DosMan: The Complete Online AmigaDos Reference Manual By: Peter Bagnato For the latest additions and changes to this program, see the 'History.Doc'. DOSMan is the definitive and complete online AmigaDOS Manual. Even though many many weeks of research went into this project it probably still has some errors. The only way DOSMan may hope to survive and become more accurate is through feedback. If you find anything here is incorrect please contact me so I can update it. DOSMan is FreeWare-Ware... this means, if you like it (or at least appreciate the work put into it) please send the author your favorite pd software... I like all kinds of files: games, pictures, mods, demos, anything.. or if you have an old program laying around you don't use anymore, maybe you'll let me add it to my collection. Money, pizzas, women, or A4000s won't be turned away either :) I appreciate mail of all kinds. It is very easy to get ahold of me. I can be found here: Peter Bagnato 1025 Assisi Lane #508 Atlantic Beach, Florida 32233 United States of America tele: 904-246-5071 internet: pbagnato@jax.jaxnet.com Special Thanks -------------- Many people have given me inspiration to finish this project: Danny Amor... for an endless supply of seals which he graciously let me club :) Bruno... for a future endless supply of Burgandy... and for keeping the Amiga flame burning in Brazil. Michael Pedersen... who has an identity crisis he thinks he's a Danish. John Collett... for teaching me what little I know about programming. Dion... the most ignored and talented Amiga programmer in the world. MegaDisk... for staying around when all other Amiga diskmags bit the bullett. ESCOM for buying the Amiga. Only time will tell//// Colin and BOTH Software for inventing the fabulous MUInt... as well as for getting me started on this project. Colin, thanks for your cool icon too... he also provided me with the original Dos ARP Man Pages which were the groundwork for DOSMan. Mike Haas for creating Textra, the most versitile text processor on the Amiga. It is certainly the programmers best friend... NO THANKS WHATSOEVER GOES TO: ---------------------------- Irving Gould and Mehedi Ali... these two bastards are singlehandedly responisble for running the greatest computer in the world into the ground. May a thousand camels find refuge in their underwears... they are lucky keel hauling is illegal! How to use DOSMan ----------------- Now that we are finished with the rhetoric let's see how this works. Installation: ------------ If you wish to use the MUI interface, then MUInt must be in your C: directory. MUInt takes the DosMan.def AmigaDos script and translates it into a code that lets MUI draw the GUI Interface. Neat, no? To install MUInt simply use the Installer script provided. The Installer script only copies MUInt to your C: directory, it does nothing else. If you don't have MUI (or don't want to use it for DosMan) then don't install MUInt and save your diskspace for more important things. The DosMan directory reside anywhere you like. So, no special installation is required for that drawer. Here is a step by step detailed synopsis: 2.x/3.x Users: 1st of all, you must have MUI installed. MUI can be found on all good bulletin boards as well as all decent pd libraries. If you look for it and still can't find it, contact me and I'll see that you get it. 2nd of all, drag the MUInt program and drop it into your 'C' directory of your Workbench, or use the installation script provided. MUInt is an ingenious program which lets a user create a GUI (Graphical User Interface) from a Dos script. 3rd of all, you must have iconx in your C: directory of your Workbench. 4th of all, you can drag the DosMan directory wherever you like, it really should not matter. Just make sure that the files 'DOSMAN.def', 'man' directory, and D.LV.scp are all in the DOSMAN directory. Remember! The Man directory must reside in the Dosman directory along with all the other files. It will not find it if it is not! That's it! It is now installed and you are good to go! DosMan and AmigaGuide: --------------------- 1.3 and MUI-haters read this!!!! If you are one of those users who are totally opposed to using MUI, or if you are using 1.3 or lower, then you can use the AmigaGuide format of DosMan also found with this distribution. The man directory must reside in the same directory as DosMan.guide and the name of the DosMan directory cannot be changed. 1.x Users: Unfortunatly, you can't use MUI, but all of DOSMan may be read via your favorite text reader. I will develop a hyperbook version for all you 1.x users out there if I get enough feedback. DosMan.def Usage: ---------------- It is so easy my dead dog can use it. Simply double click on the icon and you are presented with an interface which allows you to select the command you want to examine. You will notice a list of radio buttons below the list of DOS commands. These buttons allow you to select your reader of choice. The reader you chose MUST be in your system's path. If it is not, it will not work. (In other words, it must reside in either the 'c' or 'system' or 'utilities' directory of your Workbench.) If your reader is not in your path, it simply won't work... and you will get no warning of why it did not open... If there is a reader not there you would like added, please bring it to my attention and I'll throw it in there... If you don't have MUI installed (or want to), then you can use the Amigaguide version provided. Future Plans: ------------ If there is enough feedback from all you Amigoids out there I will: -Correct any problems that others point out to me. -Add a complete description of what all the system devices do. -Add a complete description of what all the libraries do. -Rewrite it and compile it with HighSpeed Pascal so you do not need MUI, MUInt, or iconX to run it. I feel the overhead of this program is way to high the way it is now. -Add any other feature (reasonably) which anyone suggests to me. -I would also like to have this in multiple languages (eg German, French, Italian... etc). If anyone out there is multilingual and would like to do some translations, please contact me... -I am working on a Korean version of this already, it is extremely difficult for me because there are many Amigan terms which do not translate over too easily. If there are any Koreans out there that can give me advice, please contact me. - I would like to add a list of 'replacement' commands. That is, a list of Shareware (and commercial) programs which do a good job at replacing some of the shortsightedness of Commodore in creating AmigaDOS. So, if you have a command you use INPLACE of one of ones included with your Amiga, then please inform me of it. - Any other suggestions will be greatly welcomed! About Me: -------- I'm a 28 year old Sonar Technician in the US Navy. I have been involved witht he Amiga since 1990... and will stick with my Amiga (and continue developing for it) until either me or my Amiga dies. I'm currently working on a multimedia presentation about the DMZ (De-Militirized Zone) between North and South Korea. It will be a complete history of the DMZ with many interesting facts. This will be in Korean and English. Also, I am designing an Amiga version of the game "The Magic:The Gathering". I just started playing this card game, so my deck is very small. If someone wants to help me with this project please contact me. I have done many professional free-lance graphics jobs in my spare time for several companies including the new NFL team, the Jacksonville Jaguars. I have also been involved in designing several kiosks here in the Jacksonville area.