Better use of User Areas

[GeoffB17]

Well, all this time, and I never saw this!

While looking for something else, I saw that...

If you set the status flag on files in User 0 to SYS, then they are visible to ALL user areas.

Whenever I boot my PCW, I copy a few often used utilities to M:, but it was always an irritation that they were only visible if you were in User 0.   If you set those files to SYS (use SET, or better NSWP) and then copy them (using PIP, with option [o r])(the 'o' is usual, the 'r' ensures that SYS files will be seen by PIP) to m0:, then this does the trick.   Seems not to work if they're copied to any other user area, must be user 0.   Would still apply for any files marked SYS in user 0 of your boot disk, if that drive is in your 'search path' as defined by SETDEF.   Applies only to .COM or .SUB files.

I copy:

CLS.COM - a small prog of mine to do as per the DOS CLS - I like a clean screen
DISK.COM - a slightly more helpful variant of DIR
DUMP.COM - std util, for looking in binary or data files
ED80.COM - from HiSoft, my favourite text editor
NSWP.COM - various uses, incl copy, rename, delete and of course setting status flage.

Now I've finally spotted this, I can make better use of User Areas!!

Geoff

[GeoffB17]

Just checked...

The same thing applies within the Joyce emulator.   The utilities copied to m0 were NOT visible from A3, but when the utilities were set as SYS, then they are visible to other user areas.

Geoff

[FloppySoftware]

Yes, that is a CP/M 3 feature.

SYS files in user 0 are accesable by all the other user areas, but only as R/O (read only).

That is supported in the BDOS.

If you use that with SETDEF searching path (drive only really), you have a powerful feature.

For example, I always copy some useful commands to M0:,  and I use them from there automatically thanks to SETDEF and the search path M:,* command in my profile.sub file.