A MegaDisc           Review                         `        -==-   ---------------------------------------           |||||||||||||||||||||||||||o [] []  OFFICIAL AMIGADOS 2 COMPANION (AMIGA WORLD) A review and comparison with Commodore's v.2 manual by Ron Coney  (( 27 )) (( 27 )) (( 27 )) (( 27 )) (( 27 )) (( 27 )) (( 27 )) (( 27 )) I recently upgraded to version 2.04 of the operating system and was most pleasantly surprised with the quality, both in arrangement and content, of the accompanying manual. Commodore have obviously got the message that writing a manual is the province of an expert in written communication, not necessarily a technical expert. The latter can quite easily edit any inaccuracies or deficiencies but nothing can be done with clumsy formatting, ambiguous expression and above all, assumptions that the reader already possesses a certain level of knowledge. Commodore's version 2 manual has none of these faults so when we acquired a copy of the Amiga World "AmigaDOS 2 Companion" for our user-group library I wondered whether this might be over-kill. The "V1.3 Amiga Companion" was immensely popular and was, by far, the most widely read book in our library. However that was in the days of Commodore's AmigaDos Manual. Beginners, exposed to that, were left gasping and many decided, there and then, that the CLI was not for them. Such should not be the case with the present manual. I accordingly approached the AmigaDOS 2 Companion with the belief that I was only going to see a rehash of the manual. I was wrong. There must, of course, be much repetition but there was also a worthwhile amount of additional information. The original "Companion" was written by Bob Peck and his ability to communicate with his readers made the book an instant success. Bob Peck died nearly two years ago so the writing of the present book was handed to Bob Ryan, the primary editor of the original book. In style and content I consider it to be every bit the equal of its predecessor. In his Introduction, the author states:- " The manual that comes with Amiga OS 2.0 was completed before the software was finished, so it contains a lot of mistakes and omissions --- ". I found some areas where statements in the manual didn't do what they were supposed to but I can't say I detected a lot of mistakes and omissions. Being in looseleaf form, perhaps Commodore has updated the manual. Perhaps also, at my level, I didn't easily recognize some other areas. I'm sure a person of the author's reputation wouldn't subject himself to challenge without being able to offer substantiation.  Saved by Megadisc One mistake (which was also missed by Bob Ryan) was pointed out in the "Hints and Tips" section of Megadisc 26. I was about to work through Commodore's Arexx examples so I was grateful for the advice that quotes were used inadvertently in one area. Sounds minor but inexperienced programmers (like me) would probably find this a major obstacle. The first feature that impressed me with the "Companion" was that before launching into an explanation of the system the author briefly sets out a history of the Amiga and compares it with other computers. He explains the background of operating systems, interfacing, multitasking and the structure of the Amiga OS.  Workbench He then devotes about 60 pages to handling the Workbench. This is largely for beginners and I found I could skim through it fairly quickly and only dwell on areas of difference to the old Workbench. Beginners should find this section of considerable value even though the manual also does a good job here.  Preferences Next he deals at length with "Preferences". Here again Commodore's manual does a good job but the Companion dealt with some areas at greater length and in more detail. A feature I particularly liked was that the author was not afraid to make recommendations. For instance in dealing with the function "Verify Timeout" in the "IControl" editor, he explains that a time interval can be set to avoid a deadlock between the program and Intuition. Apparently realising that the average user will have difficulty deciding what interval to set, he says "the need for the interval is rare enough that I set mine at 5 seconds (the maximum) to give Intuition and the program as much time as possible to straighten out their communications." Thanks Bob! I set mine at 5 seconds and moved on.  Overscan Another piece of advice that I appreciated concerned overscan. After reading the manual I'd decided to increase the display size of my Workbench screen. On reading the Companion however, I changed my mind. The author warns:- "The larger display isn't free. You pay a performance penalty. If you're simply doing word processing or telecommunications then the larger display is probably worth the penalty. With other more computationally intensive tasks however, you should consider whether overscan is worth the price."  