Getting the OS9 Attitude



     (This is a limited peek into a powerful, complex system.  It is not
     intended as a "how to" manual, rather to help you "get the feel".
     Some specifics are given and every attempt has been made to be
     accurate in these cases.)


     From the very outset I will make it clear that, as it comes, OS9 for
     CoCo is a rather crippled system because of its packaging and lack of
     support from the producer.  There are several things you can do, as
     soon as you are able, that will make it vastly superior to what it is
     in its original form.

     First, have Level 2 on a CoCo3.  There is no comparison between a 32
     or 40 column screen and an 80 column screen, but for strange reasons
     OS9 arrives in a low resolution package and on single sided, 35 track
     disks.  Personally, I wouldn't even consider using it that way.  It is
     like having a powerful new car with special full time brakes installed
     and all but one window painted black.

     So you have an 80 column computer; how do you get OS9 to use it?
     There is an article by RICKULAND entitled "The First Step" included in
     this collection.  It tells you how to switch to 80 columns, double
     sided 40 track disks and high speed drive stepping.  It is a fairly
     long tedious procedure, but when it's done, you'll be able to see what
     you're doing and you'll have more than double the disk space.

     Another real aid in using OS9 is in the System Modules database.  It
     is written by OS9 programmer Kevin Darling and is called SCF EDITOR
     PLUS - LEVEL TWO.  Again it is a task and a half to install, but is
     WELL worth it.  It is a command line editor that makes life in the OS9
     world of long command lines greatly easier, especially if you're not
     an expert typist.  If you do not have a friend who can install this
     feature for you the guys on the SIG will help you through it like they
     did me.  I will talk more about this later.

     There are many other improvements and additions to OS9 that you will
     get as you go along, but these are tops in my opinion.  Next in line
     would be the new shell, SHELL+, with several improvements.  As of this
     writing the highest version is v2.1.  The sooner you can arrive at an
     updated system the better off you'll be.

     Coming to OS9 from CoCo Disk Extended Color BASIC involves something
     besides the software and dreams of owning a hard drive - if you don't
     already have one.  No doubt you've heard about the power and
     versatility of OS9.  It is, indeed, several steps ahead of DECB in
     many respects.  But the change in environments can be almost
     overwhelming if you don't grasp a few essentials - a few of the
     differences between DECB and OS9.  You can't maintain a DECB attitude
     while learning OS9.

                                      -1-











     DECB is a BASIC language with some of the power of a DOS (disk
     operating system) thrown in.  OS9 is an operating system with some of
     the power of a language thrown in.  This much is mundane.  But getting
     into the actual differences is both interesting and essential.

     A simple concept that sheds light on the move to OS9 can be
     illustrated this way.  If you had all the money you wanted, but all
     audio/video systems were alike, it would take you minutes to buy a
     complete system.  But with all the hundreds or thousands of TVs, CDs,
     amps, tuners, speakers, stereos, tape players, recorders, multi media
     systems, etc., etc., in the equation, it is a major job deciding on an
     intelligent system purchase.

     The more options an operating system has, the more decisions you must
     make, the more you must remember, and the more occasions you have to
     make mistakes.  What might involve 3 factors in a simple system might
     involve 10 in a more powerful system.  The 3 would give you 9 paths to
     choose from.  The 10 would give you 100 choices - for starters.

     The importance of this point can't be over estimated.  And it directly
     relates to one of the things that causes the most trouble and
     consternation to new OS9 users - multiple directory disk organization.
     That will be our starting point and our prime consideration.

     For all practical purposes an OS9 system might as well have 6 or 8 (or
     more) different drives.  You can imagine how much you could do by
     organizing them all in creative order!  But you can also imagine the
     headaches of remembering which drive had what on it if they weren't
     organized.  This dilemma would ideally be solved by arranging them in
     a logical heirarchical order.

