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- | __ \ / ____|
- | |__) | __ ___ | | ___ _ __ _ _
- | ___/ '__/ _ \| | / _ \| '_ \| | | |
- | | | | | (_) | |___| (_) | |_) | |_| |
- |_| |_| \___/ \_____\___/| .__/ \__, |
- | | __/ |
- Version 2.58 |_| |___/
-
- =======================
- Multiple disc copier
- =======================
-
- © David Holden, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997
-
-
-
- _______
- ____|__ | (R)
- --| | |-------------------
- | ____|__ | Association of
- | | |_| Shareware
- |__| o | Professionals
- -----| | |---------------------
- |___|___| MEMBER
-
-
-
- Contents
- 1.1 Licence to use
- 1:2 Registration file
- 1.3 Licence to copy
- 1.4 A.S.P. Message
- Introduction
- 1:5 Use with RISC-OS 2
- 1:6 How it works
- 1:7 Formatting
- 1:8 Types of disc
- 1:9 Disc images
- 1:10 Compression
- Using ProCopy
- 2:1 Getting Started
- 2:2 Read
- 2:3 Write
- 2:4 Format
- 2:5 Options
- 2:6 Preset
- 2:7 Clear
- 2:8 Info
- 2:9 Quit
- 2:10 A short demonstration
- 2:11 Counting Copies
- 2:12 Repeat copies
- 2:13 Clearing an Image
- 2:14 Read and Write drives
- 2:15 Background operation
- 2:16 Pausing
- 2:17 Auto copying
- 2:18 Number of copies
- 2:19 Auto and Normal copying
- 2:20 Concurrent operation
- 2:21 Key shortcuts
- Saving and Loading disc images
- 3:1 How it Works
- 3:2 Saving the Image
- 3:3 Reloading an Image
- Use with the RamDisc
- 4.1 Creating a RamDisc
- 4.2 Disc image to RamDisc
- 4.3 RamDisc to Disc Image
- 4.4 Copying files to floppy
- Formatting
- 5:1 The Format Window
- 5:2 Background
- 5:3 Verify
- 5:4 Warn defects
- 5:5 Formatting a disc
- 5:6 Auto formatting
- 5:7 Saving the Format options
-
- The Options window
- 6:1 Background
- 6:2 Verify
- 6:3 Format
- 6:4 Confirm
- 6:4 Preferences
- 6:5 Saving/Loading the options
- The Preset list
- 7:1 The Preset List window
- 7:2 Adding images to the list
- 7:3 Saving/Loading the Preset List
- 7:4 Deleting items
- Problems and Suggestions
- 8:1 Reporting errors
- 8:2 Partly filled discs
- 8:3 Formatting
- 8:4 DOS discs
- 8:5 640K ADFS discs
- 8:6 OS and Hardware compatibility
- 8:7 'D' and 'E' format discs
- 8:8 Disc errors
- 8:9 Memory usage
- 8:10 Compressing disc images
- 8:11 Problems
- 8:12 Other formats
- 8:13 Filename in the Preset List
- 8:14 Using unformatted discs
- Keeping Logfiles
- 9:1 Logfile location
- 9:2 Logfile format
- 9:3 The !CopyLog application
- Appendix
- Keys used with icon clicks
- The Preset List file
- Use with Autocopiers
- Copy protected discs
- Sprites
-
-
- This program is not Public Domain, it is
- _____ _
- / ____| |
- | (___ | |__ __ _ _ __ _____ ____ _ _ __ ___
- \___ \| '_ \ / _` | '__/ _ \ \ /\ / / _` | '__/ _ \
- ____) | | | | (_| | | | __/\ V V / (_| | | | __/
- |_____/|_| |_|\__,_|_| \___| \_/\_/ \__,_|_| \___|
-
- Shareware is NOT 'free software'. It is copyrighted, commercial
- software, just like any other normal programs that you buy. Shareware is
- simply a try before you buy distribution method. Using a Shareware
- program without paying is software piracy, and carries exactly the same
- penalties as using any other illegally copied program.
-
- 1.1 Licence to use
-
- You are licensed to evaluate this program for a period of Thirty Days.
- At the end of this time you must either stop using it or send a cheque
- for Fifteen Pounds to me at the address overleaf. Use after this time
- is a breach of this licence and, as well as being morally reprehensible,
- is now a criminal offence.
-
- The standard registration Fee of £15 permits full commercial use on a
- single computer. If you intend to use !ProCopy on more than a single
- machine then you will need either a Site or Company Licence. Use on more
- than one computer without the appropriate Licence is a breach of
- Copyright and I reserve the right to take action against any
- organisation or individual who does so.
-
- ProCopy is so invaluable for user groups, clubs, in fact, any any
- organisation that needs to make multiple copies of discs that under some
- circumstances eg. non commercial use by a charity or other non profit
- making organisation, I may be prepared to waive or reduce the Site
- Licence fee or permit use on multiple machines for a single Licence fee,
- or even, in exceptional circumstances, reduce the basic Single User Fee.
- If you think your organisation or club may be entitled to such a
- reduction please send full details with an SAE for my reply.
-
- 1:2 Registration file
-
- When you register I will send the latest version and your personal
- 'PC_Reg' file which will disable the annoying start up message and put
- your name or company name in the 'Info' box instead of the word
- 'Unregistered'. You will also get a laser printed Manual. The PC_Reg
- file contains your encrypted name and will work with any future version
- of !ProCopy. This means that, provided you remove the PC_reg file first
- you can pass a copy of !ProCopy on to your friends, or obtain a later
- version from a PD library or BBS.
-
- DON'T FORGET TO REGISTER
-
- To simplify registration I have made the last page of this Manual a
- registration form. Please use this when you register as it helps me to
- keep my records in order. I am always happy to answer queries or listen
- to suggestions even if you haven't yet registered.
-
- Important - Whereas every effort has been made to ensure that this
- program operates correctly and without error no responsibility can be
- taken for any corruption or loss of data or any other problems
- consequent upon its use.
-
- 1.3 Licence to copy
-
- Any private individual may distribute copies of !ProCopy provided this
- is done without charge for the program or documentation.
-
- If you charge any fee for copying this program, whether in money or in
- kind, or if you control any media, including bulletin boards, which
- distributes software you are not permitted to distribute this program
- without prior permission of the Author. This permission will normally be
- granted with only minor restrictions.
-
- If you wish to distribute ProCopy please write to the address below
- enclosing a SAE and a disc so I can send the latest version.
- Distribution by any organisation without this permission will be treated
- as Breach of Copyright. You must not make any charge for the program,
- although you may make a charge to cover media and distribution costs. No
- alterations may be made to the program, ancillary files, or
- documentation and you must include the text file version of the full
- Manual and the !CopyLog application. You are not permitted to distribute
- any printed Manuals or to distribute any version of the Manual other
- than as an ASCII text file on disc.
-
- Use of this program for any Commercial purpose or for the Demonstration
- or Promotion of any product or service without prior written permission
- of the Author is Absolutely Forbidden. I reserve the right to charge a
- Fee for granting permission.
-
- It is strictly forbidden to distribute copies of an PC_Reg file or any
- version of the program which does not display the 'Start Up' message.
-
- David Holden
- 39 Knighton Park Road
- Sydenham
- London SE26 5RN
- 0181 778 2659
- <info@apdl.co.uk>
-
- 1.4 A.S.P. Message
-
- This program is produced by a member of the Association of Shareware
- Professionals (ASP). ASP wants to make sure that the Shareware
- principle works for you. If you are unable to resolve a shareware
- related problem with an ASP member by contacting the member directly,
- ASP may be able to help. The ASP Ombudsman can help you resolve a
- dispute or problem with an ASP member, but does not provide technical
- support for members' products. Please write to the ASP Ombudsman at 545
- Grover Road, Muskegon, MI 49442-9427, U.S.A. or send a CompuServe
- message via CompuServe Mail to ASP Ombudsman 70007,3536 or FAX
- 616-788-2765.
-
- Introduction
- ------------
-
- ProCopy is a program for making multiple copies of a disc. It is not
- intended to copy discs which are copy protected, nor as a replacement
- for the 'Backup' to copy a single disc. It is designed for clubs or
- other organisations where many copies of a subscription disc or circular
- are required but where the cost of an expensive bulk disc copier
- (normally around £2,500) is not justified. What Procopy will do is to
- save a great deal of time and a lot of disc swapping if you want several
- (or several dozen) copies.
-
- It is a much enhanced version of a program called !Copier that I wrote
- for Archimedes World some years ago. Since that time it has been
- continually developed and, although, it has much in common with the
- earlier program, it is not just a slightly rehashed version.
