File management functions

DIR - Display of the table of contents

Syntax:

DIR

Allowed as direct command and in program mode.

The DIR command displays a directory of all programs and files stored on the diskette on the screen.

The listing includes file type and file name.

Possible file types:

T = BASIC - program (text file)

B = machine program (binary file)

D = data file

Example:

DIR
B:SCHACH
B:KALACH
T:AB.LAND
T:ANSCHR
D:KARTEI
READY

The disk contains:

two machine programs, SCHACH and KALAH,
two BASIC programs, AB.LAND and ANSCHR and
a data file called KARTEI.

The listing can be stopped by pressing the space bar (SPACE) and continued with the same key.

Possible Errors:

?DISK I/O ERROR The table of contents of the diskette could not be read properly.

SAVE - Saving a BASIC program to floppy disk

Syntax:

SAVE "name"
"name" - program name with a maximum of 8 characters,
         enclosed in quotation marks.

Allowed as direct command and in program mode.

A BASIC program in memory is saved on the floppy disk under the file name “name”.

The program is given the type designation "T" (text file).

In direct mode, the completion of the storage process is indicated with READY.

In program mode, the program is continued with the command following “SAVE”.

Hint

Example:

SAVE "KARTEI"

transfers a BASIC program in memory to the floppy disk under the name “KARTEI”.

Possible Errors:

?SYNTAX ERROR

no file name specified
Filename not in quotes
No end of line (RETURN) or command separator ":" after the file name.

?DISK WRITE PROTECTED The disk’s write-protect notch is taped over.

?FILE ALREADY EXISTS A file with the same name already exists on the diskette.

?DIRECTORY FULL There is no more space in the table of contents (maximum 120 entries).

?DISK FULL There are not enough free sectors on the diskette for the program.

?DISK I/O ERROR An error occurred while writing or reading the floppy disk.

The writing process can be aborted at any time by pressing the BREAK key. However, depending on when the key is pressed, the entry in the table of contents is not always deleted (error in DOS).

In order to ensure problem-free diskette management, you should therefore check the table of contents with DIR in such a case and, if necessary, delete the file manually with ERA.

LOAD - Loading a BASIC program from diskette

Syntax:

LOAD "name"
"name" - program name with a maximum of 8 characters,
         enclosed in quotation marks.

Allowed as direct command and in program mode.

A BASIC program saved on the diskette with the file name “name” is loaded into memory.

The completion of the storage process is indicated with READY.

Example:

LOAD "KFZ"

Transfers the BASIC program KFZ from the diskette to the memory.

You can then look at a BASIC program loaded in this way with LIST and modify it if necessary.

Warning:

Before writing a modified program back to the diskette, you must either first delete the program on it with ERA or give the modified program a different name.

Example:

LOAD "XYZ"
>READY
LIST
...
...     modify
...
ERA "XYZ"
>READY
SAVE "XYZ"

After the program has been read in, direct mode (BASIC warm start) is always accessed, regardless of whether the call was made directly or from within a program.

The reading process can be aborted at any time by pressing the BREAK key.

Possible Errors:

?SYNTAX ERROR

no file name specified
Filename not in quotes
No end of line (RETURN) or command separator ":" after the file name.

?FILE NOT FOUND No program with the specified name could be found on the diskette..

?FILE TYPE MISMATCH A file with the same name was found on the diskette, but this is not a BASIC program (file type = T).

?DISK I/O ERROR An error occurred while reading from the floppy disk. (faulty disk or centering problems)

RUN - Load and start a BASIC program

Syntax:

RUN "name"
"name" - program name with a maximum of 8 characters,
         enclosed in quotation marks.

Allowed as direct command and in program mode.

A BASIC program saved under “name” on the diskette is loaded into memory and executed.

Example:

RUN "GRAFIK"

The BASIC program “GRAFIK” is loaded and executed.

Possible Errors:

?SYNTAX ERROR

no file name specified
Filename not in quotes
No end of line (RETURN) or command separator ":" after the file name.

?FILE NOT FOUND No program with the specified name could be found on the diskette..

?FILE TYPE MISMATCH A file with the same name was found on the diskette, but this is not a BASIC program (file type = T).