     First you would divide everything up into files that do work and files
     that are worked on - executable files and data files.  If you have a
     great many executable files you might have to divide them into 2 or
     more sets.  The data files must be divided into many more sets and
     subsets.  There are data files like messages, there are tables, lists,
     subroutines, logs, graphics, music, controls, etc.  Some files even
     defy catagorizing!

     Which drives would get which files?  Remember, we're talking about
     much power and large numbers of files!  And, to make it interesting
     most of the commands you would use like "deldir" aren't usually in
     memory, but on disk!  To get all the power, THERE ARE SO MANY commands
     they'd choke the computer if you put them all in memory at the same
     time!  And you'd go crazy looking for the right one on the disk -
     except for the organization.

     (Pay close attention to the use of words like "might" and "could".
     This is not a "how to" article.  I will go out of my way to avoid
     setting down "how to" rules while hypothesizing.)

     A level of organization is USUALLY, but not always (another variable)
     indicated by a "/" mark.  Let's look at some levels.

                                      -2-











     Within the disk in a drive there might be a section of commands.
     Listed under commands (besides scores of things we usually think of as
     commands) might be WP, a word processor, and SS a spread sheet .
     Let's see what this starts to look like.  Then I'll back up and make
     things better (and relieve those who just KNOW I'm doing this wrong.).

                            drive 0
                            |     |
                     Commands     Data
                     |      |
                   cmd 1  cmd 2

     You start with a "/" for the top level           /
     You add a drive number                           /d0
     You add another "/" for a level within d0        /d0/
     You add the commands identifier                  /d0/cmds
     You add another level indicator                  /d0/cmds/
     Finally the name of the word processor           /d0/cmds/wp

     In BASIC you enter RUN"WP".  In OS9 you enter /d0/cmds/wp.  A 3 level
     command.  (Nothing magic about the "3".  There can be more levels.)

     Let's do a tiny bit of computing - deleting WP from the disk.  That
     will add another dimension to remember.  If there were only one level
     you could enter "del wp."  But the computer wants something like this:
     del /d0/cmds/wp

     The real beginners OS9 system usually starts with 2 drives at the top
     level of organization.  So let's put a backup copy of WP on the other
     drive - drive 1.  Let's see how complicated this can turn out:   copy
     /d0/cmds/wp /d1/cmds/wp

     Already you can see something that is similar to DECB - spaces
     separate items within a statement.  Something different is that both
     the word "copy" and the word "WP" are executable and considered
     commands on the disk.  Some people separate these kinds of files
     making yet another thing to remember.

     Now remember that you have tons of stuff on your disk - commands and
     data.  The authors of OS9 came up with a way to cut down on a lot of
     the typing you need to do to slice through all the levels of
     organization.  You can set the system to know what drive and/or level
     you're working with and whether it is executable or data.  Voila, the
     commands CHD (data) and CHX (executable).

     (Let's switch to computer talk for these levels of organization.  What
     they are called is directories and sub-directories.  Like a general
     index for an encyclopedia then a different index for each book.)

     If you enter "chx /d0/cmds" you set the executable commands pointer to
     that drive and directory.  Then you can leave off that part from a
     typed command!  Since WP is in the cmds directory, to get it you just
     enter "wp"!  At this point you could delete it by entering "del wp."
     Simplifies things, doesn't it?

                                      -3-











     (Let's do some more computerese.  After the command itself, a line
     like we've been using is called a pathlist.  It indicates the path
     down through the levels of directories to a given item you're after.
     Remember - the effective name [pathlist] of a file includes the names
     of the drives and directories above the filename itself.)

     These helpful commands (CHD and CHX) are perhaps even more time saving
     if you're dealing with data.  For example, if you have to decompress
     several files that are located in the ARC directory, you could enter
     "chd /d1/arc".  Then you could call all the files without the full
     command line and all the files you decompress (dearchive) would be
     stored in that same directory.

     (Still more.  When you set chx to a directory it is then called the
     "execution" directory and the system will look there for any command
     you use that doesn't have a pathlist preceding it.)

