This program was published in The Micro User, November 1991 and enables you to split a disk into several parts. As published, it asked for all the data to be entered individually. This could be very tedious if there are several parts to be entered. I have simplified this by arranging that the data is entered into two REM lines at the end of the program. This will then set up both sides of a disk by running the program twice and simply entering the drive numbers.

The REM lines consist of:

      Number of Parts, Titles.... , Part sizes....

The part sizes are the number of tracks and the total for a 40 Track disk is 38 and for an 80 Track disk it is 78. The last part is calculated as the remained after totalling the previous sizes.

The program should allow 12-letter titles but I have found that only seven are allowed. I know that the original program is correct as I have checked it with the checksums given. Also, the titles do not seem to be printed as they should be when the parts are catalogued. These comments do affect the running of the program.

When run, the program first asks for the drive number. The disk is then checked and, if this is OK, it will tell you if it is 40 or 80 Track. If the disk if faulty, you are asked to re-format it. This part is as the original program.

The data lines are then read. If the drive is 0 or 1 for side 1, the first REM line is read and, for drives 2 or 3, the second REM line is read.

After the disk is set up, there are two files in each part which must not be deleted. PART is the m/code for selecting the parts and is written to &900 and !DUMMY is the catalogue information.

To make a backup copy, you must set the disk to the final part as the disk appears to be unformatted beyond the part selected.

Richard Dimond, EUG #31

Richard Dimond