Notes

Disk info for 227_Volume_227.dsk:

File Name: riag_010_227_Volume_227/227_Volume_227.dsk
Disk Name: /SQUIRT/
Physical Size (bytes): 143360
Free Space (bytes): 79872
Used Space (bytes): 63488
Physical Size (KB): 140
Free Space (KB): 78
Used Space (KB): 62
Archive Order: DOS
Disk Format: ProDOS
Total Blocks: 280
Free Blocks: 156
Used Blocks: 124
Volume Access: Destroy Read Rename Write
Block Number of Bitmap: 6
Creation Date: 07/07/1986
File Entries Per Block: 13
File Entry Length (bytes): 39
Active Files in Root Directory: 7
Minimum ProDOS Version Required: 0
Volume Created By ProDOS Version: 0
Volume Name: SQUIRT

Disk directory for 227_Volume_227.dsk:

riag_010_227_Volume_227/227_Volume_227.dsk /SQUIRT/
* PRODOS SYS 030 09/18/1984 07/11/1986 14,848 A=$2000
SQUIRT.SYSTEM SYS 035 04/16/1987 04/16/1987 17,144
* BASIC.SYSTEM SYS 021 06/18/1984 07/11/1986 10,240 A=$2000
STARTUP BAS 003 07/11/1986 07/11/1986 636 A=$0801
GO.QUIT.SYSTEM SYS 001 07/11/1986 07/11/1986 13 A=$2000
INSTRUCTIONS TXT 024 07/11/1986 07/11/1986 11,742
SUBDIR DIR 001 07/11/1986 07/11/1986 512
SUBSUBDIR DIR 001 07/11/1986 07/11/1986 512
EMPTY.SYSTEM SYS 001 07/11/1986 07/11/1986 13 A=$2000
ProDOS format; 79,872 bytes free; 63,488 bytes used.

Text found in 227_Volume_227.dsk/GO.QUIT.SYSTEM.txt:

Offset Hex Data Characters
======= ================================================ =================
$000000 20 00 BF 65 06 20 04 00 00 00 00 00 00 .. .. .. .?e. .. .....
** END **

Text found in 227_Volume_227.dsk/INSTRUCTIONS.txt:




**************************
* SQUIRT *
* Copyright 1985-87 by *
* Synesis Systems *
**************************







With Apple's introduction of ProDOS came the concept of an application
program being treated as an interpreter. This kind of interpreter is
known as a System and was assigned a specific file type identifier. A
true System interpreter is completely independent and performs its
task with only the aid of the ProDOS operating system for disk file
handling. The program known as "BASIC.SYSTEM" is one such interpreter
system. The interpreter system may (and often does) load, save, and
use other files on the disk. To add to the confusion, some of the
files used by an interpreter system are often marked as "system" type
files when, in fact they are merely supporting files containing data
or overlays that the main system program needs to perform its task.
This type of "system" is obviously not capable of operating on its own
as a true interpreter system. Unfortunately, for the average user,
there is no easy way of knowing the difference.

ProDOS has a function built into it for switching from one system
application to another. When you exit a system application program
that follows the standard ProDOS protocol, this switching (or
selector) function is called upon. The only tasks that the standard
selector performs are to gather the complete path name of the next
desired application, load it, and run it. For those of you that are
familiar with it, you will probably agree that it does its job in a
most unfriendly manner. For example, you must know ahead of time the
exact and complete volume name, and any subdirectory names, and type
that path name perfectly in order to continue to the next step. In
the next step, you must also know ahead of time the exact and complete
application program name and type that name perfectly in order to run
the next program. This efficient little selector won't even let you
catalog the disk if you forgot one of the names. Small wonder that
most people turn the machine off and back on or press Control-Open
Apple-Reset to make the machine boot the next disk!























Introducing SQUIRT




SQUIRT completely replaces the ProDOS selector in memory to give you
an extremely efficient and friendly program selector that you will
enjoy using.