-
- 1:5 Use with RISC-OS 2
-
- Earlier versions worked with both RISC-OS 2 and RISC-OS 3 but RO2
- compatibility has now been dropped. Acorn have, in fact, now asked
- developers to stop supporting RO2, but the main reason that I have
- decided not to continue to make ProCopy work with RO2 is that many of
- the routines need to be different with the obsolete OS, and this adds to
- program size and complexity and reduces speed. Although I don't
- anticipate that anyone needing a program of this type will still be
- using RO2 I do know of ay least one developer who has a machine fitted
- with RO2 for compatibility testing and sometimes uses that machine for
- disc copying, so there may be a need and I am prepared to try to
- accommodate you.
-
- 1:6 How it works
-
- ProCopy works by taking a complete copy of the disc as a 'disc image'
- which can be transferred to another disc to create a perfect copy of the
- original. This is what 'Backup' does but the advantage of Procopy is
- that it doesn't 'throw away' the disc image after the copy has been
- made. The image is kept in memory so you can make as many copies as you
- need without swapping discs and reloading the original each time as you
- need to do with Backup.
-
- The disadvantage is that you must have enough free memory to hold the
- disc image. Unlike Backup Procopy can't copy a disc in two 'bites'. In
- practice this means you must have at least 2Mb to copy 800K discs and it
- is best to have 4Mb for 1.6Mb discs. It is just possible to copy 1.6Mb
- discs on a 2Mb machine if no other applications are running.
-
- 1:7 Formatting
-
- The other advantage with Procopy is that you don't need to format discs
- first! Procopy can format discs before copying, and it can format them
- faster than the normal Acorn routine. The cycle of formatting, copying
- and verifying (yes, it does that too!) can take less than half the time
- required for each disc compared with the 'normal' method.
-
- In fact ProCopy can also format discs without copying. This can have
- advantages over the normal desktop formatting system as will be
- explained later.
-
- 1:8 Types of disc
-
- Procopy will work with 640K and 800K ADFS ('E' or 'F' format) and 720K
- DOS discs. It will also work with 1.6 Mb ADFS and 1.44 Mb DOS and 1.7Mb
- Microsoft Distribution discs. if you have a machine with a hi-density
- drive as original equipment. It should work with 'third party'
- hi-density upgrades which replace ADFS drive 0.
-
- 1:9 Disc images
-
- A major feature of ProCopy is that the disc image can be saved on a hard
- disc as a file. This can then be reloaded into ProCopy so that further
- copies can be made. You do not, in fact, even need to keep the original
- floppy disc. Once the disc image is saved on your hard disc you can
- recreate the original at any time. Not only is this a very quick and
- convenient way of duplication but many hundreds of disc images can be
- kept on a single hard disc (or removable media such as a Syquest drive)
- which reduces the storage space required.
-
- 1:10 Compression
-
- At one time I did test a version of ProCopy which used LZW compression
- to reduce the size of a disc image before saving it to a hard disc. The
- image was then decompressed when it was reloaded. It was decided that
- this feature was not a good idea and so it has never appeared in a
- distributed version.
-
- There were several reasons why compression was abandoned but the main
- one is that most people who distribute discs now use some form of
- compression such as ArcFS, SparkFS etc. Attempting to compress a disc
- image which is filled with files which have already been compressed
- often results in a disc image which is larger than the uncompressed
- original. Users of this type of program will be familiar with this
- phenomena which happens when you try to compress a file which has
- already been compressed in some way. As this added considerably to
- program size and complexity it was felt that it would be better if users
- who wished to compress their disc images did so 'externally' using one
- of the P.D. or commercial compression programs or filing systems.
-
- ArcFS or SparkFS can be used for this, although both need quite a lot of
- free RAM which means that you really need a 4Mb machine to compress even
- an 800K disc image, and for a 1.6 Mb disc you really need more than 4Mb.
- It might be better to use Computer Concepts CFS, and although I don't
- normally like this program this may be one place where it is preferable
- to the others.
-
- Using ProCopy
- -------------
-
- 2:1 Getting Started
-
- You should find two applications on your ProCopy disc, the main !ProCopy
- program and another called !CopyLog. The second of these is merely used
- to store logfiles and will be described later.
-
- To run Procopy double-click on the !ProCopy program icon in the usual
- way and it will be installed on the icon bar. At first the icon will be
- a feint grey outline of a disc. You can also start ProCopy by
- double-clicking on a Disc Image file, but at first you won't have any.
-
- Click MENU (the middle mouse button) on the Procopy icon and the main
- menu will appear. This contains the following items.
-
- 2:2 Read
-
- If you click SELECT on this this the 'Read Disc' window will open. At
- the top is shown the name of the current disc image, or 'None' if one
- has not yet been loaded. Below that is shown the number of the drive
- from which the disc image will be loaded. This can be changed using the
- two 'bump' icons. Most machines will have only a single floppy drive and
- so you will not be able to change it.
-
- At the bottom left is a small 'status' icon. At this stage it will
- probably show 'All', but if you read a disc in Multi Tasking mode it
- will count the tracks as they are read.
-
- At the bottom right is a large button marked 'Read Disc'. This is the
- 'go' button and clicking on it will read the image of the disc in the
- selected drive.
-
- 2:3 Write
-
- At this stage this will be shaded. It will be described later.
-
- 2.4 Format
-
- This opens the Format window. This is used when you want to 'just'
- format a disc or a series of discs rather then format and then copy an
- image onto the disc. It is described fully in it's own section later.
-
- 2:5 Options
-
- Clicking on this opens the 'Options' window. This is extremely complex
- and so leave it alone for the present and it will be described later in
- its own section.
-
- This also leads to a sub-menu with two items, 'Save' and 'Restore'.
- These duplicate functions in the Options window and will again be
- described in that section.
-
- 2:6 Preset
-
- This opens the Preset List window which is quite complex and is
- explained later.
-
- 2:7 Clear
-
- This clears a disc image from memory. If one is not loaded clicking on
- it has no effect.
-
- 2:8 Info
-
- This opens the usual 'Info' window. If you have not yet registered then
- the bottom icon will show 'Unregistered', otherwise it will display the
- name of the registered user.
-
- 2:9 Quit
-
- As you might expect, this closes down the ProCopy application.
-
- 2:10 A short demonstration
-
- Click MENU on the Procopy icon to display the menu and select Read and
- the Read Window will open. Put an 800K floppy disc with some files on it
- in drive :0 and click on 'Read Disc' in this window. The drive will
- start up, the disc name will appear in the window and the disc image
- will be read. When this has been done the Read Window will close and you
- will see that the ProCopy icon has changed to a solid blue disc with the
- word 'ready' beneath it.
-
- In fact when an image is loaded the icon on the icon bar will be the
- same as the file icon for a disc image of that size. These are identical
- except for the colours, which are -
-
- 640K Black
- 800K Blue
- 1.6 Mb Orange
- 720K DOS Red
- 1.44 Mb DOS Bright green
- 1.7 Mb Microsoft Dark green
-
- Bring up the main menu again and click on 'Options' to open the Options
- Window. This consists of lots of icons to set all the various options On
- or Off. It is described fully later but for the present just set the
- following items. In the 'Format' box set 'Always' to 'On'. In the
- 'Background' box set all items to 'Off'. In the 'Verify' box set
- 'Always' to 'On'. When this is done you can close the window.
-
- Go back to the Menu and you will find 'Write' is no longer shaded. Click
- on 'Write' and the Write Window will appear. Put an unformatted 1Mb/800K
- disc in drive :0 and click on 'Write Disc' which is the large 'button'
- in the centre of the window. If you don't have a spare unformatted disc
- use any disc of the correct type, even if it has been formatted
- differently. You will see the word 'Waiting' at the bottom of the Write
- Window change to 'Formatting' and the text under the icon will change
- from 'Ready' to 'Format', The disc drive will start up and the disc will
- be formatted to 800K. During this the mouse pointer will change to an
- Hourglass and the word 'All' will appear in the box after 'Formatting'.
- This is because we have set the 'Background' options to 'Off'. More
- about this later.
-
- When the disc has been formatted the word 'Formatting' will change to
- 'Copying' in the Write Window, the text under the icon will change to
- 'Copy' and the disc image will be copied to the disc. Once this
- operation is complete there will be a further change to 'Verifying'.
- When this has been done the mouse pointer will return to normal, and if
- the disc is verified without errors the text will change back to
- 'Waiting' and 'Ready' to show that it is ready for the next operation.
-
- If you click on the drive icon you will see that the disc is now an
- exact copy of the original.
