[Coco] Another MShell update and bug fix

[Bill Pierce]

As suggested by a few MShell users, I have rewritten the "Internet Updater" so that it no longer overwrites the existing program files as it downloads. The updater now creates tempfiles during downloading and if ALL downloads are successful, it then deletes the old files and renames the tempfiles.
If any of the downloads are not successful, the download aborts, deletes the tempfiles, and the old files remain intact so you can still use MShell to attempt another download.
Please let me know if you have any problems with this.

I have also added the "Rename" function to the OS9 file system operations. It's been in the menu but was non-functional, but it works now. This cannot be used on PC or RSDOS files, only on OS9 files. The feature "forks" OS9's "rename" cmd, so "rename" must be in your cmds dir. I will be putting an "inline" version of rename into MShell soon, so this will not be required. I hate to require people to have "outside" programs to use my software as it causes "version clash" if someone has a different cmd by the same name.
Again, let me know if there's any problems with the "rename" function.

I fixed a few minor bugs, mostly spelling and annoying little display things. I've also straightened out the version conflict with the program version, the disk name, and the zip name all being different.
The current version is "MShell 1.0.1E". If you update MShell with the updater, the update FTP will always report 1 version higher (F as opposed to E in this version). This is done so I can test the updater without changing version numbers (and recompiling) every time I do. Since the updater has been stable for a while now, I may stop doing this and have the updater report the proper version.

As usual, you can update MShell directly from the program on a DriveWire4 enabled system with an internet connection on the server PC. MShell does not require DW4 to run and currently only 2 functions are disabled on a non-DW4 system and that's the updater and PC file reads/writes.
You can download the latest disk image here:
https://sites.google.com/site/dabarnstudio/mshell---the-ultimate-os-9-gui

I am actually working on getting the "batch" functions to work. This has been requested by quite a few MShell users. Memory is tight and it's proving hard to work it in, but I may get it into the next update. I personally want this feature as I move multiple files back and forth all the time and clicking "copy" for each operation is getting to be a major PITA. The batch function will allow you to select multiple files on any displayed panel and do a "batch" copy, delete or move on all selected files, be they OS9, RSDOS, or PC files.
That will be about the last thing I'll try to add to the current build of MShell until I finish the complete rewrite that I'm working on which will be faster, have more features, and more modules. I'm trying to convert most of the core code to asm (RMA) to get away from some of C's overhead (C is a stack hog), but I have a feeling that some things will be left in C for the convenience of working with strings and arrays.

 
As usual, Enjoy!

 


Bill Pierce
"Charlie stole the handle, and the train it won't stop going, no way to slow down!" - Ian Anderson - Jethro Tull

 

My Music from the Tandy/Radio Shack Color Computer 2 & 3
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