flexuser - FLEX Users Manual


FLEX USER COMMANDS

GET[,<filespec>[,<filespec>]...]
The GET command is used to load a binary file into memory. It is a special purpose command and is not often used.
MON
MON is used to exit FLEX and return to the system monitor. FLEX can simply re-entered after using the MON command, by typing: g cd03 or x.
APPEND,<filespec>[,<filespec>]...,<filespec>
The APPEND command is used to append or concatenate two or more files, creating a new file as the result. Any type of file may be appended but it only makes sense to append files of the same type in most cases. If appending binary files which have transfer addresses associated with them, the transfer address of the last file of the list will be the effective transfer address of the resultant file. All of the original files will be left intact. The default file extension is .TXT
ASN[,W=n][,S=m]
The ASN command can be used to assign the actual system and working drive. If specified n will be assigned as working drive and m will be assigned as system drive, where n and m can be digits between 0 and 3.
BUILD,<filespec>
The BUILD command is provided for those desiring to create small text files quickly (such as STARTUP files or EXEC files). BUILD prompts with an equals sign ('='). Text can be entered line by line. Only the actual line can be edited by a backspace character. To finish text entry type a pound sign ('#') immediately following the prompt. The default file extension is .TXT
CAT[,<drive list>][,<match list>]
The CAT command is used to display the FLEX disk file names in the directory on each disk. The user may display selected files on one or multiple drives. Wildcards are possible f. e. CAT A.T catalogs all files with a name beginning with A and an extension beginning with T.
COPY,<filespec>,<filespec>
COPY,<filespec>,<drive>
COPY,<drive>,<drive>[,<match list>]
The COPY command is used for making copies of files on a disk. Individual files, groups of name-similar files or entire disks may be copied. <match list> is the same as described in the CAT command.
DATE [,<month>,<day>,<year>]
The DATE command is used to display or change an internal FLEX date register. Within flexemu the date can be changed within FLEX but this will not change the date of the host operating system.
DELETE,<filespec>[,<filespec>]...
The DELETE command is used to delete a file from the disk. Its name will be removed from the directory and its sector space will be returned to the free space on the disk.
EXEC,<filespec>
The EXEC command is used to process a text file as a list of commands. The default file extension is .TXT
GET,<filespec>
The GET command can be used to read a binary file into memory but don't execute it. The default file extension is .BIN
I,<filespec>,<command>
The I command allows a utility to obtain input characters from a disk file rather than the terminal. The default file extension is .TXT
JUMP,<hex address>
The JUMP command is provided for convenience. It is used to start execution of a program already in memory, f. e. loaded by a GET command.
LINK,<filespec>
The LINK command is used to tell the bootstrap loader where FLEX operating system file resides on the disk. This is necessary each time a system disk is created. It is NOT necessary if logging in a directory as system drive. In this case the link will be dynamically generated. The default file extension is .SYS
LIST,<filespec>[,<line range>[,<+options>]
The LIST command is used to list the contents of text files on the terminal. It is possible to list entire files or selected line ranges of the file. Following options are possible:

OptionDescription
+Ndisplay line numbers
+Pdo page formatting

The default file extension is .TXT

O,<filespec>,<command>
The O command can be used to route all displayed output from a utility to an output file instead of the terminal. The default extension is .OUT
P,<command>
The P command can be used to print the output of any command to the Printer. Within flexemu no Printer is supported.
PROT,<filespec>,(option list)
The PROT command is used to change a protection code associated with each file. When a file is first saved, is has no protection associated with it thereby allowing the user to write to, rename, or delete the file. Delete or write protection can be added to a file by using the PROT command. Following options are possible:

OptionDescription
DDelete protect a file
WWrite protect a file
CCatalog protect a file
XRemove all protections from file

F. e. PROT,CAT.CMD,XW removes any previous protection on CAT.CMD and write protects it.

QCHECK
The QCHECK Utility can be used to examine the contents of the print queue and to modify it's contents. Within flexemu no printing is supported.
RENAME,<filespec1>,<filespec2>
The RENAME command is used to give an existing file a new name in the directory.
SAVE,<filespec>,<begin adr>,<end adr>[,<transfer adr>]
The SAVE command is used for saving a section of memory on the disk. The address fields should be expressed as hex numbers. The default file extension is .BIN
SAVE.LOW,<filespec>,<begin adr>,<end adr>[,<transfer adr>]
Same as SAVE but SAVE.LOW itself is located in a lower memory area. With this command it is possible to save programs located in the UCS area.
STARTUP
STARTUP is not a utility command but is a feature of FLEX. It is often desirable to have the operating system do some special action or actions upon initialization of the system (during the bootstrap loading process). As an example, the user may always want to use BASIC immediately following the boot process. STARTUP will allow for this without the necessity of calling the BASIC interpreter each time.