-
- 2:11 Counting Copies
-
- If you look at the Write Window after copying the disc you will see that
- the 'Copies' box now contains the figure '1' to tell you that you have
- successfully made one copy. If the disc had failed to verify then it
- would have been counted in the 'Faulty' box.
-
- There are two reasons for counting discs in this way. Most obviously it
- saves you the trouble of keeping count manually. The secondary purpose
- is that counting good and faulty discs separately lets you check that
- you haven't accidentally put a faulty disc on to the 'good' pile when
- making a lot of copies. When you have made the number of copies you
- require it is simple to check that the number of discs in the 'bad' pile
- is the same as the number of faulty copies shown, if not you have mixed
- a bad disc in with the good ones! Most of the time this will be zero
- but Procopy is deliberately more fussy about the quality of discs it
- passes than the normal Verify routine so you may get the occasional
- reject. Quite often these will then reformat and verify successfully and
- Procopy can in fact carry out this operation automatically to minimise
- rejects.
-
- 2:12 Repeat copies
-
- It should now be obvious that to make more copies you just insert
- another blank disc in drive 0 and click on 'Write Disc' in the Write
- Window again, repeating the operation as many times as required. If you
- want to close the window between making copies you can do so and then
- reopen it.
-
- In fact Procopy has an even simpler way to make a number of copies and
- this will be described later under 'Auto copying'.
-
- 2:13 Clearing an Image
-
- Procopy normally takes only 80K of RAM for itself but it needs a lot
- more when holding a disc image in memory. Because RAM is allocated in
- 32K 'chunks' on 4Mb pre RISC PC machines it will actually take 96K on
- one of these models. If you have finished copying a particular disc but
- haven't yet finished with Procopy and so don't want to Quit you can
- force Procopy to 'unload' a disc image and give back this RAM. Just
- click on 'Clear' on the Menu and Procopy will revert to its 'Waiting'
- state taking only 80K
-
- 2:14 Read and Write drives
-
- Most Archimedes computers probably have only a single floppy disc drive
- but if you do have more than one you can select the source and
- destination drives for the copy operation. You will see the drive number
- shown in the Read and Write windows, just click on the arrows beside
- this to change it. If you don't have more than one drive this won't
- work. Note that the Read and Write drives can be different, changing one
- does not alter the other.
-
- 2:15 Background operation
-
- The Reading, Writing, Formatting and Verifying operations can all be
- carried out as multi tasking background operations if required. This
- enables you to do other things on the desktop while copying discs. The
- disadvantage of this is that because of the need to poll the Wimp and
- let other programs have a chance to operate everything will take longer.
- In fact a complete Format/Copy/Verify operation will take nearly 50%
- longer than the time taken if the operations are not multi-tasking.
- Also, as many of the operations take a certain amount of time, for
- example formatting a disc track, there will be a noticeable delay when
- carrying out other tasks and the desktop may become a bit 'jerky'.
- However you may prefer this to losing control of the computer completely
- for a couple of minutes while a disc is being copied.
-
- Because of this each operation can be separately defined as multi
- tasking or not. This lets you choose your own compromise between speed
- of operation and the amount of time you will lose control of the
- computer.
-
- As seen in the demonstration, when background operations are switched
- off the mouse pointer changes to an Hourglass while an operation is
- being carried out and the 'progress' box in the Read or Write window
- says 'All'. When you have chosen that an operation is to be carried out
- as a background task the mouse pointer will not change and you will see
- the disc tracks being counted in the 'progress' box if the appropriate
- window is open.
-
- You can mix background and non background operations if you wish,
- Procopy will switch between modes as required. You can even open the
- Options Window and change mode while Procopy is working, although the
- new method of operation will not take effect until the next time the
- operation is carried out.
-
- 2:16 Pausing
-
- You will see that there is a button marked 'Pause' to the left of the
- Write Disc button in the Write Window. If you click on this during a
- background operation then the operation will be temporarily halted until
- you click on the Pause button again, when it will continue exactly where
- it stopped. During this the legend under the Procopy icon will change to
- 'Pause' to remind you of what is happening.
-
- 2:17 Auto copying
-
- Auto copying is a way of making a predetermined number of copies without
- needing to repeatedly check the number completed. Above the Write Disc
- button is a writeable icon marked 'Number of Copies' in which you can
- enter the quantity you require. For example, if you need twenty copies
- click on this box to make the caret appear there and enter the number
- 20. As soon as you have done this and pressed RETURN copying will
- commence.
-
- Alternatively you can click on the 'Auto' icon instead of pressing
- RETURN. Unlike 'normal' copying, as soon as this is done the Write
- Window will close (unless you have set the option to keep it open). As
- before operations can be carried out either as background or foreground
- tasks. As soon as the disc has been copied the computer will 'beep'.
- What happens now depends upon whether you have selected 'Confirm Write'
- in the Options Window.
-
- If you have selected 'Confirm Write' as soon as a copy is completed the
- Write Window will reopen. To make the next copy insert another disc and
- click on 'Auto'. Unlike clicking on 'Write Disc' you will not be asked
- for confirmation, even if you have selected this in the Options Window.
-
- If you have not selected 'Confirm Write' the Write Window will not
- re-open. Instead the Procopy icon will change to an animation of putting
- a new disc into the drive. You don't need to do anything except remove
- the completed disc and insert a new one. Procopy will detect you have
- changed discs and begin making the next copy.
-
- You may not always want the program to start up straight away when you
- insert a new disc so if you click on the icon to open the Write Window
- at this point you can select 'Pause'. The main difference between using
- Pause at this point and any other is that to re-start you should click
- on 'Auto' instead of 'Pause' again.
-
- The disc change detection works with any computer using RISC-OS 3 but
- the system used on older models not fitted with a hi density drive is
- somewhat crude. If you have an older model you may prefer to set Confirm
- On when using auto copy.
-
- Note that the operation of 'Confirm Write' is different depending upon
- whether you are using normal or auto copying. With auto copying Confirm
- simply means that you will need to click on 'Auto' before a disc is
- copied, with normal copying you will have to confirm separately after
- you have clicked on 'Write Disc'.
-
- If a disc fails to verify correctly after copying and the Write Window
- is closed then an Error message will be displayed to make sure that you
- have realised that the disc is faulty.
-
- 2:18 Number of copies
-
- This cycle of operations will continue until you have made the number of
- copies previously entered in the Write Window. In fact you can change
- this if you wish, even after copying has begun, so if you decide you
- need a couple of extra's you can alter the required number.
-
- When the last copy has been made the Write Window will not appear again,
- just a message to tell you that the required number of copies has been
- made. However if you do want more you can either open it from the Menu
- and increase the number or simply click on 'Write Disc'. When in Auto
- copying mode clicking SELECT on the Procopy icon will always open the
- Write Window so you can watch progress if you choose.
-
- WARNING - Don't forget that when Auto copying without requiring
- confirmation before each copy is made Procopy will start working AS SOON
- AS A NEW DISC IS INSERTED. If you don't intend this to happen use Pause
- until you are ready to continue.
-
- 2:19 Differences between Auto and Normal copying
-
- At first it might seem that the only real difference is that with Auto
- copying you enter the number of copies required first and you don't need
- to click on anything as you insert each new disc. Although these are the
- most obvious differences and copies are made in the same way the two
- methods are intended to be used for slightly different purposes.
-
- Normal mode would probably only be used when the main task you are
- carrying out is copying discs. If you are not carrying out any of the
- operations in the background it will copy at the highest possible speed.
- As you are required to click on the icon to start each new cycle you can
- use this 'break' to carry out other tasks. There is a similar break when
- waiting for a new disc to be inserted in Auto mode, but repeatedly
- checking the drive to see if the disc has been changed does take quite a
- large slice of the available processing time so it is not very
- satisfactory unless you use 'Pause'.
-
- Auto mode is better when copying discs is a secondary task. For this
- reason the window is normally removed as soon as possible. You will only
- be prompted when you are required to change discs or if an error occurs.
- If you wish to carry out a task and don't want the delay caused by the
- background copying operations to occur you can click on the Procopy icon
- to open the Write Window and then use 'Pause' to halt the operation
- until you are ready for it to continue. Used in this way you can copy
- discs with the minimum of interference with your main task and the
- minimum of action on the part of the operator.
-
- Please Note: I have so far assumed that you have not altered any of the
- Options from their default settings. If you have then some things might
- not happen as described. ProCopy is designed to be extremely flexible in
- the way it operates, and this manual would become almost unintelligible
- if all possible alternatives were described all the time. Please see the
- chapter on the Options Window for a full description of these.
