RAMCOPY - A NICE LITTLE UTILITY by Stefan Posthuma

Whenever I start my programming sessions,  I first get some  beer 
and crisps. Then I dig up some really nice hip-hop from my record 
collection. (For those of you who do not know what hip-hop is, it 
is  a noise created by screaming kids with golden  chains  around 
their  necks,  accompanied by brainless computer generated  drum-
beats and frantic scratching.  Enough to drive every parent wild, 
especially when Grandma pays a visit.  Hip-hop is created by guys 
like the Beasty Boys, L.L. cool J, Public Enemy etc.)
Then  I  take my Programming Disk,  which contains  everything  I 
need:  Assembler,  Linker,  GfA Interpreter, GfA Compiler, Floyd, 
Tempelmon, Raid, a Ramdisk and.... Ramcopy.
When  the computer boots up and checks out the disk for an  auto-
folder,  it will find a ramdisk. After selecting the proper size, 
the ramdisk will be installed and then ramcopy will do  its  job. 
It  looks  for a file called RAMDISK.INF and starts  copying  all 
files in that file to the ramdisk. This is really neat, because I 
don't have to select and copy all those things myself.  After all 
this,  I  put the needle on the record,  pump up the  volume  and 
start Brainbusting.

In  the folder 'PROGRAMS' on this very disk,  you will  find  two 
files concerning 'Ramcopy': RAMCOPY.BAS and RAMCOPY.PRG.
RAMCOPY.BAS  is the GfA source of the program and RAMCOPY.PRG  is 
the compiled version. If you install Ramcopy in your auto-folder, 
make sure that you copy your ramdisk program first,  else ramcopy 
will be started before the ramdisk is installed.

How the program works.
First,  it  will  search  the  auto  folder  for  a  file  called 
'RAMDISK.INF'.  If  it can't find it,  it will look in  the  root 
directory.  If it can't find the file there either, it will print 
an error message and aborts.
You can create this file with any regular editor like Tempus,  Ed 
or even 1st Word (Plus)(WP mode disabled).  Or with the following 
GfA Basic program:
OPEN "O",#1,"\ramdisk.inf"
DO
     INPUT A$
     EXIT IF A$="*"
     PRINT #1,A$
LOOP
CLOSE #1

If it has indeed found the file,  it will ask if you want to copy 
the  programs.  This  is  handy if you are  using  a  reset-proof 
ramdisk and you just resetted the computer,  so you don't have to 
wait  again  because the files are already in  the  ramdisk.  (or 
maybe you just want an empty ramdisk.)
After  that,  it  will read the file and copy  all  filenames  it 
finds. If you want to copy folders, you have to include a special 
entry in RAMDISK.INF,  starting with a '@'-sign,  followed by the 
name of the folder (not seperated by a space). The folder will be 
created  in  the ramdisk,  and you can copy the contents  of  the 
folder, simply by giving the correct pathnames.
Also  before  a file is copied,  the program checks if  the  file 
exists  and if there is enough room left in  the  ramdisk.  After 
everything is copied,  the program waits for you to press any key 
and  the  normal booting-process is  resumed.  By  the  way,  the 
ramdisk should be drive D.

Example of a ramdisk.inf file:

gfabasic.prg
gfabcom.prg
gfabcom.rsc
@programs
programs\artist.bas
programs\menu.bas
programs\hack.bas
tempus.prg

When  ramcopy  has handled this file,  the files will be  in  the 
ramdisk,  and the folder 'programs' also has been  created.  Make 
sure to create folders first before attempting to copy any  files 
to it.

After the programming session,  I save my work (Sometimes, I just 
turn  off the computer,  not copying the files from  the  ramdisk 
back to the disk.  This will result in a very loud cry,  followed 
by  the  pounding  of  my head to the wall.)  and  turn  off  the 
computer. After that, I collect empty beer bottles and remove the 
crisp-remaiders  from  my keyboard while my  parents  are  trying 
their best to keep Grandma from destroying my stereo with a  very 
mean looking umbrella.

Greetings,

Stefan Posthuma 

Originally published in ST NEWS Volume 2 Issue 7.

ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

'*****************************
'***** Gfa Basic Listing *****
'*****************************
' ramcopy
'
Cls
Print
Print " Ramcopy v1.0 By Stefan Posthuma"
Print " Created by Digital Insanity"
Print
If Fre(0)<40000                                ! need about 40000 bytes
  Print " Sorry, not enough free memory...."
  Print
  Print " Press a key...."
  Void Inp(2)
  Cls
  System
Endif
Einde!=False
@Bestaat                ! check for ramdisk.inf
Buf$=Space$(32000)      ! 32000 bytes buffer for copy
Void Fre(0)
While Einde!=False      ! while not EOF
  @Lezen                ! read next filename from ramdisk.inf
  If Bestaat!=True      ! file exists?
    @Copy               ! yes, copy it
  Endif
Wend
Close #1
Print
Print " Press a key...."
Void Inp(2)
Clr Buf$
Clear
Cls
System                  ! back to the desktop
'
Procedure Bestaat
  N$="a:\auto\ramdisk.inf"
  If Not Exist(N$)
    N$="a:\ramdisk.inf"
    If Not Exist(N$)
      Einde!=True
      Print " ramdisk.inf does not exist. No copy..."
    Endif
  Endif
  If Einde!=False
    Print " Found ramdisk.inf....copy files (Y/N)"
    Print
    Repeat
      K%=Inp(2)
    Until K%=121 Or K%=110
    If K%=110               ! user pressed N, exit program
      Cls
      System
    Endif
    Open "i",#1,N$          ! open ramdisk.inf
  Endif
Return
'
Procedure Lezen
  Bestaat!=True
  If Eof(#1)                ! End-Of-File
    Einde!=True
    Bestaat!=False
  Else
    Line Input #1,A$        ! get filename
    If Left$(A$)="@"        ! create folder
      A$=Right$(A$,Len(A$)-1)
      Print " Creating folder ";A$;"...";
      Chdrive (4)
      @Dir_exist(A$,*E%)    ! check if folder already exists
      If E%=-33             ! no
        Mkdir A$            ! create it
      Else
        Print "it already exists!"
        Bestaat!=False
      Endif
      Chdrive (1)
      If Bestaat!=True
        Print "done!"
        Bestaat!=False
      Endif
    Else
      A$="A:\"+A$           ! add pathname
      Print " Checking ";A$;
      If Not Exist(A$)      ! check if file exists
        Bestaat!=False
        Print At(50,Crslin);"it does not exist!"
      Endif
    Endif
  Endif
Return
'
Procedure Copy
  Open "i",#2,A$
  L%=Lof(#2)       ! determine length of the file to be copied
  If L%>=Dfree(4)  ! not enough memory in ramdisk?
    Print At(50,Crslin);"no way, file too large!"
  Else
    Print At(50,Crslin);"copying....";
    Open "o",#3,"d:"+Right$(A$,Len(A$)-3)
    While L%>32000
      Bget #2,Varptr(Buf$),32000  ! read 32000 bytes from original file
      Bput #3,Varptr(Buf$),32000  ! write them to ramdisk
      Sub L%,32000
    Wend
    Bget #2,Varptr(Buf$),L%       ! read remainder
    Bput #3,Varptr(Buf$),L%       ! write it
    Close #3
    Print "done!"
  Endif
  Close #2
Return
'
Procedure Dir_exist(Name$,E.%)
  Local A$
  A$=Space$(44)
  Void Gemdos(&H1A,L:Varptr(A$))  ! create disk transfer buffer
  *E.%=Gemdos(&H4E,L:Varptr(Name$),&H10)  ! search for filename
Return