MEET YOUR DISK
LOADs
"SIMPLE/PRO" from the
disk
in drive
number
1. Or
SAVE
"CHANGE:1"
stores
"CHANGE" on
the
disk in drive number 1.
If
you
don't include a
drive number, the Computer
assumes you want
it
to
use drive number 0.
CHECKING THE
MASTER
DIRECTORY
As
we've said
earlier, a disk has a
master
directory
which
the
Computer can use to
find
out
what's on
the disk.
If
the
Computer can use it, you
can
use
it, too.
TypeDlR tEHTEH
).
The
Computer
prints
information on
all the files
you
have stored on
your
disk. If the only files
you've
stored so far
are
"SIMPLE/PRO" and
"CHANGE," the
Computer
prints this:
SIMPLE
CHANGE
PRO
BAS
The first and
second
columns list the filename.
The
first is the name
and
the second is the exten-
sion.
Notice that
even
though you did not assign
"CHANGE" an
extension
when you stored it, the
Computer
still assigned it the extension
"BAS."
The
Computer
prefers for all filenames to
have an
extension.
If
you
do not give a file an extension
when you
store it, the
Computer
will
automati-
cally assign
one of
these extensions:
"BAS" if it's a
BASIC program
"DAT" if
it's data
(such as names,
numbers,
etc.)
"BIN"
if
it's
a machine-language
program)
Note:
A machine-language
program is
a
highly tech-
nical
program which talks
directly to the Computer.
The
next three columns
contain
information
which is primarily
for the
use
of technical pro-
grammers. Interested?
Then read on
. .
.
The
third column lists
the
type
of
file it is:
BASIC program
1 data created by a
BASIC
program
2 data created by a
machine-language program
3 a source
program
created by
an editor/
assembler
Note:
An eriitnrtasxembler ix a program you can buy
to help you create a machine-language
program.
The fourth column lists the format the file is
stored in:
A ASCII
B Binary
We'll explain the meaning
of this
in Chapter 10.
The fifth
column shows how
many "granules" each
file consumes.
"SIMPLE/PRO" and "CHANGE/
BAS" consume one granule each. (The
Computer
uses
"granules" to allocate file space on a disk. A
disk
contains 68 of these "granules").
If you have disks inserted and
formatted in other
drives, you can check
their directories
also. For
instance DIRl
fjNTEl)
displays the
directory of
the
disk in drive number 1.
Impressed? You'll be even more
impressed
when
you see how fast you
can
SAVE and LOAD long
programs.
But before you
get too involved, please
read
the next chapter. It'll help ensure that your
experience
with your
Disk System is smooth and
enjoyable.
Note: To stop the
directory
from
scrolling, press
the
SHIFT)
and (W) keys
simultaneously.
Then press
MB®.
CHAPTER CHECKPOINT
1. Why can't you
store
things on an unformat-
ted disk?
2. What is the disk's directory?
3.
What is
a
disk Sle?
4. What is the
difference between what's in
memory and what's
on
the disk?
5.
How do you
change the contents of a disk
Sie?
Do you like quizzes? The
answers are in
Appendix B.
11
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