Re: 8-bit unzip utility

[pausch@saaf.se (Paul Schlyter)]

In article <1tKdnZgzBMkmVB3bnZ2dnUVZ_sPinZ2d@comcast.com>,
Michael J. Mahon <mjmahon@aol.com> wrote:

> Jerry wrote:
>> mdj wrote:
>> [...]
>> 
>>>>It is very handy using the .. notation to move about in a directory
>>>>tree, as you know.  It's a shame that the ProDOS (SOS?) designers
>>>>didn't provide a way of "trimming" a path as well as extending it.
>>>
>>>Yes, the absence of a 'self' and 'parent' referential entry in each
>>>directory makes it impossible to use relative paths, so while CD is a
>>>handy addition, you still can't do, for example, BLOAD ../THING
>> 
>> 
>> Each subdirectory header contains a parent-pointer, and parent-entry number,
>> so it would be possible to walk back up the pathname toward the root. 
>> ProDOS' prefix would also make it possible to implement ".." using a string
>> truncation.
> 
> Do I hear a ProDOS+ in the making?  ;-)

It's called MS-DOS....   ;-)

And while we're at it, why not make ProDOS+ able to also deal with FAT
formatted floppies?  The Mac can do that, so why not also the Apple
II?  Sure, FAT is nowadays an obsolete file system (although not quite
as obsolete as the ProDOS file system...)  but it's still widely used
as a file system for portable devices: floppy disks, memory sticks,
CF/SD/etc memory cards, and net disks (the only file system which can
be accessed from Windows, Mac, and Linux is .... the FAT file system).
Imagine a 3.5" floppy directly readable from Windows, Mac, Linux ...
and ProDOS!

> -michael
> 
> NadaNet file server for Apple II computers!
> Home page:  http://members.aol.com/MJMahon/
> 
> "The wastebasket is our most important design
> tool--and it's seriously underused."
-- 
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