 x	E                                                                 EDS THEM? 
 
Let's start with a quote....this from the first book I ever read on computers - one which my wife bought me the Christmas before ADAM....she now saysARTICLE BY RON MITCHELL, PRESIDENT OF AUFG (Adam User Friendly Group) of Ontario Canada. 
 
We appreciate Ron Mitchell sharing this information with us. 

 
 
File Utilities 
Block Editors 
Copy Utilities 
Formatters

                      WHO NEEDS THEM? 
 
Let's start with a quote....this from the first book I ever read on computers - one which my wife bought me the Christmas before ADAM....she now says she regrets the purchase....(wonder why?).....anyway, the quote goes like this: 
 
"Many hobbyists can't understand why anyone would not want to learn everything there is to know about computers. To the devout there is no middle ground. If you like computers, you really like them. It's hard for the hobbyist to understand that some people just want to use the computer as a tool, not adopt it into the family."
                   
                   from "COMPUTERS FOR EVERYBODY" 
                   by Jerry Willis & Merl Miller. 
 
To expand a little.... 
 
Members on the 'newsletter circuit' will have read vast and copious amounts on such programs as Uncle Ernie's Toolkit, Smartrix, Copy Magic, Backup Plus 3.0 and the like. To many of us a true ADAM enthusiast simply cannot do without such a program. And why is that? Well..... 
 
CASE I 
 
With any collection of disks and/or tapes, there is always housekeeping to be done...yes, even with Smartwriter files.  Sooner or later you will reach a point where you've run out of space on a Sunday afternoon when Canadian Tire is closed. You can't buy, beg or even borrow a datapack or disk.  Chances are you'll have all sorts of them sitting around, but more than likely, they'll all be full of programs, files and other collectables that must not be touched. What to do? 
 
You look through what you've got for a few k of free space, and you quickly realize that most of your tapes and disks are taken up with backup versions of programs that have long since either been forgotten or sold for a million bucks. And you decide then and there to clean things up. 
 
Fact is, you can't do it without a file copy program. 


 
 
CASE II 
 
You've pirated or otherwise acquired one of the neatest programs ever devised by man. You know it's neat because you saw it working on a friend's ADAM, but he has a disk drive and you don't. So you pleaded and whined until he made you a tape of it, and you chugged merrily on home to try it out.  And....it froze up...right? 
 
Fact is, you need a block editor to boldly sneak into the program code and change a few numbers here or there so that the default drive is changed from disk to datapack. It's called hacking, and it can be addictive once you start. 
 
CASE III....related to CASE I 
 
You finally locate a datapack that contains dispensible garbage. You try the "init" command from SmartBASIC to clean the tape, and then you discover that some joker has copied BASIC onto that particular datapack. Of course, the "init" command will not work. 
 
Fact is, with Filemanager or Uncle Ernie's or Backup Plus 3.0, you could init the tape no matter what was on there. 
 
CASE IV.....related to CASE III 
 
You grow tired of having to boot up SmartBASIC before using your favourite program. You have to change tapes, and that's inefficient. Wouldn't it be nice to have BASIC resident on each of your disks or datapacks so all you have to do is load and pull the reset switch. 
 
Same answer. You need a means of copying BASIC which doesn't even appear in your directory. But it's there. With a few changes by a block editor to block 1 of the datapack, it will appear in the directory as BASICPGM....28 blocks long.  Most of the copy utilities listed above will permit you to copy your SmartBASIC onto another datapack. 
 
So let's not belabour the point. There are a number of jobs which the hobbyist needs done from time to time, and this is where the file utilities become an integral part of a good software library. You can organize your programs and files, delete unecessary duplicates or backups, free up space on a media, and generally keep your operation neat and clean. 
 
There's more. You can also determine the specific location of your files on a given disk or datapack, and copy them to another in the order in which you want them. And most of all, you can enjoy the absolutely devilish fun of looking into someone else's locked program code even when the "list" command doesn't accomplish the task.  't even appear in your directory. But it's there. With a few changes by a block
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