AWCTTYPA@UIAMVS.BITNET ("David A. Lyons") (05/02/88)
>Received: by NDSUVM1 (Mailer X1.25) id 4898; Wed, 27 Apr 88 02:36:10 CDT >Date: Wed, 27 Apr 88 00:09:02 edt >Reply-To: Info-Apple@BRL.ARPA >From: MPENDER%WPI.BITNET@husc6.harvard.edu > >What are ECP 8, ECP 16, and DAVEX? BIAS ALERT: I (Dave Lyons) WROTE DAVEX. They are all "command shells" for ProDOS. They provide a command line environment from which you can do tons of miscellaneous file management stuff, and you can also run other programs just by typing their names. When you quit the other programs, you are automatically returned to your command shell. All three of these shells are Shareware, meaning that they can be distributed freely & tried out for a while (10 days for Davex; something like that for the ECPs). ECP stands for Extended Command Processor; ECP 8 and ECP 16 were written by Don Elton of Carolina System Software. They run under ProDOS 8 (on any Apple II) and ProDOS 16 (on the GS), respectively. I don't use ECP and don't have any promo text handy for it, so I'll let someone else provide that if they want to. The name "Davex" has fairly obvious origins, although I blame the name on a friend of mine. Davex runs under ProDOS 8 on any Apple II, and it supports running ProDOS 16 programs on the GS (it also takes advantage of a few other IIgs features). Two documents follow: (1) brief description of Davex (slightly outdated); (2) release notes for Davex 1.23, the latest version. [The latest version is available on CompuServe, GEnie, and from me; as far as I know, Davex 1.1 is the latest version posted to APPLE2-L.] --David A. Lyons a.k.a. DAL Systems PO Box 287 | North Liberty, IA 52317 BITNET: AWCTTYPA@UIAMVS CompuServe: 72177,3233 GEnie mail: D.LYONS2 ====================================================== Davex--a command shell and program launcher for ProDOS Version 1.1 ====================================================== Davex is ShareWare. Please give copies to everyone you know. If you decide to use it after a ten-day evaluation period, you must send $25 to DAL Systems at the address below. [IA residents add 4% sales tax.] You will receive the latest version of Davex and a registration number. This number will entitle you to technical support (on CompuServe or by mail), and you will be notified when updates are available. (It will be helpful if you include a brief description of your hardware when you send in your registration fee. Also, specify whether you need a 3.5" disk or 5.25" disks.) The registration fee includes one free update; future updates cost $3 when ordered directly from DAL Systems, but registered users may use future versions at no extra charge if they get a copy somewhere else. DAL Systems P.O. Box 287 North Liberty, IA 52317 [CompuServe 72177,3233] WHAT DOES IT DO? Davex runs on the //e, //c, and IIgs (and on a 64K II+, although few II+ 80-column cards are currently supported) and provides a command line environment from which you can launch other programs and also use about 50 built-in commands (most of them are mentioned in this document). To run a program (a SYS file) from Davex, just type its name. When you quit the other program, you'll be back in Davex automatically. (ProDOS 16 users can run S16 applications the same way.) External commands are also available--these aren't exactly part of Davex, but you can use them without leaving Davex. External commands are stored in BIN files, and assembly language programmers can write their own external commands to supplement the ones provided by DAL Systems. WHAT'S MY PREFIX? The one question ProDOS users ask themselves most frequently is "Gee...what directory am I in?" Because the current prefix (followed by a colon) is the Davex prompt, only users with very low IQs ask themselves this question while using Davex. HELP! Just type "help" followed by a command name, and Davex will print one or more screens of information about the command. The help gives you full details on a command--many command have features that aren't mentioned in this document. IT CAN COPY WHOLE DIRECTORIES? Yes! "copy" does all the work for you. Want to erase the original file after a successful copy? No problem--Davex can do it automatically. WELL, *MOST* OF THE FILES ARE CURRENT Tired of recopying whole directories just because a few of the files are out of date? Let "update" help you. "update" will dive into sdirectories, check the last-modification date/time on corresponding files, and replacing outdated ones. NEAT! ONE SCREEN AT A TIME Want to view a file one screen at a time? No problem. "pg" or "more" will do the trick. And they will show you ANY file type. They even recognize AWP files and display them in a legible form. At the end of each screen, Davex shows you what percentage of the file you've read so far and asks if you want to see more. PUT IT IN A FILE Screen output can always be redirected to a printer or a file. LET'S TRY THAT AGAIN Previously entered command lines--up to 512 characters of them--are available for editing and re-executing. Each tap of the "up" arrow retrieves an older command. Gobs of control characters are available for editing or re-editing input lines. DIRECTORY DISPLAY OPTIONS cat/catalog/dir/ld/ls: These are all the same. There are options for sorting by name, file type, size, and last-modified date (in any combination, both forward and backward). Also, the contents of directories can be listed under the directory name, indented 2 spaces. The listing can be restricted to a certain file type. In addition to the traditional "blocks free, blocks used, total blocks," Davex tells you what percentage of the volume is used. HEY! WILD! When you want to work with groups of files, wildcards are indispensible. "=" matches for any number of characters in a filename. For example, "unlock abc=" unlocks all files whose name begin with "abc". "?" is like "=", except Davex asks you whether or not to act on each matching file. (Wildcards can be restricted to a particular filetype. Example: delete ?:txt deletes selected "txt" files.) DID YOU HEAR THAT? The Echo and Slotbuster II voice synthesizers are supported. Davex already has a number of visually-impaired users. FILETYPES The list of file types Davex knows about can be viewed and modified with the "ftype" command. WHERE TO FIND IT The "scan" command lets you view and change the list of directories Davex looks in for SYS, S16, and BIN files. IIgs USERS Does /RAM5 annoy you? Tired of powering down to change its size? "boot -i" is an "ice cold" boot. It forces /RAM5 to get rebuilt