Sep 2005 19:32:15 -0500
On Wed, 7 Sep 2005 18:02:58 -0400, "Michael Duffy" <mqduffy@xxxxxxxxxxx>
wrote:
This text file might be helpful/interesting, it came with the original
distributions of 3.2g.
(I grabbed it from the archive of the Cleveland Free-Net Atari SIG at
http://www.atariarchives.org/cfn/12/03/0051.php , where I see I originally
posted it 11 years ago(!)).
-Michael
What's new in SpartaDOS version 3.2g
************************************
Version 3.2f could only access drive
ID numbers from D1-D8. Now, you can
access drive D9.
************************************
A filespec that does not contain a
drive number, such as D:TEST, will
now default to your currently logged
drive on the command line.
For example, if you are logged to D4:
a filespec of D:TEST will be converted
to D4:TEST, instead of D1:TEST as it
used to be. This change can be very
useful when running programs from
different drive numbers, since you
can access files with D: and they
will automatically be taken from
whichever drive the program was
was started from.
You must now be careful however, to
always type D1: when you need to
access drive 1 specifically.
************************************
A file will no longer be destroyed
when copying it to itself. The DOS
checks for this condition, and will
report a 'File exists' error.
Commands such as:
D4:COPY D4:TEST
will no longer destroy the file TEST.
************************************
All command line input, including all
commands, files, and drive IDs, can
now be entered in either lower case or
upper case. Lower case was only
partially supported in version 3.2f.
************************************
Some commands have been changed, to
make them more compatible with the X
cartridge, as well as making them
easier to type. The following changes
have been made:
CWD has been changed to CD.
CREDIR is now MD (Make Directory).
DELDIR is now RD (Remove Directory).
Note that with the Remove Directory
function now called RD, the RD.COM
ramdisk handler needs to be renamed
to RM.COM in order for it to work.
(This will be the name of the MARS8
compatible driver to be released.)
************************************
There are many additional error
messages, so you should no longer see
error numbers on the command line.
************************************
A system lock-up bug has been fixed,
when the clock wraps from 12-31-1999
to the year 2000.
Also, the day of the week offset
has been corrected for years after
2000, in the new TDLINE program.
We are 5 1/2 years 'ahead of time'<g>
************************************
Program files containing a RUNAD, can
now be reentered with the RUN command
after returning to DOS. The normal
process of saving the starting address
for a .COM file into Sparta's internal
variables, was disrupted when the file
contained a RUNAD address. This has
now been fixed, so all program files
will behave the same way, whether or
not they include the RUNAD address.
************************************
Several changes have been made to the
keyboard buffering routines. When
holding a key down for auto-repeat,
the buffer will not fill up with
excess characters that the application
program hasn't used yet. There will
at most, be one additional character
in the buffer during a key repeat.
This means that when you release a
key, the repeat process stops right
away, whereas there could have been
many additional keycodes 'stacked up'
when using version 3.2f.
The key combination Shift-Control-Esc
can be used to clear all of the keys
currently stored in the buffer. This
gives you a way to cancel everything
in the buffer when a situation may
require you to abort.
************************************
The 1200XL key functions such as DMA
off, keyclick toggle, and keyboard
lock, now work properly.
************************************
The key buffer NOW DEFAULTS to OFF
due to incompatabilities with certain
programs. It can always be activated
as part of a STARTUP.BAT file using
'key on' (even in lower case), if you
would like this feature enabled.
************************************
The AINIT command was removed from the
command line. However, the XIO Atari
format function can still be used
within application programs.
************************************
Even with all these changes, the DOS
file size has been reduced by 260
bytes, and the lomem has been dropped
119 bytes. If you do not have a PBI
device, your lomem will be at $17A2.
Users with a PBI device will find
their lomem at $1BA2, since the buffer
space uses 1K at lomem, instead of the
$D800 PBI area.
************************************
FTe has decided to release a special
3.2 'gx' version that can bring
memlo back down to $17A2, by placing
the disk buffers under the OS at
$C400. This has an added benefit of
using a full 2K of buffer space,
instead of the 1K space allocated at
memlo, and will help the DOS run
faster.
However, SpartaDOS 3.2 'gx' is NOT
COMPATIBLE with BASIC XE, or any
other programs using the RAM under the
OS from $C400-$CBFF. It is provided
for those users who don't require this
compatibility, and who would like to
have the additional RAM available.
NOTE that if you ARE NOT using a PBI
device, (such as an MIO or Black Box)
you do not need the special 'gx'
version, and will already get the 2K
buffer space and $17A2 lomem with
using the STANDARD 3.2g version.
************************************
SpartaDOS 3.2g and 3.2gx are being
released as Shareware on an AS-IS
basis. If you do happen to discover
any incompatibilites, please don't
hesitate to let us know, so that we
might be able to fix the problem
in any future revisions.
This upgrade was made possible by
everyone out there who took the time
to register 3.2f Thank You!
************************************
If you like what you see, you may
register 3.2g by sending $19.95 to
Fine Tooned Engineering
PO Box 66109
Scotts Valley, CA
95067
This will get you all 3 manuals in
addition to the SpartaDOS Toolkit.
************************************
Michael Current, mailto:hunmanik@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
8-bit Atari FAQs, http://www.cs.uu.nl/wais/html/na-dir/atari-8-bit/.html
St. Paul Atari Computer Enthusiasts, http://space.atari.org/
.
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