How to read and manipulate directories in Ti Extended Basic

[mrvan]

Is there a way to read the list of files in a directory and perhaps determine their type and format? I have a 256MB virtual hard drive using MAME so organization using directories is desirable. External to the TI environment I use TI Image Tool and that works just fine, but I'd like to perform file and directory maintenance while in the extended basic environment, particularly while in a running program.

 

I'm only aware of call dir() and delete "file" that can be used in immediate mode. I read a post that indicated one can read a directory by opening it with some fixed format but simply made the claim that there's basic programs and the format out there, but I find nothing anywhere. It doesn't help that this is such a small community so googling is highly limited, nothing like finding solutions in C and C++ using GoogleFu.

 

ASM methods that can be called from XB would also be fine. I sense these may be the only way, but maybe I'll be wrong.

 

Thanks and hopefully I will not annoy folks too much with my questions. Again my GoogleFu with Ti99 questions is fairly ineffective.

[WhataKowinkydink]

In TI XB you have to write a program to read the disk catalog.  CALL DIR is in RXB.

[+pixelpedant]

 

You can catalogue a disk in either TI BASIC or XB with no special routines. 

 

The salient point being that (for DSK1, for example) "DSK1." is a special file representing disk metadata. 

 

Note the "." which is significant and required. 

 

For the details on its use, see this page from the Disk Memory System manual:

 

[+Lee Stewart]

1 hour ago, pixelpedant said:

...from the Disk Memory System manual:

 

...and here is a CATALOG program from a subsequent page:

 

100 CALL CLEAR
110 DIM TYPE$(5)
120 TYPE$(1)="DIS/FIX"
130 TYPE$(2)="DIS/VAR"
140 TYPE$(3)="INT/FIX"
150 TYPE$(4)="INT/VAR"
160 TYPE$(5)="PROGRAM"
170 INPUT "MASTER DISK(1-3)? ":A
180 A=INT(A)
190 IF A<1 THEN 170
200 IF A>3 THEN 170
210 OPEN #1:"DSK"&STR$(A)&".",INPUT, RELATIVE,INTERNAL
220 INPUT #1:A$,J,J,K
230 DISPLAY "DSK";STR$(A); " - DISKNAME = ";A$:"AVAILABLE = ";K;"USED = ";J-K
240 DISPLAY:"FILENAME SIZE TYPE P":"---------- ---- ---------- -"
250 FOR LOOP=1 TO 127
260 INPUT #1:A$,A,J,K
270 IF LEN(A$)=0 THEN 350
280 DISPLAY:A$;TAB(12);J;TAB(17);TYPE$(ABS(A));
290 IF ABS(A)=5 THEN 320
300 B$=" "&STR$(K)
310 DISPLAY SEG$(B$,LEN(B$)-2,3);
320 IF A>0 THEN 340
330 DISPLAY TAB(28);"Y";
340 NEXT LOOP
350 CLOSE #1

 

...lee

[+Vorticon]

It still baffles me to this day why TI did not think of including a directory function in ROM for XB, or even TI Basic... If someone has a logical explanation I'd love to hear it.

[+TheBF]

 

24 minutes ago, Vorticon said:

It still baffles me to this day why TI did not think of including a directory function in ROM for XB, or even TI Basic... If someone has a logical explanation I'd love to hear it.

My money would be on management pressure to get it in market. But that's total conjecture. (based on managing a S/W dev. team)   

[GDMike]

Evolution - hardware meets software.

[+arcadeshopper]

2 hours ago, Vorticon said:

It still baffles me to this day why TI did not think of including a directory function in ROM for XB, or even TI Basic... If someone has a logical explanation I'd love to hear it.

There are two camps.. 

 

catalog routines in rom are not extendible or programmable 

catalog routines in software are easily extendable and programmable 

 

It seems short sighted however they included a catalog routine in the disk manager cart with the controllers right? That was their solution. 

 

Greg

[+mizapf]

I sometimes get the impression that "comfort" was not TI's primary goal for defining feature sets.

[+Vorticon]

4 hours ago, arcadeshopper said:

It seems short sighted however they included a catalog routine in the disk manager cart with the controllers right? That was their solution. 

I can't tell you how many times I wanted to run a Basic or XB program but did not have the exact name for it. Not having a built-in directory function meant turning off the computer, removing the XB cart, replacing it with a DM one, listing the directory, turning off the computer again, removing the DM cart and replacing it with the XB cart and trying to run the darn program only to realize that by that point I had already forgotten its name... And I can assure you it's not getting any better with time...

