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From: dalloff@freenet.columbus.oh.us (Dave Althoff)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.apple2
Subject: Re: Dos 3.3 commands
Date: 5 Dec 1995 23:50:56 -0500
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digiacom@panix.com wrote:
: I'm a newbie to the apple II realm and would like to know if there exists
: a quick ref document listing valid commands under Dos 3.3?

: I have a disk with Dos 3.3 but it goes straight into Integer BASIC. Is there
: a command or keystroke to exit to DOS 3.3?

Is it going into integer BASIC (prompt is ">") or Applesoft (prompt is "]")?

Just to clear THAT up.

Second, there is no way to exit "to DOS 3.3."  Unlike certain other
computer platforms I can think of (ahem), the user interface for DOS 3.3
is completely transparent to the user.  When you enter a command from the
prompt, whether it is ]Applesoft, >Integer BASIC, or the *Machine language
Monitor, that command is pre-processed by Uncle DOS.  If DOS doesn't
recognize it as a command, the line is passed on to whatever command
handler is next.  See, heirarchial command handling is nothing new...the
Apple has been doing it since 1979 8-).

From within a BASIC program (either Applesoft or Integer BASIC), it is a
little more complicated.  DOS watches the standard character output
continuously.  If the first character of a line (that is, the first
character following a carriage return) is a ^D (ASCII $04), then DOS will
attempt to process the remainder of that line as a DOS command, and will
return an error if the command is not valid.

This is not a complete command reference, but off the top of my head, this
will get you started:

CATALOG 
 returns a disk directory.  File structure is not heirarchial, there are eight
 filetypes, of which B, A, I, and T are the most common.  A directory looks
 something like this:

   DISK VOLUME 254
 *A 002 THE LAST FILE
  B 033 TETRA/SOFT LOGO
  T 142 DAVE'S LIST OF DOS COMMANDS
  I 002 INTEGER BASIC PROGRAM
 ^^ ^^^ ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
 || ||| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 || ||| |______________________________Filename
 || |__________________________________File length (MOD 256)
 ||____________________________________File type
 |_____________________________________* means the file is locked

LOAD filename
 This command causes DOS to retreive an Applesoft or Integer BASIC
 program from the disk, and switches the computer to the appropriate
 language.  If the language does not exist in the computer, the error
 LANGUAGE NOT AVAILABLE is returned.  LOAD overwrites any program 
 already in memory.

SAVE filename
 This command stores the current BASIC program on the disk.

NOTE REGARDING LOAD AND SAVE:  LOAD and SAVE, without a filename, are
valid Applesoft commands.  They will *appear* to cause your system to
hang, but in fact, they are trying to move a BASIC program through the
cassette port of your computer.  The simplest way to recover is to press
*RESET*.  Most of the time (i.e. unless some program has reset the RESET
handler), pressing RESET will either get you back to BASIC (on a ][+, ][e,
or IIgs under DOS 3.3), or will dump you into the system monitor on a ][.

RUN filename
 Performs a LOAD filename, and then executes a BASIC RUN.

BLOAD filename
 This command loads a binary file (type B) from the disk into memory.  If
 you want to specify the image load address, simply append ",Annnn" where
 nnnn is the address you wish to use.  To specify an address in hexadecimal,
 substitute ",A$nnnn".

BSAVE filename,Annnn,Lkkkk
 Similar to BLOAD, except that this command stores the contents of memory
 beginning at nnnn and including kkkk bytes on the disk.  Again, hex
 values may be used with a $ prefix.

BRUN filename
 BLOADs a binary image, then does a JMP (unconditional branch) to the file
 load address.

DELETE filename
 Removes a file from disk.  If the file is locked, a FILE LOCKED error
 will be returned.

LOCK filename
 Protects a file from accidental DELETEion.

UNLOCK filename
 Unprotects a file from accidental DELETEion.

EXEC filename
 Causes the lines of a text file to be read in and executed as if they
 were typed on the keyboard.  If you are familiar with the MS-DOG world,
 files of this nature (type T) are equivalent to .BAT files.

FP
 Clear BASIC memory and switch to Applesoft BASIC, if available.

INT
 Clear BASIC memory and switch to Integer BASIC, if available.

INIT filename
 Low-level formats a 5.25" disk, erasing it completely.  Automagically
 writes a copy of DOS 3.3 onto tracks 0-2, so all DOS 3.3 disks are bootable
 when formatted in this manner.  Also creates the directory and SAVEs the
 current BASIC program.  The specified filename is placed in the DOS image.
 When the disk is booted, DOS will load into memory, then attempt to RUN the
 filename imprinted in the DOS image.  Personally, I think it is a lot nicer
 than having to build CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT... 8-)

RENAME oldfilename,newfilename
 Changes the name of "oldfilename" to "newfilename".  No checking is done
to make sure that newfilename doesn't already exist, so be careful.

A NOTE ABOUT DOS 3.3 FILENAMES:
DOS 3.3 filenames may be up to 30 characters long, and must conform to the
following restrictions:
 a.  The first character must have an ASCII code greater than 63 ("@")
 b.  Commas and colons may not be used.
Apart from that, anything goes, including uppercase, lowercase, numbers,
symbols, and CONTROL characters.
 
All file commands (including CATALOG and INIT) have optional switches
available:

,Sn  Specifies disk controller slot number n, usually 6.  Default is
     the most recently accessed slot.

,Dn  Specifies which drive on the controller.  Unless patched, DOS 3.3
     only knows about D1 and D2.

,Vn  Seldom used; specifies a disk volume number.  Most disks are V254, and
     the default is V0, which matches any disk.


Hope this helps.  Email me if you need more specific data.

--Dave Althoff, Jr.
  (DOS 3.3 hold-out)
-- 
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