-
- 2:20 Concurrent operation
-
- Until now I have described proCopy operating in its normal or
- 'consective' mode where the operations, Formatting, Copying and
- Verifying, are carried out one after the other. In theory it might be
- possible to make the program work faster if all the operations were
- carried out on each track before stepping to the next. This should be
- faster as the drive head would only need to step once across the disc
- instead of up to three times with consecutive operations.
-
- Although the option is offered, so far the practice does not seem to be
- following the theory. Full concurrent operation, formatting, copying and
- verifying each track, has not proven successful and the compromise
- system of first formatting and then copying and verifying at the same
- time is slightly slower than consecutive operations. I shall continue to
- develop this as it will almost certainly be possible to increase the
- speed, although this may require slight changes to the disc format which
- would result in a disc which in normal use is slightly slower than the
- format used now. However, because I do intend to improve it and because
- it does function, albeit imperfectly, I have included the option.
-
- During concurrent operations the text under the icon will show either
- 'Copy', 'F/C', 'C/V', or 'F/C/V' depending upon which functions are to
- be carried out.
-
- 2:21 Key shortcuts
-
- So far I have shown all ProCopy operations being carried out by
- selecting from the menu or by clicking on buttons in a window. However,
- most of the main functions, reading from and writing to discs etc., can
- be carried out by simply clicking on the ProCopy icon, with or without
- the use of certain extra keys. These keys will not be described here but
- are shown in table form in the Appendix where they can more easily be
- found for reference.
-
- Saving and Loading disc images
- ------------------------------
-
- 3:1 How it Works
-
- You have seen how Procopy can make multiple copies of a disc but the
- 'master' has been a normal floppy disc. Sometimes you may have a disc
- which you often need to copy and you don't want to make the copies all
- at once. Procopy can save the complete disc image of the master disc as
- a disc file on your hard disc from where it can be reloaded very quickly
- when needed. Obviously you will need a hard disc to make use of this
- because not only is it not possible to fit an uncompressed disc image on
- to a disc of the same size, but there is no advantage when reloading it
- compared with simply reading the original disc.
-
- 3:2 Saving the Image
-
- You will notice that 'Write' on the Menu has an arrow which leads to a
- 'Save' window. In this window is a box containing the disc name. You can
- change this before saving the disc image if you wish but it will NOT
- change the actual name of the disc, just the name that your disc image
- is saved under.
-
- To save the image drag the little disc icon in this box to a directory
- viewer in the usual way.
-
- The disc images are continuous files and cannot be used except for
- reloading into Procopy and transferring back to a floppy disc. If you do
- lose the master disc, or not bother to keep it, and want to gain access
- to the contents of a disc image you will first need to use Procopy to
- create a floppy disc and then you will be able to access the files from
- this.
-
- 3:3 Reloading an Image
-
- To reload an image double-click on its icon or drag it to the ProCopy
- icon. It will automatically be loaded into Procopy. You can also start
- up Procopy with an image loaded by double-clicking on an image icon
- instead of the !Procopy application icon, but the Filer must have 'seen'
- the !ProCopy application first for this to work.
-
- Each type of disc has its own filetype and icon. The icons are similar
- but each type of disc is a different colour. The filetype numbers given
- are in the area allocated by Acorn for Public Domain applications so the
- possibility of a clash does exist, but so far as I am aware no PD
- program in general circulation uses these types. For those interested
- they are -
-
- 1.6 Mb ADFS &160
- 800K ADFS &180
- 640K ADFS &164
- 1.7Mb Microsoft &170
- 1.44Mb DOS &144
- 720K DOS &172
-
- The logic of these should be obvious, although most users will never
- need to know them.
-
- Use with RamDisc
- ----------------
- The RAMFS filer can be made to work in a way compatible with an 800K E
- format disc, so ProCopy can transfer an 800K disc image directly to the
- RamDisc where it can be examined, edited, etc. and then 'grabbed' by
- ProCopy as a ready-to-use disc image. You can eliminate physical discs
- entirely by building master discs on the RamDisc, which is much quicker
- than messing about with a floppy. Unfortunately this can only be done
- with 800K, but this is the size most commonly used for distribution
- discs to ensure compatibility with older machines.
-
- 5:1 Creating a RamDisc
-
- The RamDisc must be exactly 800K if you want to 'grab' it. It can be
- awkward to set the size exactly, especially on a RPC with a lot of RAM,
- so ProCopy can do this for you. The last item on the ProCopy RamDisc
- sub-menu is 'Make 800K'. This will re-size any existing RamDisc to 800K
- or, if there is no RamDisc, create one. If a RamDisc exists but has
- files on it you will be warned, as they will be destroyed when ProCopy
- uses it.
-
- If you have previously created an 800K RamDisc and want to clear the
- contents then the third option on this menu, 'Wipe', will do this for
- you. You could just delete all the files in the usual way, but this is
- more convenient, especially if some of the files are locked.
-
- 5:2 Disc image to RamDisc
-
- Having previously created an 800K RamDisc load an 800K disc image into
- ProCopy, either by reading a disc or loading it from a hard drive, and
- click on 'Dump' from the ProCopy RamDisc menu. If there are some files
- already on the RamDisc you will be warned before they are overwritten.
- As this operation can only be done when an 800K disc image is loaded the
- menu option will otherwise be 'greyed out'.
-
- If you try to Save an 800K image to the RamDisc in the usual way by
- dragging from the SaveAs window you will be offered the option of Saving
- the disc image way or dumping the contents to the RamDisc. This is not
- the best way to do it as will be explained later.
-
- 5:3 RamDisc to Disc Image
-
- To 'grab' the contents of a RamDisc and convert it to a disc image just
- select 'Grab' from the ProCopy RamDisc menu. You can only do this with
- an exact 800K RamDisc. A window will appear in which you can type the
- name you want the disc to have. This is the name given to a 'real' disc
- created from this image, not the name given to a Saved disc image. If
- you had previously dumped the disc image to the RamDisc and not loaded
- any other images since then, the name of the original disc is offered in
- this window. This only happens if you used 'Dump' from the ProCopy
- RamDisc menu, not if you saved to the RamDisc by dragging.
-
- Once ProCopy has grabbed the RamDisc it is treated like any other disc
- image. Don't forget that at this stage it hasn't been securely saved, so
- if you want to use it again you must save the disc image either to you
- hard disc or by writing it to a floppy.
-
- 5:4 Copying files to floppy
-
- Using a RamDisc can result in a considerable speed advantage even if you
- just want to copy one series of files to a floppy disc. As you will be
- aware, copying an application or other collection of files and/or
- directories can be very slow. Even if you just want a single copy on a
- floppy disc it will often be a lot quicker to copy them to a RamDisc and
- then grab the RamDisc with ProCopy and write the image to a disc.
-
- Formatting
- ----------
-
- Although proCopy can format discs as part of the copying process there
- may be times when you want to format discs without copying data onto
- them As well as simply needing blank, formatted, discs, it may be
- advantageous to pre-format discs to make the copying process quicker. Of
- course, you could use the normal desktop formatting procedure, but this
- does have disadvantages.
-
- There are two main problems with the standard desktop formatting
- routine. First, it's very cumbersome to use. You first have to bring up
- the drive menu, move to the format sub-menu, and click on the format you
- want, and if you want a DOS format you have to go down another level.
- Then, when the format window opens you have to click on the 'Format'
- button. When the format is completed you have to click once again, and
- if you want more discs you have to repeat the whole procedure. There is
- also the problem that the formatting procedure itself is rather slow,
- mainly because it always multi-tasks, and if the disc has defects you
- have to repeatedly click with the mouse each time it finds one.
-
- If you want a faster method you could just press F12 and type the format
- command, or program a function key, but this would mean that you would
- have to leave the desktop.
-
- 5:1 The Format Window
-
- Formatting with ProCopy is much simpler (and quicker) than the normal
- method. When you select 'Format' from the main menu the Format Window
- will open.
-
- At the left are four radio buttons which are used to select the type of
- format you want. Only the two standard Acorn formats (800K 'E' and 1.6Mb
- 'F') and the two common DOS formats (720K and 1.44Mb) are supported. It
- would be possible to include others but it is very doubtful if anyone
- would need them and so they were omitted in the interest of simplicity.
-
- At the top left is the drive to be formatted. This will be '0' by
- default but if you have more that one floppy drive it can be changed
- with the 'bump' icons.
-
- In the centre are three option icons, Background, Warn defects and
- Verify.
-
- At the top right is a writeable icon labelled 'Max defects'. This is the
- maximum number of defects that will be permitted before formatting is
- abandoned. You can enter any number here up to a maximum of 60. The
- purpose of limiting the number is to avoid wasting time with a disc that
- will not be of any use. There is a considerable delay each time a defect
- is discovered and it's much quicker simply to abandon the operation and
- scrap the disc if it has a lot of defects as most users will not want to
- bother with discs with more than a small number of defects.