     CHD and CHX are a lot like connecting to two single directory drives,
     one for data and one for commands.  That simplifies things doesn't it?
     But are you thinking what I'm thinking?  Chd and chx are also two more
     things to remember!

     So what happens if you forget?  You get an error!!  If you set "chx
     /d1/cmds" and then call for a command that is on drive 0 you will get
     an "error 216" - pathname not found.  That is like an NE error in
     DECB.  But you can't just blame things on CHD or CHX, because the
     system will have to look in SOME specific place for what you command.
     And if you ask the wrong thing, you get the wrong thing.

     Note that the error message uses "pathname", not "pathlist".  Consider
     a pathname a segment (between slashes) of a pathlist.  Let's look
     closer at errors.  Forwarned is indeed forarmed.

     Usually errors are the bane of the OS9 beginners existance.  With so
     many things to remember it is easy to make multiple mistakes.  And as
     with other systems the actual error number doesn't always tell you
     what's wrong - even if you look up the number.

     But there is something you can keep in mind that will ease your
     recovery from such things with the least frustration and time.
     Knowing it in advance will at least allow you to analyze problems in
     an intelligent way.  Remember that the file name is called "pathlist"
     because it includes the path of drives or directories through which
     the file is accessed.

     Any part of the pathlist can give you the error - not just the file
     name at the end of it.  Let me describe just one error problem.

     If the command you start a line with is not in the directory of
     executable commands that you indicate, you can get a 216 error there.
     If the drive you name, has the wrong disk in it, you can get an error
     from that part of the pathlist.  If the directory you name is not on
     the indicated disk, that will give the same error, 216 - pathname not

                                      -4-










     found.  And, of course, if the file you want turns out not to be in
     the indicated directory, same thing.  Of course, misspelling can
     effect any of these things.

     At least you now know to look in different places for trouble.

     All this really involves a state of mind.  To get at all that power
     you have to think differently (and more) with OS9 than you did in
     DECB.  It's like moving into a house with 10 times as many rooms and
     10 times the stuff.  At first you'll have trouble remembering where
     you put everything.

     You will find, as you progress, that there are alternative ways to do
     a given task.  The third section will involve a little less attitude
     and a little more technique.  There I will go a little deeper into
     some points I have made so far.  Now section two.


                              Beyond the System

     A sort of philosophy is also involved when you begin to deal with OS9
     software.  If you used only smoothly functioning, shrink wrapped
     commercial software, you probably wouldn't be reading this.  You've
     probably been on Delphi to try the OS9 SIG's software or ask for help
     with something that is not so smooth running.

     There are beginners who frequent Delphi.  Often they're as full of
     questions as you are, but they have answers.  At the other end of the
     spectrum there are some very expert and brilliant programmers who know
     "everything there is to know" about OS9.  Too often, you will find
     yourself simply talking a different language than these "tech types."

     It isn't that they don't want to help.  They're helping each other
     every day!  If you want to know something about the exact syntax of an
     obscure part of a brand new update to the latest XYZ language
     enhancement, you're in luck.  But if you want to know how to get the
     menu on yesterdays spreadsheet it might take longer.

     Some very bright programmers dash off experimental programs for fun.
     Sometimes they like what they end up with and post it on Delphi.
     Maybe they wrote 2 pages of documentations for a complicated
     communications program.  Maybe they didn't finish it.  Maybe they
     forgot they even wrote it!  Grabbing the first thing in sight may or
     may not be a good idea.

     If you're looking to OS9 to be the cure for the common cold, the end
     all, be all, you need to rethink things.  It is a tough thing to
     learn.  But some of those brilliant programmers I mentioned have
     worked long and hard at getting rid of bugs in the original package
     and adding yet more power to it.

     I guess the irony is that this system sits in such a tiny box wishing
     it had some place to go.  Users require more and more function.  That
     calls for more and bigger software, and that calls for more memory

                                      -5-