LibA2 Release 0.08
Copyright 1996 Christopher J. Madsen

LibA2 provides both end-user utilities and library modules for accessing files on Apple II ProDOS disk images for use with most Apple II emulators.

This is a BETA release of LibA2. There's some documentation, but it's not complete. If you want to see the rest of the documentation, then send email! Otherwise, I'll probably never get around to writing it. Until then, use the source, Luke! There are still probably some bugs, and the interfaces might still change. Use at your own risk. Keep a recent backup handy. Wait sixty minutes before swimming.

All this having been said, I'm not aware of any serious bugs in LibA2 (besides the ones listed in the BUGS section below). Good luck! I would very much like to hear from everyone who tries LibA2. The more comments I get, the more likely I am to do more work on it. Please send comments, questions, bug reports, and patches to me. You'll find my email address at the end of this file.

The included utilities are:

    prodos              version 0.08
        `prodos' is the main end-user utility.  It provides a
        Unix-style shell for accessing ProDOS volumes.  This allows
        you to list the contents of disk images, create
        subdirectories, and copy files to & from disk images.  If you
        have installed the Term::ReadKey and Term::ReadLine modules,
        the shell will have better editing, command & filename
        completion, and a command history.

        The parameters for prodos are:
                prodos IMAGE_FILE

    pro_fmt             version 0.08
        `pro_fmt' creates blank ProDOS disk images.  The images are
        NOT bootable, because they lack the necessary code in the boot
        blocks.  You can copy blocks from a bootable disk image to
        fix this.  The parameters for pro_fmt are:
                pro_fmt [options] IMAGE_FILE

    pro_opt             version 0.08
        `pro_opt' removes unused space from ProDOS disk images.  This
        is most useful for reducing the size of hard disk images.  It
        doesn't use any form of compression; it simply moves
        everything to the beginning of the disk, squashing out empty
        space caused by deleting files.  Be careful with this, as it's
        likely to have some bugs left.  The parameters for pro_opt are:
                pro_opt SOURCE_IMAGE_FILE  DESTINATION_IMAGE_FILE

    awp2txt             version 0.08
        `awp2txt' converts AppleWorks word processor files into text
        files.  This is a bit out of place in LibA2, because it has
        nothing to do with disk images, but I included it because
        users of LibA2 may find it useful.  The parameters for awp2txt are:
                awp2txt FILE ...

    var_display         version 1.08
        `var_display' lists the contents of an Applesoft BASIC VAR file.
        Currently, it can only display string variables and string arrays.
        Like awp2txt, you must first extract the VAR file from the disk
        image.  The parameters for var_display are:
                var_display FILE

For people interested in writing their own utilities in Perl, LibA2 provides Perl 5 modules that supply classes for accessing ProDOS disk images. DOS 3.3 disks are not currently supported (except by AppleII::Disk, which doesn't care what kind of data is on the disk).

The included modules are:

    AppleII::Disk       version 0.08
        `AppleII::Disk' provides block-level access to disk images.
        It's useful because there are two main formats for Apple disk
        images:  ProDOS order and DOS 3.3 order.  These formats do not
        refer to the operating system used on the disk, but to the
        order in which the data appears.  AppleII::Disk takes care of
        the differences for you.

    AppleII::ProDOS     version 0.08
        `AppleII::ProDOS' provides tools for accessing files on ProDOS
        disk images.  `prodos' is basically just a wrapper around
        AppleII::ProDOS.

CHANGES

Here's what's new in version 0.08 of LibA2: (See the file `Changes' for the full revision history.)

        Updated my email address and some documentation.
        Added POD tests.
        Added another fix for the --no-scripts install option.
        There are no functional changes.

LICENSE

        LibA2 is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
        it under the same terms as Perl itself.

        LibA2 is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but
        WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
        MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See
        either the GNU General Public License or the Artistic License
        for more details.

BUGS

Documentation

        There isn't enough.  Yet.  If you'd like to read it, send
        email.  If I think people want to read it, I'm far more likely
        to write it. :-)  Until then, use the source, Luke.

prodos

        There's no way to copy a file from a disk image under another
        name.  This may cause problems under MS-DOS when extracting
        files that don't meet its 8.3 filename limitations.
        Solution: Upgrade to a real operating system.

pro_fmt

        The disk images it creates aren't bootable unless you copy the
        boot blocks from a bootable disk.

AUTHOR

Christopher J. Madsen <perl AT cjmweb.net>