* No need to remember ahead of time the volume name of your desired
disk. SQUIRT shows you ALL volumes that are online!




* No need to remember ahead of time which subdirectory path to take
to reach your program. SQUIRT shows you ALL available
subdirectories!




* No need to remember ahead of time the name of your application
program. SQUIRT shows you ALL available system files!




* No longer worry about mis-typing a name. SQUIRT is menu driven
and ALL responses are a single key press!




* SQUIRT is 100% compatible with all versions of ProDOS.




* SQUIRT is 100% compatible with all ProDOS software.




* SQUIRT is compatible with all Apple II series computers,
regardless of hardware configuration.

















How to use SQUIRT

SQUIRT waits quietly inside ProDOS until you finish with your current
program. During the exit procedure of your current program, your
current program will call ProDOS to select the next program. ProDOS
will call SQUIRT.

SQUIRT does all the little housekeeping chores that ProDOS requires
and determines whether you have a 40 column or an 80 column display.
If it finds an 80 column display, it sets itself to display up to 26
names in two columns (yes..it should work with your 80 column video
card!..more on that later). If it can't find an 80 column display, it
will reset itself to 40 column mode and show up to 13 names in a
single column (with all characters in uppercase, in case you can't use
lowercase).

SQUIRT begins immediately by doing a roll call of all installed disk
devices and shows all of the volume names that are present in a menu
list. You simply press the key (upper or lower case) that corresponds
to the volume that your next program is on. If you forgot to insert
the correct disk, simply press the ESCAPE key and SQUIRT will back up
and start over. You may stay on this step as long as you need and may
even come back later if you don't find the desired program on this
disk.

Once you have selected a volume, SQUIRT will display the current path
at the top of the screen and show you a complete catalog of the
available subdirectories and system type programs on that path. Please
note that you may not exit directly to a Binary, Text, or Basic
program; therefore, those types of programs are not shown (if you wish
to run a Basic program, you must choose to exit to BASIC.SYSTEM and
then run it, unless it is a startup program on the same path with
BASIC.SYSTEM). When you find your system application program on the
menu, simply press the key shown with it and your program will be
loaded and run automatically.

If your program is not shown, it may be on one of the subdirectory
paths. Simply press the key shown with that subdirectory and SQUIRT
will show you the new and longer path at the top of the screen. And
as before, the complete catalog of the subdirectories and system type
files on that path. You may take a path that leads to no more
subdirectories or system files. If so, you will see a message stating
that there is nothing more on this path. You may, at any time, press
the ESCAPE key and you will be taken back one level to the previous
menu. If you back up all the way to the beginning, SQUIRT will simply
re-start by showing all the volume names.

For the most common floppy disk situations, using SQUIRT is simply a
matter of inserting the desired disk in the drive and pressing two
keys. One for the volume choice and one for the program choice. If
you are using a hard disk, the number of key strokes is dependent on
the number of subdirectories you have.














To re-enter SQUIRT after an application program is usually a matter of
'quitting' the application program. Some programs have taken the
matter into their own hands and provide a selector; for those, you may
need to 'quit' to: SQUIRT.SYSTEM. To activate SQUIRT from the end of
a Basic program, enter "BYE" at the Applesoft prompt (NOTE: this
feature is only supported by BASIC.SYSTEM 1.1, the older version 1.0
will give an error).




Cautions

As mentioned earlier, not all "system" files are truly system
interpreters and may not be run. SQUIRT has no way of knowing the
difference, so that must be left up to you. If you choose one of
these non-"system" files, extremely unpredictable things will happen!
In most cases, the computer will "lockup" or "hang"; the screen may
show "garbage"; one or more of your disk drives may even start up! Be
very careful! Usually the documentation that came with your
application program will tell you what file names may be run (this
information might be in the hard disk usage section).




