ProDOS-Utils

File management utilities for the ProDOS operating system on the Apple II

Sortdir

Sortdir is a powerful utility for managing ProDOS directories. It provides a number of functions, all of which may be applied to an individual directory, a directory tree or an entire volume:

• Checking directory integrity and making repairs
• Multi-level directory sort
• Manipulating the case of filenames *
• Manipulating the format of time and date information *

Sortdir is intended to help users migrate to the new ProDOS 2.5 release, which is currently in alpha. The code has been testing with ProDOS 2.5a8, but should run on older versions of ProDOS. The features marked with an asterix (*) above allow directory entries to be converted from the legacy format to the new ProDOS 2.5 format, and vice versa.

ProDOS 2.5 releases may be obtained here

System Requirements

Sortdir requires an enhanced Apple //e, //c or IIgs with 128KB of memory. It should run on all versions of ProDOS, but is intended for use with ProDOS 2.5.

Quickstart - Test Disk Image

Download the disk image sortdir.po. This is a bootable 143KB (Disk ][) ProDOS 2.5 disk image which includes SORTDIR.SYSTEM, ready-to-run.

Build Instructions

If you want to build Sortdir (and perhaps contribute to the code!), you will require the cc65 C cross compiler for 6502.

I also use Cadius for copying sortdir.system#ff0000 to an Apple II disk image.

On a Linux system, you should be able to build by simply invoking make.

How to Run SORTDIR.SYSTEM

SORTDIR.SYSTEM is a ProDOS system file, which means it loads at address $2000. It is possible to launch this program using any application or utility that can launch ProDOS systm files, such as Bitsy Bye, which is included with ProDOS 2.5.

It is also possible to start the program from the ProDOS BASIC.SYSTEM prompt, using the normal syntax -/PATH/TO/SORTDIR.SYSTEM. Since the volume name of the disk image provided is /P8.2.5, the following command can be used to start the program: -/P8.2.5/SORTDIR.SYSTEM.

When launching SORTDIR.SYSTEM from the BASIC prompt it is also possible to specify command line parameters. See below for more information. If no command line options are provided then Sortdir will present an interactive user interface.

If Sortdir is started from a launcher other than BASIC.SYSTEM, there is no way to pass command line options, so the interactive user interface will be used.

Because Sortdir uses all of the system memory it reboots the system on exit. (It is not possible to return to BASIC because the workspace has been overwritten.)

Interactive User Interface

When Sortdir is launched without any command line parameters, a very primitive interactive user interface is shown, as seen above. The program asks questions sequentially. If you make a mistake and want to go back, entering the ^ (caret) character will go back to the previous question.

When in doubt, the - (minus) character is mapped to the most conservative choice for each option.

The following prompts are presented in order:

• Path of starting directory Enter an absolute or relative path here. The directory operations will start in this directory (unless the 'whole volume' option is selected, in which directory operations will begin in the volume directory of the of the volume which contains the directory specified here.)
• What to process ... There are three options:
  • - - Only operate on the specified directory.
  • r - Operate recursively, descending the tree from the specified directory.
  • v - Operate on the entire volume, descending the tree from the volume directory.
• Multi-Level directory sort ... Here you can enter up to four levels of directory sorting. For each level, the following choices are available:
  • n - Sort by filename in ascending alphabetical order (A-Z).
  • N - Sort by filename in descending alphabetical order (Z-A).
  • i - Sort by filename in ascending alphabetical order (A-Z) in a case insensitive manner.
  • I - Sort by filename in descending alphabetical order (Z-A) in a case insensitive manner.
  • d - Sort in ascending order of modification time/date.
  • D - Sort in descending order of modification time/date.
  • t - Sort in ascending order of file type (considered as an integer)
  • T - Sort in descending order of file type (considered as an integer)
  • f - Sort in directories ("folders") to the top.
  • F - Sort in directories ("folders") to the bottom.
  • b - Sort in ascending order of file size in blocks.
  • B - Sort in descending order of file size in blocks.
  • e - Sort in ascending order of file size in bytes (ie: EOF position).
  • E - Sort in descending order of file size in bytes (ie: EOF position).
  • - - Entering - (minus) will end the entry of sort options and move on to the next section.
• Filename case conversion ...
  • - -
  • l -
  • u -
  • i -
  • c -
• On-disk date format conversion ...
  • - -
  • n -
  • o -
• Attempt to fix errors? ...
  • - -
  • ? -
  • a -
• Allow writing to disk? ...
  • - -
  • w -

Command Line Options

TODO

Understanding the Display

TODO

Directory Check and Repair

TODO

Directory Sort

TODO

Filename Case Change

TODO

Date and Time Format

This allows the format of the modification time and creation time fields in ProDOS directories to be converted from the legacy ProDOS format (ProDOS <2.5) to the new date and time formats introduced in ProDOS 2.5. These new formats extend the range of dates that may be represented, in a backwards-compatible manner. Sortdir also allows conversion from the new ProDOS 2.5 date and time format back to the legacy format.

Zeroing Free Blocks

Not yet implemented in ProDOS-8 version.