just like on power-up. ProDOS 16 is fun! Try running the Launcher from Davex--just types its name! (Usually /xxx/SYSTEM/START) "Quit" from the Launcher and you're back in Davex, even if you ran other applications from the Launcher in the meantime. BEING LAZY "ej" ejects 3.5" disks. Sure, there's an "eject" button on the drive, but this command is more fun. PLENTY MORE WHERE THOSE CAME FROM prefix/pfx/cd/down set prefix up change prefix to directory above top go "up" all the way to the volume directory origin set prefix to the volume Davex is on over move to another subdirectory online/o print names of online volumes cname/rename/mv change name of file/directory/volume delete/del/rm/kill destroy file/directory (computes size of all files and directories within directory, and verifies that you want to delete it) create/mkdir/md create a directory or other file filetype/ctype change file's type (and auxiliary type) exec / < get keyboard input from a TXT file como / > redirect output to file or printer size show size of file or directory dev list, add, or remove ProDOS devices info print info on file, directory, or volume lock disallow write, rename, delete unlock allow read, write, rename, delete prot protect file--allow read, write, rename, delete individually spool spool files for printing config set default printer slot boot boot the system (can specify slot number) mon enter the Monitor Apple-H print hardcopy of text screen to printer External commands currently supplied by DAL Systems (more will be written, and assembly language programmers can write their own): init initialize (& format) ProDOS volumes pset set up print options for NEC8023 / ProWriter / Imagewriter conp (IIgs only) Control Panel--set or display most control panel options; also save/restore battery RAM (including all options) to/from disk mx80 set up print options for Epson MX80 blist list a BAS file in ASCII alias create an alias for a SYS file du summarize disk usage what determine what a file is hdr print lines from the beginning of a file chkmod compare modification dates on pairs of files ----- End of Davex 1.1 description ----- ============================= Davex v1.23 Release notes David A. Lyons 12-Apr-88 ============================= The following are the nontrivial changes that have been made to Davex since version 1.1. (Davex v1.23 is the first version since 1.1 that has been distributed widely. All registered users will receive v1.23.) 1. Serial numbers have been added to Davex to allow for $5 kickbacks (see DAVEX.DOC). 2. Most of the help is now compressed and stored in a single file. This saves quite a bit of space on disk. Type "help topics" to see what help is available. (Note: try "exec %print.help" to print out all the help--it will print about 70 pages.) 3. 'eject' has been fixed to work with Apple's SCSI card (it did *not* try to format the disk as some disk-eject programs accidentally do; instead, it would just hang). 4. "Aliases" have been added. This is a generalized feature that replaces all the multiple names for commands. Each command has exactly ONE real name, but a file called "aliases" in the same directory as Davex allows the old names to continue working. Type "alias" to see your active aliases. You can add your own aliases (or remove existing ones) by editing the "%aliases" file with a text editor. The alias mechanism provides simple text substitution before Davex checks the command line for each new command (after a ";"). Aliases may refer to other aliases. 5. The name of the old 'alias' command has changed to 'sysalias'. Its function is the same as before (it creates small SYS applications to run other SYS applications). Also, the name of the old 'run' command has changed to 'brun'. 6. The SPACE BAR now steps the display one line at a time rather than stopping and starting it. Use RETURN or almost any other key (but not Escape or Ctrl-C or Apple-Period) to let the screen resume scrolling. 7. SPACE and RETURN are acceptable responses for many Yes/No questions. SPACE or RETURN always defaults to the "safe" choice in a particular situation. 8. Commands executed by "exec" files are no longer visible (or audible, if you're using a speech synthesizer). Any output produced by the commands in the exec file still appears normally. Also, Davex can accept a "startup path" telling it to execute a file other than "%autoexec". 9. Commas (",") are allowed after pathname parameters (for example, "rename file1, file2" works). Only a blank was allowed previously. 10. On the Apple IIgs when ProDOS 16 has been booted, Davex can now launch EXE files (not just S16 files). 11. The 'what' external command has several new features. 12. 'setdate' external command added for users without clock cards. 13. 'dump' external command added for displaying a file in hex. 14. 'find' external command added for searching a file for all lines containing a given string. 15. 'ffind' (file find) external command added for locating files anywhere on any disk, given any combination of (1) part of the name, (2) file type, and (3) auxiliary type. 16. 'vstore' and 'vrestore' external commands added for storing the image of a ProDOS volume into a file (or a group of files on several disks). For example, you can use 'vrestore' to preload your RAM disk whenever your power up. 17. 'gsbuff' external command added (works on Apple IIgs only; sets serial buffer sizes) 18. 'num' command added to convert bewteen decimal and hex. 19. 'fp' external command added. It is a simple text formatter that takes imbedded formatting commands similar to AppleWriter's. 20. 'move' command added to copy a file and delete the original (exactly like copy -d). 21. 'iw2' external command added to set ImageWriter II options. 22. 'deschw' external command added to describe system hardware. 23. Old commands with new features: 'blist' can wrap lines, 'config' has two new options, 'du' can print disk usage on a single disk, 'err' can list all error codes, 'init' can write just the boot blocks, and 'touch' can set and clear the backup bits on your files. (end of new features list) Note--If you are copying from the Davex 1.23 disk to an existing Davex installation, you should delete all the files in your old help directory first (because the single large file "indexed.help" replaces all of them, and more), and you should delete the "alias" and "run" files if they are in your Davex directory (because they are replaced by "sysalias" and "brun"). ------------------------------- end of Davex 1.23 release notes -------------------------------