[+pixelpedant]

Really, the tools TI BASIC gave buyers on Day 1 in 1979 with the base machine - in terms of disk and file and record-level access conventions and file structures and commands for taking advantage of these in TI BASIC - they go far beyond anything its home computer competitors were building into ROM BASICs in its era. 

 

You could build yourself a pretty full-featured file browser in pure TI ROM BASIC, with no additional software required. 

 

I figure I wouldn't trade that for a CAT command in a million years. 

[GDMike]

I tend to always have cat on drive 1 of tipi and floppy..

[+InsaneMultitasker]

2 hours ago, Vorticon said:

I can't tell you how many times I wanted to run a Basic or XB program but did not have the exact name for it. Not having a built-in directory function meant turning off the computer, removing the XB cart, replacing it with a DM one, listing the directory, turning off the computer again, removing the DM cart and replacing it with the XB cart and trying to run the darn program only to realize that by that point I had already forgotten its name

This was a pet peeve of mine:  having no easy, built-in way to catalog the disk without changing carts or loading a program.

 

There are a few enhanced XB carts (XB 2.7 for example) with CALL CAT or CALL DIR subroutines, as well as a few XB assembly-language addons back in the day that would let you catalog from XB. Those were godsends, as was the inclusion of CALL DIR in the Myarc controllers. 

 

Edit: link to the manual describing the enhancements in XB 2.7, including CALL CAT and the XXB file routines written by Barry Traver.

XB V 2.7 Suite : Tony Knerr : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive

[+RXB]

RXB catalog puts every other Cat to shame:

          CAT            subprogram                            PAGE  C1
          -------------------------------------------------------------
 
          Format         CALL CAT("#"[,...])
 
                         CALL CAT("DSK#."[,...])
 
                         CALL CAT("DSK.DISKNAME."[,...])
 
                         CALL CAT(string-variable[,...])
 
                         CALL CAT(number[,...])
 
                         CALL CAT(numeric-variable[,...])
 
                         CALL CAT(ASC II value[,...])
 
          Description
 
           The CAT command catalogs the disk drive indicated by the
          # which can be 1 to z or by path name. The path name may be
          up to 30 characters long. A numeric variable or number can
          be used for drives 1 to 9 or if higher then it is assumed
          that the numeric-variable or number is a ASCII value between
          30 to 255. This allows a catalog of a RAM-DISK designated by
          letters or control characters. Also CAT can catalog up to 32 
          drives in one command. The SPACE BAR will pause the catalog 
          routine, then when the pressed again continues the catalog 
          listing. ANY OTHER KEY WILL ABORT THE CATALOG.
 
          Programs
 
          This line has pathname in A$  | >100 A$="DSK.ADISKNAME"
          This line uses A$ for the name| >110 CALL CAT(A$)
           of the device to catalog.    |
          This line will catalog drive 4| >100 CALL CAT(N)
           if N=4                       |
          This line will catalog drive C| >100 CALL CAT(X)
           if X=67  (ASCII 67 is C)     |
          This line is path name.       | >10 V$="WDS1.VOLUME.SUB-DIR."
          This line will catalog device | >20 CALL CAT(V$)
           WDS1 for directory VOLUME and|
           catalog SUB-DIR              |
          This line catalogs drives 1   | >100 CALL CAT(1,2,3,"WDS1.")
           then 2 then 3 then WDS1l     |

The idea is to make something as easy to use as possible so it is very AI like smart cataloger.

[+retroclouds]

@RichI’ve got a question to this. Is it possible to write the output to a DV80 file somehow?

[+RXB]

1 hour ago, retroclouds said:

@RichI’ve got a question to this. Is it possible to write the output to a DV80 file somehow?

Yea not a problem but older version of RXB had that but no one seemed to care, thus I removed it.

