Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Path: utzoo!mnetor!uunet!husc6!hao!ames!ucbcad!ucbvax!RAND-UNIX.ARPA!bridger%rcc From: bridger%rcc@RAND-UNIX.ARPA (Bridger Mitchell) Newsgroups: comp.os.cpm Subject: Z80DOS, PZDOS and datestamp formats Message-ID: <8711301746.AA22038@newton.arpa> Date: Mon, 30-Nov-87 12:46:49 EST Article-I.D.: newton.8711301746.AA22038 Posted: Mon Nov 30 12:46:49 1987 Date-Received: Thu, 3-Dec-87 05:01:06 EST References: <1433@sigma.UUCP> Sender: daemon@ucbvax.BERKELEY.EDU Organization: The ARPA Internet Lines: 46 There is a resurgence of interest in CP/M 2.2-compatible bdos's; at least two are under active development and not yet stable: Z80DOS and PZDOS. Carson Wilson's doc file in the z80dos library tabulates the heritage and major features of a number of variants; his z80dos is largely derived from P2DOS. Version 1.0 was released. 2.0 is being beta-tested now and is available on some z-nodes. Hal Bower and Cameron Cotrill have been perfecting PZDOS, also derived from P2DOS; it is nearing release. Automatic file time and datestamping is a feature many cp/m 2.2 users already have by using DateStamper. Z80DOS implements timestamps in a manner similar to that used in cp/m 3 -- using 1 directory entry every 4 for the stamps; however, its method conflicts (destructively) with cp/m 3 file stamps. PZDOS is aiming to give the user the choice of either DateStamper or cp/m 3-type stamps. The behind-the-scenes debate about timestamp formats is multifaceted. (I'm the author of DateStamper; read with salt-shaker at hand). Some of the issues are: The DateStamper format is the most portable -- DateStamper will run with no bios or bdos modifications on virtually any cp/m 2.2-compatible system, including 8080 cpu's. DateStamper includes full create/modified/accessed times and dates. But it requires the most space -- 1.0 to 1.25 K. The cp/m 3 and z80dos formats use up 1/4th of the directory entries, require replacement of the bdos, but use no extra memory in a z80 system (8080 versions are not available). A DateStamper disk can be transported to another cp/m 2.2 system and the datestamps will continue to be maintained on that system if DateStamper is installed. The other formats require a compatible replacement bdos that supports their format. It would be desirable to standardize on a single format for all of cp/m 2.2; that would enable all of us to use all of the timestamp-featured utilities that already exist (directory, filecopy, disk catalog, unix-make, for DateStamper) and are being developed, and to exchange fully-compatible disks. But the jury is still out on whether these dos's will evolve to that point... --bridger mitchell