-
- 5:2 Background
-
- If this is selected then the formatting will take place as a background
- task similar to the way that the normal desktop formatting routine
- works. This make the operation about 20% slower, but has the advantage
- that you don't lose control of the computer during the process.
-
- When formatting in this way tracks are formatted and verified one by one
- and progress is shown at the bottom right of the window. If you have not
- selected Background then this icon will show 'All'.
-
- 5:3 Verify
-
- Normally this would be selected and this will verify the disc after
- formatting. If any defects are discovered they will me mapped out as
- usual and the number detected shown in the icon at the right hand side
- of the window.
-
- It is always advisable to verify discs after formatting as even the
- highest quality can have defects, but as there may be times when you do
- not wish to do so the option to omit verifying has been included. One
- example is if you are intending to use the discs with PeoCopy at a later
- date and are pre-formatting them to save time. The time lost possibly
- rejecting the occasional faulty disc when verifying then would be more
- than outweighed by the time saved not verifying when formatting.
-
- 5:4 Warn defects
-
- If this is selected then if you are checking for defects and one or more
- are found on the disc an error window will open when the format is
- complete to make sure that you are aware that the disc has defects.
- Obviously if Verifying is not selected then no errors will be detected.
-
- If there are defects then the number found will always be shown in the
- icon at the right hand side of the window but this could easily be
- overlooked, and will obviously not be visible if you are formatting a
- series of discs in 'auto' mode with the Format Window closed.
-
- 5:5 Formatting a disc
-
- Before you can format a disc you must clear any disc image currently
- held in memory. To do this just select 'Clear' from the min menu.
-
- Then, from the foregoing you will probably have realised that all you
- have to do is select the format you want and whether you want background
- operations and verifying and then click on the 'Format' button.
-
- You can abort the formatting at any time. If you have selected
- Background just click on the 'Stop' button, otherwise press the Escape
- key.
-
- 5:6 Auto formatting
-
- This is similar to the auto-copying system. Instead of clicking on
- Format to begin operations click on Auto. Formatting will proceed
- exactly as before, but when each disc is formatted all you need to do is
- remove it from the drive and put in the next blank disc and that will be
- formatted. This will continue until you click on the Stop button.
-
- You do not need to keep the Format Window open, but if you want to be
- warned of any discs with defects you should then select the 'Warn
- defects' option. To open the window again select 'Format' from the main
- menu.
-
- You can change the format type and/or options during this process if you
- wish, but to avoid confusion it is best to only do this while 'in
- between' discs.
-
- Warning: Auto formatting is as ideal way of formatting discs, especially
- if you have a second computer on your desk as all you have to do is
- reach over and change discs. However, if you are background auto
- formatting on you computer while using it for other tasks be very
- careful. You must remember that as soon as you put a disc in the drive
- it will be formatted, so if you make a mistake and pick up a disc that
- has valuable data on it this could be destroyed by the format process
- before you realise your error.
-
- 5:7 Saving the Format options.
-
- None of these setting are saved in the Options file. Instead there is a
- separate file for the format options and to save these just click on the
- 'Save' button at the bottom left of the window. As with the main options
- the position of the window is saved as well as the state of all the
- buttons and icons, and is automatically reloaded the next time you start
- ProCopy.
-
- The Options window
- ------------------
-
- Because Procopy is designed to be as versatile as possible most
- functions are user-configurable so you can make Procopy work the way you
- want it to and most of these variations are controlled from the Options
- Window. You open this by clicking on 'Options' on the Menu. It is
- divided into five areas titled Background, Verify, Format, Confirm,
- Preferences and Logfile.
-
- 6:1 Background
-
- This defines which operations will be carried out as multi-tasking
- background tasks. Any item selected will operate in this way, unselected
- operations will take over the computer while they are in progress.
-
- The advantage of background operation is that it lets you continue to
- use the computer even while disc are being formatted or copied. However,
- because of the need to continually suspend operations and poll the Wimp,
- it takes more time for each task, typically 50% longer, even more if
- another program is actually in use.
-
- Providing a separate 'button' for each of the three main copying
- operations, Format, Copy and Verify, gives you greater flexibility in
- choosing between losing control of the computer while ProCopy operates,
- and the extra time taken by background operation
-
- 6:2 Verify
-
- This defines when a disc will be verified after copying.
-
- 'After reformatting' means it will only be verified after a Format
- operation has been carried out. This would normally only be used if you
- have chosen to format discs which were unformatted or formatted to the
- wrong type to check that they have been successfully formatted without
- error.
-
- 'Always' means that it will always be verified.
-
- Unless you are absolutely certain of the quality of your discs (and even
- the best can fail) or are prepared to tolerate the occasional disc with
- an error in the interests of speed, you are advised to always verify
- after copying. This is even more important if you are using unformatted
- disc, because unlike the normal formatting routines the disc is
- deliberately not checked for errors when formatted by ProCopy. A serious
- defect will cause an error during copying, but a minor defect may not
- show up until you try to actually use the disc.
-
- 6:3 Format
-
- This defines under which circumstances ProCopy will format a disc. All
- options except 'Always' will require confirmation first if 'Reformat' is
- chosen in the 'Confirm' section.
-
- 'Always' will always format a disc without prompting before attempting a
- copy operation.
-
- 'If wrong Type' will format a disc if it is formatted but to the wrong
- type, eg. if you are copying an 800K disc and you insert a disc
- formatted to 640K or 720K. Note that if you have an 800K drive then a
- disk formatted to 1.6 or 1.44 Mb will appear unformatted, not formatted
- to the wrong type.
-
- 'If unformatted' will only format a disc if it is not already formatted.
-
- 'After Error' will reformat any disc which fails to verify after
- copying. This will only be done once. If the disc fails to format and
- verify without error it will be counted as faulty.
-
- 6:4 Confirm
-
- This sets which operations ProCopy will not carry out without
- confirmation from the user.
-
- 'Read disc' will ask for confirmation before loading a disc image if one
- is already loaded. If no image is loaded then there is no need for
- confirmation even if this option is selected.
-
- 'Write to disc' will require confirmation before any Write operation is
- carried out. Note that if you are using Auto copying then this option
- will merely require you to click on 'Auto' before a copy is made and no
- separate confirmation will be required.
-
- 'Clear image' will require you to confirm before it clears a disc image
- from memory when you select 'Clear' from the Menu.
-
- 'Reformat disc' will require you to confirm before ProCopy reformats a
- disc if you have selected any of the 'Reformat' options except 'Always'
-
- 6:4 Preferences
-
- This has several items which relate to the way that ProCopy operates.
- These are mainly intended to help you 'customise' the program to suit
- the way that you wish to work.
-
- 'Close main window' will close the Write window during Auto copying. If
- this is not selected this window will remain open unless closed
- manually.
-
- 'Open window on load' if selected will automatically open the Write
- window when a disc image is loaded.
-
- 'Show disc name' As well as displaying the disc name in the Read and
- Write windows it can also be shown in a small window which appears just
- above the iconbar to the right of the ProCopy icon. This is particularly
- useful if you normally work with the Write window closed as you can see
- at a glance which disc image is loaded. It is deliberately made small
- and unobtrusive so it can be left on screen all the time without causing
- too much clutter. If you want to open this window at any time you cam do
- so by clicking SELECT on the ProCopy icon while holding down the CTRL
- and ALT keys.
-
- 'Beep when finished' Normally when ProCopy has finished a Read or Write
- operation it 'beeps' to draw your attention to this. If you don't want
- this to happen then set this off
-
- 'Work concurrently' This makes ProCopy Copy and verify in one operation
- instead of two separate steps. At present this, although operative, is
- not very efficient and is slightly slower (about 5%) than consecutive
- operations. However, you may wish to experiment and I shall try to
- improve performance.
-
- 'Immediate write' This makes proCopy write a disc image immediately it
- is loaded without further prompting or selection. It is useful when
- producing a series of different discs, all from disc images held on a
- hard disc. However, you should be careful when using it as it is very
- easy to double-click on an image icon and have it written to a disc
- already in the drive which may not be the one you intended to use,
- thereby destroying any data already on the disc. Use with caution.
-
- 'Write on icon click' writes a disc image if you click SELECT on the
- ProCopy icon. This is the way that most people operate, but it is
- possible to accidentally click on the ProCopy icon and destroy data on a
- disc already in the drive. You can therefore disable this function by
- setting this 'off'. In this case you can still write to the drive by
- clicking SELECT on the icon but you will need to hold down either ALT
- key at the same time.
