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| -rw-r--r-- | doc/disk_contents.txt | 106 |
1 files changed, 106 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/doc/disk_contents.txt b/doc/disk_contents.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..697802b --- /dev/null +++ b/doc/disk_contents.txt @@ -0,0 +1,106 @@ +Currently the disk is built from dos_20s.atr, with the "axe" utility. +See the script mkdisk.sh to see how it's done. + +In case you're wondering about fujitest.atr, it's fujichat.atr plus the +author's personal config file and serial driver, so I don't keep having +to answer the config prompts every time I test a new build. The rest of +this file describes only fujichat.atr. + +Reasons for distributing FujiChat as a bootable disk image: + +- It's "boot and go" for users who use real floppy drives or emulate + them with SIO2PC + software. + +- The setup process is automated and guides the user through. First + boot it asks what serial driver to use (then reboots). Next boot it + loads the menu with the Setup option as the default. Further boots, + the config file exists so Chat is the default menu option. + +- Since there's not enough memory to combine the menu, about, setup and + chat programs, they have to be separate files. Which means FujiChat + has to be distributed as a multi-file archive... I could have used + e.g. ZIP or ARC instead of ATR, but then floppy users would have to + create their own ATR image and copy the files to it. + +The only disadvantage is that hard disk users might want to "install" +FujiChat to their drive. This can be done just by copying the contents +of the ATR to a directory on the drive, then running FUJICONF.COM to +create a config file and FUJICHAT.COM to actually use IRC (if the hard +disk boot process already loaded an R: driver). + +Disk Contents +------------- + +fujichat.atr is built from a DOS 2.0S floppy image containing only +DOS.SYS and DUP.SYS. These are the files that go on the disk: + +ABOUT.COM +ABOUT.TXT +ATARI850.SER +AUTORUN.SYS +BOBVERT.SER +FUJICHAT.COM +FUJICONF.COM +FUJIMENU.COM +LOADMENU.COM +MAKEAUTO.COM +PRCONN.SER + +One thing missing from the disk is the config file, FUJICHAT.CFG. This +is created by FUJICONF.COM (see below). If you load FUJICHAT.COM without +creating the config file first, it uses compiled-in defaults (which +might not work for you). + +File Descriptions +----------------- + +The initial AUTORUN.SYS is aexec.xex and loadmkau.xex concatenated. +The code in aexec.xex is the atari_exec() function, loaded to $600. +loadmkau.xex uses atari_exec() to load & run MAKEAUTO.COM. This +AUTORUN.SYS is *overwritten* by MAKEAUTO.COM (see below). + +NOTE: All the *.COM files contain the aexec.xex code, so atari_exec() +can be called from any of them, even if they're loaded out of the usual +order. aexec.xex (atari_exec()) is necessary because standard Atari DOS +doesn't provide a way to load and run an executable programmatically (only +interactively from the DOS menu). Third party DOSes (notably SpartaDOS) +provide a function (an XIO call) to do this, but FujiChat is intended +to work with all DOSes. + +MAKEAUTO.COM asks for the serial port driver to use (the *.SER files are +the choices). It creates a new AUTORUN.SYS which is a concatenation of +the chosen serial driver and LOADMENU.COM. After it's done, it prompts +the user to reboot (to boot with the new AUTORUN.SYS). Note: this means +FujiChat must be run from a writable disk. + +LOADMENU.COM simply runs FUJIMENU.COM. It's never run standalone; it's +incorporated in AUTORUN.SYS (along with the serial driver). The reason +for this indirection is to keep FUJIMENU.COM as a standalone executable, +not containing the serial port driver (and not named AUTORUN.SYS). + +FUJIMENU.COM is the main menu, with the choices About, Setup, and Chat. +It runs ABOUT.COM, FUJICONF.COM, or FUJICHAT.COM based on the user's +choise. + +ABOUT.COM is basically the Unix "more" command for the Atari. It reads and +displays ABOUT.TXT with a ---more--- prompt at the end of each screens' +worth. When it's done, it reloads FUJIMENU.COM. + +FUJICONF.COM is the config menu (Setup), which asks for IP addresses, IRC +nick, etc. It can be run either from FUJIMENU.COM or from FUJICHAT.COM +(while not connected to the server). Note that the config is persistent +in memory between runs of FUJICONF.COM and FUJICHAT.COM, meaning you can +temporarily change settings (in memory only) by *not* saving the config +(answer N to "Save this config?"). Also, the first question it asks +(Change serial driver?) will run MAKEAUTO.COM (see above). + +FUJICHAT.COM is the main executable. It's loaded by FUJIMENU.COM, and +expects a serial port (R:) driver to already be loaded. If you wanted +to "install" FujiChat to a hard disk or otherwise run it directly from +e.g. a SpartaDOS command line, you could load this by itself (without +booting the FujiChat disk), *provided* you already have an R: driver +loaded *and* that you've created a FUJICHAT.CFG (by running FUJICONF.COM). + +The *.SER files are just the various R: device drivers. These are +the standard drivers, I just gave them a .SER extension to make them +stand out. |