Commodore 1541-II - Renaming Programs

More about Splats
One other warning—never scratch a splat file. These are files that show up in a
directory listing with an asterisk (*) just before the file type for an entry. The asterisk (or
splat) means that file was never properly closed, and thus there is no valid chain of sector
links for the Scratch command to follow in erasing the file.
If you Scratch such a file, odds are you will improperly free up sectors that are still
needed by other programs, and cause permanent damage to those other programs later
when you add more files to the diskette. If you find a splat file, or if you discover too late
that you have scratched such a file, immediately validate the diskette using the Validate
command described later in this chapter. If you have added any files to the diskette since
scratching the splat file, it is best to immediately copy the entire diskette onto another
fresh diskette, but do this with a copy .program rather than with a backup program.
Otherwise, the same problem will be recreated on the new diskette. When the new copy is
done, compare the number of blocks free in its directory to the number free on the original
diskette. If the numbers match, no damage has been done. If not, very likely at least one
file on the diskette has been corrupted, and all should be immediately checked.
Locked Files
Very occasionally, a diskette will contain a locked file; that is one which cannot be
erased with the Scratch command. Such files may be recognized by the "<" character
which immediately follows the file type in their directory entry. If you wish to erase a
locked file, you will have to use a disk monitor to clear bit 6 of the file-type byte in the
directory entry on the diskette. Conversely, to lock a file, you would set bit 6 of the same
byte. For more information on how such tricks are done, see Chapter 9 and Appendices D
andE.
RENAMING PROGRAMS: BASIC 2
The Rename command allows you to alter the name of a program or other file in the
diskette directory. Since only the directory is affected, Rename works very quickly.
FORMAT FOR RENAME COMMAND:
PRINT#15,"RENAME0:new name=old name"
or it may be abbreviated as:
PRINT#15,"R0:new name = old name"
where "new name" is the name you want the file to have, and "old name" is the name it
has now. "new name" may be any valid file name, up to 16 characters in length. It is
assumed you have already opened file 15 to the command channel.
One caution—be sure the file you are renaming has been properly closed before you
rename it.
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