Re: NIB and DSK questions

[schmidtd <schmidtd@my-deja.com>]

On Feb 5, 11:30 am, Egan Ford <dataj...@gmail.com> wrote:
> 1.  Is there a CLI tool (with source, preferably POSIX) that will
> convert unprotected NIB to DSK?  I've searched and have not found much
> (with links that still exist).  BTW, is there a NIB format description
> floating around anywhere?

Looks like BLuRry took care of you there.  But what do you have an
unprotected .NIB for in the first place?  I can imagine their use in
preserving a volume number.  But if the .NIB had anything significant
in it (different headers, etc.) the .DSK you convert it to won't be of
much use.

A .NIB captures all of the nibbles on a track - including all those
headers, and data in whatever encoding scheme is in force (see Beyond
DOS or ProDOS for encoding descriptions).  It's a de-facto standard
that started with the SST tool.  Most emulators take a .DSK and expand
it into a .NIB anyway - which is why Brendan had such an easy time
making the conversion external.

> 2.  From time to time I encounter a DSK file that is not 143360 in
> length.  Is the assumption that the rest of the file is zeros?

No such assumption of any kind is made.  If they're not 143360,
they're bad - or they're not an undecorated .dsk/.do/.po.  Like
Brendan said, inspection usually will show you what the problem is.
I've seen random garbage at the end of too-long images, and if they're
short... zeroes are your only option.