----- Original Message -----
From: "ZN" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Sent: Wednesday, June 27, 2001 5:35 AM
Subject: [ql-users] Re: Q40/Q60 device drivers
> Richard Zidlicky wrote:
>
>
> Well, I hate to be a party breaker, but guess what: all standard CD file
> systems have a deeper directory structure and/or longer names than the QL
> is capable of handling with it's 36 character path+name limit. As a
result,
> it is not possible to implement a directory device driver that would do
> anything but direct sector access, or some sort of bodged file access.
Then
> a utility would go on top of that to read the files (and chop off the
> longer names if such are found).
My DiscOVER can already read CD's if it can get direct sector access (it
can also handle DOS format hard disks if the same can be done).
Unfortunately it appears that none of the current emulators give this level
of access to the native media on which their QXL.WIN file systems reside - a
great shame I believe. With the great variety of formats out there it
might be difficult to make a low level driver capable of handling any
appreciable number of them. However if the low level sector access was
available then utility programs can be developed that do provide this extra
level of functionality.
I would be more than happy to make the DiscOVER sources available (although
whether anyone else could fathom their way around them would be another
thing). Any commercial issues surrounding DiscOVER have now disappeared so
it is effectively freeware at the moment. Note that with DiscOVER to some
extent it mitigates the problem mentioned of long filenames by allowing you
to navigate around the CD a directory at a time, and then when you are in a
directory copy files found to a specific location on QDOS media.
Individual files within a directory rarely have names that long - it is the
path that gets very long.
Dave
