QLuMSi DOS (QL.using.M’cr°S°ft. interface Disk Operating Simulation) has, as the version number might suggest, recently undergone a long awaited upgrade which had been partially delayed by my year of voluntary service (servitude?).
As many of you know. Version 4 of the QLuMSi program has added the following commands:
CD CD [sub-DIRectory_prefix] MD [sub-DIRectory_prefix] RD [sub-DIRectory_prefix]
Most people with a QXL, GOLD CARD and FLP/RAM chip should welcome the ability to access sub-DIRectories.
The ‘MD’ command (with a “sub-DIRectory_name”) will initiate the MAKE_DIR command and MAKE a sub-DIRectory on the medium. For example (you may want to try this on a dupe of your master disk), at the prompt, input the following :-
MD FAST
When you input ‘DIR’ (presuming you have appropriate TK2_code) you should see :-
FAST ->
in place of FAST_Disk and FAST_doc.
The ‘CD ‘ command with a sub-DIRectory_prefix will access :-
a) the sub-DIRectory on the medium, or
b) any other valid prefix.
Thus, if you were now to input “CD FAST” (after performing the above example), you would see :-
A: FAST > _
Now, inputting “DIR” will show you the two files along with a data-file, e.g. :-
FAST_Disk
2758 1993 Sep 19 17:00:00
FAST_doc
4096 1993 Sep 19 17:00:00
FAST_
64 1993 Sep 19 17:00:00
The ‘CD ‘ command (without a sub-DIRectory_prefix) is used to return to the main DIRectory.
The ‘RD ‘ command (with a “sub-DIRectory_name”) is used to REMOVE a sub-DIRectory from a medium.
NOTE: If you have several sub-DIRectories with similar “names” then you may be asked whether or not you wish to REMOVE them also, e.g. :-
RD LETTER
will prompt you if you wish to REMOVE the sub-DIRectory named LETTER as well as LETTERS (for example).
NOTE: If there are files in the sub-DIRectory, the sub-DIRectory will not be REMOVEd.
As before, those more familiar with the standard DOS commands may opt to utilize the smaller COMMAND_COM version of the program.
Both the “full” version of the QLuMSi program as well as version 4 of the COMMAND_COM program require that your QL has the MAKE_DIR command available to it in addition to the traditional TK2_EXT code.
To accommodate those who either do not have a QXL, GOLD CARD, or FLP/RAM chip, a version of the new QLuMSi program has been included which does NOT require MAKE_DIR, hence, will not allow you to “MAKE (a sub-)DIRectory” on a medium. This is the QLuMSi_COMn program you will find on your master disk (use BOOT_ALT).
QLuMSi Printing.
In the current version, indicating the device as either COM or LPT still presumes SER. This may-or-may-not be an inconvenience for QXL users as my understanding is that some of the I/O drivers have not been written yet.
Undocumented Feature (v4.30)
People with a QXL, GOLDCARD and FLP/RAM chip should welcome the ability to access sub-DIRectories. The problem arises when you decide you know longer wish to have the sub-DIRectory on the medium. It just doesn’t seem that easy to get rid of.
Maybe it was obvious to the people at MIRACLE, or maybe I didn’t read the documentation well enough that I received with the FLP/RAM (and, this is true for GOLD CARD documentation, as far as I can tell), but the only way that I could figure out how to REMOVE a sub-DIRectory was with the WDELete command; and, this I determined by accident! Now, at first, I would WDELete through the entire directory. This was, often, tedious. Trying to WDELete a specific (empty) sub-DIRectory proved fruitless.
At some point, I either had a typo or a serendipitous moment, and I realized that I might be able to input an incomplete ‘filename_$tring’ and get the desired effect. The ‘RD ‘ command utilizes QDOS’s WDEL command, and the user defines the sub-DIRectory by direct input and can be used within QLuMSi (v4.30) for designating a specific string. For example, if you were to input: RD .doc, QLuMSi would then ask you if you wanted to WDELete all the _doc files. QLuMSi will also prompt you for other “_do()” files. Obviously, some caution must be employed by the user!
I will make necessary changes in the future as information becomes available to me.