Re: ProDOS Plus revisited

[Rubywand <rubywand@swbell.net>]

Supertimer writes ...
> 
> Rubywand <rubywand@swbell.net> wrote:

 ....

> >Changing the way the Finder represents partitions may help when it
> >comes to a cluttered display. It is not clear that it will help much
> >otherwise (even if we mod the RamFAST to handle more partitions).
> 
> I don't see the problem.  If the Finder treats partitions as
> folders in the root directory, what drawback IS there?
> I mean, it is even better this way because the block size
> does not increase so that space is not wasted as it is in
> DOS FAT.
> 
> I'm thinking of a virtual file system something along the
> lines of DriveSpace, but without the compression.


     Okay; let's say that the Finder knows enough to lump all of the
partitions on a hard disk into, say, a Super Volume named "Narf" which
it shows on the screen using the SV icon. Clicking the icon opens a
window showing the partitions, etc..

     What do applications know? It seems likely that neither GS/OS nor
ProDOS-8 applications will know about Super Volumes unless there is much
more than a change to Finder. This may be okay.

     A Finder using SVolumes will not eliminate the delay for mounting
several slow CD-ROM partitions or a pile of hard disk partitions when
Finder starts. (It does not seem likely that you will be able to make
the mounting of partitions conditional upon the opening of an Svol. If
this could be done without too much hassle, it could be a significant
time saver.)

     Still, having a less cluttered desktop display would be nice,
especially if it is now filled with 20-30 partition icons. Perhaps that,
alone, is reason enough for someone to modify Finder along the lines you
suggest.



Rubywand