READ_ME.TXT for MDFORMAT.PRG: by Clark A. Hay 07/19/91 *** MDFORMAT.PRG runs in Medium Resolution Only! *** - DESCRIPTION: - Musical Disk Formatter is a simple little program that plays some music while it formats your disk. It was written in 68000 assembly language using Assempro from Abacus Software. While this may prove to be an amusing utility program, its main purpose is tutorial - which is why I have included the complete (heavily commented) source code for it. - RESOLUTION: - As it stands, this program runs in MEDIUM RESOLUTION only, but the code can be modified quite easily so that it can run in any resolution. - HOW IT WORKS: - Created to look and work much as a GEM dialogue box, the program avoids making any calls to GEM's VDI or AES - relying solely on Line_A calls and a few from TOS, BIOS and XBIOS. The user may select options using the mouse, or the keyboard. A "Return" will format the disk using the options that are set, and pressing the "Esc"ape key lets you exit the program. - OPTIONS: - Formatting uses 10 sectors per track, and the user may select between drives A or B, single or double sided disk, 80 or 82 tracks. It does NOT produce a sector skewed track as with "Twister.Prg", so don't expect any disk read/write speed ups. - FORMATTING STATUS: - The music begins when the "Format" option is selected with the mouse or via the keyboard. The "music" [sic] played is my own version of the theme song to the movie "Midnight Express". Format status reads "Working" and a progress bar is filled in as each track is formatted. If an error occurs, a "falling bomb/explosion" sound occurs and formatting stops, with the message "Error" displayed in the status box. Successful formatting leaves you with the message that it is "Waiting" for the next command. - NOTE TO BEGINNING/INTERMEDIATE PROGRAMMERS: - If you are a programmer, look at the source code. In it are some fairly useful pieces of code, and plenty of room for enhancements or improvement. Please feel free to use, steal or modify the code. All I ask is that you share any useful insights, improvements or routines with the rest of us. Enjoy! Clark A. Hay Genie user handle "E.T."