CMD executable PATH for ProDOS's BASIC.SYSTEM

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Build with ca65

Installation:

• Copy target to ProDOS disk
• From BASIC.SYSTEM prompt, run: -PATH from STARTUP (or by hand)

Usage:

PATH prefix     - set search path(s) - colon delimited
PATH            - view current search path(s)
cmdname         - load and execute named CMD, if in PATH

Once set, binary files of type CMD in the specified directories can be invoked by name.

• CMD file is loaded at $4000 and invoked; should return (rts) on completion.
• $4000-$5FFF is assumed reserved for the CMD file and any buffers it needs.
• The command line will be present at $200 (GETLN input buffer).
• Supports multi-segment, colon-separated paths, e.g. /hd/cmds:/hd2/more.cmds
• Commands can use the BI parser for arguments. See chtype.cmd.s for an example.

Example:

] -/hd/path              - install it
] PATH /hd/cmds:/h2/bin  - set PATH
] PATH                   - verify path
/hd/cmds
] BELL                   - will invoke /hd/cmds/BELL if present
] HELLO                  - will invoke /hd/cmds/HELLO if present
] ONLINE                 - will invoke /hd/cmds/ONLINE if present

Notes:

• Search order when a command is typed:
  • ProDOS BASIC.SYSTEM intrinsics (CAT, PREFIX, etc)
  • BASIC keywords (LIST, PRINT, etc)
  • CMD files in paths, in listed order
• Allocates a permanent buffer to store the code and path (2 pages)
• PATH can be invoked as lower case (e.g. path /DISK/CMDS)
• Commands can be invoked as lower case (e.g. hello)
• Applesoft BASIC commands are unaffected (but can't be CMD names)
  • Commands with BASIC keywords as prefixes are allowed as long as the command continues with an alphabetic character. For example, ONLINE is allowed despite conflicting with the valid BASIC statement ONLINE GOTO10 which is short for ON LINE GOTO 10.

Sample commands included:

• Useful utilities:
  • ONLINE - lists online volumes (volume name, slot and drive)
  • COPY - copy a single file, e.g. copy /path/to/file,dstfile
  • TYPE - show file contents (TXT, BAS, or BIN/other), e.g. type filename
  • DATE - prints the current ProDOS date and time
  • CHTYPE - change the type/auxtype of a file. e.g. chtype file,T$F1,A$1234
    • T (type) and A (auxtype) are optional. If neither is specified, current types are shown.
    • S and D arguments can be used to specify slot and drive.
  • CHTIME - change the modification date/time of a file. e.g. chtime file,A$1234,B$5678
    • A (date) and B (time) are optional. If neither is specified, current values are shown.
    • S and D arguments can be used to specify slot and drive.
• Other examples:
  • BELL - beeps the speaker
  • HELLO - shows a short message
  • ECHO - echoes back anything following the command