-
- 'Read on icon click' this is similar to the previous item but will read
- a disc in the current drive when you click on the icon with ADJUST. If
- it is disabled you can still read a disc by clicking with ADJUST while
- holding down either ALT key.
-
- 'Copies done msg.' When you have been producing a series of discs in
- Auto mode this will display a message telling you when the required
- number of copies have been made. Although this is normally what is
- required it can be a bit obtrusive if you are muti-tasking and doing
- other things. This option therefore disables the message and ProCopy
- simply returns to the 'Ready' stage when all the copies have been made.
-
- 6:5 Saving and Loading the options
-
- On the main menu is an item 'Options' which leads to a sub-menu with two
- items. 'Save' and 'Restore'.
-
- As you might expect, Save will save all the current choices to a file in
- the ProCopy Resources directory. This will then be loaded automatically
- the next time you start ProCopy so your options will be set exactly as
- you wish.
-
- This does not save any of the content of the Format window. As has
- previously been described these are saved separately from within that
- window.
-
- As well as saving the contents of the Options window the currently
- selected Read and Write drives are saved. If you have changed these from
- your normal settings don't forget this when you save the Options. Many
- window positions are also saved (see the following section)
-
- Restore will reload these choices. This is provided because you may have
- changed some of the options for a particular purpose and wish to restore
- then to your default settings. Clicking on Restore will do this without
- the need to reset them all manually.
-
- 6:6 Window positions
-
- When you save an Options file as well as all the previously described
- items the positions and scroll offsets and sizes (where applicable) of
- the Write, Read, Preset List and Options windows are also saved. This
- enables you to have them open exactly where and how you want them.
-
- There are two important points to be remembered about this. Most obvious
- is the fact that when you save the Options you are also saving window
- positions, so if you have moved one of them to a position that you would
- not normally place it you must put it in its 'normal' position first.
-
- A second problem could arise if you have saved the options in a much
- larger screen mode than you normally use. If one or more of the windows
- was positioned either at the top or at the right hand side of the screen
- then, if you change to a smaller mode, they could open 'off screen'
- where you would be unable to reach them.
-
- To avoid this, if you hold down either ALT key when you save the Options
- the window positions will not be saved, so the next time you start up
- ProCopy the default window positions will be restored. Similarly if you
- hold down either ALT key when you start up ProCopy or select 'Reload'
- then the window positions will not be changed. This means that if you do
- accidentally save unsuitable window positions you can re-start ProCopy
- with the default window positions.
-
- The Preset list
- ---------------
-
- This is an extremely useful feature as it lets you have a selection of
- the most frequently used images that you have stored on your hard disc
- instantly available without the need to open directory viewers.
-
- 7:1 The Preset List window
-
- If you select 'Preset' from the menu a small window will open showing
- the list of disc images ready to be loaded. When you first use ProCopy
- this will not contain any preset icons, just 'Reload' and 'Save' icons
- at the top.
-
- Before you can make use of the Preset List you need some disc images, so
- create a few of these on your hard disc, as described in the section 'A
- short demonstration'. If you don't have a hard disc then the Preset List
- will not be of any use to you, so you can skip this section.
-
- 7:2 Adding images to the list
-
- Open the Preset List window and drag one of the disc image files you
- have created to it. A new icon will be created which will be the same
- colour as the disc image icon (blue for 800K, orange for 1.6 Mb, etc.)
- and showing the filename of the disc image. You can drag some more image
- files to the window and each one will have an icon created.
-
- Now, if you click SELECT on one of these icons the disc image it relates
- to will be loaded by ProCopy, just as if you had loaded it directly from
- disc.
-
- 7:3 Saving and Reloading the Preset List
-
- As with the Options the contents of the Preset window can be saved and
- reloaded. Click on 'Save' and a file called 'Preset' will be saved in
- the !ProCopy application directory.
-
- Clicking on 'Reload' will reset the Preset List to the last saved state.
- This is useful if you have temporarily added a lot of disc images to the
- window and want to return the window to its default state.
-
- Once you have saved a Preset List in this way the names shown will
- automatically be reloaded the next time you start ProCopy so you can
- have your most frequently needed files always available.
-
- 7:4 Deleting items
-
- You can remove an item from the Preset List by clicking on it with
- ADJUST instead of SELECT. In case you actually wanted to load a disc
- image and have accidentally pressed the ADJUST button instead of SELECT
- you will be asked to confirm that you want it removed before this is
- done.
-
- You can bypass the 'confirm' message by holding down either ALT key when
- you click on an item with ADJUST.
-
- Problems and Suggestions
- ------------------------
-
- This section, as the title sugests, is devoted to some of the problems
- you can encounter when using ProCopy and suggestions for making it more
- efficient and easy to use.
-
- It is suggested that you should read this after you have become familiar
- with the main functions of ProCopy as it may help you to understand it
- better and to use it more efficiently.
-
- 8:1 Reporting errors
-
- The program on which ProCopy is based, !Copier, is used regularly by
- many people, including several quite large and well known suppliers of
- Acorn software. The program was written for my own purposes, and it was
- sold to Archimedes World because I though it might be useful to others.
- This proved correct, because I am often told how invaluable it is. The
- 'core' program is therefore thoroughly tried and tested and it is very
- unlikely that it will cause any problems.
-
- However, many new functions were added for the first release of ProCopy
- and the user interface, displays, and windows completely redesigned.
- There are so many permutations and options available that, although I
- use the program every day myself, it is quite possible that some
- combination that I have never used could generate an error. If this does
- happen to you please try to give me a proper error report. I will need
- to know at exactly what stage the error occurred, and, equally
- important, what Options you had selected.
-
- Proper, detailed, error reports are invaluable for removing bugs in
- ProCopy. I welcome them whether or not you have registered. as I also
- welcome suggestions for additions and improvements.
-
- 8:2 Partly filled discs
-
- Procopy always copies the entire disc. Backup will only copy that part
- of the disc which is occupied by data. This means that if a disc is less
- than about one third filled Backup might be faster. In practice this
- situation is not likely to arise because discs that are distributed in
- bulk would normally be full, or nearly so, and even a half filled disc
- would probably be copied faster with Procopy than using Backup. ProCopy
- will certainly be much faster than backup, even with a partially filled
- disc, if more than a single copy is required.
-
- 8:3 Formatting
-
- The formatting method used by Procopy when copying (not the 'stand
- alone' formatting) does not write any 'structure' to the disc, it merely
- lays out tracks and sectors. This saves time and it is unnecessary
- because all the required information is contained in the disc image
- which will be copied onto the disc. If a disc has been formatted by
- Procopy but for some reason no disc image was subsequently copied onto
- it it will not be recognised by the Archimedes filing system and will
- return a 'disc not formatted' error.
-
- Discs are not verified as they are formatted. Once again this would be a
- waste of time because it is better to verify discs after the data has
- been copied onto them to ensure that the finished product is error free.
- If discs were verified during formatting they would still need to be
- tested again after copying to be certain there were no errors.
-
- 8:4 DOS discs
-
- The format used for DOS discs is slightly different from the usual
- method used by the Acorn. A wider sector gap is used with no sector
- interleave and a different track to track sector skew has been
- introduced. It was found that discs formatted in this way operate faster
- than the standard Acorn format. There is a noticeable speed increase
- both on real PC's and an Archimedes using a PC emulator. Most modern
- PC's fitted with high density drives also format discs this way.
-
- It is possible that older XT type PC's fitted with 720K disc drives
- might operate more slowly with this type of format, but it is felt that
- the speed advantage gained for the majority of users more than outweighs
- this. Whatever drive or controller the computer is fitted with the
- modified format does not introduce any compatibility problems. All
- models will have no difficulty in reading the disc.
-
- DOS disc names can be longer than is allowed on Acorn machines and some
- characters are permitted which are not legal in Acorn filenames. In
- order to avoid confusion, with one exception, no changes are made to the
- disc name when it is loaded, so the name in the 'Save' window may not be
- a valid Acorn filename and might need to be changed before you can save
- the image.
-
- The exception is a space, which is often used in DOS disc names. This is
- not, of course, permitted in Acorn filenames, so a hard space, ascii
- 160, is always substituted. The main reason for doing this is because
- the Filer regards a space as a terminating character, so it might cause
- difficulties if it were not altered. For example, you could read the
- images of a series of DOS discs named DISK 1, DISK 2, DISK 3, etc., the
- names would be truncated by the Acorn Filer and saved as just DISK. The
- second and subsequent files would therefore overwrite the first. By
- substituting a hard space, which is acceptable to the Filer, they will
- all be saved with the correct names.
