god3@sphinx.UUCP (02/21/87)
I am looking for technical info on the Prodos operating system. Manuals (I already have Apple's Tech man and Beneath Apple Prodos) and utility software suggestions appreciated. The reason I am in need of this info is that I am attempting to program some modifications to the operating system to make it more user-friendly and powerful,... more like MS-dos maybe... One thing about Prodos which I detest is the fact that upon exiting software you are forced to specify a pathname for a new application. I would prefer being dumped into BASIC... such limitations of Prodos are what I am attempting to modify via re-programming the system. Any recommendations of Dos-Boss like software for Prodos welcome. -- Peter Godwin | ...ihnp4!gargoyle!sphinx!god3 Univ. of Chicago Comp Ctr | x9.xpg@uchicago 5824 S. Kimbark Ave, #2419 | god3%sphinx@uchicago Chicago, IL 60637 | Phone #: 312-288-1816
schumann@puff.UUCP (02/22/87)
god3@sphinx.UChicago.UUCP (Peter Godwin) writes: > I am looking for technical info on the Prodos operating system. > Manuals (I already have Apple's Tech man and Beneath Apple Prodos) > and utility software suggestions appreciated. Both manuals are excellent sources of information. Also look in past and present issues of _Nibble_. They have a column in which the author is dissassembling ProDOS piece by piece. Actually, he is dissassembling the BASIC interpreter. Read on. > The reason I am in need of this info is that I am attempting > to program some modifications to the operating system to make > it more user-friendly and powerful,... Not too hard: ProDOS itself has NO user interface, that's what BASIC.SYSTEM is for. It takes commands like CAT, LOAD, etc into ProDOS calls (like GET_FILE_INFO). > One thing about Prodos which I detest is the fact that upon exiting > software you are forced to specify a pathname for a new application. > I would prefer being dumped into BASIC... with no user interface to DOS! If you want BASIC, run BASIC.SYSTEM One can get (or make) a program to replace ProDOS' QUIT code (the ENTER PREFIX stuff) with a nice menu selection scheme, to choose the next SYS file to execute. > such limitations of Prodos are what I am attempting to modify > via re-programming the system. Any recommendations of Dos-Boss > like software for Prodos welcome. If am almost sure _Nibble_ has a DOS BOSS simile in it for B.SYS somewhere, If not, it's easy to find the commands, however, the error messages are stored in coded strings (four bits/char with char lookup). Also get ProDOS Examples disk from Apple, and the ProDOS Applesoft Programmers Assistant (adds renumber, merge and cross ref). If you want a MON command (no, it's not there), I wrote one, and might be convinced to part with it. Chris Schumann schumann@puff.wisc.edu
john@viper.UUCP (02/25/87)
I would highly recommend getting a copy of the ProDos version of Copy 2+.
It's one of the most useful disk/file management tools available and is
very easy to use.
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John Stanley (john@viper.UUCP)
Software Consultant - DynaSoft Systems
UUCP: ...{amdahl,ihnp4,rutgers}!{meccts,dayton}!viper!john