FILECOPY--USING MSDOS PATHHAMES
2.16 RAM DISKS ON 16-BIT WORKSTATIONS
2.16.3 USING A RAM DISK
Using a RAM Disk is much like using a Floppy Disk. However, it is much faster than either a Floppy Disk or a Hard Disk. When an applications program and the files you are working on are all in the RAM Disk, the access time for moving around in files and doing calculations is very short.
The RAM Disk is blank when it is activated.
(There is no need to format the RAM Disk as you do a Floppy Disk.) Files from the Network's Hard Disks are PIPped (CP/M) or COPYied (MS-DOS) to the drive that is assigned to the RAM Disk. The drive assignments may vary between operating systems. Of course, files may also be created in the RAM Disk by application programs.
---~---Any files that you need to ~ must be copied back to the Network's Hard Disks before turning off the workstation, resetting it, logging off the network or, in CP/M-86 reassigning the drive. A sudden power loss to the workstation will result in the erasure of any work you have not saved to the Network's Hard Disks. I f you are doing a series of complex calculations in the RAM Disk, you should periodically copy the results to the Network's Hard Disks to protect your work.
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OMS-SOOO 3.0 CP~
3.0 THE CP/M ENVIRONMENT.
3.1 INTRODUCTION~
Though it is often thought of as Control Program for Microcomputers, CP/M actually stams for Control Program/Monitor. Produced am sold by Digital Research, CP/M is an operating system used by many different computers. An operating system controls the transfer of information within the computer and organizes files am partitions on Floppy Diskettes am Hard Disks.
The CP/M system that comes with the HiNet network am your workstation, CP/M-80, is an extensive am sophisticated program. In this manual we will describe only those commands am functions most often used by workstation
operators. Further information on CP/M can be obtained from the various DMS Manuals, Digital Research's own manuals, or the many books on CP/M available at computer stores.
3.2 DIR(Directory) •
. The DIR commam is used to find out what files are stored in a partition assigned toone of your drives. You invoke DIR from the commam prompt. If you do not specify which drive you
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want listed, you will get a directory of the partition assigned to the drive you are currently logged to. B>DIR<CR>, for example, would give you a directory of all the files in whatever partition is assigned to drive B.
If you wanted to find out what files were on some other drive you could either log on to that drive and then invoke the OIR command, or stay on one drive and call for the directory of a. different drive by adding that drive's letter and a colon after the DIR command. For example,
B~IR C:~ would keep you on drive B but give you a directory of dd ve C.
A typical directory looks like this:
B> D;r
B: mOUNTS DAT GEORGE LTR : W.S COM B: MAILIST2 DOC MAILIST3 DOC : SHOPPING LST B: PROP TXT
· ·
SD COM : TAXDEDUC FIL B: DRAFT1 TXT· ·
DRAFT2 TXT DRA FTFIN TXT B: MAILLST1 DOC INVE DOC : TAX LTR B>---NOTE---You can only use the OIR command to search for files in partitions assigned to one of your four drives. If you wish to obtain a directory of some other partition, you must first assign .it to one of your drives with the ASSIGN command
(see 3.11.5).
DMS-5000 3.3 SD
DMS-SOOO 3.3 SD
still available. Because it alphabetizes and gives more information, most people prefer to use SO instead of DIR.
Having the files listed in alphabetic order is a major benefit because partitions often contain so many files that directories fill the entire screen, or even several screens, and
locating a particular file amidst such a profusion is time-consuming.
Seeing the size of a file is also very useful, as is knowing how much space you have left in the partition. File sizes are reported in blocks of 2K (K stands for Kilo, the Metric word for thousand). Thus a file that contained between 1 and 204.8 characters would be listed as 2K, one between 2048 and 4096 as 4K, and so on.
You can also search for particular files, or groups of files, exactly as with the DIR comnand.
Since DIR is part of the operating system it is automatically present no matter what drive you are logged onto, or what partitions are assigned to your drives, and it is not listed as a file in any partition's directory. However, as a separate program, the SO command must be
stored on a partition as a file, and invoked as you would an applications program.
For example,. if SO were stored in the pqrtition assigned to the drive you are logged onto, you would simply type C>sd<CR> to obtain a Super. Directory of that partition.
DMS-SOOO 3.4 REN
I f SD is not stored in the partition you are currently working with, you have to specify the drive of a partition that contains it. If it were stored in the partition assigned to drive A, and you were logged on tp C, you would call it up by typing C)A:SD(CR>.
Of course, just as with the DIR command, you could add on the letter/colon of some other drive after the SD and get a Super Directory of that drive. Thus, B)A:SD D:(CR) instructs the computer to take the SD program from drivel partition A and give you a Super Directory of drive/partition D while you remain logged onto dri ve B.
3.4 REB (Renaming Files).
To rename a file you use the REN command which is part of the CP/M operating system and is automatically present at all times, no matter what drive or partition you are using. After the command prompt you type REN, the new filename, an equals sign, and the old filename. The basic format to remember is NEW=OLD. For example, C)REN wine=water~ would change the file on drTVe" C named 'water' into a file named 'wine'.
After executing a REN command the computer displays a new command prompt below your REN command. To check and make sure that the right file has been given the correct new name, use DIR or SD to see a directory.
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When using the REN conrumand you cannot use the wildcard symbols (*, ?) to change the names of more than one file at a time. If you use one of the forbidden symbols in a filename you will get an error message that repeats your conrumand with a question mark.
If you mistype the name of the old file, or try to rename one that is not stored in the partition, you will get the message NO FI~ If you try to use the name of a file that already exists on the partition as a new name, you will be told FILE EXISTS.
---NOTE---Some applications programs have their own procedures for renaming files which should be used when you are operating within those programs. CP/M's REN command can only be used when the screen shows the CP/M Conrumand Prompt
(A), B) etc.).
3.5 ERA (Erasing Files).
The command for erasing a file is ERA, (another CP/M function that is always present) followed by the drive letter and full name of the file you wish to erase. For example,
D)ERA C:garbage.lst<CR> will erase the file on drive C named 'garbage.lst'. If you do not specify a drive letter, ERA will assume you intend to erase a file from the drive you are currently logged on.
DMS-5000 3.5 ERA
CP/M does not ask you to reconfirm your command, so be sure you have correctly named the drive and file to be eliminated. When the
erasure is completed the computer will display the command prompt. If you wish to make sure the correct file was erased, call up a directory with
DIR or SD.
You may use the wi ldcard symbols (*,?) to erase a group of files that have part of their names in common. For example, B>era *.ltr<CR>
would erase all files on drive B that had LTR
after the period. D>ERA GONE????*<CR> would erase all files on drive D that
Eegan
with GONE, had four additional characters in their name, and were of any type.If you were to type B>ERA A:*.*<CR> you would erase every single frue-stored In the partition assigned to drive A. In this case CP/M will ask you AU.. FILES YjM? I f you respond with a 'Y' then all the files will be gone for good.
---REMlMBER---Except wben you are erasing all files in a partition, CP/M will not ask you to re-confirm your
co.mana.
I t will instantly erase wbat you have told it to erase, so be very sure you specify the correct drive and filename to be deleted.Release: 4/1 /84 3-7
DMS-SOOO 3.6 PIP
3.6 PIP (Copying and Transferr ing Files).
DESTIRATIOR=ORIGIR