?DISK I/O ERROR An error occurred while reading from the floppy disk. (faulty disk or centering problems)

BSAVE - Saving a machine program on diskette

Syntax:

BSAVE "name",aaaa,eeee
"name" - program name with a maximum of 8 characters,
         enclosed in quotation marks.
aaaa   - Program start address, 4 digits;
         in hexadecimal notation.
eeee   - Program end address, 4 digits;
         in hexadecimal notation.

Allowed as direct command and in program mode.

A machine program in memory is written to the floppy disk from address “aaaa” to address “eeee” with the file name “name”.

It receives the type designation "B" (binary file) in the table of contents. In direct mode, the completion of the storage process is indicated with READY. In program mode, the program is continued with the command following BSAVE.

Instead of a machine program, this command can also be used to transfer any memory area to the diskette and then load it again with BLOAD.

Only BRUN requires an executable machine program as this is started immediately after loading.

Example:

BSAVE "BOWLING",8000,94FF

The “BOWLING” machine program is transferred to the diskette from address 8000H to address 94FFH.

Possible Errors:

?SYNTAX ERROR

no file name specified
Filename not in quotes
Start and/or end address missing
Start or end address not 4 digits hexadecimal (0~F)
parameters not separated by comma,

?DISK WRITE PROTECTED The disk’s write-protect notch is taped over.

?FILE ALREADY EXISTS A file with the same name already exists on the diskette.

?DIRECTORY FULL There is no more space in the table of contents (maximum 128 entries).

?DISK FULL There are not enough free sectors on the diskette for the program.

?DISK I/O ERROR An error occurred while reading from the floppy disk. (faulty disk or centering problems)

The writing process can be aborted at any time by pressing the BREAK button. However, depending on when the key is pressed, the entry in the table of contents is not always deleted (error in DOS).

In order to ensure problem-free diskette management, you should therefore check the table of contents with DIR in such a case and, if necessary, delete the file manually with ERA.

BLOAD - Loading a machine program from diskette

Syntax:

BLOAD "name"
"name" - program name with a maximum of 8 characters,
         enclosed in quotation marks.

Allowed as direct command and in program mode.

A machine program stored on the diskette with the file name “name” is loaded into the memory.

With a direct command, the end of the loading process is indicated with READY, in program mode the program is continued with the command following BLOAD.

Example:

BLOAD "UPR01"

Machine program UPR01 is loaded from the diskette.

The command is particularly suitable for loading machine program routines saved with BSAVE from a BASIC program and calling them as subroutines via USR.

Example:

...
220 BLOAD "UPR01": 'LOAD SUBPROGRAM
230 POKE 30862,0: 'LSB START ADDRESS = 00
240 POKE 30863,176: 'MSB START ADDRESS = B0
250 A = USR(0): 'CALL SUBROUTINE
...

The subprogram UPR01 is to be loaded from diskette and called at address B000.

Possible Errors:

?SYNTAX ERROR

no file name specified
Filename not in quotes
No end of line (RETURN) or command separator ":" after the file name.

?FILE NOT FOUND No program with the specified name could be found on the diskette.

?FILE TYPE MISMATCH A file with the same name was found on the diskette, but this is not a machine program (file type = B).

?DISK I/O ERROR An error occurred while reading from the floppy disk. (faulty disk or centering problems)

BRUN - Loading and starting a machine program

Syntax:

BRUN "name"
"name" - program name with a maximum of 8 characters,
         enclosed in quotation marks.

Allowed as direct command and in program mode.

A machine program stored on the floppy disk under the file name “name” is loaded into memory and executed.

The program starts exclusively at the program start address (see BSAVE).

Example:

BRUN "FIFFI"

The “FIFFI” machine program is loaded and started.

Possible Errors:

?SYNTAX ERROR

no file name specified
Filename not in quotes
No end of line (RETURN) or command separator ":" after the file name.

?FILE NOT FOUND No program with the specified name could be found on the diskette.

?FILE TYPE MISMATCH A file with the same name was found on the diskette, but this is not a machine program (file type = B).

?DISK I/O ERROR An error occurred while reading from the floppy disk. (faulty disk or centering problems)

REN - Renaming files and programs

Syntax:

REN "name1","name2"
"name1" - File/program name, old, max. 8 characters,
          enclosed in quotation marks.
"name2" - File/program name, new, max. 8 characters,
          enclosed in quotation marks.

