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VDOS is the first DOS to support the Vortex format which become a standard format later on.
VDOS is the first DOS to support the Vortex format which become a standard format later on.


== RSX Commands in German and English; VDOS differences compared to AMSDOS ==
== Details ==
* Some commands are available in German and English language. This is an advantage when using more than one DOS ROM at the same time.
* Vortex is a German company, so they added RSX commands in German and English language. VDOS had both |TAPE and |CAS (which resemble equivalent German word ''Kassette''). (Dobbertin's X-DDOS had the same for compatibility).
* Vortex is a German company, so they added RSX commands in German and English language. The normal AMSDOS RSX commands |TAPE.xx and |DRIVE/|USER were added as |CAS and |SELECT (which resemble equivalent German words ''Kassette'' and ''Selektieren''). (Dobbertin's X-DDOS also supports both the English and German language for RSX commands).
 
* |USER/|DRIVE did not exist in V1.0 instead |SELECT is used (which resemble equivalent German word ''Selektieren''). (Dobbertin's X-DDOS also had |SELECT for compatibility).


|SELECT is used to both select user and/or drive. e.g. |SELECT,"3" for user 3, |SELECT,"B" for drive B, |SELECT "4B" for user 4 on drive B. VDOS doesn't have USER or DRIVE commands.
|SELECT is used to both select user and/or drive. e.g. |SELECT,"3" for user 3, |SELECT,"B" for drive B, |SELECT "4B" for user 4 on drive B. VDOS doesn't have USER or DRIVE commands.
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* VDOS supplied both German ROMs (with messages in their native language) and English ROMs where the messages are translated. The RSX commands are identical.
* VDOS supplied both German ROMs (with messages in their native language) and English ROMs where the messages are translated. The RSX commands are identical.


* When using CAS CATALOG you give the address of a buffer to fill with the list of files in the current user and drive (in SOFT968 this is a 2KB buffer - but that is only because there are 64 directory entries and each directory is 32 bytes). For VDOS you should use a 4KB buffer to support 128 directory entries). In addition the format of this data differs compared to AMSDOS.
* When using the firmware function CAS CATALOG you give it the address of a buffer to fill with the list of files in the current user and drive (in SOFT968 this is a 2KB buffer but only because AMSDOS is limited to 64 directory entries and each directory is 32 bytes - 64x32 = 2048). For VDOS you should use a 4KB buffer to support 128 directory entries. In addition the format of the data stored in the buffer differs compared to AMSDOS.


AMSDOS uses:
AMSDOS uses:
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e.g. "B:TEST.BIN".
e.g. "B:TEST.BIN".


Therefore it's recommended to use SELECT to specify the user.
Therefore it's recommended to use SELECT to specify the user. A program should also not rely on the memory location of DOS specific data and poke it directly. Therefore it should use KL FIND COMMAND to detect |SELECT and use that if found, otherwise find and use |DRIVE and |USER. This allows maximum compatibility.


* VDOS will autoboot a file called "HELLO.BAS" if it exists on the disc. AMSDOS doesn't have this.
* VDOS will autoboot a file called "HELLO.BAS" if it exists on the disc. AMSDOS doesn't have this. This is VDOS's 'Turnkey' system.


== Manual ==
== Manual ==

Revision as of 11:23, 27 January 2018

The disc operating system VDOS was developed by the German company Vortex.

It was provided for use with the Vortex Disc Drives from Vortex (F1-D, F1-S, F1-X, M1-D, M1-S or M1-X).

VDOS was supplied on an EPROM, and was released in 3 versions:

  • VDOS 1.0
  • VDOS 2.0
  • VDOS 2.11

Further there were German and English versions of this ROMs.

The VDOS ROM also contained a machine language monitor.

VDOS is the first DOS to support the Vortex format which become a standard format later on.

Details

  • Vortex is a German company, so they added RSX commands in German and English language. VDOS had both |TAPE and |CAS (which resemble equivalent German word Kassette). (Dobbertin's X-DDOS had the same for compatibility).
  • |USER/|DRIVE did not exist in V1.0 instead |SELECT is used (which resemble equivalent German word Selektieren). (Dobbertin's X-DDOS also had |SELECT for compatibility).

|SELECT is used to both select user and/or drive. e.g. |SELECT,"3" for user 3, |SELECT,"B" for drive B, |SELECT "4B" for user 4 on drive B. VDOS doesn't have USER or DRIVE commands.

  • VDOS supplied both German ROMs (with messages in their native language) and English ROMs where the messages are translated. The RSX commands are identical.
  • When using the firmware function CAS CATALOG you give it the address of a buffer to fill with the list of files in the current user and drive (in SOFT968 this is a 2KB buffer but only because AMSDOS is limited to 64 directory entries and each directory is 32 bytes - 64x32 = 2048). For VDOS you should use a 4KB buffer to support 128 directory entries. In addition the format of the data stored in the buffer differs compared to AMSDOS.

AMSDOS uses:

<ff> <8 bytes filename> <3 bytes extension> <2 bytes size in K> with a byte of 00 to indicate the end of the list.

VDOS uses:

<user> <8 bytes filename> <3 bytes extension> <2 bytes size in K> with a byte of FF to indicate the end of the list.

This is important if you use CAS CATALOG and parse the data to fetch the list of files.

  • AMSDOS allows you to specify both the user and drive in a filename.

e.g. "3B:TEST.BIN" is valid and will try to find TEST.BIN in user 3 of drive B.

VDOS doesn't allow this. VDOS only allows the drive to be specified.

e.g. "B:TEST.BIN".

Therefore it's recommended to use SELECT to specify the user. A program should also not rely on the memory location of DOS specific data and poke it directly. Therefore it should use KL FIND COMMAND to detect |SELECT and use that if found, otherwise find and use |DRIVE and |USER. This allows maximum compatibility.

  • VDOS will autoboot a file called "HELLO.BAS" if it exists on the disc. AMSDOS doesn't have this. This is VDOS's 'Turnkey' system.

Manual


Media

Download

Manual (German)

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