What is PRODOS?

[BRIAN.HAMMACK@rook.wa.com (brian hammack)]

 Blunier shouted as my whip tasted warm flesh:

  |Is PRO-DOS entirely different from Apple-dos? Does it
  |change the way apple dos works?  Is it it needed to
  |run the binski programs?

Hiya!  You're probably going to get some more mail from others but here
is what I can tell you anyhow...

Long ago Apple created good ol' DOS 3.3 (and previous versions), which
was nice, but not quite as versitile as MS-DOS, so they created in the
early 80's Professional DOS (ProDOS), which is now at version 2.0.3.
Unlike DOS 3.3, the Basic interpreter wasn't part, so BASIC.SYSTEM is an
external used to get at Basic stuff.  It does change the way the Apple
works by quite a bit.  ProDOS pretty much became the Apple standard in
the 80's, so I was surprised to find you didn't know all this.  :)

Generally speaking, nowadays you need ProDOS to run about everything
because about everything is written in it (though Basic and binary
programs usually move back and forth between the two formats without
problems -- Apple utility disks and Copy2+ both can turn one format's
files into the other format).  So yes, every binscii program I know of
comes native in ProDOS (as does most of the term programs you'd use to
get those binscii's!).  If you need more info on ProDOS (how to use
and/or program in it) email me -- years ago I typed a FAQ/info file for
friends who were just getting into it, since the ProDOS User's Manual
which came with later-model //e's and every new computer since 1985 only
tells how to boot and run the System Master, nothing else.

ProDOS lets you set the date/time for the system on files (a couple POKE
statements if you don't have a system clock), catalog a disk two ways,
set prefixes, use a program launcher without running a menu program, and
some other stuff.  And as said, everybody's doing it...

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 * 2qwk! 1.26b2 * "Bother," said Pooh, and he deleted his message base.