From: comp.sys.amiga.reviews Moderator Organization: The Amiga Online Review Column - ed. Jason L. Tibbitts III Subject: REVIEW: The AmigaDOS Manual, 3rd Edition Keywords: manual, documentation, AmigaDOS, 2.0, commercial Path: karazm.math.uh.edu!amiga-reviews Distribution: world Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.reviews Followup-To: comp.sys.amiga.misc --text follows this line-- The newest AmigaDOS Manual from Bantam and Commodore-Amiga, Inc. is an updated version of the earlier books. Editions number one and two covered AmigaDOS v1.1 and V1.2 respectively, while the third edition is written for AmigaDOS v2.04 specifically. [This was sent to me by Charles Hill of AMReport fame. The last working address I have for him is: Charles Hill/InfoTrak <76370.3045@compuserve.com>. -JLT3] The AmigaDOS Manual, 3rd Edition -------------------------------- The first editions were bound in a silly plastic spiral, which I found to be *real* annoying at times. The new version is a standard paperback binding, as the manual IS a large paperback. The cover and format hasn't changed much -- the cover is still white with some blue and the layout is still broken into three sections: User, Developer & Technical Reference. The user manual starts out real simple, explaining on what a shell, directories and files are and how they are arranged. Logical devices, file redirection, formatting & installing a disk as well as some of the more primitive operations of DOS are covered early. The manual here has really only been updated to reflect the details of v2.04 as opposed to earlier versions. The descriptions and diagrams of directories and tree structures are the same as in the 1st Edition. The next chapter steps through each AmigaDOS command and tells you the command format and what it does. The explanations are simple and a good way to see the differences in v1.3 and v2.04 of AmigaDOS for those who don't have access to both operating systems. Chapter three details AmigaDOS Error messages giving the error number, name, meaning (in English) and possible solutions. Chapter four is a glossary of terms, and that is the end of the User portion on the manual. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The Developer's portion of the manual is complete, and as far as I can tell, accurate. Bantam claims that Commodore went over the book with a fine-toothed comb so as to make it as accurate as possible. Publishing date is July 1991, so I guess that means CBM had 2.04 finished as early as May (just squashing bugs thereafter). While the User's manual was written on a very simple level, the Developer's manual assumes that you know a bit about programming and programming techniques. It jumps in with both feet. Short explanations on file I/O, Workbench rules, programming environments, file handlers and command line parsing get you started. Chapter six does the same thing as Chapter two but uses the AmigaDOS resident library functions instead of the C: commands. A sample AmigaDOS function description as found in Chapter 6 follows. DELAY _name_ Delay: delays a process for a specified time. _synopsis_ Delay(ticks) D1 Void Delay(ULONG) _function_ The argument 'ticks' specifies how many ticks (50 per second) to wait before returning control. _inputs_ ticks: Integer _bugs_ Due to a bug in the timer.device in V1.2/V1.3, specifying a timeout of zero for Delay() can cause unreliable timer and floppy disk operations. This defect has been fixed in V36 and later versions. Chapter seven details the CBM supplied linker: ALINK. Details include overlay trees, command line syntax, etc. Chapter eight covers device I/O and covers all the named devices (PAR:, SER:, PRT:, RAW:, etc.) The Developer's section ends here. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Part three, the Technical Reference Manual goes into detail on the nitty-gritty parts of AmigaDOS. The filing structure is first, and the book details the different block types and their formats in both OFS and FFS. Binary file structure is next, detailing the HUNK structures and their details. AmigaDOS Data structures are next, then finally some tidbits on strange stuff. Chapter 12 covers "Additional Information for the Advanced Developer", which includes overlay hunks, linking in new disk and non-disk devices, ad using AmigaDOS without Intuition. This chapter is short, and a bit beyond my reach, so I really can't comment on its effectiveness. An index rounds everything out and ends on page 447. The books is good, though I find it a bit TOO simple in the User manual, and a bit obtuse in points in the Developer's section. The Technical Reference Manual was complete, and gives everything in a straight-forward manner. The book will make a good hold-over until the RKMs arrive, and then it should complement them nicely.