[mrvan]

On 3/1/2023 at 11:37 PM, Lee Stewart said:

 

...and here is a CATALOG program from a subsequent page:

 

100 CALL CLEAR
110 DIM TYPE$(5)
120 TYPE$(1)="DIS/FIX"
130 TYPE$(2)="DIS/VAR"
140 TYPE$(3)="INT/FIX"
150 TYPE$(4)="INT/VAR"
160 TYPE$(5)="PROGRAM"
170 INPUT "MASTER DISK(1-3)? ":A
180 A=INT(A)
190 IF A<1 THEN 170
200 IF A>3 THEN 170
210 OPEN #1:"DSK"&STR$(A)&".",INPUT, RELATIVE,INTERNAL
220 INPUT #1:A$,J,J,K
230 DISPLAY "DSK";STR$(A); " - DISKNAME = ";A$:"AVAILABLE = ";K;"USED = ";J-K
240 DISPLAY:"FILENAME SIZE TYPE P":"---------- ---- ---------- -"
250 FOR LOOP=1 TO 127
260 INPUT #1:A$,A,J,K
270 IF LEN(A$)=0 THEN 350
280 DISPLAY:A$;TAB(12);J;TAB(17);TYPE$(ABS(A));
290 IF ABS(A)=5 THEN 320
300 B$=" "&STR$(K)
310 DISPLAY SEG$(B$,LEN(B$)-2,3);
320 IF A>0 THEN 340
330 DISPLAY TAB(28);"Y";
340 NEXT LOOP
350 CLOSE #1

 

...lee

Oh, thank you so very much! This makes my day.

[senior_falcon]

Here is a 1 line XB program that catalogs a disk. Not a lot of bells and whistles, but it is one of the most amazing XB programs I have ever seen.

 

1 IF B=0 THEN INPUT B :: GOTO 1 ELSE C=C+1 :: OPEN #1:"DSK"&STR$(B)&".",INPUT ,RELATIVE,INTERNAL :: INPUT #1,REC C:A$,A,J,K :: IF LEN(A$)=0 THEN CLOSE #1 ELSE PRINT USING "########## ### #":A$,J,A :: CLOSE #1 :: GOTO 1

 

(edit) Here it is with the type of files spelled out instead of numbers (DV, DF, IV, IF, PG)

1 IF B=0 THEN INPUT B :: GOTO 1 ELSE C=C+1 :: OPEN #1:"DSK"&STR$(B)&".",INPUT ,RELATIVE,INTERNAL :: INPUT #1,REC C:A$,A,J,K :: IF LEN(A$)=0 THEN CLOSE #1 ELSE PRINT USING "########## ### ##":A$,J,SEG$("DFDVIFIVPG",A*2-1,2):: CLOSE #1 :: GOTO 1

 

Edited March 5 by senior_falcon

[+TheBF]

1 hour ago, senior_falcon said:

Here is a 1 line XB program that catalogs a disk. Not a lot of bells and whistles, but it is one of the most amazing XB programs I have ever seen.

 

1 IF B=0 THEN INPUT B :: GOTO 1 ELSE C=C+1 :: OPEN #1:"DSK"&STR$(B)&".",INPUT ,RELATIVE,INTERNAL :: INPUT #1,REC C:A$,A,J,K :: IF LEN(A$)=0 THEN CLOSE #1 ELSE PRINT USING "########## ### #":A$,J,A :: CLOSE #1 :: GOTO 1

 

(edit) Here it is with the type of files spelled out instead of numbers (DV, DF, IV, IF, PG)

1 IF B=0 THEN INPUT B :: GOTO 1 ELSE C=C+1 :: OPEN #1:"DSK"&STR$(B)&".",INPUT ,RELATIVE,INTERNAL :: INPUT #1,REC C:A$,A,J,K :: IF LEN(A$)=0 THEN CLOSE #1 ELSE PRINT USING "########## ### ##":A$,J,SEG$("DFDVIFIVPG",A*2-1,2):: CLOSE #1 :: GOTO 1

 

Who wrote them?

[mrvan]

I spent a bit of time with this program and found some interesting details. On classic99, I'm using a FIAD file system on disk0. With a slight mod to the program I can read the disk but it doesn't report directories, nor can I modify the program in any way to read anything beyond the root directory. Any ideas what one needs to do to read directories?

 

I loaded the same program on MAME, with mods, and was able to see the directories on my virtual hard drive and the types reported were 6. And with further mods I could also read the contents of the directories.

[jrhodes]

55 minutes ago, mrvan said:

I spent a bit of time with this program and found some interesting details. On classic99, I'm using a FIAD file system on disk0. With a slight mod to the program I can read the disk but it doesn't report directories, nor can I modify the program in any way to read anything beyond the root directory. Any ideas what one needs to do to read directories?

 

I loaded the same program on MAME, with mods, and was able to see the directories on my virtual hard drive and the types reported were 6. And with further mods I could also read the contents of the directories.