FLEX always checks the disk's directory immediately following the system initialization for a file called STARTUP.TXT. If none is found the system prompt ('+++') will be displayed. If a STARTUP file is present, it is read and interpreted as a single command line. Several commands in one line can be separated by a end of line character.

TTYSET[,<parameter list>]
The TTYSET utility command is provided so the user may control the characteristics of the terminal. With this command, the action of the terminal on input and the display format on output may be controlled. In the following parameter specifications hh stands for one or two hex digits and dd stands for one or two decimal digits.

following parameters (each separated by a comma) are supported:

ParameterDescription
BS=hhBackspace character, default: Ctrl-H (hex 08) delete the last character typed from the terminal. Setting BS=0 will disable the backspace feature.
BE=hhBackspace echo character, default: 0. Defines the character to be sent to the terminal after a 'backspace' character is received.
DL=hhDelete character, default: Ctrl-X (hex 18) Erase the current input line. Set DL=0 will disable this feature.
EL=hhEnd of line character, default: colon (':'). With this character two commands can be separated on one input line. hh must be a printable character. Set EL=0 will disable this feature.
DP=ddDepth count, default: 0. Specifies the number of lines a page consists of. See also EJ and PS. Set DP=0 will disable this feature.
WD=ddWidth, specifies the number of characters to be displayed on a physical line at the terminal (the number of columns).
NL=ddNull count, default: 4. Sets the number of non-printing (Null) 'pad' characters to be sent to the terminal at the end of each line.
TB=hhTab character. This character is not used by FLEX but by some of the utilities f. e. a text editing system. This character should be set to a printable character.
EJ=ddEject count, default: 0. Specifies the number of 'eject lines' to be sent to the terminal at the bottom of each page. If EJ=0 no eject line will be sent.
PS=Y|NPause control, default: N. Enables or disables the 'end-of-page' feature. If Pause is on and DP is set to some nonzero value, the output display is automatically suspended at the end of each page. It may be continued by typing an 'escape' character.
ES=hhEscape character, default: hex 1B. The escape character is used to stop output from being displayed, and once it is stopped restart it again.

VERSION,<filespec>
The VERSION utility is used to display the version number of a utility command. The default extension is .CMD
VERIFY [,ON|,OFF]
The VERIFY command is used to set the File Management System's write verification. If VERIFY is on, every sector which is written to the disk is read back from the disk for verification (to make sure there are no errors in any sectors). With VERIFY off, no verification is performed. VERIFY without any parameters displays it's current state. flexemu does NOT support any verify operations.
XOUT[,<drive spec>]
XOUT is a special form of the delete command which deletes all files having the extension .OUT.

GENERAL SYSTEM INFORMATION

DISK CAPACITY
Each sector of a FLEX disk contains 252 characters or bytes of user data (4 bytes of each 256 byte sector are used by the system). Thus a single-sided mini disk has 340 sectors or 85,680 characters or bytes of user information. A single-sided full size disk has 1140 sectors or 287,280 bytes of user data. Doulbe-sided disks would contain exactly twice these amounts.
WRITE PROTECT
Floppy disks can usually be physically write protected to prevent FLEX from performing a write operation. Any attempt to write to such a disk will cause an error message to be issued. It is good practice to write protect disks which have important files on them.
THE SYSTEM-'RESET'
The System-Reset should NEVER BE PRESSED DURING A DISK OPERATION. There should never be a need to 'reset' the machine while in FLEX. If the machine is entire disk will become damaged.
NOTES ON THE P COMMAND
The P command tries to load a printer driver file named PRINT.SYS from the same disk which P itself was retrieved. Within flexemu no printing is supported yet.

SEE ALSO

Documents on the behalf of the FLEX User Group

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