#: 20400 S5/OS9 Users Group
    25-Sep-94  18:52:45
Sb: #20395-OS/9 won't work - HELP!
Fm: David Breeding 72330,2051
To: Jean Gagnon 72164,2020

 > Gee, every time I think I'm getting the hang of this computer a little bit -
 > you guys ask me another question!  I'm not sure what Level the OS/9 disks
 > are... HOw do you figure that out?

When you boot up, you should see a logo at the top of the screen. If it is
Level 2, it will say so.. There will also be a version #, but look for the
"Level #".  If you have your docs, they will be in a loose-leaf binder.  Also,
you can issue the command "mdir" and look for certain names.. Level 1 will have
a name "SysGo" there, Level 2 will have "CC3Go".

With Level 2, you will be able to access numerous windows, You will have to
start them up yourself (the docs should tell you how).  You can switch between
them using the "CLEAR" key.  Then you can start up numerous programs and have
them executing at the same time.  If you have "Flight Simulator" going in one
window, you can switch to another window and if you don't pause the program,
the plane may have crashed, because it will still be going, even though it is
not displayed.  If you want to print out a file to the printer, you can issue
the command "list {filename} >/p" and go to another window and do something
else.  (You can add "&" to the end of the above line and stay in that window
and the printout will proceed, and you can do something else in that window.
This will work with Level 1.

 > I was reading through one of the CoCo magazines that came with this and
 > it talked about all the great things that level 2 could do... sure seemed
 > ahead of its time...

Yes, it was.  It is still pretty up to date, except for the speed on some
tasks, and memory can sometimes be a little tricky for programmers.


 > I have a really silly question about os/9 - how do you get programs to run
 > with it... I have this huge book on OS/9 - it talks about all the great
 > things it can do, but I can't find out how after it's running I can stick
 > in a disk that runs under OS/9 and just run it

Pete Lyall did a good job in answering this question. To recap... OS9
"remembers" 2 directories..  an "execution" directory and a "data" directory.
If you issue the command "dir", OS9 first checks to see if the module (program)
named "dir" is in memory.  If not, it looks at the current "exec" directory to
see if a file by that name exists (the filename does not HAVE to be the same as
the module name, you COULD have a module named "cls" that will clear the
screen.  But, in this case if it is stored in the "exec" dir under the name
"dir" (and "dir" is not in memory), then it will load that file, and clear the
screen.

Lastly, if the file is not found in the execution directory, it will look in
the current "data" directory for a procedure file (same as "batch" file under
MS-Dos), and execute it if found.

You can also specify a specific full pathname for a command.  Suppose you have
2 drives (second drive is "d1").  There is a directory named "FOO" and say, in
that directory, there is a directory "FOO2", and in that directory, a program
(of either type) named "fooey".  You could, without doing a "chx", simply enter
"/d1/FOO/FOO2/fooey" and it will be found.

The best way to get the feel of it is to play with the "dir" command on various
disks.  One other thing.. filenames are not case-sensitive, but one standard
convention, although not required, is to have directory names in all upper-case
and filenames in lowercase.

Sorry to be so windy... just thought this might help.  Be sure you understand
Pete's msg.

                   -- David Breeding --
                 CompuServe :  72330,2051
                     Delphi :  DBREEDING

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