-
- 8:5 640K ADFS discs
-
- As it is unlikely that anyone is using this format on an actual
- Archimedes the factors chosen were selected for optimum speed on a BBC
- computer. Tests were carried out on a Model 'B' fitted with TEAC T55-F
- drives and Solidisc ADFS, and a Master with Acorn ADFS and Mitsubishi
- drives. There are many other possible combinations which could be
- encountered but these are fairly typical.
-
- 8:6 Software and Hardware compatibility
-
- There are two main operating systems in circulation on Archimedes
- computers, RISC-OS 2 and RISC-OS 3+. There are also two different
- families of disc controller in use, the one fitted to the A300, A400,
- A3000 and A540 models which can only read discs up to 800K capacity and
- the one fitted to later models, the RISC PC series, A4000, A5000, A3010
- and A3020, which can read up to 1.6Mb discs.
-
- There are also third party hi density disc controllers which can be
- fitted to older models to enable them to use hi density discs. In theory
- any of these which replace the original drive and emulate an ADFS drive
- should work with ProCopy. Those which work alongside ADFS and operate
- under another filing system (eg. the Arxe Systems board) will not work
- with ProCopy. If you have a system that doesn't seem to work then
- ProCopy probably can be made to operate with it, I will just need to
- know which SWI's to use.
-
- In theory any computer running RISC-OS 2 should have the earlier type of
- disc controller and so will not be able to handle high density discs. A
- computer running RISC-OS 3 could be fitted with either type of
- controller because it could be a newer model or an older model which has
- been upgraded.
-
- There are therefore three combinations that could be encountered -
-
- RISC-OS 2 with 800K drive
- RISC-OS 3+ with 800K drive
- RISC-OS 3+ with 1.6Mb drive
-
- As has already been explained, at present no attempt has been made to
- make ProCopy operate with RISC-OS 2, so only the second two need to be
- considered.
-
- Only the machines fitted with hi density drives have proper 'disc
- changed' notification. Earlier machines need to keep checking the disc
- ID to see if it has been changed. This means that the process takes more
- time per test (so there is less time for other tasks) and it is also
- rather noisy as the drive constantly reads the disc.
-
- 8:7 'D' and 'E' format discs
-
- There is no structural difference between the two different 800K formats
- used on the Archimedes. The only difference is in the way that the
- catalogue and map are managed. For this reason if your master disc is
- 'D' format then any discs reproduced will be 'D' format, even if you
- have pre-formatted them to 'E' format, and visa versa. Procopy therefore
- makes no distinction between the two 800K formats.
-
- The same situation prevails using Backup. If you backup an 'E' format
- disc to a 'D' format you find that the copy has become 'E' format.
-
- 8:8 Disc errors
-
- Because ProCopy writes an entire disc image to a disc's surface the
- target disc must be 100% error free. Unlike normal copying operations it
- is not possible to skip over any bad sectors. If a disc fails to verify
- and is rejected by Procopy you will probably be able to format it and
- use it for other purposes. Defects are not 'mapped out' during
- formatting. If a single defect is discovered the operation is aborted.
-
- For the same reason the source disc should be error free. This is not
- essential but if it has defects then Procopy may be unable to load it.
- Even if it is successfully loaded the 'defect list' will be copied to
- the new disc so that it too will appear to have defects until it is
- reformatted. This won't stop it functioning normally because the defect
- will be mapped out as it was on the original.
-
- 8:9 Memory usage
-
- As already stated Procopy needs enough spare memory to load an entire
- disc image. It should therefore be obvious that you won't be able to
- copy a 1.6Mb disc in a 1Mb A3010.
-
- If you have just 1Mb you will only be able to copy 720K discs, even 800K
- discs take too much memory. To copy even 720K discs you will need to use
- a very frugal screen mode, so I suggest you switch to Mode 0 and quit
- ALL other tasks. The desktop won't look very pretty in Mode 0 but it
- will let the program operate.
-
- I anticipate that most people who wish to use this program will have at
- least 2Mb. You will then be able to copy 1.6Mb discs but only if no
- other tasks are running. Once again you may need to switch to a less
- greedy screen mode, although you will probably not need to go to the
- extreme of Mode 0. 800k or 720K discs should not present any problems.
-
- You will not be able to copy 1.6 Mb discs on a 2Mb machine which is used
- with a VGA monitor because it will not then be possible to use a low
- resolution screen mode.
-
- 8:10 Compressing disc images
-
- As I have already explained, ProCopy does not have any built in
- compression system for disc images. This avoids all sorts of potential
- problems and lets you use your own favourite compression system if
- required.
-
- Remember that if the contents of the original disc have been compressed
- in some way (and don't forget that files like GIF, JPEG, Acorn Replay
- etc. are already compressed) then they will probably grow if you try to
- compress them further.
-
- Discs containing other material might be worth compressing. ArcFS or
- SparkFS are ideal for this because of their simplicity and speed, but
- either need quite a lot of spare RAM as workspace, more than the size of
- the file being compressed. You will therefore need a 4Mb machine to
- compress even an 800K disc image.
-
- CFS does not need so much RAM, and this may be a possible solution. You
- will find that because CFS compresses individual files and is not an
- archive filing system like ArcFS or SparkFS a compressed disc image
- using CFS will take up considerably less space on your hard disc than
- compressing the contents of the disc.
-
- If the disc is not completely full and you intend to compress the image
- you are strongly advised to copy its contents to a newly formatted blank
- disc before you read and compress it. The reason for this is that any
- compression system works best if the material to be compressed comtains
- lots of consecutive bytes which are the same. A used disc may have lots
- of old, random. data on apparently unused sections, a newly formatted
- disc will have a uniform byte on all unused sectors. This will compress
- very efficiently, so drastically reducing the size of the compressed
- image file.
-
- Do please bear this in mind if you alter or update any discs that you
- normally keep as images. Obviously this is only relevant if you intend
- to compress the disc image.
-
- 8:11 Problems
-
- There is only one problem that I have encountered using ProCopy and
- RISC-OS 3. After a disc has been copied if you click on the icon for the
- drive containing the new copy you may very occasionally get an error
- message from the filer 'Disc not understood - has it been formatted?'.
- Don't worry, everything is OK, it's just that the filer is remembering
- what the disc was when it was first put in the drive. If you click on
- 'Dismount' on the menu for that drive to make the filer 'forget' the
- disc and then click on the drive icon again you will find the disc has
- been correctly copied.
-
- A difficulty can arise if you wish to copy a DOS disc which has been
- obtained from a source which uses a certain type of bulk copier. This is
- because these discs are sometimes only formatted with enough tracks to
- hold the required data. As ProCopy will try to load the entire disc it
- will fail when it reaches the unformatted tracks. The solution is to
- copy the contents of the disc to a normally formatted disc first.
-
- 8:12 Other formats
-
- Although Procopy has been designed to handle only 'native' Acorn and
- 3.5 inch DOS discs there is no reason why it could not be modified to
- work with others. The Archimedes operating system can readily be adapted
- to read and write to any type of disc which the hardware is capable of
- addressing. It would probably be simple to modify it to copy Amiga,
- Atari, DOS 360K or BBC DFS discs (given suitable drives) if required.
- Anyone who is forced to use an Amiga or Atari ST computer to copy discs
- will appreciate how much faster the operation could be carried out on an
- Archimedes!
-
- 8:13 Filename in the Preset List
-
- You should not forget that although all you see in the Preset window is
- a simple filename ProCopy will try to load the image using the full
- path/filename that was passed to it when the name was added to the list.
- Obviously this must be present and unchanged or it will not be able to
- find the file!
-
- If you do get errors make sure that you haven't renamed or removed the
- drive the file was on. The most likely cause of problems is if the disc
- image is on a Syquest cartridge or some other removable media. If you
- are using a Syquest drive with a ICS IDE interface you will just get a
- 'Please insert disc.....' message, but some other filing systems which
- were not really designed to work with removable media (and this applies
- to most SCSI systems) can give weird error messages or hang completely.
-
- 8:14 Using unformatted discs
-
- ProCopy can use either unformatted disc or discs which are already
- formatted. As it will detect if a disc is unformatted and format it
- automatically you might think that there is no need to set 'Format
- Always' when using unformatted discs. However, if this is off there is a
- delay while ProCopy checks the disc, and it can take a few seconds to
- decide that the disc is not formatted.
-
- If you are using unformatted discs you are therefore advised to set
- 'Format Always' on to avoid this delay.
-
- Keeping Logfiles
- ----------------
-
- ProCopy can keep a Logfile of all discs copied. This can be either Daily
- or Monthly. Whether a log is kept and which type is set by three icons
- in the Options Window. Use of these should be self-evident.
