> No, you don't ned smsqe to compile smsqe. > > True, you need a dev device - but look no firther than Phil Borman's > SUB > device, which you can use for that. > > It's on Dilwyn's website somewhere. > Yes, www.dilwyn.uk6.net/tk/index.html
SUB and DEV can both be renamed, in other words, a DEV_USE "flp" changes the name of the dev device and makes it seem to have a different name. DEV_USE "flp" makes any reference to DEV1_ actually refer to flp1_. Where it really comes in useful is in making programs work from hard disk subdirectories. If you have a program which only knows how to run from FLP1_, and you want to make it run from a subdirectory WIN1_GAME_, all you have to do is: DEV_USE 1,"win1_game_" DEV_USE 2,"win1_game_" DEV_USE "flp" So a program configured to run from flp1_ can now be made to run from WIN1_GAME_ by fooling it into thinking that win1_game_ is the same as flp1_ SUB works slightly different, but you can still achieve the same thing: SUB_DRV "win1_" : REM references to SUB1_, SUB2_ etc actually refer to WIN1_ SUB_USE 1,"GAME" : REM SUB1_ is actually WIN1_GAME_ SUB_USE 2,"GAME" : REM SUB2_ is actually WIN1_GAME_ SUB_USE "flp" : REM SUB is now called FLP There are also "interrogation" functions which let you ask the system what name is used for SUB and so on. A small warning to users who've never used DEV and SUB before - you can really tie yourself up in knots with these extensions, more than once I've used them to rename devices for awkward programs (like the Psion Quill, Archive, Abacus etc which only allow a short drive name) and completely lost track of what I'd done. DEV has another little used feature, you can chain the definitions by adding a third parameter to the DEV_USE commands, which is the number of the next DEV to try if the first fails. DEV_USE 1,ram1_,2 DEV_USE 2,flp1_,3 DEV_USE 3,flp2_,4 DEV_USE 4,win1_,5 DEV_USE 5,win2_,6 ...and so on, meaning that if not found on RAM1_, it tries FLP1_, then FLP2_ then WIN1_ and so on. As you can imagine, this is a bit mind boggling and I never used it, thinking I might accidentally delete something. I looked it up int he Gold Card manuals to make sure I'd got the commands right and only just realised DELETE doesn't follows this. Doh! There's a little pointer driven program of mine called DEV MANAGER which you can use to store DEV definitions for any programs which need it. If you use DEV a lot for programs which don't readily configure themselves to run from subdirectories, a program like DEV Manager saves brain strain. -- Dilwyn Jones _______________________________________________ QL-Users Mailing List http://www.q-v-d.demon.co.uk/smsqe.htm
