Date   : Sat, 04 Jan 1997 02:43:19 +0100
From   : "Peter_Janssen" <pjanssen@...>
Subject: Re: Archive format expansion

> From: Robert Schmidt <rsc@...>
> To: deweger@...
> Cc: Beeb-emulators@...
> Subject: Re: [BeebEmul8] Re: Archive format expansion
> Date: vrijdag 3 januari 1997 15:37
> 
> deweger wrote:
> > How about the following format? !STARTUP is a text file of the
following
> > format.
> > 
> >   REM Name of game
> >   Commmands to start game
> > 
> > The "Commands to start game" are then e.g.
> > 
> >   PAGE=&1900
> >   CHAIN "game"
> > 
> > This has the same "power" as the !STARTUP file format you described,
> > with
> > the additional advantage of working on any Beeb emulator and real Beeb.
> 
> Now, how about renaming this file to !BOOT, instead of inventing a new
> name for the wheel?  
> 
> By supporting an OPT4 option in the !BOOT.INF file, you automatically
> also support games which already come with a !BOOT file, which can be
> *RUN, CHAINed or *EXECed.
> 
> I don't share the fascination of "being able to" or "supporting" the
> creation of multigame disks with menus.  I want my BBC games in separate
> DOS/Windows/UNIX directories (or possibly also ZIP files).  I want to be
> able to type
> 
> C:\>dobbc bbc\games\Elite
> 
> and that will be all I ever need.  The name of the directory tells me
> the name or the game, and on a Pentium, the process of converting
> archive files (ZIPs) to DFFS is fast enough not to bother anyone.
> 
> For my testing purposes, I currently use a 4DOS batch file which
> converts an archive ZIP file to a DFFS image (via a temporary
> directory), makes sure VESA and mouse drivers are installed, and loads
> Tom's emulator with the DFFS image already mounted.
> 
> Jumping to your next mail now:
> 
> >Basically I agree. That's why Tom may consider to call the !STARTUP
> >files
> >simply !BOOT and build a menu of !BOOT files in the game archives.
> >There's
> >however one advantage of using !STARTUP files: they do not exist yet
>and
> >therefore we are free to standardize their format. This would e.g. be
> >handy if you want the name of the game in the menu the menu builder
> >puts on screen. That could be done by e.g. requiring the name of the
> >game in the first line of the !STARTUP file. (This is not possible with
> >!BOOT files that should be *RUN.)
> 
> Loads of stuff would be handy, but do you really consider it handy
> enough to warrant a new "standard" file?  I wouldn't.  I know what a
> game's name is from the ZIP file name.  We're not kids playing these
> games for the first time - we are BBC enthusiasts who can finish Castle
> Quest blind folded (ha! ha!), and relocate BASIC programs with one
> hand... :-)
> 
> >Hmm, that depends on what exactly you call BBC-specific. Currently the 
> >archive format contains only information that is on BBC *disks*. What
> >I meant by emulator-specific is that the information is not on original
> >BBC disks. On a real Beeb you have to type in the *OPT4 option yourself
> >before !BOOTing, as this parameter is not on BBC disks. (Or am I
> >completely
> >mistaken?)
> 
> OK, the option is not *BBC* specific - it is *DFS* specific, but I can
> hardly spot the difference.  This is from the Watford DFS manual, which
> claims to be DFS compatible:
> 
> Sector 1:
> ...
> offset 06, bits 4,5: !BOOT start option (*OPT 4 value)
> ...
> 
> Now, I never progressed past the stone age tapes, but my guess is that
> the command "*OPT 4,x" writes x to these two bits.
> 
> >The last point you make is true, but unpractical. Currently every
>zipped
> >game
> >archive with an !BOOT file contains the !BOOT file stored under its
>real
> >BBC name, !BOOT. So if you unzip two ZIP files both with !BOOT files in
> >them,
> >the first !BOOT file will be overwritten. But this is a point I went
> >into
> >more deeply in my last mail.
> 
> OK... I won't say anymore about combining games.  I don't need it nor
> want it, so I can't really care less... :)
> 
> --
> Robert Schmidt <rsc@...> 
> Software Developer / Vingmed Sound tel +47 67124237 fax +47 67124355
> Private tel +47 22352293 WWW http://www.nvg.unit.no/~rsc
> 
> The law forbids both rich and poor to beg, steal and sleep under
> bridges.

Looking at your discussion about the !BOOT/!STARTUP-option I would like to
make some remarks.
I think there are two main ('universal') arguments in favour of the
!BOOT-option:

1. Simplicity: no new standards. It took me some hours to really understand
the XFER-standard (by the way a execellent program!) and the concepts of
disk-images and conversion from the emulator of Tom Seddon (also an
excellent program!). Most users of the emulator are only familiar with the
concepts of a Beeb (and  PC-standards of course). So stick to the
Beeb-standard and take disadvantages for granted.
2. The main goal of any emulator should be to emulate/imitate the orginal
as much as possible (and take disadvantages for granted). This includes in
my opinion autostart-procedures.
By the way: the !BOOT-procedure is Acorn-standard for the Beeb and its
relatives. It works with allmost all ACORN filing-systems: DFS, ADFS,
ECONET, etc. The *OPT4-option (*RUN/CHAIN/*EXEC !BOOT) is marked on the
disc.

Greetings, Peter Janssen,  Beeb-adept                                      
                           pjanssen@...