Could you post your modified program here, please? I'm interested.

[senior_falcon]

9 hours ago, TheBF said:

Who wrote them?

This was written by that most prolific of authors: "Anonymous"

The edit was where I adjusted it a bit, and here is yet another improvement on the program so it now reports DV 80, IF 254, and so on.

1 IF B=0 THEN INPUT B :: GOTO 1 ELSE C=C+1 :: OPEN #1:"DSK"&STR$(B)&".",INPUT ,RELATIVE,INTERNAL :: INPUT #1,REC C:A$,A,J,K :: IF LEN(A$)=0 THEN CLOSE #1 ELSE PRINT USING "########## ### ## ###":A$,J,SEG$(" DFDVIVIFPG",A*2,2),K :: CLOSE #1 :: GOTO 1

 

Edited March 5 by senior_falcon

[mrvan]

12 hours ago, jrhodes said:

Could you post your modified program here, please? I'm interested.

Not a signifiant mod. I updated line 170 and 210 to use a path rather than asking for a disk number, and removed the lines checking the disk number. In MAME, this will allow listing directories, by using

WSD1.    for root level

WDS1.dirname for first subdirectory

WDS1.dirname1.dirname2 for second, etc.

 

I can't find a way to read subdirectories in classic99. It supports old/save and reading/writing files in subdirectories but I can't seem to find the right string that will read a subdirectory. Anyone have an idea how what path will work to read subdirectories? 

 

100 CALL CLEAR
110 DIM TYPE$(5)
120 TYPE$(1)="DIS/FIX"
130 TYPE$(2)="DIS/VAR"
140 TYPE$(3)="INT/FIX"
150 TYPE$(4)="INT/VAR"
160 TYPE$(5)="PROGRAM"
170 LINPUT "path:":P$
210 OPEN #1:P$,INPUT ,RELATIVE,INTERNAL
220 INPUT #1:A$,J,J,K
230 DISPLAY "DSK";STR$(A);" - DISKNAME = ";A$:"AVAILABLE = ";K;"USED = ";J-K
240 DISPLAY :"FILENAME SIZE TYPE P":"---------- ---- ---------- -"
250 FOR LOOP=1 TO 127
260 INPUT #1:A$,A,J,K
270 IF LEN(A$)=0 THEN 350
280 DISPLAY :A$;TAB(12);J;TAB(17);TYPE$(ABS(A));
290 IF ABS(A)=5 THEN 320
300 B$=" "&STR$(K)
310 DISPLAY SEG$(B$,LEN(B$)-2,3);
320 IF A>0 THEN 340
330 DISPLAY TAB(28);"Y";
340 NEXT LOOP
350 CLOSE #1

 

I also compiled and linked using the XB Compiler but found that it would not work, failing at the open #1 statement. I imagine different code might be needed reading from a file vs a directory. Maybe unhandled? It sure would be nice to have the speed reading the disk and access to the file names and attributes within an XB program. Anyone know?

[senior_falcon]

1 hour ago, mrvan said:

210 OPEN #1:P$,INPUT ,RELATIVE,INTERNAL

 

I also compiled and linked using the XB Compiler but found that it would not work, failing at the open #1 statement. I imagine different code might be needed reading from a file vs a directory. Maybe unhandled? It sure would be nice to have the speed reading the disk and access to the file names and attributes within an XB program. Anyone know?

One of its limitations is that the compiler can only handle Display,Variable type files.

The disk catalog program in T40XB is written in assembly and it works fine when compiled, so an assembly language disk cataloger is possible, but then you have to go to the trouble of using assembly subs with compiled code.

[mrvan]

18 hours ago, senior_falcon said:

One of its limitations is that the compiler can only handle Display,Variable type files.

The disk catalog program in T40XB is written in assembly and it works fine when compiled, so an assembly language disk cataloger is possible, but then you have to go to the trouble of using assembly subs with compiled code.

The display format generally is better for most purposes as it greatly helps in debugging. I’d probably not use internal format if reading directories didn’t require it. I’m also not developing production software for a 40 year old computer.

 

I'm not yet sure what it would take to call the assembly language routines but could look into that. I could potentially cheat and run a small service on the underlying OS that monitors the file system for changes and writes a directory file that can be read. Or I can chain programs to an Xb program uncompiled that can list the files. Probably a few other clever ways to keep track of files and dirs without explicitly reading the dirs.