Video displays and other technical stuff

SQUIRT lets ProDOS make the determination of the acceptance of your 80
column card. So if ProDOS is satisfied, then SQUIRT is satisfied. It
has been successfully tested on the 40 column Apple ][+, //e (enhanced
and un-enhanced), and //c. It has also been tested on the Apple 80
column card, the Videx Videoterm, and the Checkmate MultiView 80/160
card. An external video card must be installed in slot 3.

Technically, the video card must be capable of initializing itself
with a $C300 call, outputting characters through CSW, and responding
to the position of CH and CV. It must also support either HOME or
Control-L to clear the screen.

Although no guarantees are made, SQUIRT may even work properly on
Apple work-alikes. As long as they respond to five standard monitor
calls ($FB2F-init, $FBDD-bell, $FC58-home, $FD8E-crout, and
$FDED-cout), there should be no problem.

SQUIRT has the capacity to display 26 names (A-Z) in 80 columns and
half that in 40 columns. While this is more than adequate for almost
everybody, it is short of the theoretical maximum that ProDOS is
capable of. If you have more than 26 subdirectories and/or system
files on a path, you will only see the first 26 and consequently not
be able to choose anything higher. If this is a hindrance, you may
consider either deleting some or reordering the paths on the disk.














SQUIRT Installation

The SQUIRT installation program, "SQUIRT.SYSTEM", is an intelligent
true system type file. It performs three functions; installing SQUIRT
into ProDOS in memory for immediate use, installing SQUIRT into ProDOS
on the disk of your choice, and printing these instructions.

Installing SQUIRT is rather straightforward. When you booted ProDOS,
the old standard selector function was loaded with ProDOS. By simply
running "SQUIRT.SYSTEM", the selector function's code is replaced in
memory and is available as long as this modified ProDOS is in the
machine. And for as many program selections as you wish. Re-booting
will bring back a standard ProDOS, unless you follow it with a run of
this program.

Installing SQUIRT more permanently onto your application program boot
disk is just as simple. The file "ProDOS" is loaded from the disk
that you place in the drive and the selector code is replaced (no
other part of ProDOS is touched). The ProDOS file is unlocked (if
locked) and re-saved back to your disk. No other files on your disk
are modified in any way. A good safe rule when working with computer
disk modifications is to make a copy of the disk before the
modification, just in case anything goes wrong. The disk modification
procedure may be used repeatedly to modify several disks during one
session. For simplicity, the disk that you want to modify must be
inserted into the same slot/drive that the SQUIRT.SYSTEM is run from;
so, hard disk users should use a file copy program and copy the
modified ProDOS to the hard disk.

Text found in 227_Volume_227.dsk/STARTUP.bas:

10 REM sample use of SQUIRT with Basic 1.1
15 :
20 HOME
30 PRINT "TO QUIT TO A BASIC PROGRAM, SELECT THE"
40 PRINT "FILE 'BASIC.SYSTEM'. BASIC WILL AUTO-"
50 PRINT "RUN ANY PROGRAM NAMED 'STARTUP'.": PRINT
60 PRINT "TO MAKE YOUR BASIC PROGRAMS RETURN TO"
70 PRINT "SQUIRT WHEN FINISHED, ADD THE LINE:"
80 PRINT "PRINT CHR$(4)" CHR$(34)"BYE" CHR$(34)
90 PRINT
100 PRINT "TO MAKE PRODOS RUN SQUIRT AT BOOTUP:"
110 PRINT "INSTALL SQUIRT INTO PRODOS, AND MAKE A"
120 PRINT "DISK WITH 'GO.QUIT.SYSTEM' AS THE FIRST"
130 PRINT "FILE ON IT."
199 :
200 VTAB 20: PRINT "PRESS TO RETURN TO SQUIRT, OR"
210 PRINT "PRESS TO EXIT TO BASIC. ";: GET Q$: PRINT
220 IF ASC(Q$) = 13 THEN PRINT CHR$(4)"BYE"
230 IF ASC(Q$) = 27 THEN END
240 PRINT CHR$(7);: GOTO 200