-
- 9:1 Logfile location
-
- The logfile will be kept in the directory defined by the OS Variable
- ProCopyLog$Dir. If this does not exists then they will be kept in the
- sub-directory 'Logs' of the PropCopy application directory. The !CopyLog
- application will normally set this variable to point to its internal
- directory and this is where the logfiles would normally be kept.
-
- 9:2 Logfile format
-
- A logfile is a simple textfile with the name of each disc copied, one
- per line. No time/date records are kept, but if anyone does want this
- information it could easily be included, so please let me know. The
- logfile is automatically created, and is in the form Log_<date>, where
- <date> is either two or four digits, YYMM for monthly logs, YYMMDD for
- daily. The 'backwards' date format was chosen because it will show the
- logfiles in sequence when viewed in a directory.
-
- 9:3 The !CopyLog application
-
- This serves two purposes. Firstly as a repositary for logfiles. Its
- !Boot file defines the logfile directory as its sub-directory 'Logs', so
- as long as the filer has 'seen' !CopyLog before !ProCopy is run the logs
- will be kept within !CopyLog.
-
- Secondly it has tools for manipulating logfiles and putting them into
- formats more suitable for analysis. At present there is only one (crude
- but functional) application. This takes all the logfiles and sorts the
- disc names, showing the number of copies of each disc made. This is
- probably what most people will want as it, in effect, creates a 'report'
- of each month/days activity and lets you see quickly which discs were
- most often copied. Please let me know if there are any other functions
- you would like.
-
- This list can be sorted in two ways - in alphabeticat order, or in
- descending order of the number of copies made. To run the program just
- double-click on the !CopyLog application. This is not a multi-tasking
- Wimp program, it just runs in a Task Window. Select the way you want the
- files to be sorted , either alphabetically or in order of the number of
- copies made, and the sort operation will be carried out on all the
- logfiles in the Logs directory inside the CopyLog application. You can
- repeat this on a logfile if you add more discs to the same file, the
- program can operate with either 'raw' logfiles or ones already
- processed, or mixed files which have been processed and then had more
- data added. You can also re-sort files in the alternative way.
-
- As the logfiles are just textfiles they can be joined together in a text
- editor for creating reports over larger time periods. Eventually,
- especially if you are using daily logs, the log directory will become
- full. The easiest way to deal with this is to create further directories
- inside the !CopyLog application, moving the 'old' contents of the Logs
- directory into these. Sort operations will only be carried out on the
- files in the original Logs directory.
-
- Appendix
- --------
-
- Keys used with icon clicks
-
- Clicking on the icon with the MENU button always just displays the menu,
- exactly as you would expect.
-
- Using SELECT will perform some type of Write function, depending on
- which Options are set and whether any keys are held, similarly using
- ADJUST will perform some type of Read operation.
-
- Using the ALT key will normally force an operation to be carried out
- which would otherwise require confirmation.
-
- Here is a table of all the various operations which can be carried out
- by clicking on the icon.
-
-
- Button/Key(s) Function
-
- MENU Always displays the menu.
- SELECT If no image loaded opens the 'Read' window. If
- an image is loaded and 'Write on icon click' is
- 'on' the disc image is written, if this is 'off'
- the 'Write' window is opened. If Auto copying is
- in progress the Write window is opened.
- SELECT/CTRL Opens the 'Write' window if an image is loaded,
- otherwise opens the 'Read' window
- SELECT/ALT Writes the current disc image even if 'Write on
- icon click' is 'off'. If no image is loaded,
- opens the 'Read' window
- SELECT/SHIFT Opens the list of preset images.
- SELECT/ALT/CTRL Opens the small 'discs name' window
- ADJUST If 'Read on icon click' is 'on' the disc image
- is read, if this is 'off' the 'Read' window is
- opened.
- ADJUST/CTRL Opens the 'Read' window
- ADJUST/ALT Always read the disc in the current drive, even
- if 'Read on icon click' is 'off'.
- ADJUST/SHIFT Clears any currently loaded image after
- prompting if this is selected
- ADJUST/ALT/CTRL Clears currect image without prompt, even if
- this is normally selected
-
- The Preset List file
- --------------------
-
- This is actually a plain text file. If you Save the preset list you will
- find that this file, called 'Preset', will appear in the !ProCopy
- application directory. You can load this into a text editor like !Edit,
- !Zap etc. and examine or change it if you wish. In fact, it is
- deliberately designed so that you can change it.
-
- Each line of the file contains three parameters. these are the name
- which will actually appear on the icon, the background colour of the
- icon, and the full path/filename of the image file. Obviously the last
- of these should not be changed (unless you rename a drive, in which case
- it might be quicker to edit the Preset file than completely reload all
- the images).However, the first two can be changed if you wish.
-
- By default the name which is shown on the icon in the Preset window is
- the filename given to the disc image. You may wish to change this to
- make it more descriptive of what the disc actually is. A file cannot
- have more than ten characters in its name, and some characters, for
- example '#', '$' and '@', are not permitted. Any of these can be used on
- the icons, and you can have up to 16 characters, but unless you are
- using a RISC PC with anti-aliased fonts on the icons you will probably
- only have room for the normal ten.
-
- There must NOT be any spaces or control characters in the name. If you
- do want a space character then use a 'hard' space (ascii 160). You can
- type this by holding down the ALT key as you press the spacebar.
-
- After the name comes the background colour of the icon. By default his
- will be the same colour as is used for the disc image icons so you can
- tell what size image each name refers to. however, as with the name, you
- can change it if you wish. This may be useful if you want a particular
- file to stand out from the rest. Only the standard Wimp colours 0-15 can
- be used. Light colours will have black text and dark colours will have
- white text, and this is handled automatically by ProCopy when the icons
- are created.
-
- A single space is all that is necessary to act as a delimiter between
- the three fields, but when the Preset file is Saved from ProCopy several
- spaces are used to put the parameters in neat columns to make it easier
- for you to edit.
-
- You can have comments in the Preset file. Any line beginning with a '#'
- character will be treated as a comment and ignored. The '#' must be the
- very first character on the line.
-
- ProCopy is not very tolerant of errors in the Preset file. If it does
- find an error you should get an error message telling you in what line
- it found it.
-
- Use with Autocopiers
- --------------------
-
- ProCopy can easily be adapted to work with low cost autocopiers that use
- the computers built in disc controller and receive load/eject commands
- via the serial or printer port. The commands to load and eject discs
- replace the normal 'change disc' animation. I have used a modified
- version of ProCopy with a homemade machine with considerable success.
-
- The only problem with this approach is that the drive will appear to the
- computer as a normal extra drive. This is not a problem with the A5000
- or the A400 series (although you may need an external buffer) but early
- RISC PC 600 series machines cannot easily have a second floppy drive
- fitted.
-
- Copy protected discs
- --------------------
-
- ProCopy is not intended for copying copy protected discs but it can do
- so with many of the copy protection methods used. Because it ignores the
- defect list and always copied the entire disc it can often be used to
- reproduce some of the more commonly found types of disc. This should not
- be taken as an encouragement to use it for making illegal copies.
- However it can be used to produce distribution discs for software houses
- even though the disc may mot be easily duplicated by normal means. If
- you do have a requirement for small(ish) quantities, not enough to
- justify an expensive machine, then ProCopy may be sufficient for your
- needs.
-
- Sprites
- -------
-
- The icon sprite used by ProCopy when an image is loaded is the same as
- the file sprite for that disc image. At present these are not terribly
- elegant and only a 2D low resolution version is provided.
-
- Experience has shown that some users are particularly conscious of file
- and application icons. as soon as I have time I intend to produce some
- better high resolution icons, but this is much lower priority that
- ensuring that the program functions properly. If you don't want to wait
- there is no reason why you cannot create your own. in any event you may
- prefer different colours from the various image icons that the ones I
- have used, and it will take only a few minutes to change these using
- !Paint if you wish.
-
-
- In the event of any problems, or if you have any suggestions, please
- contact -
-
- David Holden
- 39 Knighton Park Road
- Sydenham
- London SE26 5RN
- 0181 778 2659
- <info@apdl.co.uk>
-
-
- Single User Registration Form for ProCopy
-
- Please send this form with a cheque for Fifteen Pounds to:
-
- David Holden, 39 Knighton Park Road, Sydenham, London SE26 5RN
- __________________________________________________________________
- Name and Address:
-
-
-
-
-
-
- __________________________________________________________________
- Where did you obtain the program:
-
-
-
-
-
-
- __________________________________________________________________
- Have you had any problems:
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
- __________________________________________________________________
- What additional features would you like:
-
-