Good examples He then deals at length with the programs directly associated with the Workbench and those on the Extras disk. I found I understood his explanations of some wayout tools like "BindMonitor" better than Commodore's -- probably because of the examples he gives.  97 Million disk-swaps I also enjoyed his occasional lighter moments. In stating that you can't use "DiskCopy" with hard disks, he said that just for fun he tried it with his 30MG. hard disk partition -- "after about a minute, I received a message that the copy would require over 97 million disk swaps. I decided to cancel the copy operation!"  AmigaDos About a third of the book is devoted to AmigaDos. This area contains such a mass of facts that setting it out in readily understandable form is difficult. I therefore approached it with some caution but was pleasantly surprised. The subject is dealt with under four categories with a chapter on each:- AmigaDos and the Shell Delving into AmigaDos Manipulating Files and Devices AmigaDos Command Scripts "AmigaDos and the Shell" broadly explains this area and gives very detailed explanations with examples of the commands DIR and ASSIGN. The latter is a command that has given me some difficulty and I found the explanation most helpful. I also benefitted from the discussion on command templates although I'll probably find I've forgotten it when I come to need it. There surely must be an easier way to code the modifiers even if it makes the template line a little longer. Another area in this chapter that I found most helpful was "pattern matching". The next chapter, "Delving into AmigaDos", begins by mentioning that of the 73 AmigaDos commands, 30 are now in Rom. It tells the reader that to see them you enter the command RESIDENT. I did and found them listed with the notation "internal" to distinguish them from other resident commands. A feature of this book is that it doesn't leave you guessing. The Manual mentioned that some commands were now based in Rom but I hunted in vain for a list. The author then explains that he has divided the 73 commands into three categories and devoted one chapter to each. "Delving into AmigaDos" deals with what he calls information and configuration commands such as LIST, RESIDENT, SEARCH ALIAS etc. "Manipulating Files and Devices" deals with commands that let you create and modify files, directories and volumes. These include COPY, DISKDOCTOR, INSTALL, PROTECT etc. "AmigaDos Command Scripts" deals, of course, with commands relating to batch files such as ASK, EVAL, GET, LAB etc. I found this chapter most helpful. For those (like myself) who are not very competent at handling more complex programming languages, the ability to program in AmigaDos, albeit at a fairly primitive level, is most satisfying. The chapter concludes with a detailed analysis of the version 2 startup sequence and a section on "IconX: Running Scripts from Workbench". The last two chapters deal with ARexx. The author states:- "This chapter and the next introduce ARexx and provide examples of using the language. They are meant to supplement the reference information that Commodore provides in "Using the System Software". They hit on the high points so that you can get started with ARexx quickly and easily, and give you enough background so that you can understand the Commodore documentation."  Ideas for ARexx . For some time I've felt that I would like to learn to use ARexx if only I could find just one use for it. When I ask others, the almost invariable response is "that's a good question!". Well I think that after reading the chapter, "Practical ARexx" I've got some ideas. The author gives an example program using ARexx instructions, Built-in functions and commands to two different external hosts (the Shell and ProWrite v.3.1). The program is called "Catalogue Maker". It creates a file that will contain the name of every file on any mounted volume. It lists the pathname of every file, the date it was created and its size in blocks. The list is alphabetized and marked with the name of the volume and the date the catalogue was created. It is then output with page breaks to the printer. He has provided a full commentary in respect of every line of the program so it will provide an invaluable reference for anyone using those commands in his own program. For convenience he has also provided an unannotated copy of the code.  Well that's it! The book is available in Australia and retails for about $50. There may be some hesitation in spending this much on a book, particularly as Commodore's manual "Using the System Software" is so good. If you can afford it however I don't think you'll regret buying it. I've gained a lot from it and expect to gain a lot more when I've got time to get into ARexx.  (( 27 )) (( 27 )) (( 27 )) (( 27 )) (( 27 )) (( 27 )) (( 27 )) (( 27 ))