1 Topic by nagydani

  • nagydani
  • esxDOS Rookie
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  • Registered: 2019-06-19
  • Posts: 6

Topic: OPEN # and CLOSE # support for sequential file access

Hi,
I was a bit shocked to discover that there is no way to use the Spectrum's native stream API for esxDOS files. With RST 8 hooked anyway, the implementation is pretty straightforward, should be done very similarly to ZX Interface 1, by checking if OPEN # threw a 

F Invalid file name

exception and catching it. CLOSE # is a bit trickier, as the original 48k ROM is buggy. So you can do what +D and DISCIPLE did with CLOSE #* (I'd suggest CLOSE ## instead not to confuse wiht * being the current drive in esxDOS), but just to be nice with projects like ZX85, you can also catch a 

J Invalid I/O device

exception from CLOSE # so that fixed ROMs can use the regular syntax.

If you give me access to esxDOS sources, I can code it up for you. For free. I'd really hate wasting time reverse-engineering esxDOS and binary-patching it.

2 Reply by nagydani

  • nagydani
  • esxDOS Rookie
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  • Registered: 2019-06-19
  • Posts: 6

Re: OPEN # and CLOSE # support for sequential file access

I implemented this funcitonality as dot commands. Of course, it would be still hugely beneficial to have a native implementation, but this is a good stop-gap measure.
See open.asm and close.asm

https://github.com/nagydani/dot-commands/