Allowed as direct command and in program mode.

A program or file on the disk under the name “name1” is renamed “name2”.

Example:

REN "OTTO","ANTON"

The “OTTO” file is renamed to “ANTON”.

Possible Errors:

?SYNTAX ERROR

“name1” and/or “name2” are missing.
“name1” or “name2 not in quotes
names not separated by commas

?DISK WRITE PROTECTED The disk’s write-protect notch is taped over.

?FILE NOT FOUND The file named “name1” is not on the disk.

?FILE ALREADY EXISTS The file named “name2” already exists on the diskette.

?DISK I/O ERROR An error occurred while reading from the floppy disk. (faulty disk or centering problems)

DCOPY - Copy a program

Syntax:

DCOPY "name"
"name" - program name with a maximum of 8 characters,
         enclosed in quotation marks.

Only permitted as a direct command,.

The DCOPY command with specification of a program name causes this program to be copied from one diskette to another.

After entering the command, you will first be prompted to specify the source and target drives.

SOURCE DISK (1/2)?
DESTINATION DISK (1/2)?

Answer each of these two questions by pressing the ‘1’ or ‘2’ key.

If you only have one drive, answer ‘1’ to each question.

You can abort command execution with CTRL + BREAK.

After selecting the drive, the copying process begins. The copying takes place by calling the LOAD and SAVE routines, as they are also used with LOAD and BLOAD commands, or with SAVE and BSAVE.

For this reason, it is not possible to copy a single data file (file type = D) with the DCOPY command, as this is structured differently. If you are copying to only one drive (SOURCE DISK = DESTINATION DISK), you will be prompted before loading

INSERT SOURCE DISKETTE
(PRESS SPACE WHEN READY)

and before writing the prompt

INSERT DESTINATION DISKETTE
(PRESS SPACE WHEN READY)

If you have inserted the correct diskette, press the spacebar to continue the function.

You can interrupt the copying process at any time with the BREAK button. If you do this during the writing process, please note the information on SAVE and BSAVE.

When copying is complete, the message READY appears.

Example: (system outputs are marked with ‘>’)

>READY
DCOPY "EMIL"
>SOURCE DISK (1/2)?
1
>DESTINATION DISK (1/2)?
1
>INSERT SOURCE DISKETTE
>(PRESS SPACE WHEN READY)
spacebar
...
...      loading process
...
>INSERT DESTINATION DISKETTE
>(PRESS SPACE WHEN READY)
spacebar
...
...      saving process
...
>READY

The program to be copied overwrites its original memory area in RAM.

After copying is complete, drive 1 is always selected, regardless of a previous DRIVE command.

Possible Errors:

?ILLEGAL DIRECT An attempt was made to call the DCOPY command from a program.

?SYNTAX ERROR

no file name specified
Filename not in quotes
No end of line (RETURN) or command separator ":" after the file name.

?FILE NOT FOUND No program with the specified name could be found on the diskette..

?FILE TYPE MISMATCH An attempt was made to copy a data file.

?DISK WRITE PROTECTED The target disk’s write-protect notch is taped over.

?FILE ALREADY EXISTS A program named “name” already exists on the target disk.

?DIRECTORY FULL The table of contents of the destination disk is full. The program can no longer be entered (max. 128 files/programs).

?DISK FULL There is no more space on the destination disk.

?DISK I/O ERROR An error occurred while reading from the floppy disk. (faulty disk or centering problems)

ERA - Delete a file or program on the floppy disk

Syntax:

ERA "name"
"name" - File/program name, max. 8 characters,
         enclosed in quotation marks.

Allowed as direct command and in program mode.

A program or data file designated by “name” is deleted from the diskette. To do this, the entry in the table of contents is deleted and all sectors occupied by this file are released.

Example:

ERA "DAT1"

The file named “DAT1” will be deleted.

Possible Errors:

?SYNTAX ERROR

no file name specified
Filename not in quotes

?DISK WRITE PROTECTED The target disk’s write-protect notch is taped over.

?FILE NOT FOUND No program with the specified name could be found on the diskette..

?DISK I/O ERROR An error occurred while reading from the floppy disk. (faulty disk or centering problems)